Halloweentown was filmed in my small town when I was in 4th grade. I went down to the set everyday to watch the filming and of course hoping I’d be seen by someone who would immediately say I just had to be in the movie, you know how that happens all the time. Anyway halloweentown is extra special to Me because of that and they put the big pumpkin up every year still.
Can tell the budget was tight when they misspell “kalabar” as “calabar” in the opening credits and apparently in the closing credits of Halloweentown 2:kalabar’s revenge…its in the name of the movie
also Ian, I can't believe y'all didn't even talk about the weird time difference between Halloweentown and the mortal world. Grandma said sometimes an hour in H-town is a few hours or a few weeks back home! There are zero rules and I am all for it.
Oh dang. I used to go to school in H-Town. It was a spooky place with lots of scary people and lots of ghouls with magic crystals. Those crystals would make one day feel like a few hours. Was a creepy place indeed.
i love how they turn a bunch of drumstick into one chicken, there isnt even a wing in there. It implies that theres a certain amount of chicken parts you can add together that are equivilent to a whole chicken. Like, how many hands would you need to make a human? how many lizard tails would you need to make a lizard, and if they grow back cant you just make in infinite lizard farm??
Grandma: My story is about a magical place where all sorts of different creatures live together in peace Dylan: Like Cleveland? Me, a Clevelander: *WHEEZE*
That's such a cringe comment, and you see it everywhere on UA-cam.. blah blah something funny Me: wheeze.. or I died... or "when I tell you I cackled" etc... why are these comments everywhere they're not funny or interesting.. just basic af
Idk I have always genuinely enjoyed the fact that Halloweentown as a "world" is a pretty standard American town setup. Monsters aren't scary and out to get you, they have jobs and goblin children. The chores felt like a good excuse to explore what Halloweentown had to offer and had its unique spins on your run of the mill salon. I definitely don't remember the plot being THAT simple. But I do agree that it felt more of a prequel, showing us the "world" of Halloweentown and THEN we fuck around with real magic. And frankly most of us remember Halloweentown 2. I can remember freezeframe moments of the first movie but the second movie I can recall full scenes.
I think there's something to be said about Halloweentown bringing a domestic approach to magic and monsters. If they have "elevated the material" then the whole movie would've been a shittier copycat Hocus Pocus, IMO. All the world building by having monsters do normal person things really makes you care about what happens to Halloweentown. You gotta get the audience to root for the kids to save them all!
Yeah I feel like they were too harsh on the vibe. By making everyone in town basically normal, it was essentially a commentary on segregation. Who cares about saving a bunch of horrible monsters from a corrupt mayor? But innocent people who just happen to be weird and ugly are relatable
Yeah. always get frustrated when reviews get mad at a piece of media for failing to do something it wasn't trying to do. Like, this wasn't trying to be some epic high fantasy movie. The whole point was to make magic relatable. There is definitely an audience for this sort of thing. Urban fantasy is a huge subgenre for a reason.
It is also a unique concept to have the magical world be the same as the normal world where the normal world is also an American town. Yes, there are plenty of “witches/monsters blend in to human society” stories, and they do cover that in Halloweentown High, and plenty of “monsters live in a society comparable to human societies” stories, but otherwise there is nothing as popular that covers a magical world that is the same as a typical American town and switches between the normal world and magical world when utilizing the “witch finds the magical world she came from” story. The effect makes the Halloweentown series seem very relatable because both the normal world and the monster world are just people living out their lives like humans. It really is a premise most stories of its caliber don’t take because to enhance the difference between the normal world and the magical world, the magical world is strange/mysterious/hostile/mischievous depending on the flavor of magical world.
My hometown is where Halloweentown (and parts of Twilight) were filmed. They try to recapture that Halloweentown hype every year with lighting the pumpkin in the town square. One of these years I hope that the festival reaches hollywood halloween small town party levels of amazing. Like Trick R Treat / Hocus Pocus whole town decorates and parties, yunno? As for set size; it is restricted really to one street; the town square is very narrow and the storefronts are mostly antique shops. Also, Benny's cab makes the rounds sometimes!
@@Gatorade69 No, actually, Twilight was filmed in parts of Oregon; St.Helens and Vernonia for example. Places like Bella's House, their school inside, and Port Angela are all in St.Helens. "Port Angela" actually uses the same street as Halloweentown. You can see the same theater front for example.
Man, those shots of the streets _flooded_ with trick or treating kids really does bring back memories of the late 90's. I don't know about everywhere, but where I live, nowadays you're lucky if you see a half dozen groups of trick or treaters all night. But back in the day Halloween really was like that. The streets turned into a school hallway before the bell rings.
Man i miss those days… it was like friendly competition to get good candy. Less and less homes giving out candy too. I remember coming home with my bag nearly busting open.
@@ao9688 trick or treating has been made illegal on Halloween is some towns. Strictly forcing you to go to stupid events like a local trunk or treat with your 2 year old. No fun or freedom for any kids in there teens. Not sure what happened. It was busy af in the early 90s. Less busy by 2000s but still a lot of people. By 2010 no one trick or treating on my block. 2020 don't even feel like Halloween happened.
@@Sammyyaam I think in areas where you saw a lot of kids trick or treating as you were a kid, those kids grew up just like you, and its rare for new families move in. So you go from 50 kids in the neighborhood to maybe like 10. This is what happened in my area.
Near the end Ian mentioned the music not fitting, the music was done by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame. He also composed soundtrack for the entire first 13 seasons of Rugrats. I think that's why the music sounds weird, it's possible his style just isn't suited for something like this.
Well this is a children's movie, they don't want to scar any kids so the music helps ease tension from kids who might believe this story is real. I remember goosebumps being like that lol
the lingering question that my gf and i had after watching this movie was: WHY did marnie climb up the pumpkin at the climax when she could have just stuck the little light thing in through the front.
my theory is the depth was too deep for her arm to stick the light into and it was just easier to drop it through the top. but the pumpkin didnt seem THAT big? so i wonder if they just couldnt decide how big they wanted that thing to be narratively
I just want to say, I think them taking all these magical concepts but then simplifying them down to things that we already have in our everyday life is why I loved the movie so much growing up. Like that "Thats what I get for using instant!" line is just so good! The idea of a witch just going down to the grocery store and getting ingredients to cast a spell, but having to go through different brands and finding what the best sales are, its just so funny to me for some reason.
I work on film sets and the only time I've been legitimately starstruck is oddly from meeting one of the minor characters from Halloweentown 2, just by virtue of watching it so much as a child
The point of the town of Halloweentown is that the monsters are not scary. And Kalabar wanted to regress the citizens of Halloweentown back to their ancestors way of thinking of terrorizing mortals. But the reason the Halloweentown citizens were terrorizing mortals was cause the mortals viewed them as freaks. So Halloweentown was created for the monsters to live normal lives.
Just re-watched HalloweenTown last week after about a decade and a half, and yeah, it has not aged well. At the same time though, there's some charm in how cheaply made it clearly is. It's like you can tell that the production team said to themselves "well, if Disney doesn't want to fork-up the cash for something impressive, we might as well just have fun and make a silly movie". It helps that some of the actors are obviously having some fun with their roles (especially Debbie Reynolds). Post Scriptum: Maybe I'm just an apologist for DCOMs from the early aughts 'cause I grew up watching them, but I can't help feeling charmed at how earnest they are in spite of their low production values.
Agreed. This movie is completely charming from start to finish. It honestly doesn't drag in any parts and every single scene moves the plot forward. It's a good movie.
More movies could use that calming exposition that everything will be okay. Imagine if before Han Solo was frozen in carbonite he let us all know that it was temporary and he’d be fine. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Hello Ian! My Dad passed away October, and your videos have been helping me stay grounded whenever i need to find something soothing and bring my mind to a safe place. so, thank you! for making the past 3 years of me being a sub, amazing. Thank you!❤️
“Wanting something and letting yourself have it” pretty easily explains how they used to do magic by accident. Sophie still does in this movie. Gwen is hiding it. If they became aware that they could do magic, they could practice. Think of it like stretching to gain more flexibility or working out to tone muscle. Powers can be “stretched” and more power can be “gained.”
Not sure why as a kid the skull face/zombie guy at 21:34 REALLY put the fear of God in me. Haven't seen this movie in over 10 years, and seeing him out of nowhere actually frightened me. Lmao.
I’ve been to the filming location in St. Helens, and it is SO TINY. It literally is just a town square with regular Halloween decorations thrown around.
For those who are interested. Halloweentown is in St Helens, Oregon. It's pretty cool but it gets crowded in October. The "opening" of halloweentown is in late September where some of the characters from the various movies come visit. Its worth a visit.
Personally, I'm a huge sucker for combining magic systems with fantasy flair with contemporary technologies. Esp if there is anachronysm with the ways in which the more modern aesthetics and fantasy aesthetics clash. Loved it in The Sims Makin' Magic with things like the digital touchscreen spellbook, and the wand charger that literally was like a pencil sharpener for infusing wands and looked like a meat grinder with a cauldron on top, and love it here too.
Scene: Grandma tells the kids about how humans waged a brutal campaign of genocide against her people and were forced to flee to another dimension to avoid complete extermination. Soundtrack: funny circus clown music
The sad thing about the Aspect Ratio thing is that "Return to Halloweentown" was a 16:9 Widescreen Movie that was Cropped on both the 2006-2010 Airings & the DVD
Can we talk about how the villain is "Calabar" in the first movie and "Kalabar" in the second. I dunno why this bugs me more than all of the other glaring mistakes made in these movies. Still. Nostalgia makes this tenoutaten.
I just now checked the comments right when I started it for the first time to see if anyone else commenting on how baked he looked at the start of the video lol
My favourite part is the 3 minute talk on the aspect ratio. (Back when I was young, people complained about letterboxing/widescreening films because it made it sooo small on our old crt TVs. How times change)
Watched this with the fiancée on Halloween with a bowl of candy and it was great fun. Fantastic content as always Ian and it’s always a pleasure to see Luke!
I mean, the reason Halloweentown is just a bunch of mythical beings being just normal people is a whole thematic thing about how they're just people who fled persecution for being different.
Wow i just watched Halloweentown 2 with no context last night and i kept thinking, i hope Ian does the first halloweentown. Lo and behold! I knew i smelled brutalmoose content from these movies!
Don’t have time to watch the video yet but I’m already liking, saving it to my watch later, and telling the fam (yes we all watch you) what we are watching tonight! Ian! Please keep doing stuff with yungtown! Thank you for all that you guys do!
I'm with you on the physical media preference, especially when it comes to the widescreen pan n scan that a lot of 90s media has done to it these days on streaming sites.
Hey Ian, I'm going through a lot of shit right now, thanks for making a video about a film that represents pure nostalgia for a lot of us. Keep up the good work
This was my 1st Brutalmoose video. I'm so glad I happened to search for halloweentown when you uploaded. Love your videos so much Ian :) Thank you for the laughs!
I'm so happy for this review and seeing these two team up again for a DCOM! No joke I've literally had this on repeat today while cleaning up my house lol. It's just so comforting listening to them review a movie and a movie many of us grew up with and feel nostalgic about. Thumbs up so Ian and Luke see this to please keep these movie reviews going! Even if they're not DCOM's I'd love to see this duo continue! And Luke -- I'm glad you're back and are okay dude. I will def be checking out your Twitch streams.
I watch the Halloweentown series every year for Halloween. There's just something fun, charming and nostalgic about this series for me. It's full of that fun spooky feeling that gets me more excited for Halloween. It is kind of funny how you expect the sequels to explain more about magic when pretty much every sequel makes up more rules. Removing Marnie's line about how Luke became a handsome prince when he decided to help her always seems so weird to me. I thought that was a nice moment between them and showed that she cared about him. The editing to make it sound like she turned him down was funny though.
This was filmed in the town I was living in when I was younger St. Helens OR, they shut down the court house for a couple of weeks to film all of the Halloween town stuff, I tried to get in to be an extra but they were full so they let me watch them film for the day.
Yes, the Christian household was why you turned into... well, whatever you have turned into. Strict/christian/strict Christian households often have the opposite effect. I grew up with my mom who wasn't religious or strict at all. I don't smoke, barely drink and stay out of trouble. My step brother who grew up in the strict Christian household smokes, drinks, had a kid at 18, got divorced, crashed his car. All the other kids started smoking the devils lettuce at 14 too.
Halloweentown high is actually my favorite of the films. The first film holds a special place. I always thought Marnies name was Barney for years. Love seeing Luke and you watch another DCOM.
Ian I LOVE this video, hoping we can get more movie reviews like this in the future but no pressure obvi everything you make is great! (In my humble opinion )
Is it just me or was Ian's exposition dump as grandma pretty good but also creepy at the same time? lol --- Also the fact that he admires how Luke was always out talking to grandmas... dude I'm dying XD
i love this video. halloweentown has always been my favorite dcom and series so i loved hearing you and Luke discuss it, it’s definitely a cheesy movie but it’s cute.
I love your videos with Luke so much. You guys have real chemistry and I didn't think we'd ever get another DCOM review after how long it's been but you've BLESSED US AGAIN! Thank you, Ian and Luke
I was a huge Underwraps and Phantom of the Megaplex fan as a kid. I would wait all year to see my favorite DCOMs. There was also a movie in the Disney channel called HE double hockey sticks. I really liked that one too
It's been four years, I didn't think we would ever have this happen again.
Oh my god has it really been four years???
@@FieryRedmond time flies
I feel old and decrepit now..
Halloweentown was filmed in my small town when I was in 4th grade. I went down to the set everyday to watch the filming and of course hoping I’d be seen by someone who would immediately say I just had to be in the movie, you know how that happens all the time. Anyway halloweentown is extra special to
Me because of that and they put the big pumpkin up every year still.
I actually really love hearing this. Super cute tradition!
Lucky I wish I was in that town I love these movies.
That’s so cute for the kids 🥰
You just have to be in this movie... It's years later but we need to reshoot it immediately!
St Helens right?
“Lifetime movies for kids” might be the most accurate description of DCOMs I’ve ever heard
What other descriptions have you heard? Any worth mentioning? Cite specific examples. I'm curious.
@@matthewruiz7679 Well if they've only heard the one, I suppose it would qualify it as the most accurate!
@@incongruousinquiry Can't argue against that logic.
Ded
Same goes for Hallmark Christmas movies.
Honestly the combination of 'lame' with magic was fascinating to me as a kid and made it seem more real in a way. Like I could actually go there.
Agreed!
This comment made me sad
@@dstinnettmusic why?
No, like, you can.
@@spencermayborne2366 nostalgia probably and the innocence of a child's headspace and imagination
Can tell the budget was tight when they misspell “kalabar” as “calabar” in the opening credits and apparently in the closing credits of Halloweentown 2:kalabar’s revenge…its in the name of the movie
I caught that too, lol. Yeah no budget...
I saw that and was going to say the same thing. Poor budget and terrible editor. Hahah
Set my ocd right off
When you see something like that a wizard did it.
also Ian, I can't believe y'all didn't even talk about the weird time difference between Halloweentown and the mortal world. Grandma said sometimes an hour in H-town is a few hours or a few weeks back home! There are zero rules and I am all for it.
Oh dang. I used to go to school in H-Town. It was a spooky place with lots of scary people and lots of ghouls with magic crystals. Those crystals would make one day feel like a few hours. Was a creepy place indeed.
@@Gatorade69K, then.
*slips muzzle between teeth *
Time must pass in a Jeremy Bearimy
i love how they turn a bunch of drumstick into one chicken, there isnt even a wing in there. It implies that theres a certain amount of chicken parts you can add together that are equivilent to a whole chicken. Like, how many hands would you need to make a human? how many lizard tails would you need to make a lizard, and if they grow back cant you just make in infinite lizard farm??
U have an incredible mind
🪄 MAGIC ✨
I looked up the magic system on the halloweentown wiki and it seems to be entirely belief based and rituals are just a focusing device
That's what I was thinking as they discussed that part.
It strikes me as a lazy version of the magic system in the Dresden Files books, which RULES.
@@wnightshade I thought it was an adaptation of real world chaos magic practices but That’s probably just me
@@tomatomodest2487 Oh, I don't believe the writers have any idea who Harry Dresden is, I just thought it was superficially similar.
@@wnightshade yeah I’m pretty sure the first book was released after this movie but I’ve never read them so I don’t know if that’s true
Grandma: My story is about a magical place where all sorts of different creatures live together in peace
Dylan: Like Cleveland?
Me, a Clevelander: *WHEEZE*
All of Ohio, honestly; not just Cleveland, far from it.
Mistake on the lake
Me, also a Clevelander: *Haaaahahaaa!*
Lmfao theyre so great.
That's such a cringe comment, and you see it everywhere on UA-cam..
blah blah something funny
Me: wheeze.. or I died... or "when I tell you I cackled" etc... why are these comments everywhere they're not funny or interesting.. just basic af
Idk I have always genuinely enjoyed the fact that Halloweentown as a "world" is a pretty standard American town setup. Monsters aren't scary and out to get you, they have jobs and goblin children.
The chores felt like a good excuse to explore what Halloweentown had to offer and had its unique spins on your run of the mill salon.
I definitely don't remember the plot being THAT simple. But I do agree that it felt more of a prequel, showing us the "world" of Halloweentown and THEN we fuck around with real magic. And frankly most of us remember Halloweentown 2. I can remember freezeframe moments of the first movie but the second movie I can recall full scenes.
I think there's something to be said about Halloweentown bringing a domestic approach to magic and monsters. If they have "elevated the material" then the whole movie would've been a shittier copycat Hocus Pocus, IMO. All the world building by having monsters do normal person things really makes you care about what happens to Halloweentown. You gotta get the audience to root for the kids to save them all!
Yeah I feel like they were too harsh on the vibe. By making everyone in town basically normal, it was essentially a commentary on segregation. Who cares about saving a bunch of horrible monsters from a corrupt mayor? But innocent people who just happen to be weird and ugly are relatable
Yeah. always get frustrated when reviews get mad at a piece of media for failing to do something it wasn't trying to do. Like, this wasn't trying to be some epic high fantasy movie. The whole point was to make magic relatable. There is definitely an audience for this sort of thing. Urban fantasy is a huge subgenre for a reason.
@@alyssap9233 MST3000k
Yeah, humanizing the monsters is pretty much the whole point of the series.
It is also a unique concept to have the magical world be the same as the normal world where the normal world is also an American town. Yes, there are plenty of “witches/monsters blend in to human society” stories, and they do cover that in Halloweentown High, and plenty of “monsters live in a society comparable to human societies” stories, but otherwise there is nothing as popular that covers a magical world that is the same as a typical American town and switches between the normal world and magical world when utilizing the “witch finds the magical world she came from” story.
The effect makes the Halloweentown series seem very relatable because both the normal world and the monster world are just people living out their lives like humans. It really is a premise most stories of its caliber don’t take because to enhance the difference between the normal world and the magical world, the magical world is strange/mysterious/hostile/mischievous depending on the flavor of magical world.
Ian: "Luke from Halloweentown is better."
Yungtown: "...and I took that personally."
Luke Halloweentown vs Luke Yungtown...
Luke Skywalker: "I would like a word...."
@@cecil6075 lol
My hometown is where Halloweentown (and parts of Twilight) were filmed. They try to recapture that Halloweentown hype every year with lighting the pumpkin in the town square. One of these years I hope that the festival reaches hollywood halloween small town party levels of amazing. Like Trick R Treat / Hocus Pocus whole town decorates and parties, yunno?
As for set size; it is restricted really to one street; the town square is very narrow and the storefronts are mostly antique shops. Also, Benny's cab makes the rounds sometimes!
Just saw a video where a popular influencer went (ellie thurman) so just give it time and you'll wish no one knew about it lol
Forks ? You say parts of Twilight and I thought Twilight was filmed in Forks.
@@Gatorade69 No, actually, Twilight was filmed in parts of Oregon; St.Helens and Vernonia for example. Places like Bella's House, their school inside, and Port Angela are all in St.Helens. "Port Angela" actually uses the same street as Halloweentown. You can see the same theater front for example.
@@bunniesandthorns Yeah I looked it up. I do know they filmed parts in Forks, Wa too.
Man, those shots of the streets _flooded_ with trick or treating kids really does bring back memories of the late 90's.
I don't know about everywhere, but where I live, nowadays you're lucky if you see a half dozen groups of trick or treaters all night. But back in the day Halloween really was like that. The streets turned into a school hallway before the bell rings.
Man i miss those days… it was like friendly competition to get good candy. Less and less homes giving out candy too. I remember coming home with my bag nearly busting open.
@@ao9688 trick or treating has been made illegal on Halloween is some towns. Strictly forcing you to go to stupid events like a local trunk or treat with your 2 year old.
No fun or freedom for any kids in there teens. Not sure what happened.
It was busy af in the early 90s. Less busy by 2000s but still a lot of people. By 2010 no one trick or treating on my block. 2020 don't even feel like Halloween happened.
Ive noticed this too. Is there a reason its like that now? Aside from covid? Because i noticed it before covid too
@@Sammyyaam I think in areas where you saw a lot of kids trick or treating as you were a kid, those kids grew up just like you, and its rare for new families move in. So you go from 50 kids in the neighborhood to maybe like 10. This is what happened in my area.
I handed out quite a lot of candy. I handed out a lot to my neighbors, but I did notice some families drove in to do some trick or treating as well.
Near the end Ian mentioned the music not fitting, the music was done by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame. He also composed soundtrack for the entire first 13 seasons of Rugrats. I think that's why the music sounds weird, it's possible his style just isn't suited for something like this.
Even though the music isn't fitting, I remember it fondly, and it sets an oddly satisfying feel for the whole movie
He also did the score for Thor: Ragnarok
Well this is a children's movie, they don't want to scar any kids so the music helps ease tension from kids who might believe this story is real. I remember goosebumps being like that lol
That's hilarious, my boyfriend said the music reminded him of rugrats. I'll have to tell him that this is why!
He also did the soundtrack for Sims 2
35:14 Clearly the moral of the story is that Luke should be himself because troll puberty is really forgiving.
Lol 😂 I think they just did that cuz they wanted to sexy him up which makes no sense since she clearly didn’t care in the first movie
Brutalmoose and Yungtown, back together once again! And It’s Halloweentown? It’s a match made in heaven!
Awesome 🌈
Right, this movie is incredibly nostalgic.
And it's Ian's best video in a while IMO.
The channels kinda become all over the place...
the lingering question that my gf and i had after watching this movie was: WHY did marnie climb up the pumpkin at the climax when she could have just stuck the little light thing in through the front.
my theory is the depth was too deep for her arm to stick the light into and it was just easier to drop it through the top. but the pumpkin didnt seem THAT big? so i wonder if they just couldnt decide how big they wanted that thing to be narratively
Because it's a movie.
I just want to say, I think them taking all these magical concepts but then simplifying them down to things that we already have in our everyday life is why I loved the movie so much growing up. Like that "Thats what I get for using instant!" line is just so good! The idea of a witch just going down to the grocery store and getting ingredients to cast a spell, but having to go through different brands and finding what the best sales are, its just so funny to me for some reason.
I work on film sets and the only time I've been legitimately starstruck is oddly from meeting one of the minor characters from Halloweentown 2, just by virtue of watching it so much as a child
which character?!
@@tinseltina the cranky troll guy who lives in the messy cottage who gets grey spell'd
He was one of the staff members during the Old Toys scene in The Santa Clause 2. That’s my favorite scene in the movie and that’s so cool you met him!
@@deepcrows omg him! he was such a fun character! i love his transformation from a loud messy guy to the orderly quiet guy. cool
@@deepcrows i loved him. I hope hes doing well
dude it’s so good to see Luke again!! love y’all man, y’all crack me up
9:25 "I'm a Wiccan!" God I love Marine. She's just like "oh I'm pagan!"
I was just gonna comment on that quote lol hahaha this year I'm going as a non-denominational Christian!
@@JadedJester739 I think I'll go as an agnostic protestant
@@LoveLee_Dreamer damn Party City was out of that one when I went 😥
I will go as an Anabaptist!
The point of the town of Halloweentown is that the monsters are not scary. And Kalabar wanted to regress the citizens of Halloweentown back to their ancestors way of thinking of terrorizing mortals. But the reason the Halloweentown citizens were terrorizing mortals was cause the mortals viewed them as freaks. So Halloweentown was created for the monsters to live normal lives.
The pure serotonin that pumps through my brain when I see there's a new Brutalmoose video is unreal
Oh dang. Wish that happened to me. Pure dopamine pumps through mine when I see a new Brutal Moose video.
I agree, I love his videos!
@@Gatorade69 Pure norepinephrine and GABA pumps through mine. Sometimes even acetylcholine.
@cactus no fair 😡😡😡
Just re-watched HalloweenTown last week after about a decade and a half, and yeah, it has not aged well. At the same time though, there's some charm in how cheaply made it clearly is.
It's like you can tell that the production team said to themselves "well, if Disney doesn't want to fork-up the cash for something impressive, we might as well just have fun and make a silly movie". It helps that some of the actors are obviously having some fun with their roles (especially Debbie Reynolds).
Post Scriptum: Maybe I'm just an apologist for DCOMs from the early aughts 'cause I grew up watching them, but I can't help feeling charmed at how earnest they are in spite of their low production values.
Agreed. This movie is completely charming from start to finish. It honestly doesn't drag in any parts and every single scene moves the plot forward. It's a good movie.
I was like "Who's Luke? ... wait... you don't mean... it COULDN'T be... it's a Halloween miracle!!"
Rumor has it he made a deal with the devil to remove some warts
The grandma was Debbie Reynolds. Of course she carried the movie!
And then I looked at the sand and there was only 1 set of footprints
because Debbie Reynolds was carrying me
HiddenBlock love right here. A nostalgia trip on the team up, the movie, the whole thing! And yet it also feels fresh. I'm in love.
If we can get a balrog, jimmy, Ian and yungtown to do a valentine lonely hearts part 2 again. It’s be heaven
@@Mingodough I forgot that existed... I might have to give it a rewatch haha
More movies could use that calming exposition that everything will be okay. Imagine if before Han Solo was frozen in carbonite he let us all know that it was temporary and he’d be fine. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Hello Ian! My Dad passed away October, and your videos have been helping me stay grounded whenever i need to find something soothing and bring my mind to a safe place. so, thank you! for making the past 3 years of me being a sub, amazing. Thank you!❤️
“Wanting something and letting yourself have it” pretty easily explains how they used to do magic by accident. Sophie still does in this movie. Gwen is hiding it. If they became aware that they could do magic, they could practice. Think of it like stretching to gain more flexibility or working out to tone muscle. Powers can be “stretched” and more power can be “gained.”
One of the Halloweentown creatures in a crowd shot at 30:27 is a Union soldier. There's also a just a lady in a flowery hat and dress.
Not sure why as a kid the skull face/zombie guy at 21:34 REALLY put the fear of God in me.
Haven't seen this movie in over 10 years, and seeing him out of nowhere actually frightened me. Lmao.
The epic duo of Luke and Ian back again to review another Disney movie
Awesome
Happy Halloween Ian and Luke!
I’ve been to the filming location in St. Helens, and it is SO TINY. It literally is just a town square with regular Halloween decorations thrown around.
For those who are interested. Halloweentown is in St Helens, Oregon. It's pretty cool but it gets crowded in October. The "opening" of halloweentown is in late September where some of the characters from the various movies come visit. Its worth a visit.
Personally, I'm a huge sucker for combining magic systems with fantasy flair with contemporary technologies. Esp if there is anachronysm with the ways in which the more modern aesthetics and fantasy aesthetics clash.
Loved it in The Sims Makin' Magic with things like the digital touchscreen spellbook, and the wand charger that literally was like a pencil sharpener for infusing wands and looked like a meat grinder with a cauldron on top, and love it here too.
I love how mom is just "Mom." Sounds like Ian's talking about his own mom and it's really cute 😂
I don't like how she's a stick in the mud the size of East Texas.
Oh man, this movie was my childhood. Along with Hocus Pocus.
Scene: Grandma tells the kids about how humans waged a brutal campaign of genocide against her people and were forced to flee to another dimension to avoid complete extermination.
Soundtrack: funny circus clown music
26:30-26:32*Gets shot by Calabar*: Does a T-pose into the abyss.
The sad thing about the Aspect Ratio thing is that "Return to Halloweentown" was a 16:9 Widescreen Movie that was Cropped on both the 2006-2010 Airings & the DVD
A "D" for Halloween town?! Nah, all the actors are great, the cheapness actually makes it feel like Halloween instead of just a random magical place.
But it's supposed to be a magical place, a world even. I think the movie is charming personally, but objectively it is just kinda bad
@@pokemonduck It isn't really supposed to be super magical. It's supposed to be our world but with a few funky twists.
Can we talk about how the villain is "Calabar" in the first movie and "Kalabar" in the second. I dunno why this bugs me more than all of the other glaring mistakes made in these movies. Still. Nostalgia makes this tenoutaten.
It's like Pokey becoming Porky
They spelled Kalabar's name with a C in the opening credits of the first movie and I did not notice until I watched this video.
Maybe he evolved like a pokeman
I love this new character Ian Movie, its refreshing to see.
dude Luke had to be baked out of his fucking gourd during this LMAOOOO
Didn't notice until you pointed it out, now it's impossible to miss. His eyes are neon red.
@@kingtut5520 I thought he was just tired... damn
I just now checked the comments right when I started it for the first time to see if anyone else commenting on how baked he looked at the start of the video lol
An epic, dangerous adventure that is solved by running errands? That speaks to my sensible soul, man.
My favourite part is the 3 minute talk on the aspect ratio.
(Back when I was young, people complained about letterboxing/widescreening films because it made it sooo small on our old crt TVs. How times change)
Watched this with the fiancée on Halloween with a bowl of candy and it was great fun. Fantastic content as always Ian and it’s always a pleasure to see Luke!
I mean, the reason Halloweentown is just a bunch of mythical beings being just normal people is a whole thematic thing about how they're just people who fled persecution for being different.
I've missed your collab movie reviews!
IDK why but that "Ooooooooh duh" reaction to "High School Musical" cracked me up. Relatable I guess.
Luke’s outro for the Hello Fresh ad was so cute. He knew how much of a dork he was being.
I've been waiting for your Halloween video. I'm hyped
Wow i just watched Halloweentown 2 with no context last night and i kept thinking, i hope Ian does the first halloweentown. Lo and behold! I knew i smelled brutalmoose content from these movies!
Don’t have time to watch the video yet but I’m already liking, saving it to my watch later, and telling the fam (yes we all watch you) what we are watching tonight! Ian! Please keep doing stuff with yungtown! Thank you for all that you guys do!
Halloween town is where the unsold party city decorations go
“Dads always dead... you just can’t have both parents, it doesn’t work that way.”
Damn... feels
I'd say it's the mother who's always dead.
I'm with you on the physical media preference, especially when it comes to the widescreen pan n scan that a lot of 90s media has done to it these days on streaming sites.
What I don't get is why didn't they just present it in original aspect ratio? Did people hate black bars that much?
I was waiting for some BrutalMoose Halloween content and I got blessed with it today!
"Benny the Bone Taxi" had me laughing. Thanks guys! Great stuff!
Hey Ian, I'm going through a lot of shit right now, thanks for making a video about a film that represents pure nostalgia for a lot of us. Keep up the good work
This was my 1st Brutalmoose video. I'm so glad I happened to search for halloweentown when you uploaded.
Love your videos so much Ian :) Thank you for the laughs!
I'm so happy for this review and seeing these two team up again for a DCOM! No joke I've literally had this on repeat today while cleaning up my house lol. It's just so comforting listening to them review a movie and a movie many of us grew up with and feel nostalgic about.
Thumbs up so Ian and Luke see this to please keep these movie reviews going! Even if they're not DCOM's I'd love to see this duo continue! And Luke -- I'm glad you're back and are okay dude. I will def be checking out your Twitch streams.
This is that content I've been waiting for. Love all your stuff, but especially your DCOM reviews.
I watch the Halloweentown series every year for Halloween. There's just something fun, charming and nostalgic about this series for me. It's full of that fun spooky feeling that gets me more excited for Halloween. It is kind of funny how you expect the sequels to explain more about magic when pretty much every sequel makes up more rules. Removing Marnie's line about how Luke became a handsome prince when he decided to help her always seems so weird to me. I thought that was a nice moment between them and showed that she cared about him. The editing to make it sound like she turned him down was funny though.
When is Ian Movie going to do a collab with Ian McMystery? That would be awesome.
I just learned the composer for this also did Rugrats and Thor: Ragnarok.
Luke's intro: casually drops his Twitch link
Me: excitement about his Twitch being back (even though I already knew)
This was filmed in the town I was living in when I was younger St. Helens OR, they shut down the court house for a couple of weeks to film all of the Halloween town stuff, I tried to get in to be an extra but they were full so they let me watch them film for the day.
the biggest treat I've gotten this year, Luke and Ian together in a video again
I love Luke. I love Ian. This is the best Christmas present ever!
*luke*- if you ever come back to Halloweentown look me up
*marnie*- no
My good Christian household growing up would've never stood for this, but I watched it every year
Maybe that's why I turned into... this
Well Lexi I think you're cool. Especially if you talk to a lot of gradmas
Yes, the Christian household was why you turned into... well, whatever you have turned into. Strict/christian/strict Christian households often have the opposite effect.
I grew up with my mom who wasn't religious or strict at all. I don't smoke, barely drink and stay out of trouble. My step brother who grew up in the strict Christian household smokes, drinks, had a kid at 18, got divorced, crashed his car. All the other kids started smoking the devils lettuce at 14 too.
Funny, my good Christian household loved this movie
Edgy
it's so good to see a video with you and luke again yessss
So sweet to see Hidden Block members together :)
Ian & Luke back together! I’ve never been happier than just seeing a new BrutalMoose video notification.
Oh I'm excited for this
Thank you for another enjoyable video Ian!
love that you're reviewing a movie, love halloweentown and love having luke! its giving so much nostalgia! anyway great video ian
Halloweentown high is actually my favorite of the films. The first film holds a special place. I always thought Marnies name was Barney for years. Love seeing Luke and you watch another DCOM.
how has nobody mentioned that luke looks baked beyond belief lmfao
you should review luck of the irish for st patricks day this year lol, was the most memorable dcom to me
God, I am still haunted by that dance off. It probably has NOT aged well...
Ohmygod I can't imagine the cringe.
Yes please
Ian I LOVE this video, hoping we can get more movie reviews like this in the future but no pressure obvi everything you make is great! (In my humble opinion )
This upload has made my Halloween truly spooktacular 🧡🖤
LOL the last 4 minutes were like the crown for the whole show :D awesome
love this channel!!!!
Ian and Luke are my favourite duo in all of history ever of all time.
Mine too~!
@@yungtown I'm glad that Ian came to his senses and scientifically determined you as #1 Luke!
Heck yea a brutalmoose review video! I can die happy now! Ty dude and happy holidays. Both of u guys!
Is it just me or was Ian's exposition dump as grandma pretty good but also creepy at the same time? lol
--- Also the fact that he admires how Luke was always out talking to grandmas... dude I'm dying XD
I really hope they do a video for the sequel so they can find out how misleading the name "Kalabar's Revenge" actually is 😂
i love this video. halloweentown has always been my favorite dcom and series so i loved hearing you and Luke discuss it, it’s definitely a cheesy movie but it’s cute.
i've been waiting for Halloweentown since i first saw him do a Dcom. Love that it's finally here. And with Yungtown no less, great video.
20:14 "...the mortals and the monsters just couldn't get along..."
Damn, so Undertale copied this movie?
It's one of Toby Fox's biggest inspirations in life, actually.
This concept wasn't invented by Disney...
@@Nekoszowa Ah yes, you're right, Disney actually stole it from Toby Fox
I love your videos with Luke so much. You guys have real chemistry and I didn't think we'd ever get another DCOM review after how long it's been but you've BLESSED US AGAIN! Thank you, Ian and Luke
Moose, your awkwardness in the intro is why I love your content so so much.
Wish people loved my awkwardness :/
Thank the gods Brutal Moose is back! Tis the season and such
"These are bad times. Dark Times."
*Aggressive Mr. Dink Doug music
BRB weeping cause I am so ready for this!! Missed this dynamic duo! And my Disney classics ❤️
I was a huge Underwraps and Phantom of the Megaplex fan as a kid. I would wait all year to see my favorite DCOMs. There was also a movie in the Disney channel called HE double hockey sticks. I really liked that one too
Halloween town came out a few days after I was born. I was born on October 13th 1998