Hocus Pocus (film)
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Hocus Pocus is a children's Halloween themed film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista International. The movie started life as a script for a special original movie for the Disney Channel, to be produced by one of the smaller studios owned by The Walt Disney Company, but the script caught the eye of Walt Disney Pictures who decided that the film was strong enough to carry well-known names and to attract a cinema audience. The movie was released in the United States and Canada in October 1993, and October 1994 across most of Europe and some Asian countries. The idea to cast Bette Midler was partly inspired by Midler's award-winning performance in a milestone motion picture for the Walt Disney Company on it's Touchstone Pictures line, Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
Main cast
- Bette Midler — Winifred Sanderson
- Sarah Jessica Parker — Sarah Sanderson
- Kathy Najimy — Mary Sanderson
- Jason Marsden — Zackery Binx (voice)
- Omri Katz — Max Dennison
- Thora Birch — Dani Dennison
- Vinessa Shaw — Alison
- Doug Jones — Billy Butcherson
- Garry Marshall — Satan (uncredited)
- Penny Marshall — Satan's wife (uncredited)
Plot Summary
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy star as three sisters, Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson, witches who try to suck the youth out of children to stay young forever. Winifred is the eldest and leads the three since she's the smartest, having to deal with the two's idiocy with her firey temper. Sarah is boy crazy and a dimwit at that, but her beautiful voice is used to lure children. Mary is a dimwit as well and follows Winifred's commands like a guard dog; she can smell nearby children and sometimes tries to calm down Winifred when she's in a rage. They were sentenced to death in the 17th century. They return from beyond the grave 300 years later in 1993, thanks to a curse created by Winifred. Their plan is to live forever in young youth, by sucking the souls out children before the sunrise after Halloween, otherwise they will turn to dust. 300 years ago they transformed Thackery Binx (Marsden) into a black cat, after absorbing the soul of his sister, Emily.Unfortunately, the witches' return was able because Max Dennison (Katz), a teenager from Los Angeles lights the Black-flamed Candle at the Sanderson house with his sister Dani (Birch) and love interest Alison (Shaw) present. The group steal Winifred's magic book, which contains the spell that will create the potion they need to succeed in their plan. The witches chase the kids, and Binx who is still a cat, to the local graveyard where Winifred resurrects a random zombie, who turns out to be Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), Winifred's previous love interest who had an affair with Sarah. As a result of this, Winifred poisoned him and sewed his mouth shut so he could not speak in the afterlife. He is sent to chase the kids across town.
The witches experience some 20th century antics, including riding a bus and finding themselves in a Halloween party. They also meet a man who they believe is Satan, but they are thrown out of his house by his wife, who they think is Medusa. (The couple was played by legendary director/producer Garry Marshall and his sister, actress and director Penny Marshall.)
Max, Dani, Alison and Binx go to the town hall Halloween party where they find Max's parents. The witches take over the stage and put a spell on the adults to make them dance until they die. Max and the others lure the witches into the high school and destroy them in the kiln. But they cannot die and return to their cottage, taking Jay and Ice, two bullies, with them and locking them in cages. The witches believe that they are doomed, until they spot the light from the magic book, coming from Max's house. The witches invade the house and kidnap Dani and Binx.
Sarah flies across Salem, singing a charming but eerie song, hypnotising the children and luring them towards the cottage. Max and Alison retrieve Dani and Binx and retreat to the graveyard. Max bumps into Billy who reveals to be a friendly man who helps the other protect Dani. Dani is captured by Winifred, but Max replaces himself for her. As the sun slowly rises, Winifred tosses Binx onto a rock and kills him. The sun fully rises and Winifred turns to stone. Mary and Sarah explode to dust, even though they technically did not do any evil, and Winifred turned into a stone statue of herself, then exploded into dust. Billy returned to his grave, but the three kids discover Binx dead. His ghost appears and thanks the children for breaking his curse, then walks away into the night with his supernatural sister, Emily. As for Jay and Ice, they still hang in the cottage and their loathsome singing seems to awaken the magic book.
Trivia
- When Bette Midler takes the stage at the town Halloween Party, she says, "Hello Salem, my name is Winifred! What's yours?". This is a take-off of the famous "Hello world, my name is Rose! What's yours?", a line from the musical , spoken by Mama Rose. Bette Midler played Mama Rose in the television version of Gypsy the same year that Hocus Pocus was released.
- The role of Max Dennison was originally offered to Leonardo Dicaprio, but was given to Omri Katz when DiCaprio turned it down to appear in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?.
External link
- [The Doug Jones Experience]- Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson
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