Hocus Pocus (film)
Encyclopedia
Hocus Pocus is a 1993 Halloween
-themed fantasy
/comedy film
that was released by Disney and directed by Kenny Ortega
. The film tells the story of a Halloween-hating teenager named Max, who inadvertently resurrects three witches, The Sanderson Sisters, from their temporary death and must risk his life to protect his sister and defeat them with the help of a classmate crush, a friendly zombie, and an immortal black cat. The film stars Bette Midler
, Sarah Jessica Parker
and Kathy Najimy
as the sisters, and Omri Katz
, Thora Birch
and Vinessa Shaw
as the main heroes.
them; however Winifred casts a curse that on Halloween night when the moon is full a virgin will summon them back from the dead so they can claim all the lives of the children in Salem.
Three hundred years later, a teenager named Max Dennison (Omri Katz) is angry because of the fact that he had to move to Salem from his hometown of Los Angeles, California. He is also less enthusiastic and skeptical of the story of the Sanderson sisters. One day, he is accosted by two numskull dimwitted high school bullies Jay and Ernie "Ice" who steal his shoes when he doesn't have cash or bud. His younger sister, Dani (Thora Birch), on the other hand, is completely enthralled with the holiday and dresses up as a witch for Halloween night. Max, who objects to taking Dani out trick-or-treating, is suddenly forced to by their parents as they will be going to the Town Hall for an adult party and won't be able to take her. After another confrontation with Jay and Ice, Max upsets Dani and apologizes for his behavior. They arrive at a large mansion that just so happens to be the home of Max's crush from school Alison (Vinessa Shaw); when Dani expresses an interest in the Sanderson sisters, they leave the party and go to the old Sanderson house, a former museum which was soon abandoned due to "spooky things" happening there. While they're there, Max finds the Black Flame candle, which is rumored to raise the spirits of the dead on Halloween Night if lit by a virgin. Still disbelieving all the "hocus pocus" he lights the candle and the house suddenly comes to life; candles light in place of the glass bulbs, the floorboards glow green and shake, the cauldron lights and it culminates in the sisters reentering their front door for the first time in three centuries. Mary quickly finds Dani with her power to sniff out children, but Max interrupts before they can partake on a long overdue dinner. He tricks the trio into thinking he is a wizard using a lighter to summon the "Burning Rain of Death" (the fire alarm system) in the house. Before he can leave, however, Binx, who can now talk as a cat (Jason Marsden) makes Max grab the spellbook so the women can't create their life stealing potion. They soon give chase and Binx leads the kids to a graveyard, telling them stories of the sisters, Alison deduces who he is. As the witches can't set foot on hallowed ground, and air assaults are useless to the quickly moving children, Winifred summons her old lover Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), a ghoul whose mouth was sewn shut with a dull needle so he can't divulge Winnie's secrets, to chase them. They escape through the sewers and Max knocks Billy's head off.
The sisters encounter a bus and Sarah is driving it when Binx emerges from the sewers. Max and the others witness his death and resurrection due to the curse that he can't die. Meanwhile, unable to track Max and the others, the sisters encounter costumed children furthering their confusion of Halloween Night. After an encounter with a man dressed as Satan and mistaking him for their true master who is wed to Medusa (a woman with snake-like curlers in her hair), Winnie realizes the truth of Halloween, while their broomsticks are stolen by children dressed as them. Max and the others try to tell the police, but find a man costumed as a police officer instead. They go to warn their parents, but the sisters arrive and in a big song and dance number, discredit their claims and curse the adults to dance until they die. The kids lure the sisters to the high school and into a kiln where they are apparently burned to death. The sisters are resurrected and return home defeated, Winifred is unable to remember the ingredients to the potion and they fall into despair as it was earlier established that the candle only brought them back to life for that night, and unless they can use the potion on children by sunrise, they are dust and cease to exist. As Dani and Binx rest; Alison and Max, despite the warnings that nothing good can come from the book, open it to find a cure for his immortality. The book signals the sisters who use a corn broom, a mop and a Hoover vacuum cleaner to fly to its location. They secretly invade the house and grab the book, Binx and Dani before violently exploding from the house, but not before Winifred reveals the nature of the spell that brought them back to Alison. Sarah uses her power, a siren song to lure the children of Salem to their house.
Max and Allison give chase and Max manages to trick the sisters again using the headlights of his parents' car to simulate sunrise. In the confusion, he frees Dani and Binx and they return to the graveyard to hold out against the sisters. They encounter Billy and using a knife to sever the stitches on his lips, he apparently breaks the control Winnie has over him and joins the kids against them. They hold out well to start with, but Dani exits her protected grave plot when Winnie kicks off Billy's head and she uses this to her advantage, swooping down and taking Dani. Binx saves her by knocking the last vial of the life stealing potion out of Winnie's hand, which Max catches and drinks to take her place. Winnie drops Dani and picks up Max to drain his life force, but Alison, Dani and Billy cause a distraction using Sarah and Mary which gives Max the opportunity to knock both himself and Winifred to the ground as the other two fly up into the sky out of control. Winifred recovers and tries to steal Max's life force, but because she is standing on hallowed ground, she turns to stone. As the sun comes up, Mary and Sarah bid their goodbyes dramatically before exploding, followed shortly after by Winnie's statue exploding. They bid farewell to Billy, who returns to his grave, and Dani finds Binx, who had died after being thrown against the rock. The sisters are dead, the spell was broken and his soul was finally freed to move on. They meet Thackery's ghost and he bids farewell to Alison and Max, before kissing Dani on the cheek and leaving with his sister. As they walk out of sight, Thackery is apologizing to Emily for taking so long to find her, and they disappear into the afterlife together.
Meanwhile, Jay and Ice, who had been kidnapped and caged by the sisters, are singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in their boredom. The eye of the book below them opens up and looks around, hinting that perhaps the sisters aren't completely gone after all. Shown as the credits roll, the adults and Max and Dani's parents are shown emerging from the Town Hall, covered in sweat and complimenting on how Salem knows how to throw a party, unaware they were uncontrollably dancing the night away.
Main Cast
Other Cast
, to be produced by one of the smaller studios owned by The Walt Disney Company
. The script, however, caught the eye of Walt Disney Studios who decided that the film was strong enough to carry well-known names and to attract a cinema audience. The film has (as pointed out by most critics) a strange virgin
concept strung along. The idea to cast Bette Midler
was partly inspired by Midler's Golden Globe-nominated performance in a milestone motion picture for The Walt Disney Company on its Touchstone Pictures
line, Down and Out in Beverly Hills
. Midler, who plays the central antagonist of the film, is quoted as saying that "Hocus Pocus was the most fun I'd had in my career up to that point."
and Canada
on July 16, 1993, opening in fourth place with $8.1 million. Following a sophomore gross of $5.2 million, the film fell out of the top ten, ending its domestic box office run with $39.5 million. The film was released to foreign markets in October 1994.
in North America on September 9, 1994. And later to DVD
on June 4, 2002. Following the film's release on the latter format, it has continued to show strong annual sales. Raking in more than $1 million in DVD sales each October. In the mid to late 1990s, the film was rebroadcast annually on ABC
, before switching over to ABC Family
's 13 Nights of Halloween
lineup, in the early 2000s. The film has continuously brought record viewing numbers to the lineup. Including a 2009 broadcast watched by 2.5 million viewers. In 2011, an October 29th airing became the lineup's most watched program, with 2.8 million viewers.
As of September 2010, it is the most played film on the television station RTÉ
in Ireland.
called it "a pretty lackluster affair", adding this comment: "Despite the triple-threat actress combo, Hocus Pocus won't be the Sister Act
of 1993. There are a lot of gotta-sees this summer, and this isn't one of them." The New York Times
' Janet Maslin wrote that the film "has flashes of visual stylishness but virtually no grip on its story". Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a C-, calling it "acceptable scary-silly kid fodder that adults will find only mildly insulting. Unless they're Bette Midler fans. In which case it's depressing as hell"; and stating that while Najimy and Parker "have their moments of ramshackle comic inspiration, and the passable special effects should keep younger campers transfixed [...] the sight of the Divine Miss M. mugging her way through a cheesy supernatural kiddie comedy is, to say the least, dispiriting." On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
, Hocus Pocus has a "Rotten" score of 32%, based on twenty-two reviews.
sales, and annual record-breaking showings on 13 Nights of Halloween
, the film has achieved cult status. Various media outlets from International Business Times
, to Celebuzz
, and Oh No They Didn't
have reiterated such claims. In October 2011, the Houston Symphony celebrated various horror and Halloween classics, including Hocus Pocus, with "The Hocus Pocus Pops".
have been contemplating their production.
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
-themed fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
/comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
that was released by Disney and directed by Kenny Ortega
Kenny Ortega
Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He is known for directing the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concert tour.-Life and career:...
. The film tells the story of a Halloween-hating teenager named Max, who inadvertently resurrects three witches, The Sanderson Sisters, from their temporary death and must risk his life to protect his sister and defeat them with the help of a classmate crush, a friendly zombie, and an immortal black cat. The film stars Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
and Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
as the sisters, and Omri Katz
Omri Katz
Omri Haim Katz is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R...
, Thora Birch
Thora Birch
Thora Birch is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas , Patriot Games , Hocus Pocus , Now and Then , and Alaska . She came to prominence in 1999 after earning worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty...
and Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...
as the main heroes.
Plot
In 1693 Salem, Massachusetts, Thackery Binx (Sean Murray) is awakened and notices that his little sister Emily (Jodie Rivera) is being lured into the woods by an old woman while his best friend Elijah shows that the witches in the woods are conjuring. Thackery gives chase, arriving at a cottage as Emily is led inside by one of the women. The cottage is home of the Sanderson sisters, Mary (Kathy Najimy), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Winifred (Bette Midler). It is revealed that they are brewing a potion with which to suck the life force out of young children to use as their own. Thackery is too late, however and Emily drinks the potion. After subduing Thackery with her powers, Winifred, along with Mary and Sarah share the life force from young Emily making them young ("Well, youngER"). When Thackery calls Winifred a hag, she decides not to kill him as punishment and to their amusement the trio transform Thackery into a black cat who must live forever with the guilt of letting his sister die. The townspeople, led by Thackery and Emily's parents come and capture the sisters to hangHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
them; however Winifred casts a curse that on Halloween night when the moon is full a virgin will summon them back from the dead so they can claim all the lives of the children in Salem.
Three hundred years later, a teenager named Max Dennison (Omri Katz) is angry because of the fact that he had to move to Salem from his hometown of Los Angeles, California. He is also less enthusiastic and skeptical of the story of the Sanderson sisters. One day, he is accosted by two numskull dimwitted high school bullies Jay and Ernie "Ice" who steal his shoes when he doesn't have cash or bud. His younger sister, Dani (Thora Birch), on the other hand, is completely enthralled with the holiday and dresses up as a witch for Halloween night. Max, who objects to taking Dani out trick-or-treating, is suddenly forced to by their parents as they will be going to the Town Hall for an adult party and won't be able to take her. After another confrontation with Jay and Ice, Max upsets Dani and apologizes for his behavior. They arrive at a large mansion that just so happens to be the home of Max's crush from school Alison (Vinessa Shaw); when Dani expresses an interest in the Sanderson sisters, they leave the party and go to the old Sanderson house, a former museum which was soon abandoned due to "spooky things" happening there. While they're there, Max finds the Black Flame candle, which is rumored to raise the spirits of the dead on Halloween Night if lit by a virgin. Still disbelieving all the "hocus pocus" he lights the candle and the house suddenly comes to life; candles light in place of the glass bulbs, the floorboards glow green and shake, the cauldron lights and it culminates in the sisters reentering their front door for the first time in three centuries. Mary quickly finds Dani with her power to sniff out children, but Max interrupts before they can partake on a long overdue dinner. He tricks the trio into thinking he is a wizard using a lighter to summon the "Burning Rain of Death" (the fire alarm system) in the house. Before he can leave, however, Binx, who can now talk as a cat (Jason Marsden) makes Max grab the spellbook so the women can't create their life stealing potion. They soon give chase and Binx leads the kids to a graveyard, telling them stories of the sisters, Alison deduces who he is. As the witches can't set foot on hallowed ground, and air assaults are useless to the quickly moving children, Winifred summons her old lover Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), a ghoul whose mouth was sewn shut with a dull needle so he can't divulge Winnie's secrets, to chase them. They escape through the sewers and Max knocks Billy's head off.
The sisters encounter a bus and Sarah is driving it when Binx emerges from the sewers. Max and the others witness his death and resurrection due to the curse that he can't die. Meanwhile, unable to track Max and the others, the sisters encounter costumed children furthering their confusion of Halloween Night. After an encounter with a man dressed as Satan and mistaking him for their true master who is wed to Medusa (a woman with snake-like curlers in her hair), Winnie realizes the truth of Halloween, while their broomsticks are stolen by children dressed as them. Max and the others try to tell the police, but find a man costumed as a police officer instead. They go to warn their parents, but the sisters arrive and in a big song and dance number, discredit their claims and curse the adults to dance until they die. The kids lure the sisters to the high school and into a kiln where they are apparently burned to death. The sisters are resurrected and return home defeated, Winifred is unable to remember the ingredients to the potion and they fall into despair as it was earlier established that the candle only brought them back to life for that night, and unless they can use the potion on children by sunrise, they are dust and cease to exist. As Dani and Binx rest; Alison and Max, despite the warnings that nothing good can come from the book, open it to find a cure for his immortality. The book signals the sisters who use a corn broom, a mop and a Hoover vacuum cleaner to fly to its location. They secretly invade the house and grab the book, Binx and Dani before violently exploding from the house, but not before Winifred reveals the nature of the spell that brought them back to Alison. Sarah uses her power, a siren song to lure the children of Salem to their house.
Max and Allison give chase and Max manages to trick the sisters again using the headlights of his parents' car to simulate sunrise. In the confusion, he frees Dani and Binx and they return to the graveyard to hold out against the sisters. They encounter Billy and using a knife to sever the stitches on his lips, he apparently breaks the control Winnie has over him and joins the kids against them. They hold out well to start with, but Dani exits her protected grave plot when Winnie kicks off Billy's head and she uses this to her advantage, swooping down and taking Dani. Binx saves her by knocking the last vial of the life stealing potion out of Winnie's hand, which Max catches and drinks to take her place. Winnie drops Dani and picks up Max to drain his life force, but Alison, Dani and Billy cause a distraction using Sarah and Mary which gives Max the opportunity to knock both himself and Winifred to the ground as the other two fly up into the sky out of control. Winifred recovers and tries to steal Max's life force, but because she is standing on hallowed ground, she turns to stone. As the sun comes up, Mary and Sarah bid their goodbyes dramatically before exploding, followed shortly after by Winnie's statue exploding. They bid farewell to Billy, who returns to his grave, and Dani finds Binx, who had died after being thrown against the rock. The sisters are dead, the spell was broken and his soul was finally freed to move on. They meet Thackery's ghost and he bids farewell to Alison and Max, before kissing Dani on the cheek and leaving with his sister. As they walk out of sight, Thackery is apologizing to Emily for taking so long to find her, and they disappear into the afterlife together.
Meanwhile, Jay and Ice, who had been kidnapped and caged by the sisters, are singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in their boredom. The eye of the book below them opens up and looks around, hinting that perhaps the sisters aren't completely gone after all. Shown as the credits roll, the adults and Max and Dani's parents are shown emerging from the Town Hall, covered in sweat and complimenting on how Salem knows how to throw a party, unaware they were uncontrollably dancing the night away.
Cast
The Sanderson Sisters- Bette MidlerBette MidlerBette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
as Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson, the leader of the Sanderson sisters and the main antagonist. She is the eldest and is highly sensitive to people calling her ugly and has a very short temper. Generally the most intelligent of the three sisters, however she is prone to being melodramaMelodramaThe term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic. She has the power of electrokinesis. - Kathy NajimyKathy NajimyKathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
as Mary Sanderson, the middle witch sister and second of the secondary antagonists. Often complimenting and comforting Winnie, Mary constantly seeks Winnie's approval. She has the ability to sniff out the presence of children and has a tendency to bark in a Curly HowardCurly HowardJerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz , better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine...
-like fashion. She is the most observant of the three - Sarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
as Sarah Sanderson, the youngest witch sister and one of the secondary antagonists. She uses a siren-like ability to lure children to the Sanderson home. She sings a song called "Come Little Children" to lure the children to the home, to suck their lives to become younger. She is not particularly intelligent and she is often prancing around and goofing off. She is the most beautiful of the three which makes her have the tendency to attract boys and flirt with them.
Main Cast
- Omri KatzOmri KatzOmri Haim Katz is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R...
as Max Dennison, the main protagonist. A teenager upset at having to move to the small town of Salem from Los Angeles. He is initially cynical towards Halloween, but is persuaded by his sister, Dani, to go out. He has a crush on Allison and strives to impress her. He inadvertently releases the Sanderson sisters from beyond the grave. Although he bickers with Dani, they still clearly love each other, as he willingly drank the potion Winnie planned on feeding her, thereby sacrificing himself for his sister. His character is shamed throughout the movie for being a virgin, which caused the witches to resurrect. - Thora BirchThora BirchThora Birch is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas , Patriot Games , Hocus Pocus , Now and Then , and Alaska . She came to prominence in 1999 after earning worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty...
as Dani Dennison, Max's 8-year old sister. She is around the same age as Emily was, which is the reason why Binx bonds closely with her. She is somewhat volatile, such as screaming when Max refuses to take her trick-or-treating, but she is very brave and is very upset when Binx dies, although cheers up when his ghost comforts her. She argues with Max, but they evidently care about each other. - Vinessa ShawVinessa ShawVinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...
as Allison, Max's love interest and native Salem resident. Her family owns pieces of the town's history giving her an in-depth knowledge of the Sanderson Sisters and their past. - Sean Murray as Thackery Binx (body double in human form) (Jason MarsdenJason MarsdenJason Christopher Marsden is an American screen and voice actor who has done numerous voice roles in animated films, as well as various television series.-Early life:...
as his voice in both human and cat forms) a teenager from 1693 who has a little sister, Emily, whom he follows into the woods and fails to prevent her death at the hands of the Sanderson sisters sucking her life force from her. He is since then cursed as an immortal cat, feeling uncontrollable guilt over her death he guides Max, Dani and Allison in fighting back against the sisters. He is particularly close to Dani, due to her reminding him of Emily, and warns Max, "Protect Dani, Max. You'll never know how precious she is until you lose her." - Doug JonesDoug Jones (actor)Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
as Billy Butcherson, once Winifred Sanderson's lover, now a zombie, Billy was caught sporting with Sarah and was punished by Winnie. Having been poisoned, in death Winnie sewed his mouth shut with a dull needle. Upon cutting the stenches he insults Winifred. Saying to Max that he has waited centuries to insult her. He then joins side with the kids to defeat the Sanderson sisters. - Charles RocketCharles RocketCharles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
as Dave Dennison, Max and Dani's father. - Stephanie FaracyStephanie FaracyStephanie Faracy is an American film and television actress.Faracy was born in Brooklyn, New York. One of her earliest notable roles was as Mary Carson's servant "Judy", in the 1983 television mini-series The Thorn Birds.Faracy also appeared with Frankie Faison and Nancy Walker in True Colors , a...
as Jenny Dennison, Max and Dani's mother.
Other Cast
- Jodie Rivera as Emily Binx, Thackery's little sister. She was lured in by Sarah Sanderson and had her life force sucked out by the sisters while Thackery watched.
- Larry BagbyLarry BagbyLarry Bagby is an American actor and a musician.Bagby was born Lawrence Bagby III in Marysville, California. His father was a member of a dance band. Bagby's most notable roles include:...
as Ernie / "Ice", the leader of a group of high school bullies known for the fact he has "ICE" shaved into the back of his short brown hair. - Tobias Jelinek as Jay, a blond haired punk and another school bully.
- Rodrigo Castaneda as Elijah, a boy from a farm in 1693.
- Norbert Weisser as Mr. Binx, the father of Emily and Thackery.
- Kathleen FreemanKathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
as Miss Olin, Max's and Allison's teacher. - Jason Marsden as the cat version of Thackery Binx who is the guide of the children.
- Garry MarshallGarry MarshallGarry Kent Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. His notable credits include creating Happy Days and The Odd Couple and directing Nothing In Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, and The Princess Diaries.-Early life:Marshall was born in the New York City...
as "The Devil", a man wearing a devil costume who the Sanderson sisters assume to be their "Master" (referring to SatanSatanSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
). Flattered by this, he wholeheartedly welcomes them into his home. Penny MarshallPenny MarshallPenny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
(Garry's sister), plays the "Devil's" wife. They assume she's Medusa, because of her curlers, which look like snakes.
Production
Hocus Pocus started life as a script for a special original movie for the Disney ChannelDisney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, to be produced by one of the smaller studios owned by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
. The script, however, caught the eye of Walt Disney Studios who decided that the film was strong enough to carry well-known names and to attract a cinema audience. The film has (as pointed out by most critics) a strange virgin
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
concept strung along. The idea to cast Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
was partly inspired by Midler's Golden Globe-nominated performance in a milestone motion picture for The Walt Disney Company on its Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
line, Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Down and Out in Beverly Hills is a 1986 American comedy film based on the French play Boudu sauvé des eaux, which had previously been adapted on film in 1932 by Jean Renoir. Down and Out in Beverly Hills was directed by Paul Mazursky, and starred Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss...
. Midler, who plays the central antagonist of the film, is quoted as saying that "Hocus Pocus was the most fun I'd had in my career up to that point."
Theatrical
Hocus Pocus was released in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on July 16, 1993, opening in fourth place with $8.1 million. Following a sophomore gross of $5.2 million, the film fell out of the top ten, ending its domestic box office run with $39.5 million. The film was released to foreign markets in October 1994.
Home video and television
The film was released to VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in North America on September 9, 1994. And later to DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on June 4, 2002. Following the film's release on the latter format, it has continued to show strong annual sales. Raking in more than $1 million in DVD sales each October. In the mid to late 1990s, the film was rebroadcast annually on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, before switching over to ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
's 13 Nights of Halloween
13 Nights Of Halloween
"13 Nights Of Halloween" , is a programming special on ABC Family, which originally began airing in 1998 after The Family Channel became Fox Family, a couple of years after their "25 Days of Christmas" special premiered. The "13 Nights of Halloween" special was created mainly due to the success of...
lineup, in the early 2000s. The film has continuously brought record viewing numbers to the lineup. Including a 2009 broadcast watched by 2.5 million viewers. In 2011, an October 29th airing became the lineup's most watched program, with 2.8 million viewers.
As of September 2010, it is the most played film on the television station RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
in Ireland.
Reception
Upon its U.S. release, Hocus Pocus received rather mixed reviews from film critics. The Miami HeraldThe Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
called it "a pretty lackluster affair", adding this comment: "Despite the triple-threat actress combo, Hocus Pocus won't be the Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
of 1993. There are a lot of gotta-sees this summer, and this isn't one of them." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a C-, calling it "acceptable scary-silly kid fodder that adults will find only mildly insulting. Unless they're Bette Midler fans. In which case it's depressing as hell"; and stating that while Najimy and Parker "have their moments of ramshackle comic inspiration, and the passable special effects should keep younger campers transfixed [...] the sight of the Divine Miss M. mugging her way through a cheesy supernatural kiddie comedy is, to say the least, dispiriting." On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, Hocus Pocus has a "Rotten" score of 32%, based on twenty-two reviews.
Legacy
Over the years, through various outlets such as strong DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
sales, and annual record-breaking showings on 13 Nights of Halloween
13 Nights Of Halloween
"13 Nights Of Halloween" , is a programming special on ABC Family, which originally began airing in 1998 after The Family Channel became Fox Family, a couple of years after their "25 Days of Christmas" special premiered. The "13 Nights of Halloween" special was created mainly due to the success of...
, the film has achieved cult status. Various media outlets from International Business Times
International Business Times
The International Business Times is an online global business newspaper, published in 17 editions in 10 languages across 13 countries. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes, offers news, analysis and editorial commentary on business and business related stories...
, to Celebuzz
Celebuzz
Celebuzz.com is a social media destination that focuses exclusively on celebrity culture. Based in Hollywood, CA Celebuzz is run by Buzz Media, Inc., a media company also home to Buzznet, a social media network that is predominately centered around music...
, and Oh No They Didn't
Oh No They Didn't
Oh No They Didn't, also known as ONTD, is the largest community on LiveJournal, with over 100,000 members. The community focuses on celebrity gossip and pop culture, with most of its posts aggregated from other gossip blogs. The site formed a partnership with pop culture blog network Buzz Media in...
have reiterated such claims. In October 2011, the Houston Symphony celebrated various horror and Halloween classics, including Hocus Pocus, with "The Hocus Pocus Pops".
Sequel
Since 1994 there have been multiple interests in creating a sequel, due to the open-ending of the first film. The main idea would be a "Re-lighting of the Black Flamed Candle". A few scripts have been written, and as of 2011, Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
have been contemplating their production.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress — Bette Midler | |
| Best Supporting Actress — Kathy Najimy | |||
| Best Fantasy Film | |||
| Best Special Effects | |||
| Best Costumes | |||
| Young Artist Awards | Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Thora Birch | ||
| Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Vinessa Shaw | |||
| Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Omri Katz | |||
| Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Sean Murray | |||
| Best Youth Actor in a Voice Over Role - TV or Movie — Jason Marsden | |||