Disney Halloween specials bring out our childhood selves. As children, we loved these creepy and scary stories that could never happen to us. Now, as adults, we see how these characters truly act and why their attitudes are valid.
‘Jessie’: “The Whining”
In this episode of Jessie, a show centered around a nanny who takes care of the Ross kids, the story is a parody of classic films like The Shining and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While the kids are getting ready to trick-or-treat, a creepy doorman named Grimm Hillorn warns the Ross kids not to trick-or-treat on the building’s thirteenth floor. He tells them legends about how an old 1920s nanny did something terrible to her kids on Halloween.
Ignoring the warning, the kids go up to the floor anyway. There, they encounter horror elements of the Halloween season, such as gory blood and twins. Their nanny, who is busy finishing her short story, ends up exhausted and covered with red punch. Her frantic behavior scares the kids, making them think she’s possessed. However, the truth at the end reveals that the children are gullible and that the poor woman simply needed a good rest.
Jessie has zero tolerance for dealing with these children who don’t listen, like, ever. We all know the feeling of “becoming” someone else when we feel mildly annoyed. It feels like an active drain on your remaining energy, and the best time to use that lack of stability is not on the scariest night of the year.
Rest assured – we all love the narratives of misunderstandings, especially when it comes to children who don’t listen. I mean, I would be pissed too if it were dark and late at night, not knowing what happened to your kids. But jokingly, fear is a good thing; it keeps us alive and makes us cautious of our authority figures.
As adults, we understand why, when we get tired, we can go crazy because there are so many things to do in one day. It’s overwhelming, and sometimes you have to take that anger and run with it. Sometimes a woman just has to snap once in a while so she can do the thing for everyone else.
‘Austin and Ally’: “Costumes and Courage”
In this episode of Austin and Ally, Austin Moon’s agent, Jimmy Starr, invites Austin to further expand his career profile by singing a duet with none other than Taylor Swift at his famous Halloween party.
While the intimidation of singing with Taylor in a room of talented legends gets to Austin, he also learns of Jimmy Starrs’ action of selling one of Ally’s songs to Taylor Swift, instead of letting it become his song. In the midst of his feelings of anger, he accidentally sends a hateful text message to Jimmy Starr ~ which the gang has to delete before he reads it and ends Austin’s music career.
As this goes on, Dez and Trish, in their Dez and Trish fashion, are ghost hunting in the Halloween party venue while also trying to track down Jimmy. Ally, in her costume, runs into a guy she has a crush on, and allows herself to become a less shy and more flirtatious person, when discovering that her Halloween mask will conceal her identity.
After successfully finding Jimmy, Ally is able to get a hold of his phone and delete Austin’s message. And while all problems may seem to be resolved, Dez, when ghost hunting, accidentally knocks out Taylor Swift, and Trish finally reveals that there were no ghosts ~ it was just her messing with Dez the whole time.
Ally then steps up and conquers her stage freight and replaces Taylor Swift on the stage with Austin. This pivotal moment sparks the beginning of her becoming less afraid of the stage and embracing her natural born talent.
Women are able to channel the essence of Ally in this episode, especially when it comes to conquering fears due to the fact that we cannot be recognized. We can understand her difficulty in deciding if her desires or fear should win, as well as that monumental feeling when you can finally face your fear and make your dream come true. Ally, hidden behind the name of the powerful woman Taylor Swift, was able to step into the shoes of a pop star and truly capture her own energy and spirit. Women build women up, and they build themselves up, too.
‘Liv and Maddie’: “Helgaween-A-Rooney”
From the Disney Channel sitcom Liv and Maddie, their most popular and remembered Halloween episode was “Helgaween-A-Rooney.” When it first premiered on Oct. 5, 2014, there was an audience of about 2.6 million viewers.
Every year, Ridgewood High would host an annual ScreamFest event where everyone would dress up in costumes. Maddie Rooney and her basketball team were going to be dressed as dead basketball players, however, Liv Rooney wanted the theme to be brown because she believed the color to be “scary.” Willow Cruz arrived at the Rooney’s house dressed as a bear and informed Maddie Rooney that her sister texted the whole school the theme was changed to brown.
Immediately frustrated, she wished to not be a twin while wearing the mysteriously magic amulet. The amulet emerged and glowed red, which landed Maddie in an alternate reality where instead of being a twin, she was a triplet. The series went from being Liv and Maddie to Liv, Maddie, and Helga.
Helga’s character appeared strange, as her hair was a mess, her clothes were unusual, and she spoke in a weird way. Her personality was very controlling, and having a unique set of abilities kept her in that “alpha phase,” as she liked to call it. The ScreamFest event in Maddie’s reality was changed into HelgaFest, which shows she has the school under her control and this whole alternate reality is about her.
While the Helga situation is happening, Joey and Parker Rooney use the amulet to create clones of themselves so they can go to the Mutilator Mike’s Haunted House of Terrifying Frights and Scares, after their parents said no since it wasn’t age appropriate. The brothers got to go, but when they arrived back home, realization dawned upon them that they created evil clones after seeing their parents being stewed in a pot.
The Rooney siblings went into action to get rid of Helga and the evil clones, though, when Maddie wished to be a twin again, Helga came through the front door, not Liv. Then, Helga ate the amulet with the humus and Maddie believed she wouldn’t ever see her true twin again. But then, she wished her family would go back to normal, and she then landed back in reality.
In the end, the episode reveals the mother, Karen Rooney, hypnotized Maddie with the amulet to help her deal with her fears and anxiety surrounding her injured knee and build back her confidence to shoot a three-pointer. Karen created Helga to represent the fears and anxiety that her daughter has about basketball.
The life lesson of the “Helgaween-A-Rooney” episode is that your own personal fears and anxiety are mostly in your head, and facing them is the best way to overcome it, heal, and move forward. There are some people in the world who deal with the same thing, which I believe is why this Halloween episode feels real and easy to resonate with.