A 1993 Halloween-themedDisney film for "kids". This was the second film directed by Kenny Ortega, previously known for Newsies (1993). Now considered 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 Jason Marsden), 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 (Sarah Jessica Parker)—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 All Hallows Eve, 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 have just moved to Salem, bringing along teenaged son Max (Omri Katz) and 8-year-old daughter Dani (Thora Birch). 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.While a 1994 side-scrolling platformerby the same namealso exists, they don't have any connection to each other. Also unrelated is Kurt Vonnegut's 1991 novel of the same name.
Adults Are Useless: The children tried to get help from their parents and the rest of the party-goers. They don't believe them and think it's some kind of Halloween prank.
They also tried for help from the man they thought was a police officer. (He was only in costume.)
All Part of the Show: What the adult party-goers 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 unknowingly enchanting themselves.
All Witches Have Cats: Inverted. The witch sisters transform Binx into a black cat For the Evulz. By the time of the main narrative, he's their sworn enemy. As mentioned in Animal Motifs below, Mary's more like a dog.
Ambiguously Evil: Whereas Winnie is actually evil and schemeing, Sarah and Mary are basically just dumb and are more or less harmless. If Winnie wasen't around they probably wouldn't even be villains.
Animal Motifs: 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.
Big Bad Triumvirate: The Sanderson sisters, ostensibly - though from very early on, it's quite clear that Winifred is the dominant one, arquably making her the Big Bad and Sarah and Mary her Co-Dragons.
Big Brother Instinct: Thackery Binx and Max are both deeply protective of their little sisters, and Binx projects a lot of his feelings about Emily onto Dani.
Big Eater: Mary Sanderson is clearly implied to be this with children might I add.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The three witches; Sarah is blonde, Mary has dark hair, and Winnie is a redhead.
Bratty Half-Pint: Dani, who keeps mocking her brother for being a virgin. It's possible she just doesn't know what it means, though, but she does still keep saying it to get a rise out of him. She also mocks her brother's attraction to Allison and to Allison's "yabbos" in particular.
Burn the Witch!: Averted. In a Disney film! The witches are hanged, just like the real "witches" of Salem.
Subverted later. The kids trick them into a walk-in kiln and burn them, figuring that's the way to get rid of a witch. The candle's magic keeps them from perishing completely.
Butt Monkey: Max, whose virginity is repeatedly invoked and commented on.
Billy Butcherson counts even more. He easily suffers the most physical abuse of any character, getting his head knocked off on two separate occasions, and getting his fingers crushed when he's coming out of the sewers and a motorcycle rides over top of the lid. And that's not even going into Winifred poisoning him and sewing his mouth shut so that he can't speak even in death.
Card-Carrying Villain: Winnie Sanderson at one point says to her sisters "We are witches, we are evil!" But then, being that they got their powers by selling their souls to Satan, this probably just represents a realistic view of themselves.
Also, during "I Put A Spell On You" song:
Your wretched little lives have all been cursed 'Cause of all the witches working I'm the worst. Ask My sisters.
(She's vicious !)
Cats Are Magic: Binx, a teenager who was transformed into a black cat by the Sandersons. He has the ability to speak, and he is effectively immortal.
Compelling Voice: Sarah's primary power - her song about halfway through the movie calls all the children in Salem to the Sanderson sisters' home, and lets the viewers know that she isn't as harmless as she appears to be (up to this point, she played the part of The Ditz and was pretty much Winifred's punching bag).
Convenient Slow Dance: Parodied: While the Sanderson sisters are in "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 Berserk Button.
Creepy Cemetery: It relies on elements from the rest of the movie to add the creepiness factor.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Winnie tries to remember the life potion's recipe but gets stuck at a dead man's....something. Aforementioned Cuckoolander Sarah abruptly shouts out "Dead man's toe!" but is shushed. As Mary and Winifred continue to try to remember the ingredient, Sarah shrugs and wanders off screen.
The Danza: Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson.
Deadpan Snarker: Max and Binx. Winnie has her moments, as well.
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 calling Winifred a hag and is instead damned to a Fate Worse Than Death in the form of being trapped in the form of a black cat... for all eternity... living with his failure.
In case of Billy Butcherson, Winnie's lover. Winnie poisoned him and sewed his mouth shut after she caught him sporting with Sarah.
Disney Death: Binx revives after being crushed by the bus.
Max wears street clothes when he takes Dani trick-or-treating. His father Dave thinks he's supposed to be a hip-hop deejay, while Dani insists he's a Little Leaguer.
The Sanderson sisters are dressed as stereotypical witches because, well that's what they are. Meaning they're attending Halloween as themselves, but just happen to fit in extremely well.
Freeze Frame Bonus: The "phone number" that Max ostentatiously hands to Alison is just the famous 555 area code...and nothing else.
Actually, this is only the edited for cable version. The real movie contains a seven-digit 555 number.
Funny Background Event: During a scene where the witches are hiding from firemen after Max sets of the sprinkler, Winnie explains to Mary they must be which hunters, whereas Sarah notices "a pretty spider" and proceeds to eat it.
Handsome Lech: Sarah is a rare female example. 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. And despite being rather attractive and flirtatious, there is no evidence to suggest she actually is succesful with men or boys. Moreover, her idea of fun probably isn't what most men anticipate.
Sarah: Thou wouldst hate me in the morning. Bus Driver: No I wouldn't!...st. Winifred:Believe me, thou wouldst.
When they are deciding what to do with Max, Sarah says, "Hang him on a hook and...let me play with him?" in a very suggestive but creepy manner.
Heel Face Turn: Billy (although he really wasn't a bad guy to begin with, aside from the obvious fact that he two-timed Winifred).
Holy Burns Evil: 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 hallowed ground either, and when Winifred tries to quickly kill Max in the graveyard before sunrise, she's 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.
Hot Mom: Jenny Dennison, at least when she's dressed up as Madonna.
Magic Music: "Come Little Children" and "I Put a Spell on You" combine this with Compelling Voice, providing an excellent justification for a Villain Song.
The Man Behind the Man: The devil is implied to be behind the Sandersons (see "Satan" below)
A Man Is Not a Virgin: The audience is reminded every five minutes that Max is one. Rather jarring considering the target audience and that Max is young enough to still be commuting by bicycle. Seriously, Disney?
Murder by Cremation: The main characters do this to the trio of witches. However, they are later revived by their magic book, and the kids have to come up with a different plan.
My Name Is Not Durwood: In one scene Max introduces himself to the two bullies, Jay and "Ice", and says he's from Los Angeles. They start calling him "Hollywood" from then on.
Nature Abhors a Virgin: Surprisingly matched with Virgin Power. Virginity provides the wherewithal to bring Satan's minions to earth. Subverted in that Max never gets over his virginity. (This being a Disney film, and Max being 15.)
New Age Retro Hippie: 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 when he's offered a marijuana cigarette and he turns it down.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Max lights the enchanted candle to impress Allison, showing that he's not afraid of an old legend. Binx nearly says the trope name when he reveals to Max he can talk.
Binx:(sarcastically) Nice going, Max.
No Ontological Inertia: The party-goers are cursed to dance until they die. The curse ends when the witches die. The curses binding Binx and Billy to life also break.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: 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.
Oh Crap: Billy reacts in this way twice, each time just before he (literally) loses his head.
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.
Sanity Ball: 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.
Shadow Archetype: 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:What a fool to give up thy life...for thy sister's.
Shout Out: 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 Actor Allusion when Bette Midler played Mama Rose in the TV version on the same year that Hocus Pocus was released.
At the beginning of "I Put a Spell on You", Winnie gives out a shout-out to one of Elton John's songs:
Winifred: Now the witchis back! And there's hell to pay.
Title Drop: "C'mon, it's all just a bunch of hocus pocus."
Winifred later repeats the same line in a mocking way when they're flying/chasing after the protagonists through the graveyard.
Together in Death: Binx's spirit reunited with his sister in the afterlife.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: 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.
The kids count, too. They truly grab on to the Idiot Ball in one of the final scenes on the graveyard. Dani is safely protected by a circle of salt - with enough space for the other two to join in the circle as well, by the way. But then - ah, genius! - Dani decides to leave the circle to help Billy get his head back. At least partly justified since a child her age would realistically make such decisions, but still.
Undeath Always Ends: Thackery's cursed immortality at the end, along with his sister, who has apparently been a ghost for 300 years.
Hocus Pocus didn't originate this term. According to IMDB, "yabbos" was used in ''National Lampoon's Animal House for breasts in the phrase "major-league yabbos."
Villain Ball: 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 Idiot Ball moment too.
What happened to the three girls who got the Sandersons' brooms?
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.
Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: 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!
You Keep Using That Word: "Virgin." It's bandied about like it's the most horrifying thing ever. Dani at least has an excuse since she's eight, but Binx should know a little better.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle: For a little while, it seems that the witches have been cooked in the school oven. They were, but it didn't stick.
Zombie Apocalypse: Averted; it's just one zombie and he's not exactly evil.
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