Hannah and her friends must fend off Jimmy, whose fear of Bug-a-boo has him plotting to make sure Halloween doesn't happen at all.
A year after the first movie, Harry the Werewolf (Gary Chalk) a new story, only for Scary Godmother (Tabitha St. Germain) to interrupt and remind him of his debt from ordering so much pizza last year.
He cuts in that he's already doing Halloween a favor by telling a spooky story, so she allows him to transition to Jimmy's house. Since being scared the year before, Jimmy (Alexander Ludwig) has become a nervous wreck, convinced the monsters will come eat him on Halloween. His friendsvisit, but a row of flashlights blind them, and after stepping on and popping numerous balloons, they are startled to discover a dummy in Jimmy's bed. Having hidden behind the curtains, Jimmy explains he monster-proofed his room by setting up his "traps" and balloons as alarms. To remove hiding places, he sawed off his bed's legs and removed the clothes from his closet. Bert (Dexter Bell) reminds him they believe the "monsters" were older kids, and Katie (Brittney Irvin) disgusts him by saying they deserved it for scaring Hannah. Daryl (Nathan Tipple) tries to plan for Halloween, but Jimmy wants to boycott the holiday, so the group leaves. Meanwhile, Hannah (Britt McKillip) is putting up Halloween decorations when Bug-a-boo (Gary Chalk) visits, having a neighbor of hers on his scaring list. She explains she's waiting for the others, who are now her friends, and after complimenting her decorations, he suggests she get the extra cobwebs she needs from Scary Godmother, reminding her of the key the witch provided. While he scares the neighbor, Hannah takes the key to her door, allowing her to enter Scary Godmother's house in the Fright Side. Though busy preparing, SM and Skully Pettibone (Scott McNeil) are overjoyed to see her, and SM brings Harry upstairs so he can paint the clouds outside. Boozle hacks up a "scareball" that slams into SM's magic calendar, from which Hannah notices Halloween is huge in the Fright Side. Scary Godmother explains it's their most important holiday. Hannah soon notices how busy SM is and offers to return later, but SM is happy to help and quickly knits out a cobweb for her. SM's suggestion that Skully "jimmy" a locked door reminds Hannah to call Jimmy, who is currently assaulting his spaghetti after believing it resembles Bug-a-boo. She invites him to get pumpkins with her and the others, saying you can't have Halloween without them, but this only inspires the boy, and he hangs up. Realizing the monsters won't come if there's no Halloween, Jimmy decides to eliminate all essential Halloween attractions. With pumpkins, candy, and costumes in Jimmy's sight, it's up to Hannah and the others to stop him from ruining Halloween and destroying the Fright Side.
Really, who doesn't love these classic movies? As soon as October hit, I knew I needed to give this a watch, and I've been planning to talk about it since last year.
This is such a great continuation of the previous movie, with the characters in new places and with a completely different story. The first movie is a sort of coming of age story for Hannah, who grows and overcomes her fears, learning she shares commonalities with things that seem different. Jimmy of course is a bully, who orders the others around and uses his age to trick Hannah into a mean prank, only to be unmasked as a frightened kid himself. This story takes these character changes to come up with a completely new continuation, with Hannah a stronger character and Jimmy stuck in fear. Things have become immensely better for Hannah in a year's time, having become friends with her remorseful tormentors and able to visit Scary Godmother's any time. She's excited for Halloween, and reacts with a happy scream followed by a converstaion when Bug-a-boo comes to scare her. On the other hand, you have Jimmy, who is so traumatized after the previous film's ending that his fear rules his life. He's turned his room into a "trapped" shell and wears the same clothes every day, and even sees Bug-a-boo's face in his spaghetti. Jimmy's current situation is like a continuation of Hannah's from the first movie, with a different take on how his fear is controlling him. For Hannah, the lesson was that not everything that seems scary is so bad, and that you can have similarities with people who are different. Jimmy, meanwhile, faces his fear with violence and anger, and he needs to learn that he can't let his fear control him or react to every situation with anger and violence. To further compare the two, it's Bug-a-boo whom the two are most afraid of, with the large monster exemplifying what Hannah was afraid of, and actually being the creature that hides under Jimmy's bed.
The movie gives us just as many fantastic Halloween visuals as the previous with journeys into the Fright Side, this time with it struggling to remain.
The backgrounds still have the watercolor style of the books and the first movie, and it keeps the strange charm of the spooky world. Scary Godmother gives off dazzling displays of magic, occasionally at break-neck pace, and sometimes zooms around to show off the scenery. As Jimmy's attacks on Halloween commence, we see the Fright Side's condition worsen, with characters losing color and falling apart, and the world disappearing. The first thing to happen is always with the calendar Hannah noticed, as a perfect way for the characters to realize when something is going wrong. The more disastrous Jimmy's actions, the smaller their Halloween pumpkin picture shrinks. This doesn't stop Hannah, however, as she's the only one who can save her Halloween friends, with some help from her new ones. Using her creativity, Hannah is able to come up with ways to fight off each of Jimmy's actions, and showing Halloween doesn't have to be as commercial. Jimmy's going after the pumpkins? Well now we have jack-o-lanterns already started, and don't have to worry about the guts! Candy has been tampered with and can't be sold? Just make your own snacks in the kitchen and have fun doing it! This is an aspect of holidays and honestly any tradition that people make dead-set one way, forgetting that it doesn't have to be so. You more often see this sort of thing with Christmas, like when the Grinch famously realized the holiday isn't something that is bought or can be stolen, with more importance being on kindness and the feeling inside. This also gives us the return of a segment from the first movie, in which Scary Godmother make a treat to stop Harry from chattering. For the second movie, we instead have Hannah whipping up her own treat, making a simple but tasty concoction to give fun and food.
Along with the returning theme and segment, we see the return of all the characters from the first movie, but with a few new voices.
Bert has a different voice this time around, but as a smaller character, it's not as noticeable, especially because the most dramatic change is to Jimmy. In the first film, Jimmy got a deep voice from former child actor Alex Doduk, and this time around he has a higher pitch from actor Alexander Ludwig (Hunger Games). The second actor does a great job with the character, but it's always so jarring to me going from the first to second movie, because of how drastically different the voice is. Ludwig plays an effective bully, but this time around Jimmy is more of a crazed character, thanks to the fear fueling his every action. One of my favorite small details in the movie comes from Jimmy, whom we see transform physically over the course of the film to match his nasty attitude. The first step comes from a rather silly joke I always enjoy, in which Jimmy's mom repeatedly warns him not to make faces, otherwise his face will freeze that way. Of course not listening, it indeed gets stuck on an evil grin, with some hair making his ears resemble horns. The scene references the famous Grinch smile, with Harry saying Jimmy "Got himself an idea. A nasty, mean, selfish, devilish idea." The movie early on sets up another part of his transformation by having Jimmy explain he tossed his other clothes and wears the same ones every day, as when he goes out later, he only has his devil costume for warmth. The transformation is a perfect way to show how Jimmy's character is going down a dark road, becoming more cruel as his fear fuels him. Another of my favorite parts of this movie comes from some of my favorite characters: Orson and his vampiric family, the lovely Ruby and out-of-touch Count Max. While originally the family was mostly a source of Hannah's fears, trying to eat the girl, this time around we see more of them as a typical, albeit monstrous, family. Last time they showcased a lot of their vampiric natures, and this time they talk about going to the grocery store, and the parents embarrass the son. Much like Hannah grew, Orson is in his own spot of growth, feeling like his parents are pushing him to be something he doesn't like. Stuck in his old ways, Max is convinced Halloween needs to be traditional, and Ruby has sketches drawn up for gaudy ballroom outfits for Orson to wear. The boy of course hates this idea and wants to express himself, and with Hannah's help, he is able to dress the way he wants to. Max is a great source of comedy in this special, constantly doing one of my favorite styles which is making him out of touch with everything. In the first movie we had him saying pizza was a "groovy" idea, and this time we have him misunderstanding what a "dork" is and saying his son will be the "Prince of Dorkness," which is also a pun on his title, "Prince of Darkness."
Already a great Halloween movie for the family, Scary Godmother the Revenge of Jimmy is a perfect continuation to a fun film.
With Hannah's spooky friends becoming more of a normal aspect, a new story comes along with all of Halloween in danger. Many characters return, and I likewise return to this movie every year, as it's a fun way to get in the Halloween spirit.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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