The Untold Truth Of Hocus Pocus

Disney released "Hocus Pocus" in July of 1993, a Halloween-themed, big-screen comedy about a trio of diabolical 300-year-old witches; the women are resurrected in the modern era after being executed in Salem centuries earlier. Featuring the star power of Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the spell-casting Sanderson sisters, "Hocus Pocus" was hardly a blockbuster. A modest hit at best, "Hocus Pocus" conjured up a mere $39 million at the box office (for comparison's sake, that year's biggest film, "Jurassic Park," raked in nearly $340 million).

One reason why the film didn't take off may have been its release date — who puts out a Halloween movie in the middle of the summer? Another factor could have been poor reviews, such as Janet Maslin's piece in The New York Times, which declared "Hocus Pocus" to be "an unholy mess."

Yet the years have been kind to "Hocus Pocus." Thanks to home video and annual Halloween airings on TV, what was once a badly reviewed bomb is now revered as a beloved cult classic. Keep reading to find out the untold truth of "Hocus Pocus." 

According to the production information for "Hocus Pocus," producer David Kirschner and his daughter were sitting outside their home one night, when they spied a neighbor's black cat slink past. That immediately inspired Kirschner, who began telling his daughter a story about how that cat had once been a human boy. He elaborated that when the boy was trying to protect his sister from a coven of witches, they placed a curse on him that turns him into a feline. "My daughter was spellbound," Kirschner revealed. The bedtime story that resulted, he added, "terrified and delighted her."

As Kirschner explained in an interview with People, his wife told him, "You should do something with this." To that end, Kirschner took the idea to writer Mick Garris, who transformed the bedtime story into a screenplay. 

Once they had a workable script, Kirschner and Garris pitched their potential movie — then titled "Halloween House" – to Disney. The studio gave the project the green light, but production on what would eventually come to called "Hocus Pocus" was still a long way down the road.

As envisioned by screenwriter Mick Garris, "Hocus Pocus" was initially far more frightening than the slapstick comedy that wound up onscreen. "What I had written originally was about 12-year-olds," Garris told Entertainment Weekly. "The kids being younger and in more jeopardy was certainly something more explicitly frightening." Garris was ultimately able to make a course correction by increasing the ages of two of the children, making them 16 instead of 12. This, he explained, reduced the scariness.

Garris elaborated in an interview with SlashFilm, revealing he "did the first couple of drafts" before other writers were brought on. Numerous rewrites ensued, and the project remained in limbo for eight years, until the script made its way to Bette Midler. Once Midler was attached, production proceeded full speed ahead, with Garris' original script serving as the template. "Basically, they had gone back to the script that I had done," he recalled. "They had made some changes — it was much more broadly comedic." He added that while his script was darker, other writers' commercial instincts were superior to his.

According to producer David Kirschner, Omri Katz was not the first choice to play young protagonist Max Dennison in "Hocus Pocus." As Kirschner told People, "There was talk originally for Max, Leonardo DiCaprio being Max, and that was exciting ..." However, added Kirschner, DiCaprio "turned it down."

Passing on the offer, DiCaprio admitted in a 2014 interview with Variety, proved to be a watershed moment for him. Admitting he was offered "more money than I ever dreamed of" to sign on for "Hocus Pocus," the young actor instead made the risky decision to hold out for a project he was far more passionate about: a quirky indie flick titled "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." 

Fortunately for DiCaprio, his instincts proved correct; he was just 18 when his performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. "I don't know where the hell I got the nerve," DiCaprio said. But he's proud that he stuck to his guns, though Leonardo DiCaprio didn't win an Oscar until "The Revenant."

Before he stepped behind the camera, "Hocus Pocus" director Kenny Ortega had a career as a successful choreographer. That experience served him well when making "Hocus Pocus," particularly in the scenes in which the Sanderson sisters fly around on their broomsticks.

According to the "Hocus Pocus" production information, Ortega brought in choreographer Peggy Holmes so she could coach stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker on developing each character's specific physical traits, in terms of how they moved and how each related to the other. This was particularly true when it came to the flying sequences, with Holmes explaining that each of the stars rode their broomsticks "in character." Midler's character, Winnifred, "is in charge and much more aggressive than the other two. She's always leading the way and looking for children." Parker's character, Sarah, "loves to fly ... and can't wait to get up in the air." 

Najimy's character, Mary, on the other hand, "is more cautious. Like a good driver, she signals with her hand. Mary is the safe and steady flier." That's just one of the things about "Hocus Pocus" you only notice as an adult.

Given that Sarah Jessica Parker's "Hocus Pocus" character loved to go flying on her enchanted mop, it shouldn't be surprising that the actress herself likewise enjoyed the process of simulating flight. When Parker paid a Halloween visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018, "Hocus Pocus" naturally came up as a topic of conversation. "I liked making the movie and I loved flying," Parker declared, explaining the process involved "old-fashioned wires and harnesses." 

In fact, Parker admitted she enjoyed being in the aerial rig so much then when the director called "cut" and everyone would go to lunch, she'd just hang out on the set, dangling in the air. Because her costume — a "16th-, 17th-century" gown — was so voluminous, she was able to "fit an entire New York Times up the back of the corset." Since she found the harness to be comfortable, Parker said, "I would just sit up there and read the Times." 

When asked if she was "fine up there," Parker replied, "I was happy. I was better than fine."

According to "Hocus Pocus" production information, production designer William Sandell utilized the largest sound stage at Disney's Burbank studios to construct the Sanderson sisters' house. "We looked at a number of restored and preserved houses in Salem," he explained, revealing the design they came up with was "an amalgam of everybody's vision of a witch's house — from fairy tales to Mother Goose."

When constructing the house on set, Sandell's attention to detail (specifically in maintaining authenticity to the period) was beyond impressive; he utilized the same techniques that the original Salem settlers would have used 300 years earlier. "It's a mortise and tenon old-style architecture where the logs are split and seamed together," he continued, explaining that the process included imitating "a wattle and daub, which is a technique of mixing clay with chopped straw, used originally by New Englanders in lieu of plaster to weatherize their houses."

The resulting structure was so solid, Sandell declared, that "you could take this house, place it on a hill somewhere, bring it up to code and live in it." That's something he's like to do himself.

Actor Sean Murray played human Thackery Binx in "Hocus Pocus," later transformed into a cat by the Sanderson sisters' wicked magic; actor Jason Marsden provided the voice of feline Binx. However, according to Entertainment Weekly, creating Binx wasn't easy, as it required several cats and computer wizardry to pull it off. After an attempt at an animatronic cat looked fake on film, computer-generated "texture mapping" — an early version of CGI — was used to superimpose facial features on footage of the actual cats to make it appear as if Binx was speaking.

Why so many cats to portray just one? As Murray explained to People, "What I discovered was that cats are impossible to train ... I think we went twice as long in the movie as we were supposed to because of these cats." 

Thora Birch — who played Max's little sister, Dani — concurred. "I had an issue whenever the cat came up," she told ABC News. "There were a number of live cats, animatronic cats — the thing with the cat was a toss-up. You never knew what would happen." Sounds about right!

One particularly memorable scene in "Hocus Pocus" involves the zombie-like Billy Butcherson, the unfaithful ex-boyfriend of Bette Midler's Winnifred. Billy, played by Doug Jones, takes a knife and slices the stitches sewing his lips together. And when he finally opens his mouth, he exhales a puff of dust, followed by a bunch of moths. 

Unlike Binx, no CGI was involved in this scene. Tony Gardner, who handled the special effects makeup, revealed to Bloody Disgusting that actual live moths flew out of the actor's mouth. According to Gardner, the illusion was created by using a "mouth rig," a small pocket fashioned from latex that attached from upper and lower dentures in Jones' mouth, intended to block his throat. 

Once it had been set up, "an animal wrangler would place several moths in the pocket with tweezers, under the supervision of a representative from the Humane Society," Gardner explained. "Then the stitches would be glued shut, and we'd run out of frame so that they could get to the shot as fast as possible."

Another memorable scene in "Hocus Pocus" proved to be a treat for movie aficionados. In that scene, the Sanderson sisters enter the home of a couple under the belief that the husband — costumed for Halloween in a devil outfit — is their "master," Satan himself. "Aren't you broads a little bit old to be trick-or-treating?" his wife asks while puffing on a cigarette. "We'll be younger in the morning," responds Winnifred, referencing the witches' efforts to regain their youth by stealing it from children.

The couple was played by Laverne & Shirley star Penny Marshall and her brother Garry Marshall, both big-time directors in their own rights; she helmed such films as "A League of Their Own" and "Big," while he brought moviegoers "Pretty Woman," "The Princess Diaries" and "Beaches."

Things go south when Penny sees Sarah's character slow-dancing with her husband, and kicks the coven out of her home. "That's it! Party's over! Get out of my house!" she bellows, telling her spouse, "Shove it, Satan!" Addressing Sarah, she adds, "Tart-face, take your Clark Bars and get outta my house!"

As "Hocus Pocus" built up a cult following over the years, many eager fans began calling for a sequel, anxious for "Hocus Pocus 2." Many of those fans, however, were probably not aware that a sequel already existed — but it had to be read, not watched.

In 2018, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the film's release, Disney published "Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel." Described as an "electrifying two-part young adult novel," the first half essentially recaps the events of the film in novel form. In the second half, set 25 years later, readers meet Max's 17-year-old daughter, Poppy, who is joined by her teenage pals to face off against the recently resurrected Sanderson sisters.  

The book's synopsis also promises that the novel will reveal the origins of "resting witch face."

The cast of "Hocus Pocus" has changed a lot since 1993. That said, when Deadline reported that the Disney Channel was developing a "Hocus Pocus" made-for-TV movie in 2017, fans of the original weren't exactly thrilled. The reason? The new version would feature neither the original cast nor director Kenny Ortega. The latter fact was particularly odd, given that Ortega directed several Disney Channel hits, including "High School Musical," "The Cheetah Girls," and "Descendants."  

As People subsequently reported, reaction on social media was scathing. One fan wrote of feeling "betrayed," while another tweet that summed up the general consensus read, "Someone needs to send the 'Hocus Pocus' remake idea back from whence it came!" In addition to fans, Bette Midler herself chimed in to express her displeasure. "It's going to be cheap!" she griped to People. In addition, Midler couldn't think of anyone who'd be able to top her performance. "I'm not sure what they're going to do with my character," she added. "My character is very, very broad and I don't know who they're going to find to play that."

Of course, things have changed since the initial announcement, and "Hocus Pocus 2" — starring the original cast of witches — premiered on Disney+ on September 30, 2022.

Bette Midler remains proud of the work that she and the cast did in the 1993 original. In 2018, Midler attended a 25th-anniversary screening, and admitted she was impressed with how well it had stood the test of time. "I watched it again for the first time ... I haven't seen it in years, and it was so good," she told "Entertainment Tonight." "I had forgotten how good it was and how good everybody was." She added that at the time, she wasn't aware of how talented the rest of the cast was — though she referred to co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as "those girls in the background."

Parker subsequently appeared on "Watch What Happens Live," where a caller asked for her feedback on Midler's remarks. Rather than take offense at what could be perceived as a diss, Parker preferred to laugh it off. "I was proud to be in her down wind," she quipped. Given how much the stars of "Hocus Pocus" are worth now, there's no reason to be mad, anyway.

As anyone who watched "Hocus Pocus" probably realized, Binx the cat was portrayed onscreen by actual cats, in addition to an animatronic device. Interestingly enough, noted BuzzFeed, the animatronic cat in "Hocus Pocus" hadn't been built specifically for the film, but was actually a repurposed animatronic that had originally been used in the TV series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" to play Salem, an identical talking black cat in that show.

When it came to the real cats used in the film, the wide variety of stunts Binx needed to perform necessitated the use of several cats. According to Humane Hollywood, via Insider, different cats were utilized for different stunts, depending upon the abilities of each animal. "When the children first meet Binx at the witches' house, Binx surprises Max by jumping on him and Max falls down," the site noted. "To achieve this scene, one trainer released the cat, while a second trainer called the cat by way of a buzzer hidden in the actor's clothing." 

Over the years, "Hocus Pocus" has grown to become a beloved Halloween perennial. However, the film's status as a classic certainly wasn't reflected at the box office when it was first released. According to Box Office Mojo, the film initially earned a rather anemic sum of $39 million domestically; as Variety pointed out, given that the film cost $28 million to make, that placed the film squarely in the "bomb" category. One key reason for the movie's disappointing ticket sales was that "Hocus Pocus," which has since become closely associated with Halloween, came out in July.

"Hocus Pocus" would have been consigned to the list of long-forgotten Hollywood flops had it not been for the emerging home-video market. Released on VHS in early 1994, noted Slashfilm, the movie found a second life when it was rediscovered by viewers via video. After it was released on DVD in 2002, its popularity grew even more, and The Wrap estimated that "Hocus Pocus" has generated about $1 million in sales each October ever since 2011. 

Meanwhile, the Disney-produced movie also came to be featured each October on Disney-owned TV platforms such as Disney Channel and Freeform; in fact, the movie has long been the cornerstone of the latter's "13 Nights of Halloween" programming event. According to The Wrap, Freeform's annual airing of "Hocus Pocus" has topped the ratings as the No. 1 cable movie telecast each October since 2017 in the highly desirable 18-34 demographic.

A quick look through Sarah Jessica Parker's IMDb credits indicates that out of all the various roles she's played, "Hocus Pocus" has been her only witch. And while she's not known for any other projects set within the world of witchcraft, her participation in a TV show about genealogy revealed a very real family connection to the occult arts.

In 2010, Parker appeared on the series "Who Do You Think You Are," in which former "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow helps celebrities explore their respective ancestries. During Parker's appearance, reported Wicked Local, she discovered that her forbears had originally lived in Massachusetts, in the Salem and Gloucester areas. Salem's notorious history includes the hysteria-fueled witch trials of the late 1690s, and Parker learned on the show that one of her ancestors was among the women arrested. As Parker learned, an accuser had claimed that her 10th great-grandmother, Esther (Dutch) Elwell of Gloucester, had "wicked and feloniously committed sundry acts of witchcraft."

Discovering her ancestor had been charged with witchcraft proved to be a game-changing revelation for Parker. "It's changed everything about who I thought I was," she admitted. "Everything."

When a movie is filmed, there is often a plethora of footage that doesn't make it into the final cut once they film is edited down to a reasonable running time. "Hocus Pocus" was certainly no exception to this practice, but what makes the film stand out is that some of the scenes that didn't make it into the finished film actually did see the light of day, when they appeared in the trailer. 

As Collider pointed out, the trailer features a snippet of Winifred (Bette Midler) falling into a swimming pool — a scene that does not appear in the actual movie. Meanwhile, another clip in the trailer shows Winifred and her sisters Mary and Sarah (Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker) being surrounded by trick-or-treaters demanding candy, and another in which Mary and Winifred look through lockers in a school hallway — neither of which were in the movie.

In one brief but memorable moment in "Hocus Pocus," Sarah Jessica Parker's character hastily thrusts a live spider into her mouth as a quick snack, crunching down noisily. As it turned out, that spider wasn't a prop, but an actual arachnid that she actually chowed down on for the scene. 

During an appearance on Freeform's 2018 "Halloween Bash," Parker confirmed that what she'd consumed was, in fact, the real deal. "I really did eat the spider," she confessed, via Collider.

Interestingly, eating the spider appears to be one of the few things that Parker actually remembers about filming "Hocus Pocus." "I don't have a lot of memories. I remember the filming of it. I just don't remember what the movie's about as much," she admitted during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." "Three witches, I've been told that, and apparently my character's not very bright. But I fly and sing and I think I like to suck the life ... I think I like to kill children? I don't know."

As fans of "Hocus Pocus" will recall, Binx the cat had been transformed into a feline via witchcraft, and was actually a human male named Thackery Binx. The character in human form was played young actor Sean Murray, who would go on to see much success in the future playing Special Agent Timothy McGee in mega-hit procedural crime drama "NCIS." 

What fans may not realize, however, is that while Murray may have appeared as human Binx, when the character was in feline form another actor provided the voice: James Marsden. 

Speaking with the Daily Beast in 2017, Marsden explained why he wound up voicing Binx instead of Murray. According to Marsden, Murray had originally done all the cat voiceovers for Binx. "They were using him first and animating his performance," Marsden said, revealing that producers ultimately felt Murray's voice work just wasn't quite right. "It's one of those things that happen in movies all the time. Movies are shot, written, go into production, and then take on a voice of their own," Marsden said. "Sean has a very contemporary sound. After it was all said and done, they — and I'm sure they worked with him on this — after the movie evolved they thought it would be more realistic, since the witches come from this time period, that Binx should also have an affected accent."

"Hocus Pocus" was not greeted warmly at the box office when it was first released in 1993, and it also didn't receive a whole lot of love from critics. Reviews, in fact, were scathing, particularly one from the late Roger Ebert, arguably one of the most influential film critics at that time. Viewing "Hocus Pocus," he wrote, "is like attending a party you weren't invited to, and where you don't know anybody, and they're all in on a joke but won't explain it to you."

Meanwhile, USA Today's review was downright dismissive. "One should approach 'Hocus Pocus' as if it were one of those households that plunk toothbrushes instead of Snickers into your goody bag," sniped critic Susan Wloszczyna. "Skip it."

Empire's review was likewise negative. "The plot is weak, the action poor and it's got Bette Midler, simply dreadful," wrote reviewer Kim Newman. The Washington Post decried the film as a "future videotape disguised as a movie. In the not-too-distant future look for 'Hocus Pocus' in the rental-store bins, or as part of a Halloween 'Trick or Treat' package (three bags of candies with 'Hocus Pocus' for $5.95)." Ouch!