It’s hard to believe that it has already been 20 years since Halloweentown first premiered on the Disney Channel.
According to People , Kimberly J. Brown — the star of the film, who played the role of Marnie Piper — has fully embraced her role in the Halloween film. Not only has Brown written a Halloween-themed children’s book, but she also has her own Etsy shop that has many items dedicated to the hit film.
Her Etsy page, called Craftily Creative, sells everything from mugs to t-shirts to signs for the home. Shirts have different phrases on them like “I believe in magic,” and “Straight Outta Halloweentown.” And each year, the actress attends Oregon’s Spirit of Halloweentown event in St. Helens, Oregon, where the movie was filmed. Brown calls it an honor to be able to come back each year to celebrate with locals.
“The role and the friendships and everything that I’ve created from that, it’s fun for me to go back and feel that nostalgia. Having people still wanting to talk about all that is the ultimate honor. I never imagined it would grow to what it is now.”
Of course, the iconic Debbie Reynolds played the role of Brown’s grandmother in the movie. Brown had nothing but nice things to say about the late actress, confessing that they would even hang out from time to time in Los Angeles before she passed away. Brown also said that Reynolds was an amazing person, both on and off camera.
“She had such a spark of fun energy, and she loved signing [sic] and making people laugh. She never wanted to stop doing it. She really showed me what a gift it was to be in that position to make people happy. She was such a warm, sparkly person.”
Additionally, Brown said that Reynolds always wanted to have fun on set — and that she brought a sort of “whimsical energy” to filming. The actress also said that she embraced her role as a grandmother while also having somewhat of a silly streak. Up until her death in 2016, Brown had kept in touch with her on-screen grandmother.
And even 20 years past the debut of the first film, Brown says that she still keeps in touch with a lot of the original cast members. In fact, she is currently dating Daniel Kountz, who starred in Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge. The pair rekindled their friendship by performing together in original content for YouTube and from there, things turned into a romantic relationship.
As always happens during this spookiest of seasons, there is expected to be a Halloweentown marathon over the coming weeks.
