History Main / HocusPocus

* Film/HocusPocus, a 1993 Halloween-themed {{Disney}} film.

''[[CaptainObvious This is a disambiguation page.]]''

''This is a disambiguation page.''

* Film.HocusPocus, a 1993 Halloween-themed {{Disney}} film
* Videogame.HocusPocus, an 1994 [[SideView sidescrolling]] videogame developed by MoonliteSoftware and published by ApogeeSoftware

* Videogame.HocusPocus, an 1994 [[{{sidescroller}} sidescrolling]] videogame developed by MoonliteSoftware and published by ApogeeSoftware

[[quoteright:348:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HocusPocus_9042.jpg]]
A 1993 [[HalloweenSpecial Halloween-themed]] {{Disney}} film for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids "kids"]]. This was the second film directed by Kenny Ortega, previously known for ''{{Newsies}}'' (1993). Now considered [[CultClassic a cult favorite]], the film's rather campy, but pretty entertaining. It does, after all, contain a memorable rendition of "I Put A Spell On You" by Bette Midler. The song "Come Little Children" from this film went on to become a Halloween classic.

The film opens in the year 1693. Thackery Binx (role shared by Sean Murray and JasonMarsden), a teenager living in Salem, Massachusetts, discovers his little sister Emily (Amanda Shepherd) has gone missing. Emily has been lured away to the farm of the Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches--consisting of older sister/leader Winifred "Winnie" (Bette Midler), middle child/tracker Mary (Kathy Najimy) and little sister/siren-like predator Sarah (SarahJessicaParker)--who suck the life-forces of little children to prolong their lives; such is the fate suffered by Emily. Thackery attempts to save her, but the sisters transform him into an immortal black cat. The sisters are soon after captured by the townspeople and hanged; before her death, Winnie pronounces her death-curse, that "on AllHallowsEve, when the moon is round, a virgin will summon us from under the ground."

The scene shifts to 1993. The Dennisons are a California family who has just moved to Salem, bringing along teenaged son Max (Omri Katz) and 8-year-old daughter Dani (ThoraBirch). Max is a virgin. Halloween night, Max takes his sister trick-or-treating and gets to hang with new {{love interest}} Allison (Vinessa Shaw). Allison tells him of the legend of the Sanderson sisters and of a supposed way to revive them; Max laughs and tries it out, bringing the Sandersons back to life. Now the three kids and the immortal cat Binx have to face the witches throughout the night, with the lives of every kid in Salem at risk.

[[IThoughtItMeant While a 1994 side-scrolling platformer]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks by the same name]] [[IThoughtItMeant also exists, they don't have any connection to each other]]. Also unrelated is KurtVonnegut's 1991 novel of the same name.
----
!!This movie contains examples of:

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Max, Dani and Allison have to flee the witches and zombie Billy Butcherson by following Thackery into the sewers, which are filled with spiders and rats, [[ReducedToRatburgers which is what Thackery eats as a cat]]! Very {{squick}}y to the trio.
* AdultsAreUseless: The children tried to get help from their parents at the party.
** They also tried for help from the man they thought was a police officer. ([[spoiler:He was only in costume.]])
** To be fair to the adults, all the kids did say was "I accidentally woke up the Sanderson witches" on Halloween in a town where the Sanderson witches "coming back to life" is probably the most common prank every single Halloween.
*** Max and Dani's parents are useless long before anything supernatural happens. When Max comes home in his stocking feet after his shoes are stolen by bullies, they assume it's [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow a form of protest against them]].
* AllHallowsEve
* AllPartOfTheShow: What the adult partygoers think of the Sandersons taking over the stage and singing a song to them, to the point they actually indulge in audience participation and sing too, thus ''[[RefugeInAudacity unknowingly enchanting themselves]]''. May well count as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, particularly for Winifred figuring out that the witches could do this.
* AnimalMotifs: The animal itself is never mentioned, but Mary's appears to be a dog, what with her tendency to bark, her power to smell children, and the way she's always at Winifred's side.
* BerserkButton: The minute someone calls Winifred "ugly" she starts handing out the DisproportionateRetribution.
* BiggerBad: The devil (see "Satan" below)
* [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Truumvirate]]: The Sanderson sisters.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Thackery Binx and Max are both deeply protective of their little sisters, and Binx projects a lot of his feelings about Emily onto Dani.
* BlackMagic
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead
* BrattyHalfPint: Dani, but only because they don't have any tropes worse than this until you get to [[EnfantTerrible psychopathic killers]]; seriously, when you're eight years old and mocking your teen brother's (lack of) sex life, you're not cute anymore.
** I think we can assume that Dani doesn't even know what "virgin" means, aside from it being an insult to her brother and is just repeating "what the big kids say" like children tend to do.
* BurnTheWitch: Averted. In a Disney film! The witches are hanged, just like the real "witches" of Salem.
** [[spoiler:Double Subverted. They end up getting cooked in a large walk-in kiln in the school.]]
* ButtMonkey: Max, whose virginity is repeatedly invoked and commented on.
* CardCarryingVillain: Winnie Sanderson at one point says to her sisters "We are witches, we are evil!"
* CatsAreMagic: Binx, a teenager who [[BalefulPolymorph was transformed]] into a black cat by the Sandersons. He has the ability to speak, and he is effectively {{immortal|ity}}.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Sarah.
* ConvenientSlowDance: Parodied: While the Sanderson Sisters are in "[[{{Satan}} the Master's]]" house, Sarah goes to "the Master" and says, "Master, wouldst thou dance with me?" She then makes a tender slow dance with him... until his wife shows up and sees them both dancing, which triggers her BerserkButton.
* CreditsPushback: Because of this, the DisneyChannel no longer airs TheStinger for the movie.
* DeadpanSnarker: Binx. Winnie has her moments, as well.
** LittleMissSnarker: Dani.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Thackery Binx was already going to have his life sucked out of him for trying to stop the witches from killing his sister, but he makes the mistake of [[BerserkButton calling Winifred a hag]] and is instead damned to a FateWorseThanDeath in the form of being [[TheWoobie trapped in the form of a black cat... for all eternity... living with his failure]].
** Also in case of Billy Butcherson, Winnie's lover. Winnie poisoned him and sewed his mouth shut after she caught him sporting with Sarah.
* DisneyDeath: Binx revives after being crushed by the bus.
** At the end, [[spoiler:Binx dies for real, but we see him return to console Dani, and then meet Emily at the gates to Heaven]].
** Also, Emily dies at the start, [[spoiler:seen at the gates to Heaven at the end]].
* TheDitz: Sarah.
* DoNotCallMePaul: One of the two bad boys, "Ice", hates being called "Ernie".
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Winnie apparently can't understand self-sacrifice, especially for a family member.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Winnie is this when she's not busy to kill children or whatever.
* FeteWorseThanDeath: The party at the town hall, at least after the witches take over the proceedings.
* FieryRedhead: Winifred.
* FiveManBand:
** TheHero: Max
** TheLancer: Dani
** TheSmartGuy / TeamPet : Binx
** TheBigGuy: Billy
** TheChick: Allison
* FlyingBroomstick: Used straight and then parodied when their brooms are stolen, forcing [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Sarah to fly on a mop and Mary on a vacuum cleaner]].
* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself:
** Max wears street clothes when he takes Dani trick-or-treating. His father thinks he's supposed to be a hip-hop deejay, while Dani insists he's a Little Leaguer.
*** Of course, it could just be a form of protest (For Halloween, I Am Not Going As Anything), since Max had no intention of taking Dani trick or treating at all [[BrattyHalfPint until Dani started shrieking at the top of her lungs]].
** Allison dresses as an aristocratic lady for her parents' soiree, but quickly changes out of it and is in modern-day clothes for the rest of the movie.
* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Dani regarding Max's nonexistent sex life.
** Also, "You sold your soul!" to Winifred.
* FunctionalMagic
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: See above.
-->'''Winifred:''' We desire...''[[EatsBabies children]].''\\
'''Bus Driver:''' Hey, it may take me a couple of tries, but I don't think there will be a problem.
* HaveAGayOldTime: Invoked in setting up the AManIsNotAVirgin OverlyLongGag.
* TheHecateSisters
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Billy]] (although he really wasn't a bad guy to begin with, aside from the obvious fact that he [[spoiler:two-timed Winifred]]).
* HolyBurnsEvil: When Winifred sneezes, a passing little girl (in costume as an Angel) says "Bless you!", prompting all three sisters to react with horror.
** As per the spell that only resurrected them for one night, the Sanderson Sisters will be turned to dust when the sun rises. Witches can't set foot on [[HolyBurnsEvil hallowed ground]] either, and when Winifred tries to quickly kill Max in the graveyard before sunrise, she's [[TakenForGranite turned into a stone statue]] for standing in a holy place. As if that weren't enough, when the sunlight hits the statue, it explodes.
* HotMom: Max and Dani's mom, at least when she's dressed up as Music/{{Madonna}}.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne:
-->'''Jay:''' Man, how come it's always the ugly chicks that stay out late?!\\
'''Winifred:''' "''Chicks?''"
** Contrast with Winifred's offense at Dani calling her "Ugly."
*** It's probable that Winifred is confused as to her and her sisters being referred to as "chicks." When they're from, chicks are baby chickens.
* InfantImmortality: Averted in a Disney movie! The Sanderson Sisters kill Emily. However, see DisneyDeath above.
-->'''TheNostalgiaChick''': First plot point, death of a child.
* IntellectualAnimal: Binx to some extent, but especially when compared to those around him...
* IronicEcho: At one point, Winifred swoops in on the kids, taunting them with Max's earlier line "It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!" FridgeLogic kicks in when you realize Winifred wasn't {{back from the dead}} yet when Max said it, and couldn't have heard it.
** Winnifred references ''Gypsy'' and Elton John. She apparently had the ability to be aware of certain things while dead.
** Indeed, for how this movie works, just because the character is dead doesn't mean they can't see/hear what's going on.
* LargeHam: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iprS0lCaiGs&feature=related Bette Midler]]. And it's surprisingly awesome.
* LifeEnergy: With the help of a potion, the witches could just take a few long whiffs and their victim will be dead.
* LightIsNotGood: Beautiful, sunny-haired, ditzy Sarah, singing sweetly to lure children to their deaths at the hands of the witches.
* LiteralMetaphor: "I Put a Spell on You" as sung by Winnie.
* MagicMusic: "Come Little Children" and "I Put a Spell on You."
* ManBehindTheMan: The devil is implied to be behind the Sandersons (see "Satan" below)
* AManIsNotAVirgin: The audience is reminded every five minutes that [[OverlyLongGag Max is one]]. Rather jarring considering the target audience and that Max is young enough to still be commuting by bicycle. Seriously, Disney?
** [[TheNostalgiaChick "What are you doing if you're in High School and still a virgin?"]]
** Insinuating that Max is not a real man.
* MyNameIsNotDurwood: In one scene Max introduces himself to the two bullies, Jay and "Ice", and says he's from L.A. Since they realize where he's from, they start calling Max "Hollywood" from then on.
* NewAgeRetroHippie: Max appears to be this at first, and gets treated this way by most of the other characters. And who can blame them? Max does wear a tie-dyed T-shirt and harbors radical left-wing beliefs (such as his suspicion that Halloween is actually a conspiracy on the part of the candy companies). But he ultimately subverts the stereotype [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar when he's offered a marijuana cigarette and he turns it down]].
* TheNineties: Max's ''hair'' alone dates this movie.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: What kicks the whole plot off in the modern time when Max lights the enchanted candle, of course he didn't know the legend was real at the time but still. Binx even nearly title drops the trope name when he reveals to Max he can talk.
--> '''Binx''': (sarcastically) Nice going, ''Max''.
* NoOntologicalInertia: The party-goers are cursed to dance until they die. The curse ends when the witches die.
** Also, Binx is allowed to die.
* NotSoHarmless: The Sandersons may seem comically bumbling about 80 percent of the time, but you'd be wise not to mess with them when they ''really'' get angry. Sarah in particular seems a harmless, ditzy woman through most of the movie. Then she starts singing sweetly, luring children out, and you ''know'' she's deadly.
* OhCrap: Billy reacts in this way ''twice'', each time just before he (literally) loses his head.
* OneSceneWonder: Those skull-faced jazzers/rockers at the Halloween party were pretty cool.
** It may take a second viewing to realize that these performers segued from "Witchcraft" into "I Put a Spell on You" shortly before Winifred took over the show.
* PainfulTransformation: Thackery Binx, intentionally invoked by the Sanderson Sisters.
* PerkyGoth: Sarah, a rare villainous one.
* PillarOfLight
* PleaseWakeUp: [[spoiler:Dani, to Binx. Harsher because he was immortal up until then.]]
* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted -- the apparent cop who bullies the children and insults Max's manhood is only in costume.
* ProductPlacement: In one scene, "[[{{Satan}} the Master]]" and his wife are tossing the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Bar Clark Bar candy bars]] to the Sanderson Sisters, but after discovering the weirdness of the sisters, the wife forces them to leave with the Clark Bars. Once they're back out on the prowl, Mary at first thinks that she has "[[ImAHumanitarian a chocolate covered finger of a man named Clark]]", but when she eats the Clark Bar and discovers that it's candy, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she asks why "the Master [would] give us candy"]], to which Winifred replies, "Because he's NOT our Master!"
** Also, while still at "the Master's" house, Mary turns on the TV and sees [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ABvOay1g7U a commercial for DuPont Stainmaster with a running baby in it]], and [[{{Squee}} she gets ecstatic]].
* [[PsychopathicManchild Psychopathic Womanchild]]: Sarah. She's so childlike, it's very easy to forget she's homicidal and very dangerous, and her idea of "play" likely involves death and, at one point, possibly torture. Sarah Jessica Parker's delivery makes her lines less creepy, until you think about them.
* ReallyGetsAround: Sarah. It's honestly shocking for a Disney film that she flirts with every single male she comes across--from Thackery to Max to Billy to a random bus driver to Max's bullies to a random costumed man at the party...the list goes on and on.
* RedheadInGreen: Winifred.
* RuleOfFunny: The entire film, except for certain moments of MoodWhiplash.
* SanityBall: Is briefly held by Sarah and Mary when they point out to Winifred that they don't need to chase after Max and Dani because they've already got a kid to feed their potion to, and thanks to Sarah's singing more are coming to the house. They can always make more potion afterwards because they've got the book back, but Winifred's too dead set on getting back at Dani for calling her "ugly" to care.
* {{Satan}}: Never appears in person, but the Sanderson sisters call him their "master" and a museum sign claims he gave Winnifred her spell book.
* SchmuckBait: The candle.
* SeeYouInHell:
-->'''Billy Butcherson:''' Go to Hell!\\
'''Winifred:''' Oh! [[InsultBackfire I've been there, thank you. I found it quite lovely]].
* ShadowArchetype: Max begins the film extremely self-centered, over-dramatic, short-tempered and showing an enormous amount of disdain for his annoying but loving little sister. Obvious and weak comparisons are drawn with Max and Binx, but the stronger parallels are with Max and Winifred, an extremely self-centered, over-dramatic and short-tempered witch who despises her incompetent, yet devoted, younger sisters. Sarah and Mary follow Winifred into what will clearly be their own demise and die after a clumsy attempt to save her from Max, a gesture Winifred would hardly return.
-->'''Winifred:''' [[spoiler:What a fool to give up ''thy'' life...for thy ''sister's''.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Winnie can do this on [[StarWars Emperor Palpatine's]] levels.
* ShoutOut: During the "I Put a Spell on You" number, Winnie calls out, "Hello, Salem, my name is Winifred! What's yours?" This is a nod to Mama Rose in ''{{Gypsy}}'', who said, "Hello, world, my name is Rose! What's yours?" (which was spoken by Louise earlier) Doubles as an ActorAllusion when Bette Midler played Mama Rose in the TV version on the same year that ''Hocus Pocus'' was released.
** Also, at the beginning of "I Put a Spell on You", Winnie gives out a shout-out to one of EltonJohn's songs:
--->'''Winifred:''' Now the [[WitchWithACapitalB witch]] [[EltonJohn is back!]] And there's hell to pay.
*** Also, the "I Put a Spell on You" number is an {{homage}} to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who wrote the song, [[BeamMeUpScotty although the original actually started with "I put a spell on you,]] ''{{be|amMeUpScotty}}cause'' [[BeamMeUpScotty you're mine."]]
* SkepticNoLonger: Max.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Binx snarling [[TotallyRadical "Nice going, Max!"]] in his standard 17th-century Colonial accent.
* SpellBook: Bound in human skin, and emblazoned with a living human eye, no less.
* TheStinger: A number of them, actually. After we see [[spoiler:Thackery and Emily finally reunited at the gates of {{Heaven}}]], the end credits are accompanied by the following: Max and Dani's parents and all the other townspeople stumbling out of the town hall in their costumes, with the dad commenting that "I thought L.A. was a party town!"; [[TethercatPrinciple Jay and Ice still locked in birdcages in the Sandersons' lair, pitifully singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to pass the time]]; and a final tip-off that [[spoiler:the Sanderson sisters may be NotQuiteDead.]]
* SurroundedByIdiots
-->'''Winifred:''' WHY? Why was I cursed with such IDIOT sisters?\\
'''Sarah:''' Just lucky, I guess.
** Binx as well. Max, Dani and Allison are about as sharp as bowling balls.
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:At the end, Max either has to give up the potion or Dani dies. What does he do? He drinks the potion instead.]]
* TakeMeInstead: [[spoiler:Max drinks the potion to keep Winifred from force-feeding it to Dani. "What a fool to give up ''thy'' life... for thy ''sister's.''"]]
* TakenForGranite: [[spoiler:Winifred... the result of her standing on "hallowed ground"... which was a big no-no when trying to steal Max's life.]]
* TalkingAnimal: Binx.
* TitleDrop: "C'mon, it's all just a bunch of hocus pocus."
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Binx's spirit reunited with his sister in the afterlife.]]
* TomeOfEldritchLore: Winifred's spellbook. Bound in human skin (complete with human eyeball) and given to her by {{Satan}} himself. Plus, it's at least partially sentient.
* TooDumbToLive: Sarah and Mary Sanderson.
** The kids count, too.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Yabbos," to describe what Max loves.
* VillainBall: Winnie holds it pretty hard at some points, but the worst is when the three sisters have everything they need to win, at least temporarily -- enough potion to suck the lives of at least one child, which would give them enough time to live at least past Halloween and make more, plus the spellbook and a whole crowd of children on which to use it, and Winnie gives up the perfect opportunity to go get the life of one specific child, who called her "ugly." However, it's fairly justified, as Winnie had been shown many times beforehand to be vain, self-centered, arrogant and vindictive -- perfectly in-character to drop everything for meaningless revenge, while her unassertive and incompetent sisters are hardly able to dissuade her.
** This could probably be her one true IdiotBall moment too.
* VillainSong: Two, "I Put A Spell On You," and the later [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsda4GJuzcQ "Come Little Children."]]
** "Come Little Children" also opened the movie in Salem 300 years earlier.
* VirginPower:
-->'''Max:''' (after feeling the room shake) What happened?\\
'''Dani:''' A ''virgin'' (''referring to Max'') lit the candle.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Given the high density of AManIsNotAVirgin jokes directed at ''someone not even 16 yet'', you just have to wonder if the entire staff didn't have access to some kind of illegal substance when they decided '''''that''''' was perfect material for a '''children's film'''.
** Hell, the illegal substances may be how they paid off the MediaWatchdogs and MoralGuardians to get this released as it is.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to the three girls who got the Sandersons' brooms?
** Well, you can hear a *whoosh* sound after they run off-camera.
** [[FridgeHorror Assuming the brooms had been around since the sisters were alive back in 1693 and if some kids tried to fly on the brooms but failed in the past, then with the sister's resurrection the magic has returned to them and stays. But what if the girls were flying at sunrise when the magic could leave]]...
** The last we saw of Max's house was the Sanderson Sisters completely destroying the top floor. One wonders what his parents will think when they finally get home.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Happens to Binx in the beginning. Not that he wanted it in the first place.
* WickedWitch: Three of them.
* WitchWithACapitalB: Winnie does this in a nod to EltonJohn during "I Put a Spell on You"; see ShoutOut.
* WouldHurtAChild: The Sanderson Sisters drain Emily's life.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: The Sanderson Sisters, and Thackery and Emily Binx, and the rest of the Salem townsfolk in 1693.
** Played with on the bus:
---> '''Sarah''': Thou wouldst hate me in the morning.\\
'''Bus Driver''': No I wouldn'st!
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: For a little while, it seems that [[spoiler:the witches have been cooked in the school oven. They were, but it didn't stick.]]
* ZombieApocalypse: Averted; it's just one zombie and [[spoiler:he's not exactly evil]].
* ZombieGait: Billy's silly zombie stumble.
----
[[spoiler:[[OverlyLongGag Virgin.]]]]
<<|{{Film}}|>>

** TheSmartGuy: Binx

** I think we could assume that Dani doesn't even know what "virgin" means, aside from it being an insult to her brother.

** As per the spell that only resurrected them for one night, the Sanderson Sisters will be turned to dust when the sun rises. Witches can't set foot on [[HolyBurnsEvil hallowed ground]] either, and when Winifred tries to quickly kill Max in the graveyard before sunrise, she's turn into a stone statue for standing in a holy place. As if that weren't enough, when the sunlight hits the statue, it explodes.

* ProductPlacement: In one scene, "[[{{Satan}} the Master]]" and his wife are tossing the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Bar Clark Bar candy bars]] to the Sanderson Sisters, but after discovering the weirdness of the sisters, the wife forces them to leave with the Clark Bars. Once they're back out on the prowl, Mary at first thinks that she has "[[ImAHumanitarian a chocolate covering of a man named Clark]]", but when she eats the Clark Bar and discovers that it's candy, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she asks why "the Master [would] give us candy"]], to which Winifred replies, "Because he's NOT our Master!"

-->'''Winifred:''' We desire...''[[EatsBabies children]].\\

-->'''Winifred:''' We desire... children.\\

* BeyondTheImpossible: How much FetishFuel can Disney fit into one children's movie? [[SexAndTheCity Sarah Jessica Parker]] with ''lots'' of cleavage, and in black {{goth}}-ish apparel! Constant sexual humor with (in)appropriate amounts of PerverseSexualLust directed at Sarah's bod! As many bust-centered shots of Sarah as humanly possible! [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Getting bucketloads upon bucketloads of crap past the radar]]! Max and Allison resting in each other's arms! Max and Dani's HotMom dressed as Music/{{Madonna}}!
** Don't forget Sarah driving the bus while ''sitting on the bus driver's lap'', all as he makes thinly-veiled sexual comments to her.

* NotSoFastBucko: For a little while, it seems that [[spoiler:the witches have been cooked in the school oven. They were, but it didn't stick.]]

** TheLancer: Allison

** TheChick: Dani

* BerserkButton: The minute someone calls Winifred "ugly" she starts handing out the DisproportinateRetribution.