Dance with Death

Rating the top 6 Halloween parties in nostalgic Disney movies!!

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The Sanderson sisters are back haunting Salem in Hocus Pocus 2. Photo credit of Deadline.

Macy Vance, Copy Editor

Disney knows how to throw a party. With the release of Hocus Pocus 2, let’s look back on all the Halloween bashes that are key scenes to any iconic Disney movie. I ranked the following 6 movies based on music, costumes, decorations/venue, and food. Here’s how these films measure up!

Twin Tamera at her spooky Halloween party. Photo courtesy of IMBd images.

6. Twitches

This party technically wasn’t even for Halloween, but it was a birthday party of the magical twins born on Halloween. Costumes were nowhere to be found, since the occasion wasn’t even on theme for this Halloween movie. Alas, Disney did scare us all with the number of low rise jeans on screen. The music was just a DJ, lacking that karaoke element that other nostalgic films incorporate with live performances. This party is hype because of its sick mansion, complete with fairy lights and a pool. They also had a huge cake, which never hurts. Overall, I would still go to the birthday party of the twin witches, just not on Halloween.

The Halloween bash in Halloweentown. Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

5. Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge

This party is everything you picture a typical Halloween party to be. There are orange streamers and plastic glowing pumpkins inside someone’s nice home. Kids walk around awkwardly shuffling into each other with their store bought costumes, holding punch from a snack table that is never shown on camera. The speakers play classic Halloween songs and seem to be having a relatively good time. This party is rated higher than Twitches because it is right on theme, but I would rather stay home watching this movie than attending the party they go to.

Skylar Lewis (Olivia Holt) singing “Fearless”, rattling the cemetery with her bars. Photo credit to Fandom Wiki.
  1. Girl vs. Monster

What do you get when you put Olivia Holt in a cemetery? A rave in the grave. This music number ties in a whole band led by the ghost-hunter protagonist after she saved her parents from the witch’s evil hand. The girl must have been pretty jazzed, for she danced her heart out to the Disney original song “Fearless” which surely made the dead want to rise from their graves. This party gets an A+ on music and venue, but Holt was too busy saving the world that she didn’t have time for a costume or hors d’oeuvres. I’m not mad about it because she gave all Gen Z’s a banger song and a fond Halloween memory.

Prince charming meets Cinderella. Photo courtesy of Refinery 29.
  1. A Cinderella Story 

Tied for second place, A Cinderella Story isn’t officially a Halloween movie, but it did throw an epic party on October 31. Starting with a gorgeous venue, Sam, our protagonist, enters this beautiful ballroom looking like Cinderella herself. Another well-dressed character is the very boy our Cinderella is pining after, and together the look is complete. They aren’t the only two that go hard on costumes though. In the crowd, we see a man simply wearing a barrel, a guy dressed up like a present with the tag saying, “from God”, and Sam’s best friend dressed up as The Amazing Zorro himself. Sam and her prince Austin sneak off together to a floral garden, adding to the grandeur of the party location. There is no food seen and the music isn’t live, but there is a cute little dance scene and that’s good enough for me. 

Lemonade Mouth playing “Determinate” at their first gig. Photo courtesy of Popsugar UK.
  1. Lemonade Mouth

While this also isn’t a tried and true Disney Halloween classic, there’s no denying the absolute rager that is the Halloween Bash. This marks Lemonade Mouth’s first performance, and they surprise everyone with their riveting song “Determinate”. While the bash is in the school gym, the venue is still top tier with the fog and the energy brought to the stage. Food comes in the form of the lemonade that they pass out to the crowd. This is their way to protest their principal cutting the funds for the arts program and their favorite lemonade machine in the basement, adding a whole new level to this Halloween party. The only downsides that exist here are that the band themselves are not wearing costumes, and their rebellious actions cut their show short, but man it was a good one.

The Sanderson sisters perform “I Put a Spell on You”, bewitching all the parents to dance til they’re dead. Photo courtesy of Bustle.
  1. Hocus Pocus

This 1993 film takes the cake on our Halloween party rankings because it is pure art. Although there is no food to be found, every other aspect fills in for the edible absence. The venue where they throw the party in is a perfect scary house, big enough for all the adults of Salem (the setting) to come dance until they’re dead. The parents know how to make costumes, with the mom of our young protagonists dressed up as Madonna and the dad as Dracula. The music is a show-stopping song performed by the three infamous Sanderson sisters who were reincarnated that same spooky night. They sing their own edition of “I Put a Spell on You”, both blowing and hypnotizing the minds of all those present. This is an iconic scene to this staple Halloween film that is slow to leave the minds of all those who watch it. Maybe the witches really did put a spell on us!