- Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble 
DVD coverDirected by Stuart Margolin Written by Jurgen Wolff Starring Mary-Kate Olsen
Ashley OlsenDistributed by Warner Bros.
ABCRelease date(s) October 30, 1993 Country United States Language English Double, Double, Toil and Trouble is a 1993 Halloween children's TV movie. It stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as two adventurous little girls who discover that their Great Aunt Sophia has been trapped and cursed by her evil twin sister Agatha. On the 7th year of her imprisonment, Sophia will be doomed to the netherworld unless the spell is broken by the magical spell of twins. The film's title is part of the famous line spoken by the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act IV, Scene I): "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."
Contents
Plot
Don Farmer and his wife Christine are deeply in debt. They have utilized all of their sources but are still in danger of losing their home. They have twin daughters, Kelly and Lynn (played by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen respectively) who feel it is in their power and therefore their responsibility to help their parents get out of their bad situation. The Farmers decided to ask Christine’s Aunt Agatha, a cruel and cold woman for a loan, which is refused. Agatha too, has a twin sister; her name is Sophia (both characters played by Cloris Leachman).
Upon the visit to Agatha’s home, Mr. Grave Digger, a man employed for Agatha reveals a story about Agatha and her sister. He explains to the girls that Agatha’s home once belonged to a powerful witch who, before being burned at the stake 200 years before, had hidden her moonstone, the gem which gave her power in the home. As children Agatha and Sophia, tired of being twins heard the tale and began looking for the stone, in hopes of using its power to no longer be twins. Agatha found a moonstone and upon finding it hides it from her sister and begins using the magic it possesses to make her sister’s life miserable.
Years later Sophia and her fiancé George prepare to leave, to move away and begin their life together. Agatha, out of jealously and rage casts a spell that casts her sister into a netherworld. Afterwards, Sophia’s only form of communication or link to the outside world was through a mirror that Agatha kept hidden in an old attic. She had been missing with no clue of her whereabouts for years. Upon the 7th year, on Halloween, spell would be permanent and there would be no way of return for Sophia, she would be lost in the netherworld for eternity.
As the Farmer twins learn of their parents financial problems they begin a rescue mission. The spell can only be broken by the magical words recited by twins who have possession of the moonstone and Kelly and Lynn’s ultimate goal is to apprehend it. During their journey they meet a clown named Oscar, the cowardly gravedigger, a poor man named Mr. N, and a toy magic wand that has unexplained genuine magical powers. After tricking Agatha the twins become in possession of the moonstone.
The cruel Aunt Agatha does everything in her power to get rid of the twins. She fears they may find the mirror and undo her previous evil deeds. She is threatened by their presence because she knows that the power of twins combined is superior to her own. When Agatha realizes she cannot rid herself of the twins, she attempts to poison them with jealously and resentment toward one another. The younger twins had in fact been having problems much like the ones their aunts had shared, wanting to be looked upon as individuals. Agatha attempts to persuade Lynn into betraying her sister, however, in the end, Lynn decides her sister is the most important person in her young life.
The power of twins, for one, is superior to that of evil Aunt Agatha, however, the power of love and loyalty transcends it all. The twins are finally able to free Sophia but in Aunt Agatha’s rage she attempts to push her sister back into the mirror to be trapped. The twins, protecting their aunt, fight against Agatha who soon falls into the mirror herself. The time runs out, the mirror is shattered and Aunt Agatha is ultimately doomed to spend the rest of her life in solitude in the netherworld. In the twin’s attempt to free Aunt Sophia, they are rid of their quarrelsome nature and are successful in reaching their goals.
Some unknown time later, Lynn and Kelly living with their parents, Aunt Sophia and George in Aunt Agatha's old house. Lynn and Kelly are cleaning up the broken mirror in the attic and they see Aunt Agatha in one of the broken pieces. She asks for help but the twins say, "No chance." and walk out of the attic holding hands. The movie ends with Aunt Agatha shouting, "I hate Halloween!"
Cast
- Mary-Kate Olsen ... Kelly Farmer (one of the main protagonists)/Young Aunt Sophia
- Ashley Olsen ... Lynn Farmer (one of the main protagonists)/Young Aunt Agatha
- Cloris Leachman ... Aunt Agatha (the main antagonist)/Aunt Sophia
- Phil Fondacaro ... Oscar (the tritagonist)
- Eric McCormack ... Don Farmer
- Kelli Fox ... Christine Farmer
- Wayne Robson ... Gravedigger
- Matthew Walker ... George
- Meshach Taylor ... Mr. N (the deuteragonist)
- Denalda Williams ... Hostess
- Gary Jones ... Bernard Brewster
- Babs Chula ... Madame Lulu
- Bill Meilen ... Chairperson
- Nora McLellan ... Female cop
- Alex Green ... Pumpkin driver
- Alex Diakun ... Doorman
- Claire Kaplan, Karin Konoval, Glynis Leyshon ... Witches
- Mitch Kosterman ... Cop
- Gary McAteer ... Fred
- Eliza Centenera ... Girl
- Christopher Anderson ... Boy
- Lynda Boyd ... Singer
- Ian Bagg ... Fat man
- Freda Perry ... Girl's mother
- Shawn Michaels ... Fred Hilton
Release
The movie was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its release debuted in the USA October 30, 1993, Poland on October 7, 2001 and in the UK September 20, 2004. The movie was also released in other countries in which it was renamed:
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- Abracadabra Spain
- Bruxinhas ao Ataque Portugal
- Czary-mary Poland
- Dia das Bruxinhas - Feitiço das Gêmeas Brazil
- Doubles jumelles, doubles problèmes France
- Feitiço das Gêmeas Brazil
- Halloween Twins - Jetzt hexen sie doppelt Germany
- Két tojás száz bajt csinál Hungary
- Uma Confusão das Bruxas Brazil (cable TV title)
- Doble Doble Hechizo Mexico
Awards
The movie had positive reviews with its 1993 debut. It was nominated for two awards. In 1994, there was an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) for composer Richard Bellis. In the same year, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen ware also nominated and won the Young Artist Award for Best Youth Actress in a TV Mini-Series, M.O.W. or Special.[1]
References
External links
Television Direct-to-video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley • You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's...Filmography To Grandmother's House We Go • Double, Double, Toil and Trouble • How the West Was Fun • It Takes Two • Billboard Dad • Switching Goals • Passport to Paris • Our Lips Are Sealed • Winning London • Holiday in the Sun • Getting There • When in Rome • The Challenge • New York MinuteVideo games The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley • Dance Party of the Century • Get a Clue • Magical Mystery Mall • Winner Circle • Crush Course • Pocket Planner • Girls Night Out • Sweet 16Related 1980s The Glitter Dome (1984) · Paramedics (1988)1990s Categories:- American television films
- English-language films
- 1993 television films
- Children's fantasy films
- Fantasy-comedy films
- Warner Bros. films
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