Before people my age knew Debbie Reynolds was a Golden Age-era screen star (and long before we heard stories about her love triangle with Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor ) she was just Halloweentown's Grandma Cromwell — an ancient witch with attitude.The made-for-TV movie first aired on the Disney Channel back in 1998; nearly two decades later, it's certainly showing its age. But while the film lacks the bells and whistles of today's movie magic (and, if we're being honest, those goblin masks are a little ridiculous) Halloweentown did manage to capture the Halloween spirit in a way that endures to this day.Of course, she's far from the only memorable Halloweentown character: Kimberly J. Brown played Marnie, the tween witch who butted heads with her mother over their Halloween heritage. The Cromwell women: Her mother Gwen (Judith Hoag), her sister Piper, and grandma Agatha "Aggie" Cromwell — were all witches. Gwen was determined to force them all to lead normal human lives. But when Marie and the kids sneak out of the house and follow their grandmother to Halloweentown, they get caught up in an evil plot to return the metropolis to the dark ages. So here you have it: an oral history of Halloweentown, with behind the scenes insight from the movie's cast and crew.Before she was cast as Marnie, Kimberly J. Brown was a successful Broadway child star. The summer of Halloweentown was a busy one, she says, because she was also in production for an independent feature that went to Sundance. Judith Hoag starred in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990. DuWayne Dunham had directed some episodes of Twin Peaks and Homeward Bound, and liked working on movies his kids could see. Before this TV movie turned into a franchise and a festival, it was just another project waiting to be picked up by the relatively new kids channel., director: "The Disney Channel was just starting to make these kinds of family movies. I had come in and met with them and they gave me this project called Halloweentown. It was very well-written, it just was big, because it was written as a feature. We spent some time trying to keep the integrity of the story but get it down, where we could afford to make the movie."It was a fun, fun shoot because we were in this little town, up north of Portland, Oregon. The town was kind of deserted. We took over the whole town square, everything. It was ideal — like shooting on the back lot.", who played Marie Cromwell: "I did the first Halloweentown when I was 13. It was the fourth ever original movie that Disney Channel had ever done. The town square itself really added to that whole magical feel. Especially the way that they dressed it up and everything. Being a young teen in there, it was so exciting to be a part of it."I'm doing the Spirit of Halloweentown Festival this year, in St. Helens, Oregon, which is where we shot the first Halloweentown movie. Last year’s event was my first time being back since 1998. It looked exactly like I remembered it. Even the outside of the movie theater. They still put a big jack-o-lantern in the middle of the square like in the movie for the festival every year.", who played Gwen Cromwell: "I had an agent, it was just another audition. Michael Healey, who was a head of Disney Channel, had a son who was a big Ninja Turtles fan. I was in the first movie. When I walked in, Michael said ‘I’m so excited that you’re here, we’re huge Ninja Turtles fans in our house.’ At some point I did a little autograph for his son, and posed for photos. So I was like, Oh this is good. This is working out nicely. I thought that it was a sweet script. And hearing that Debbie Reynolds was attached to it, I was like 'I’m in!": “I'm not quite sure the genesis of how Debbie got involved. We wanted something of a name [to get involved], and Debbie Reynolds is terrific. We all jumped at the opportunity to work with her. And she was, she was great! [Laughs] You know, comes from the school of one take. ‘What's the matter, I didn't do it right? I have to do it again?’ [she'd ask]. It was great.”