Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
| Double, Double, Toil and Trouble | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Genre | Adventure Comedy Family Fantasy Horror |
| Written by | Jurgen Wolff |
| Directed by | Stuart Margolin |
| Starring |
Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen |
| Music by | Richard Bellis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Allen S. Epstein Jim Green |
| Producer(s) |
Mark Bacino Adria Later Matthew O'Connor (supervising producer) |
| Location(s) | Vancouver |
| Cinematography | Richard Leiterman |
| Editor(s) | George Appleby |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Production company(s) |
Dualstar Productions Green/Epstein Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | ABC |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release |
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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble is a 1993 Halloween made-for-television children's film. 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 curse 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."
Kelly (Mary-Kate Olsen) and Lynn Farmer's (Ashley Olsen) parents, Don (Eric McCormack) and Christine (Kelli Fox), are deeply in debt and in danger of losing their home. During the Halloween season, they visit Christine's cold and cruel Aunt Agatha (Cloris Leachman) to ask for a loan, which is immediately refused. While the girls wait outside, they meet Agatha's grave digger (Wayne Robson) who tells them the story of Agatha's twin sister Sophia (also played by Cloris Leachman) who is trapped inside the house. 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 rare gem which gave her power. 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 identical anymore. Agatha found the moonstone but hid it from her sister and instead began using the magic it possesses to make her sister’s life miserable. Years later on Halloween, Sophia and her fiancé George, now Agatha's butler, prepared to elope and begin their life together, but Agatha, out of jealously and rage, cast a spell that banished her sister into the netherworld through a mirror, which she keeps hidden in the attic. On the 7th year at midnight, this Halloween, the spell will become permanent and there will be no way for Sophia to be rescued.
Back at home, Kelly and Lynn learn of their parents' financial problems. Christine expresses that if Aunt Sophia were still around, she'd be able to help them. Knowing this, the girls begin a rescue mission to free Aunt Sophia before it's too late. The spell can only be broken by twins who have possession of the moonstone, so Kelly and Lynn’s ultimate goal is to apprehend it. The only problem is, Aunt Agatha wears the gem around her neck at all times. While out trick or treating, they swap costumes with two other kids so they are able to get away from their parents. The first person they meet is a homeless man who dreams of money and stardom, Mr. N (Meshach Taylor), who offers to help the girls because they shouldn't be on such a dangerous journey without an adult. The girls carry with them a toy magic wand that they won at a Halloween party days before, which actually has unexplained genuine magical powers. Kelly, Lynn and Mr. N visit a phony psychic to ask where they are able to find the witches gathering that Aunt Agatha will attend that night, but Lulu is unable to answer, so instead, they use the wand to find the location and set off again by secretly hitching a ride on a pumpkin truck. They get dropped off near a woodland and find a small house deep inside, the home of a man named Oscar (Phil Fondacaro) who wishes to be taller. They tell him the whole story and he agrees to go along with them. Meanwhile, Don and Christine discover the girls have gone and inform the police.
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