#i didn't realize halloween would be such a hard time for me without my grandma but it has been so! these guys videos are really nice

[ablazeinhim]

Halloweentown Musings

So I've been watching Halloweentown every day for like three weeks and i have a lot of thoughts/questions. Production/movie making thoughts, and also canon/universe thoughts. I probably should have just live logged my watchings, but I didn't, so here we are.

The first night i watched it, i watched the first three all right in a row. And by the third film, nearly all the beautiful, effortless warmth and coziness of the first film is gone.

Halloweentown is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It is lit magnificently. Most of the lighting is warm, and there's an outlining light on their faces/forms a lot. The colors are rich and deep and plentiful. Even the outdoor spaces feel cozy and intimate because of the lighting and framing. It's a masterpiece.

Not surprising considering the director of photography, Michael Slovis', other work: 20 eps of breaking bad, 23 eps of CSI, many others. The other 3 films in the series have different DPs.

Look at these:

Compared to the third movie:

In especially the second movie it seems they use the richness of color, and the color tone of light to contrast the mom and grandma. The mortal world and the magical one. The love interest/villian even mentions how Marni's room doesn't seem to fit her and she says her mom likes "ordinary."

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The effects in this movie are spectacular. All the practical effects and creature sculpts. They're gorgeous and well made! And they have a nice mix of practical and digital effects. It helps it feel real and magical, because so much of it is there physically. And BENNY. Ugh. He can show so much range in his face. The eyebrows!

Last thing about the production side. The acting is so natural. They feel like a real family! The little ways they react to each other. Especially the mom, like when she's scolding Sophie for asking grandma if she brought them presents. SO GOOD.

And the writing! Marni feels dopey at times, but then you realize she's 13! That's how 13 year olds are! Ready to go out and change the world and really believe that they can! Strong-willed, sure, optimistic. Not shameful about wanting to help or seeming over-eager. Her characterization is perfect.

One of my favorite through-lines is how playful the grandma is with Dylan. Like she knows he's the most skeptical/resistant, and because of that, is playfully hard on him. In the first movie when she's reading to them, he says it's stupid Marni thinks she could be a witch, and the grandma practically interrupts him by elbowing him in the side while she says something like, "you never know, she might be!" And in the second movie Marni uses his embarrassing username/password against him. Then as she walks away we hear the grandma whispering the name to him and chuckling.

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Onto my canon/universe questions.

How do magical people age? How does time work? Why is the boy getting seemingly no training? I mean maybe he doesn't want it but that seems like a waste to not at least teach him practical spells and stuff. Like, he doesn't even know how to make his grandma's door appear and disappear in the second one, and the girls just wave their hand and it happens. What happened to Luke? Did Kalibar/Kal ever come back and muck things up again? At the end of the second movie Luke says he (Kalibar/Kal) will be back, but the subsequent two movies have unrelated villians.

The time and aging thing is what I'm most confused by. The grandma is over 1000 years old. But in the fourth movie we go back in time 1000 years and meet the grandma, presumably 18 then (forgive me, I'm not going back to watch it), being played by the same 18 year old actress playing Marni. And the children, half mortal/half witch are aging at a normal human pace. So like, does the aging of their bodies slow down sometime? When? How old is the mom?

In the first movie, the grandma says that two hours in the mortal world could be two days in Halloweentown, or two weeks if they're on vacation. And in the second movie it's established that if Marni goes to Halloweentown for a (mortal world)year with her grandma, it will "feel like" or "be like" 100 years to her. Soooo is whatever's up with that part of the aging thing? Doesn't make much sense considering all the creatures used to live in the mortal world. When they created their own world/dimension did they also decide to have time run differently? For what purpose?

OMG also!!! In the fourth movie, since the portal between worlds is now open all of the time instead of just on mortal-world Halloween, humans and creatures are going to college in each other's worlds. For that to make any sense at all, time, and public education, would have to run the same in both worlds.

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There are people with humanoid bodies but jack-o'-lantern heads, and yet pumpkin products and consumables are openly sold in Halloweentown. Is that weird for them, or do they and edible/decorative pumpkins just happen to look alike?

Because this is a live-action movie, most of the creatures are humanoid in form, and that makes me curious how inter-species relations work. Like socially, but also personally. Obviously witches/warlocks are genetically similar enough to humans that they will 1. Become them if they haven't started their magical training by their 13th Halloween, and 2. Can produce offspring together. But seemingly up until the mom, no one in her family had gone off and made babies with a human, or any other creature. So did they have arranged deals with warlocks of powerful magical families? So they could ensure the Cromwell line would continue and be strong? And in the first film, Luke, a goblin, expresses romantic interest in Marni, and it's not treated as anything out of the ordinary. (I very much know love and romance and relationships happen without any need for, want for, or intent to produce children, but there are children in this universe, but seemingly no inter-species families aside from human/witch, so I'm curious if there are rules against it or logistical reasons why not).

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Do we think the mom told her mortal husband that she was a witch? I really really hope so. I want that joy for her. I'm imagining beautiful moments of them together. Creating a shield over them to keep the rain off. Dancing in the kitchen while the freshly-done dishes dance around them. Pausing time or sealing off their space to get in one more kiss before they have to part. Beautiful, warm, romantic moments meant just for the two of them. I really hope they had that openness and joy and FUN.

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I think that's it, but I have a few other random notes.

It feels significant that we see Sophie's powers, and she realizes them for herself, first. And before the other kids know. The first time she uses her powers AND gets to see the outcome of it, the other kids are distracted and don't realize she's done anything special.

Watching this movie at least once a day has been such an enjoyable experience. Until this year I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, and it was magical watching such a thoughtfully made kids movie. It really feels like it was in a golden age for dcoms. And the way I feel like I'm hanging out with this fam every night. Like I'm being told a story everynight (I mean like someone (really kind. A loved one or beloved famous reader) is telling me a story every night. It's v comforting.

And, Marni's scruchie is gorgeous and I need it, so if anyone has a lead on where I can get this scrunchie from 1998, hit me up.

#i fully dont expect anyone to read this #Halloweentown #marni #stream of conscience #drabble #=