The Halloweentown movies’ focus on the Cromwell and Piper family leaves some major mysteries about key members, including what happened to Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie’s father. Disney’s 1998 movie Halloweentown reveals that 13-year-old Marnie Piper (Kimberly J. Brown) and her siblings Dylan and Sophie are being raised by their single mother Gwen Piper, who is visited by her eccentric mother Aggie Cromwell every Halloween. The three kids soon find out that they, alongside their mother and grandmother, are witches and a warlock, though their father was a mortal human, explaining why they don’t reside in the magical Halloweentown.
Much is discussed about the family dynamics of the Cromwells across Halloweentown’s four movies, but little is known about Marnie’s mortal father William Piper and his family members. While Marnie discusses that the fact that her parents met on Halloween helped inspire her love for the holiday, the circumstances behind her father’s absence in the 1998 movie aren’t directly revealed, especially since Gwen becomes upset when William is mentioned. However, William’s fate is briefly confirmed in Halloweentown, though mystery still shrouds his passing after 25 years.
Marnie, Sophie & Dylan’s Father Died Before Halloweentown
Halloweentown reveals that Marnie, Sophie, and Dylan’s father William Piper died before the events of the first movie. However, the movie gives no indication as to how he died or when exactly his passing occurred. Early in Halloweentown, Debbie Reynolds’ character Aggie suggests that Gwen and her kids should return to the St. Helens, Oregon-filmed Halloweentown because William’s passing seemingly leaves them without a reason to stay in the mortal world. Since Aggie only visits the family on Halloween night, it seems that William died sometime between Halloween 1997 and Halloween 1998. Though Halloweentown’s four movies never reveal how William Piper died, his young age seems to suggest that it was an illness or tragic accident.
Everything Halloweentown Reveals About Marnie’s Father Before His Death
Halloweentown doesn’t give too much background information about William Piper before his death, but Marnie, Gwen, Aggie, and Kalabar do give some key insight. The movies confirm that William met Gwen at a Halloween party that she had crashed when visiting the mortal world one Halloween, with William commenting that he liked her witch “costume.” Gwen then married William and stayed in the mortal world to raise their kids Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie, though it’s unclear whether William was aware that the kids would inherit Gwen’s magical powers. Disney’s movies also reveal that William was loathed by Kalabar, as Gwen had been romantically linked to Halloweentown’s future mayor before falling in love with William in the mortal world.
While the priority of Disney’s Halloweentown movies was the Cromwell family, it is still curious that Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie’s relationship with William’s family is never mentioned. Even if Gwen could have returned to Halloweentown‘s titular location after William’s death, the films could have used the Piper kids’ connection to their father’s family as a reason for staying in the mortal world. Even 25 years after the original movie’s premiere, William’s death and background remain the franchise’s biggest mystery.
