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It’s a Halloweentown reunion at 90s Con!
The cast of Disney Channel’s Halloweentown film series gathered for a Q&A at 90s Con, during a panel moderated by PEOPLE’s Dory Jackson, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Kimberly J. Brown, Daniel Kountz and Judith Hoag were a few of the stars reminiscing on memories from the film’s creation — and their time with costar Debbie Reynolds, who died in December 2016 at age 84.
Brown, 40, told the crowd, “Debbie over the years, early on, gave me the idea to give out candy on Halloween dressed in my Marnie costume because she had given out candy in her Aggie look.” Brown played young witch Marnie Piper, while Reynolds played her grandmother Aggie Cromwell.
“I did that for a couple of years and got just so much joy out of surprising people at the door,” she said, before noting that she ultimately had to stop once people came to her house outside of Halloween to find her.
Later in the panel, Brown shared that Reynolds was actually the reason she had her character’s trademark cloak to begin with. “That cloak was made for me,” she said, and Reynolds thought she ought to keep it. “She just kind of kept going up to different producers and saying, ‘Just let her take it home, just let her take it home.’ So by the end it, they said just take it.”
Brown also remembered the day on the set of the original Halloweentown movie that she and Reynolds filmed a ride on a broomstick. “It was Debbie and I up on a very tall stool, in front of a big blue screen, kind of being dipped from side to side all day,” she remembered. It was the “first time” they spent one-on-one time together, and Reynolds told her stories and made sure Brown’s dad took photos.
Kountz, 46, meanwhile, said he remembered that while making 2001’s Halloweentown 2, the cast and extras had low energy during a night scene. Reynolds, an “absolute professional” who had “more energy than anybody,” started singing and telling stories for the cast. “Then we filmed and we had all the energy,” he said.
Hoag, 61, said she remembered rehearsing a scene in a kitchen, and the actors were supposed to step off to have their stand-ins do all the lighting. But Reynolds didn’t step off.
“I always stand in for myself,” the Singin’ in the Rain star said. “Bette Davis taught me that.” Now, Hoag said, when she stands in for herself, she says, “Debbie Reynolds taught me what Bette Davis did.”
The first Halloweentown film, a Disney Channel Original Movie that aired more than 25 years ago, just before Halloween. The movie was inspired by executive producer Steve White’s daughter.
White’s wife, Sheri Singer — also an executive producer on the film — recalled the moment to E! News in October 2017: “He came in one day to me and said, ’I don’t know where to go with this, but my daughter said to me, ‘Dad, where do all the creatures from Halloween go the rest of the year when it’s not October 31?’ And that’s how it was born.”
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Reynolds was the first to be cast, taking on the role of Aggie Cromwell. The rest of the roles were filled over time: Brown as Marnie Piper, Aggie’s granddaughter; Hoag as Marnie’s mother, Gwen Cromwell Piper; Joey Zimmerman as Marnie’s brother Dylan Piper; and Emily Roeske as Marnie’s sister Sophie Piper.
The original movie was followed by three sequels, including Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001), Halloweentown High (2004) and Return to Halloweentown (2006).
Brown, 40, who played the teenage witch Marnie, met her husband Kountz, 46, on the set of Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge. During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in September, Brown said one of her favorite parts of being recently married to her former costar are the titles that come with the territory.
“We’ve really enjoyed being able to use the words husband and wife as often as possible,” she told PEOPLE. “We cheated and we snuck a few in there before we actually got married. We would reference each other as husband and wife here and there.”
With the paperwork signed and vows made, Brown said, “Now it feels even more special and validated to get to call each other that and we’ve really enjoyed that part for sure.”
In 2022, the couple held an intimate wedding ceremony with their closest friends and family members at the Spanish Hills Club in Camarillo, Calif., where they exchanged vows.
As for Hoag, 61, she said during a panel discussion at the Classic Rewind Weekend 2022 that Reynolds influenced her participation in the movie.
“I did the movie because Debbie Reynolds was doing the movie and I was such a fan,” Hoag said. “At the time, nobody really knew what the Disney Channel was. I loved the idea of playing a witch and being in a witch family, but I really wanted to work with her.”
Hoag appeared in all four of the Halloweentown movies.
90s Con is running through Sunday, March 30, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
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