People
23 Secrets About Hocus Pocus You Didn’t Know
By Andrea Wurzburger, Paris C., and Emily Krauser
Oct. 28, 2026
Hocus Pocus hit theaters in 1993.
Additionally, the Disney movie stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the three Sanderson sisters, 17th-century witches.
Moreover, a sequel to the classic Halloween film was released on Disney+ in 2022.
It’s been 33 years since Hocus Pocus first put a spell on us.
The Halloween classic, released in July 1993, stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters. They are three 17th-century witches who appear in present-day Salem, Mass., after the Black Flame Candle is lit. The film weaves humor, fantasy, and sharp performances.
Moreover, the trio tries to become immortal by stealing children’s life forces. They perform hocus pocus as part of their schemes and encounter various autumn hi-jinks. Along the way, the film balances fright and charm with memorable characters. The humor remains entertaining for long-time fans.
The story features a mischievous black cat and dramatic set pieces that define the mood. Overall, the film endures as a Halloween staple that appeals to various audiences. Audiences appreciate the clever costumes, witty dialogue, and strong performances. Its appeal extends beyond nostalgia, inviting repeated viewings during the season.
Since the original movie’s premiere, the acting trio reunited on-screen in the long-awaited Disney+ sequel, 2022’s Hocus Pocus 2, and a third film was in early development as of May 2026.
Even if you watch it religiously on “another glorious morning” during the spooky season, there’s a lot of insider info bubbling beneath the, well, cauldron to brush up on. Keep reading for fun facts you may not have known about Hocus Pocus.
The film wasn’t released during Halloween
Despite being a fan favorite every October, Hocus Pocus was actually released in the summer, specifically on July 16, 1993.
It wasn’t initially called Hocus Pocus
During its early development, Hocus Pocus was titled Halloween House, per Entertainment Weekly (via Bloody Disgusting).
In fact, screenwriter Mick Garris envisioned the 1993 movie as much darker than the family-friendly Halloween flick it’s known as today.
It was originally a flop. The film debuted in fourth place at the box office, earning $39.5 million in its initial theatrical run. This data is cited by Yahoo Entertainment. However, it has since garnered a cult audience. It even hit the No. 2 spot at the box office in 2020, nearly three decades after its premiere.
The script started as a bedtime story
Producer and co-writer David Kirschner told the story to his daughters and turned it into a film.
“Halloween is a huge deal in our home, and it has been since our daughters were little,” Kirschner told Yahoo Entertainment in October 2015. “It speaks to me in a way that becomes so emotional for me and always has.”
The creators went all out pitching the film to Disney
At a 2013 D23 panel celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary, Kirschner told the crowd that to really sell the idea to Disney, they set the mood by having executives walk into a dark room with witches’ brooms, a vacuum cleaner hanging from the ceiling and 15 lbs. of candy corn.
It wouldn’t be possible for the movie to take place on Halloween 1993
That’s because in 1993, Halloween fell on a Sunday, which meant no school!
It’s one of Bette Midler’s favorite films
During an appearance on Katie Couric’s eponymous talk show in 2013, Midler told Couric: “I love it. We made it before the tidal wave of Halloween happened. Now it’s, like, huge. It’s huge — kids, grown-ups, everyone takes part in it. This movie was kind of like the beginning of the wave.”
And Bette Midler feels that way even if she doesn’t “watch it regularly”
At her annual Hulaween charity event in 2018, Midler told PEOPLE that she had only recently rewatched the film.
“I watched it the other night, the night before the [25th] anniversary, because I said, ‘You know what, I better look at this again.’ So I watched it, and I loved it! I loved it!” she said.
Midler added, “I thought it was so funny! The first time I watched it, I was only watching myself. But this time I saw everybody. And I tell ya, those girls in the back — they were going full blast! They were giving me a run for my money. The kids were great; everybody was great!”
Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t remember much about the movie
When Stephen Colbert asked if she had “any memories” of the film during a 2018 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Parker, who plays Sarah Sanderson, admitted only a few came to mind.
“I remember the filming of it; I just don’t remember what the movie is about as much,” she said. “Apparently …my character’s not very bright. But I fly and sing, and I think I like to kill children, I don’t know.”
One thing she couldn’t forget, though: She really loved flying.
The Sex and the City alum said she would sit on the rig in costume and read The New York Times while people “took their breaks or changed the camera, sometimes went to lunch.”
When Colbert asked if she was “fine up there,” Parker responded, “No, I was happy. I was better than fine.”
Sarah Jessica Parker is related to a real-life witch
Well, Parker is related to an alleged witch. While appearing on Who Do You Think You Are? in March 2010, the actress discovered that she was very distantly related to Esther Elwell, an accused witch in the infamous Salem witch trials.
Luckily, Elwell’s case never made it to trial, as trying a person for witchcraft was abolished.
The song Sarah Jessica Parker sings in the film, “Come, Little Children,” is by the same man who wrote “My Heart Will Go On”
Yes, we’re referring to the same theme song performed by Céline Dion for the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic. The famed composer James Horner — who died after a plane crash in June 2015 — was behind the music and lyrics for both iconic songs.
That song isn’t the only thing the film had in common with Titanic
Leonardo DiCaprio auditioned for the role of Max, but he turned it down — and “more money than [he] ever dreamed of” — to star in 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
“I don’t know where the hell I got the nerve,” DiCaprio told Variety in February 2014. “You live in an environment where you’re influenced by people telling you to make a lot of money and strike while the iron’s hot. But if there’s one thing I’m very proud of, it’s being a young man who was sticking to my guns.”
Sure, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was a critically acclaimed hit that catapulted DiCaprio into stardom, but boy, do we wish we could’ve seen young Leo light the Black Flame Candle.
Rosie O’Donnell turned down a role in the film, too
Rosie O’Donnell was originally asked to play Mary, but she turned down the role. Why that decision?
“Because I didn’t want to play the fat, mean witch who eats and kills kids,” O’Donnell told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023. “Even though it was Bette Midler, who was like, my favorite, and Sarah Jessica Parker … I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do a part where I would be mean to kids, and the joke was about the size. I just felt like I had to say ‘no’ for that.”
As for her thoughts on Najimy’s portrayal of Mary, O’Donnell said, “I think Kathy’s fantastic in it. You know, she does that face. I don’t even know how she does it.”
Two separate actors played Thackery Binx
Sean Murray acted out the human version …
Jason Marsden voiced the cat version of Thackery Binx
Jason Marsden voiced Thackery’s black cat form, and in real life, he’s close friends with Omri Katz, who plays Max Dennison in the film. The two also shared the screen on the ‘90s sci-fi kids series Eerie, Indiana.
Thackery Binx also appeared on a witchy ‘90s sitcom — sort of
UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 25: SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH – “It’s a Mad… Mad Season Opener” – Season Three – 9/25/98, After Salem insults an online friend while playing chess, he gets an unexpected visit from the man, looking to do bodily harm to the cat. Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina) also stars. ,
Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman with the animatronic black cat that plays Salem Saberhagen on ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ in 1998.
Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
If the immortal black cat in Hocus Pocus looks eerily familiar, it’s because the same animatronic feline was used on the TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Per Screen Rant, Salem Saberhagen from the ‘90s fantasy series and Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus are actually the same black cat.
Some internet detectives noticed Hocus Pocus shares an iconic fountain with ...
… none other than the long-running sitcom Friends.
In 2019, the online community figured out that the famous fountain from the hit NBC series’ opening credits also appears in Hocus Pocus.
Hocus Pocus also shares a house with American Beauty
Per Screen Rant, the house that appeared in the films can be seen after the children in Hocus Pocus escape the witches, who tried to lock them in a kiln. Funnily enough, actress Thora Birch stars in both movies.
Birch played Dani Dennison in the 1993 flick and returned to the neighborhood in the 1999 dramedy American Beauty.
The exterior was also used in 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Like the fountain, the house was located on the Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank, Calif.
Siblings Garry Marshall and Penny Marshall play a disgruntled husband and wife in the movie
Late siblings Garry Marshall and Penny Marshall make a cameo as a bickering couple, whom the Sanderson sisters mistake for their “master” and his wife because Garry is dressed as a devil in the film.
Garry and Penny even made a brief appearance in the sequel. As the Sanderson sisters fly across Salem, a quick shot shows a couple watching the Marshall’s original Hocus Pocus scene on their TV. (Garry died in July 2016 at 81, and his sister, Penny, died in December 2018 at 75.)
“My editor, Julia [Wong], and I landed on the cameo with Garry and Penny because it’s one of the funniest parts of the movie, and their characters are so beloved by everyone — including myself — that it just felt right to put Garry and Penny in this movie,” Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher told Entertainment Weekly in October 2022.
Hocus Pocus was the first Disney film to use the word “virgin”
If the number of times the characters say the word “virgin” feels like too many for a Disney film, it’s because it is, per the Logan County Public Library.
Real moths fly out of Billy Butcherson’s mouth
No, really. Tony Gardner, the man behind the film’s special effects makeup, told Bloody Disgusting in March 2018 that they built “a rig inside [actor Doug Jones’] mouth to house some moths and dust for him to cough up on command.”
Bette Midler helped influence the iconic Hocus Pocus costumes
While Najimy, Midler and Parker’s personalities all helped costume designer Mary Vogt design the iconic Sanderson frocks, the “Wind Beneath My Wings” singer had an especially big influence on the final looks.
Vogt told Glamour in October 2019 that when she and director Kenny Ortega discussed her “vision for Bette,” Ortega said the Grammy winner couldn’t be put “in some black witch outfit.”
Once Vogt had sketches complete, he brought them to Midler to confirm they were what she had in mind.
“So he talked to Bette, who said, ‘Well, of course. I’m not going to wear some black dress,’ ” Vogt recalled. “She was great, and Sarah Jessica Parker was fantastic, and so was Kathy Najimy. They all got along so well together, and they just clicked.”
As for those symbols on Midler’s dress? Their meaning is purposefully vague.
“Symbols are always tricky to do because you don’t want to accidentally use some ancient symbol that’s evil. So we did the symbols on her robe from the rune alphabet — and some from Stonehenge — and then we added a line here and there to make sure they were unrecognizable. Almost like crop circles,” Vogt said.
The costume designer added that Parker’s costume was inspired by Sleeping Beauty, while Najimy’s was “like an alchemist … meant to look like a witch baker.”
