2023 marked the 30th anniversary of Disney’s Hocus Pocus. For over two decades, fans have been watching the Halloween-themed movie repeatedly during the month of October and Disney+ gave fans a sequel in recent years (with a potential third movie on the way). Even the most die-hard fans, however, can miss details in their favorite movies.
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Throughout the ninety-minute adventure, Max Dennison, his little sister Dani, and their new friend Allison spend their Halloween night taking on the witches the Sanderson sisters, and stopping them from ruining the lives of children all over Salem, Massachusetts. During all of the action and comedy, there were a lot of details fans could overlook. While some are intentional Easter eggs, others are mistakes, and still others are things fans only catch when they have seen the movie so many times that they know it by heart.
Max’s Note To Allison Changes
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When the movie kicks off, Max Dennison is busy doubting the truth behind the witchy stories about the Sanderson sisters. His history class gets the tale recounted by their teacher, and when Max balks at the idea of Halloween being a real holiday at all, he gets corrected by Allison about the day’s history. Max’s response is to give Allison his phone number. Allison gets one over on him by returning the note to him when they next meet up outside the school.
Eagle-eyed fans will notice that the placement of Max’s phone number on the paper as well as aspects of the writing change. There were two different notes used during filming! Of course, modern fans will also notice in TV viewings that Max Dennison’s phone number was blurred out. Though 555 numbers are typically used for fictional numbers, telephone companies started issuing those numbers as the number of people with cell phones grew. Someone actually has Max Dennison’s phone number today.
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Related Hocus Pocus Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses
The magical characters of Hocus Pocus didn’t get to attend Hogwarts, but if they did, they wouldn’t have all been Slytherins.
The Fountain From Friends Appears In Hocus Pocus
While it might not have been noticeable in 1993, many fans might find one particular fountain in the movie familiar in the modern day. When the group thinks (after they break into their school and use the ceramic kiln against the Sanderson sisters) that they defeated the witches, Dani and Allison run around in front of a fountain while Max and Binx talk. That fountain has a place in pop culture history.
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It’s become a famous filming location thanks to the opening credits of the sitcom Friends. It’s the same fountain that the main cast of the show splash around in. It’s really located in Cherry Hill, New York. Friends didn’t premiere until September of 1994, so no original Hocus Pocus viewings would have made this detail one that stuck out in viewers’ minds. With Friends as one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time now, however, modern fans are quick to catch it.
Hocus Pocus Used Real Bugs
There have been a lot of anniversary interviews with members of the cast over the years, and one point that often gets brought up is the use of bugs. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sarah eats a spider at one point in the movie, and Doug Jones’ Billy Butcherson has moths fly out of his mouth.
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The 1993 audience might have been surprised to find out that those bugs were all real years later. Yes, Parker ate a real spider and Jones held live moths in his mouth to get the perfect take. For Jones, moths in his mouth weren’t that simple though. There was a little more to keeping the moths in place than Jones simply putting them in his mouth. According to Tony Gardner, who worked on the makeup team for the movie, a “latex pocket” had to be created to put in Jones’ mouth to keep the moths in place.
Bette Midler’s Music Career Has Nods
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Bette Midler is a legendary entertainer. Though she might be best-known for her contributions to movies, there’s a reason so many of her characters have had musical numbers over the last 30 years. She’s also an accomplished singer. Because Bette Midler’s Winifred has a love for performing just like the entertainer herself, there are nods to Midler’s music career sprinkled throughout the movie. While one nod occurs before a performance, the other doesn’t.
Mary refers to Winifred as “divine” early in the movie, which is a nod to Midler being known as “the divine Miss M” for her stage presence. Winifred also famously says, “Hello, Salem. My name’s Winifred. What’s yours,” before singing at a Halloween party. That is a play on a similar line from Midler as Madam Rose in the musical Gypsy, which she also appeared in during the 1993 television season.
Someone Is A Fan Of Astrology
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The movie opens the same way a lot of classic Disney movies do — with a storybook. Many of Disney’s early works, especially their animated children’s movies, played on the idea of reading the audience a fairy tale from a beautiful book. The cover of the book for Hocus Pocus, however, is an interesting one. It features an artist’s depiction of the Sanderson sisters’ house, but that’s not all.
In the area that would be the night sky there are symbols that will be familiar to those who love astrology. The book that appears to be the storybook version of Hocus Pocus has the zodiac signs Virgo, Leo, Gemini, and Taurus appear in the sky. Those symbols aren’t visible from the same place at the same time on Earth, so they either have important meaning to the Sandersons, or the artist responsible for the picture.
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Allison Swaps Out Her Pendant
When Max and Dani find themselves at Allison’s house on Halloween, Allison is wearing a necklace with her costume. The necklace has a cameo pendant on it and a string of what looks to be pearls. Allison’s necklace in Hocus Pocus, however, changes. After she changes from her costume into normal clothing to take Max and Dani to the Sanderson house, she’s wearing a different necklace.
The necklace Allison wears during the rest of the movie doesn’t have the cameo pendant on it. Instead, it looks more like a metallic locket. What’s interesting though is that the pendant is on the same string of pearls, which means Allison either has two very similar necklaces, or she took the time to switch out the pendant for the night.
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Of course, the most logical explanation here is that it was a mistake made while filming the movie. It’s possible one of the necklaces was misplaced while filming or that the person in charge of Allison’s jewelry chose a different necklace to film with for the scene in costume by mistake.
The Witches’ Costumes Are Reflected Elsewhere In The Movie
The dresses of Winifred, Mary, and Sarah have become iconic Halloween costumes. The characters are impossible to miss in the movie thanks to their very distinctive garb. Each of the sisters has their own specific color scheme. Sarah wears purple, Mary wears red, and Winifred wears green. Each of the sisters has other colors within their dresses, but those are their primary colors. Their color scheme, and often, those three colors together, is reflected elsewhere in the movie.
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Allison is seen wearing a cloak that resembles Mary’s at the start of the movie, for example. Likewise, Max’s first tee shirt in the movie is a tie-dyed one that combines the colors of all three of the sisters’ dresses. While some fans will say this links the magic the sisters have to other characters, it’s much more likely that these colors, and especially the bright and jewel-tone versions of them, were used because they pop so well on camera. It makes sense to feature them repeatedly in the movie.
There Are Numerous Wizard Of Oz References
Image via Warner Bros.
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One of the most iconic witches on screen remains the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard Of Oz. She’s so iconic that her backstory has been explored in Wicked. Her theme music is even instantly recognizable. In fact, fans might hear riffs of it throughout Hocus Pocus and other movies that give callbacks to the villain.
There’s also one thing in the movie that calls back to that same witch. In The Wizard Of Oz, when Dorothy’s house lands in Kansas, it lands on top of the Wicked Witch’s sister. As Glinda removes her shoes, her striped stockings are visible right before they roll up. Winifred wears a pair of striped stockings through Hocus Pocus as well, and they get plenty of focus when she turns to stone in the graveyard.
Of course, Wizard of Oz references are very common in projects featuring other witches that the writers might hope become just as iconic. Marvel’s Agatha All Along, released in 2024 on Disney+, is also filled with references to Wizard of Oz, right down to Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West and Lilia (Patti Lupone) dressed as Glinda in an episode.
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There Are Familiar Costumes
In scenes that involve a lot of extras, it’s not uncommon for the same people to appear repeatedly. It’s a lot easier for the movie’s production team to utilize the same few extras for multiple scenes on the same day or to have the same extras appear in a scene multiple times to make the world appear lived in. If fans are paying attention, they’ll notice that happens in Hocus Pocus as well.
Just outside the “master’s” house, there are quite a few kids trick-or-treating. At least, the camera wants the audience to think there are quite a few kids. A few of them walk back and forth across the scene multiple times, including a child dressed like a bumblebee and one dressed like a playing card. Maybe the kids were just trying to get as much candy as possible from the neighborhood.
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The more obvious costumes, like Mrs. Potts from Beauty And The Beast, don’t walk by as often, but they provide nods to a lot of other Disney properties.
Related Hocus Pocus: 10 Details Fans Will Only Know By Reading The Books
There is a lot that fans don’t know about The Sanderson Sisters along with Max, Dani, and Allison. Here are some fun facts gathered from the books.
The Sanderson Sisters Were Not Witch Trial Victims
Though Hocus Pocus presents itself as a kid-friendly tale of witches marked by the Salem Witch Trials (if there is such a thing), the Sanderson sisters were not women affected by the trials. The Hocus Pocus opening was set on October 31, 1693, exactly 300 years before Max and Dani’s part in the story.
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The Salem Witch Trials began in early 1692. More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and put on trial (or, more accurately, interrogated and tortured) between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem ended their trials before the Sanderson sisters kidnapped Emily Binx and turned her brother into a cat.
That’s not to say that women couldn’t have been persecuted after May 1693 in the colony. The governor of Salem, however, saw his own wife accused of witchcraft in 1692 and ordered the trials, the tests, and the hangings to stop.
Billy Cheated On Winifred Six Months Before Her Death
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Because Thackery Binx was a child during the last years of the Sanderson sisters’ lives, he is used a lot to teach them about their history. He tells Max, Dani, and Allison the story of Billy Butcherson’s death to bring home how vindictive Winifred Sanderson can be. When Winifred found out that Billy was interested in her sister Sarah, she took her vengeance on him. What fans might not notice on Billy’s headstone is just when Winifred sewed Billy’s mouth shut and murdered him.
Billy Butcherson’s date of death is May 1, 1693. That means he supposedly cheated on Winifred with Sarah only six months before the Sanderson sisters decided to steal the life of Emily Binx and cursed the town of Salem. The use of Emily’s life is what de-aged the Sanderson sisters by several years. Billy liked the witches before Winifred decided to make them “young and beautiful” again.
Siblings Played A Married Couple
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These days, adults will be quick to spot this odd bit of casting for Hocus Pocus. Kids watching the movie for the first time, however, will have no idea that “satan” and his “little woman” were actually played by siblings because they likely won’t recognize the actors.
Gary Marshall played the man in a devil costume that the Sanderson sisters mistook for their master. His wife was played by his real-life sister Penny Marshall. Both have a storied career in the industry as actors, directors, and producers, but they haven’t played a married couple since (or before Hocus Pocus).
No one working on the movie has ever explained why they cameoed in these particular roles, but they’ve become a big part of the Hocus Pocus fun. In Hocus Pocus 2, their scene gets a very meta nod, and director Anne Fletcher revealed she wanted to include them as a way to honor the original movie.
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Related Hocus Pocus: 16 Most Badass Sanderson Sisters Quotes
Halloween is upon us, which means everyone will be watching the classic Hocus Pocus. Let’s recount the best Sanderson sister quotes!
There’s A Witchy Police Badge
After Max lights the black flame candle and brings the Sanderson sisters back, he tries to go to the police for help. Unfortunately, the gag is that the police officer isn’t really a police officer at all. The man he approaches dismisses Max for playing a prank, but reveals himself to be in costume in the same scene after Max leaves. He’s just someone out celebrating Halloween too.
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If the audience is paying attention, they would be in on the gag before the reveal. The man’s “uniform” doesn’t have a real Salem Police Department patch on the sleeve. Instead, the patch features a witch riding a broomstick, giving a good indication that it was made specifically to be a Halloween costume.
As fans have pointed out since the original release of the movie, however, the man in costume could have been in trouble if a real law enforcement officer had witnessed the scene. While it is obviously not against the law to dress up as a member of law enforcement for Halloween since many people do, impersonating an officer is against the law. That means allowing someone to believe he is a real police officer and not admitting the costume.
Filming Produced A Lot Of Continuity Errors
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There are even more filming mistakes and continuity errors in the movie than there are Easter eggs. Fans might not have noticed some of these on the first watch, but they can be easy to spot on repeat viewings, just as is the case for any long-time fans revisiting properties.
In some scenes of the witches flying, the cables holding the Hocus Pocus actors up can still be seen. Sarah’s hair changes styles throughout the movie. In some scenes it’s curly, in others wavy, and in still others, blow-dried straight. Mrs. Dennison’s wedding ring disappears and reappears during her party scene, just like Ernie’s hat does when he first encounters the Sanderson sisters. Spotting all the mistakes can take away from the movie magic for kids, but it makes for a fun party game for adults.
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Binx Dies On Emily’s Grave
Thackery Binx is just a teenager when he sets out to stop the Sanderson sisters from hurting his sister. He doesn’t succeed, but when the sisters curse him, he makes it his mission to be sure that no one ever brings their magic back to Salem. He has a long time to make that happen since they curse him with immortality.
Though Binx is cursed to spend immortality as a cat, when the Sanderson sisters are destroyed, his spirit is finally able to move on, and the cat “dies.” When Binx dies, it’s in the same graveyard where he took the kids to give them background on the witches.
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His place of death, however, is even more significant because it’s not on Billy’s grave, where he first told them stories. Instead, it’s on his sister’s grave, who then meets him to take him to the afterlife. It brings his story full circle since he gave up the life he knew to protect his sister, and then spent his life as a cat trying to atone for not getting to her in time.
Related 10 Hocus Pocus Locations Fans Can Actually Visit In Massachusetts
The first Hocus Pocus was filmed on soundstages but many exterior shots were filmed in actual locations in Salem, places fans can go visit.
Winifred Couldn’t Have Heard The “Hocus Pocus”
“It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus” is one of the often-quoted lines from the movie. One of the things most people remember first, the phrase is originally said by Max when he lights the black flame candle because he thinks the story of the Sanderson sisters is nonsense. Max doesn’t believe in magic yet. Winifred then quotes his own words back to him later in the movie.
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Winifred’s snide quote to him is meant to mock him for doubting the existence of magic. The trouble is, her quoting him is impossible. She wasn’t yet brought back to Earth and couldn’t have heard him. If the audience buys that she heard him from beyond the grave, she would have already known that Dani, Max, and Allison were all present in the house as well.
Binx Is Played By Two Actors
Like the Marshall siblings appearing as a married couple, this detail is more likely to be noticed by adults than kids watching the movie for the first time. Sean Murray, who is now better known to audiences as the longest-running cast member on the crime drama NCIS, starred as the human version of Thackery Binx. He, however, isn’t the only actor to play the role.
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James Marsden, famous for his voice acting roles in numerous animated series and video games is best known for voicing Max in A Goofy Movie. He voices the role of Binx the cat as well as Thackery the human, even though Murray physically portrays the part.
The producers didn’t want Binx to sound too contemporary, so they cast Marsden to voice him in the role of the cat.When realizing that Marsden and Murray’s accents sounded nothing alike, the producers had Marsden record Murray’s lines as well. Murray still read Binx’s lines on set for the cast to react to them.
Related Hocus Pocus: 7 Reasons Allison Was Really A Witch (& 8 Reasons She Wasn’t)
We still love the 1993 movie Hocus Pocus, including the character Allison. We’re weighing whether she was really a witch or not.
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Hocus Pocus Occurs On An Impossible Day
Everyone can rest easy knowing that the Sanderson sisters will never return to this Earth because Hocus Pocus has to be set in a completely different reality. In the real world, the events of the movie occur on an impossible day.
The movie is set on October 31, 1993. During the movie, the kids go to school, then go home to attend Halloween parties or trick-or-treat. The trouble is, that day was a Sunday in 1993. Likewise, there was no full moon on that day. The last time Salem, Massachusetts saw a full moon on Halloween was in 1944. The next one occurred in 2020 – though on a Saturday.
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Hocus Pocus was filmed from October 1992 to February 1993 and actually hit theaters in July 1993, hoping to gain more kids in seats with school out for summer holidays. It had been in development, however, since the early 1980s for Disney. That means that the year in which the movie was set likely changed with each draft. That’s not unusual. It just means that it’s unlikely anyone was really checking on whether Hocus Pocus could actually happen on the movie’s calendar.
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7/10 9.7/10 Hocus Pocus PGComedyFamilyFantasyHorror
Hocus Pocus tells the story of the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy on Halloween. When the witches threaten to take over the town of Salem, Massachusetts, it’s up to Max, sister Dani, and friend Alison to stop them with the help of Thackery Binx, one of the Sandersons’ victims trapped in the immortal body of black cat.
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*Availability in US Director Kenny Ortega Release Date July 16, 1993 Writers David Kirschner , Mick Garris , Neil Cuthbert Cast Bette Midler , Sarah Jessica Parker , Kathy Najimy , Omri Katz , Thora Birch , Vinessa Shaw Runtime 96 minutes