18 details you missed in Hocus Pocus

2023 marked Disney’s 30th anniversary Hocus Pocus. For over two decades, fans have watched the Halloween-themed film on repeat during the month of October and Disney+ has given fans a sequel in recent years (with a potential third film on the way). Even the most die-hard fans, however, can miss details about their favorite films.

Over the course of the ninety-minute adventure, Max Dennison, his younger sister Dani, and their new friend Allison spend Halloween night confronting the Sanderson sisters’ witches and stopping them from ruining the lives of children in Salem, Massachusetts. Throughout all the action and comedy, there were many details that fans were able to overlook. While some are intentional Easter eggs, others are mistakes, and still others are things that fans only notice once they’ve seen the film so many times that they know it by heart.

Max’s note for changes to Allison

When the film begins, Max Dennison is busy doubting the truth behind the witch stories about the Sanderson sisters. His history class has the story told by the teacher, and when Max balks at the idea of ​​Halloween being a real holiday, he is corrected by Allison about the day’s history. Max’s response is to give Allison his phone number. Allison one-ups him by returning the note to him the next time they meet outside of school.

Eagle-eyed fans will notice that the placement of Max’s phone number on the paper, as well as aspects of the writing, change. Two different notes were used during filming! Of course, modern fans will also notice in the TV showings that Max Dennison’s phone number it was blurred. Although 555 numbers are typically used for fictitious numbers, telephone companies began issuing these numbers as the number of people with cell phones grew. Does anyone have Max Dennison’s phone number today.

The Friends Fountain Appears in Hocus Pocus

While it may not have been noticeable in 1993, many fans may find the film’s specific font familiar in the modern day. When the group thinks (after breaking into the school and using the pottery kiln against the Sanderson sisters) that they have defeated the witches, Dani and Allison run in front of a fountain while Max and Binx talk. This font has a place in pop culture history.

It became a famous filming location thanks to the sitcom’s opening credits Friends. It’s the same fountain that the show’s main cast plays in. In fact, it is located in Cherry Hill, New York. Friends didn’t premiere until September 1994, so no original Hocus Pocus the previews would have made this detail one that would stick in viewers’ minds. With Friends as one of the most beloved comedies of all time, however, modern fans are quick to catch on.

Hocus Pocus used real bugs

There have been many anniversary interviews with cast members over the years, and one point that is often brought up is the use of bugs. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sarah eats a spider at one point in the film, and Doug Jones’ Billy Butcherson has moths coming out of his mouth.

Audiences in 1993 may have been surprised to discover that all of these bugs were real years later. Yes, Parker ate a real spider and Jones held live moths in his mouth to get the perfect image. For Jones, the moths in his mouth weren’t that simple. Keeping the moths in place was a little more than just Jones putting them in his mouth. According to Tony Gardner, who worked on the film’s makeup team, a “latex pocket” had to be created to put in Jones’ mouth to keep the moths in place.

Bette Midler’s musical career has nods

Bette Midler is a legendary artist. While she’s best known for her contributions to film, there’s a reason why so many of her characters have had musical numbers over the past 30 years. She is also a talented singer. Since Bette Midler’s Winifred loves to act as the artist herself, there are references to Midler’s musical career sprinkled throughout the film. While one wave occurs before a performance, the other does not.

Mary refers to Winifred as “divine” at the beginning of the film, which is a tribute to Midler being known as “the divine Miss M” for her stage presence. Winifred also famously says: “Hello, Salem. My name is Winifred. What is yours,” before singing at a Halloween party. This is a similar play by Midler to Madame Rose in the musical Gypsywhere she also appeared during the 1993 television season.

Is anyone a fan of astrology?

The film begins the same way many classic Disney films do – with a storybook. Much of Disney’s early work, especially its animated children’s films, was based on the idea of ​​reading the audience a fairy tale from a beautiful book. The book cover for Hocus Pocushowever, it is interesting. It features an artistic representation of the Sanderson sisters’ home, but that’s not all.

In the area that would be the night sky there are symbols that will be familiar to those who like astrology. The book that seems to be the storybook version of Hocus Pocus causes the zodiac signs Virgo, Leo, Gemini and Taurus to appear in the sky. These symbols are not visible from the same place at the same time on Earth, so they have important meaning for the Sandersons or the artist responsible for the image.

Allison changes her pendant

When Max and Dani go to Allison’s house on Halloween, Allison is wearing a necklace with her costume. The necklace has a cameo pendant and a necklace of what appear to be pearls. Allison’s necklace in Hocus Pocushowever, it changes. After she changes out of her costume into regular clothes to take Max and Dani to the Sanderson house, she is wearing a different necklace.

The necklace that Allison wears throughout the rest of the film does not have the special pendant. Instead, it looks more like a metallic locket. What’s interesting, though, is that the pendant is on the same pearl necklace, which means either Allison has two very similar necklaces or she took the time to swap the pendant during the night.

Of course, the most logical explanation here is that it was a mistake made while filming the movie. It’s possible that one of the necklaces was lost during filming, or that whoever was responsible for Allison’s jewelry mistakenly chose a different necklace to film the costume scene.

The witches’ costumes are reflected in other parts of the film

Winifred, Mary and Sarah’s dresses have become iconic Halloween costumes. The characters are impossible to miss in the film thanks to their very distinctive costumes. Each of the sisters has their own specific color scheme. Sarah wears purple, Mary wears red, and Winifred wears green. Each of the sisters has other colors in their dresses, but these are the primary colors. Its color scheme, and often these three colors together, is reflected in other parts of the film.

Allison is seen wearing a cape reminiscent of Mary’s at the beginning of the film, for example. In the same way, Max’s first t-shirt in the film is dyed and matches the colors of the three sisters’ dresses.. While some fans say this ties the magic the sisters have to other characters, it’s much more likely that these colors, and especially the bright, jewel-toned versions, were used because they stand out so well on camera. It makes sense to feature them repeatedly in the film.

There are numerous references to the Wizard of Oz

One of the most iconic witches on screen remains the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. She’s so iconic that her backstory was explored in Evil. Its theme song is instantly recognizable. In fact, fans can hear her riffs all the time Hocus Pocus and other films that return the villain.

There is also something in the film that refers to the same witch. In The Wizard of Ozwhen Dorothy’s house lands in Kansas, she lands on top of the Wicked Witch’s sister. As Glinda takes off her shoes, her striped socks are visible just before they roll up. Winifred wears a pair of striped socks Hocus Pocus too, and they are quite focused when she turns to stone in the cemetery.

Of course, Wizard of Oz references are very common in projects featuring other witches that writers hope will become equally iconic. Marvel Agatha all the timereleased in 2024 on Disney+, is also full of references to Wizard of Ozeven Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West and Lilia (Patti Lupone) dressed as Glinda in one episode.

There are family fantasies

In scenes involving many extras, it is not uncommon for the same people to appear repeatedly. It’s much easier for the film production team to use the same extras for multiple scenes on the same day, or to have the same extras appear in a scene multiple times to make the world feel lived in. I will notice that this happens in Hocus Pocus also.

Outside the “master’s” house, there are some children trick-or-treating. At least, the camera wants the audience to think there are some children. Some of them walk back and forth across the scene several times, including a child dressed as a bee and another dressed as a playing card.. Maybe the kids were just trying to get as much candy as possible from the neighborhood.

The more obvious costumes, like Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the beastThey don’t come by that often, but they provide references to many other Disney properties.

The Sanderson Sisters Were Not Victims of Witch Trials

However Hocus Pocus presents itself as a children’s witch tale marked by the Salem Witch Trials (if there is such a thing), the Sanderson sisters were not women affected by the trials. THE Hocus Pocus the opening was scheduled for October 31, 1693, exactly 300 years before Max and Dani participated in the story.

The Salem Witch Trials began in early 1692. More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and put on trial (or, more accurately, interrogated and tortured) between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem ended her trials before the Sanderson sisters kidnapped Emily Binx and turned her brother into a cat.

This is not to say that women could not have been persecuted after May 1693 in the colony. The governor of Salem, however, found his own wife accused of witchcraft in 1692 and ordered the trials, trials, and hangings to stop.

Billy cheated on Winifred six months before her death

As Thackery Binx was a child in the last years of the Sanderson sisters’ lives, he is often used to teach them about their history. He tells Max, Dani and Allison the story of Billy Butcherson’s death to show how vengeful Winifred Sanderson can be. When Winifred discovered that Billy was interested in her sister Sarah, she took revenge on him. What fans may not notice on Billy’s tombstone is exactly when Winifred sewed Billy’s mouth shut and murdered him.

Billy Butcherson’s date of death is May 1, 1693. This means he allegedly cheated on Winifred with Sarah just six months before the Sanderson sisters decided to steal Emily Binx’s life and curse the town of Salem. The use of Emily’s life was what decreased the Sanderson sisters’ age by several years. Billy liked witches before Winifred decided to make them.”young and handsome” again.

Brothers played a couple

Nowadays, adults will be quick to identify this strange cast for Hocus Pocus. Children watching the film for the first time, however, will have no idea that “Satan” and his “little woman” were actually played by brothers because they probably won’t recognize the actors.

Gary Marshall played the man in a devil costume who the Sanderson sisters mistook for their master. His wife was played by his real-life sister, Penny Marshall. They both have storied careers in the industry as actors, directors, and producers, but they haven’t played a married couple since (or before). Hocus Pocus).

No one who worked on the film explained why they appeared in these specific roles, but they became a big part of the film. Hocus Pocus fun. In Hocus Pocus 2their scene gets a very meta nod, and director Anne Fletcher revealed she wanted to include them as a way to pay homage to the original film.

There’s a witch police badge

After Max lights the black flame candle and brings the Sanderson sisters back, he tries to ask the police for help. Unfortunately, the joke is that the cop isn’t really a cop. The man he approaches dismisses Max for playing a prank, but is revealed to be in costume in the same scene after Max leaves. He’s just someone celebrating Halloween too.

If the audience is paying attention, they’ll be in on the joke before the reveal. The man’s “uniform” does not have an actual Salem Police Department emblem on the sleeve. Instead, the patch features a witch riding a broomstick, giving a good indication that it was specifically made to be a Halloween costume.

As fans have pointed out since the film’s original release, however, the costumed man could have been in trouble if a real police officer had witnessed the scene. While it is obviously not against the law to dress up as a member of the police on Halloween, as many people do, pretending to be a police officer is against the law. This means allowing someone to believe they are a real police officer and not admitting to the fantasy.

Filming produced many continuity errors

There are even more filming errors and continuity errors in the film than there are Easter eggs. Fans may not have noticed some of these on first viewing, but they can be easy to spot on repeat viewings, as is the case for any longtime fan revisiting properties.

In some scenes of the witches flying, the cables that hold the Hocus Pocus actors can still be seen. Sarah’s hair changes style throughout the film. In some scenes it is curly, in others it is wavy and in still others it is straight and dry. Mrs. Dennison’s wedding ring disappears and reappears during the party scene, just as Ernie’s hat does when he meets the Sanderson sisters for the first time. Spotting all the mistakes might take away from the movie’s magic for kids, but it’s a fun party game for adults.

Binx dies at Emily’s grave

Thackery Binx is just a teenager when he decides to stop the Sanderson sisters from hurting his sister. He can’t, but when the sisters curse him, he makes it his mission to make sure no one brings their magic back to Salem. He has plenty of time to make this happen, as they curse him with immortality.

Although Binx is cursed to pass on immortality as a cat, when the Sanderson sisters are destroyed, her spirit is finally able to move on and the cat “dies.” When Binx dies, it is in the same cemetery where he took the children to tell them about witches.

The place of his death, however, is even more significant because it was not at Billy’s grave, where he first told them stories. Instead, it is in the grave of his sister, who finds it to take it to the afterlife. This brings his story full circle, as he gave up the life he knew to protect his sister and then spent his life like a cat trying to atone for not getting to her in time.

Winifred couldn’t have listened to “Hocus Pocus”

“It’s just a lot of hocus pocus”It’s one of the most quoted lines from the film. One of the things most people remember first, the phrase is originally said by Max when he lights the black flame candle because he thinks the story of the Sanderson sisters is nonsense. Max still doesn’t believe in magic. Winifred then quotes her own words to him later in the film.

Winifred’s sarcastic quote to him is meant to mock him for doubting the existence of magic. The problem is that citing it is impossible. She had not yet been brought back to Earth and could not have heard him. If the audience believes she heard him from beyond the grave, she would already know that Dani, Max and Allison were also present in the house.

Binx is played by two actors

Much like the Marshall brothers appearing as a couple, this detail is more likely to be noticed by adults than children watching the film for the first time. Sean Murray, who is now best known to audiences as the crime drama’s longest-serving cast member NCISstarred as the human version of Thackery Binx. He, however, is not the only actor to play the role.

James Marsden, famous for his voice acting roles in numerous animated series and video games, is best known for voicing Max in A goofy movie. He voices the role of Binx the cat as well as Thackery the humanalthough Murray physically portrays the role.

The producers didn’t want Binx to sound too contemporary, so they cast Marsden to voice him as the cat. Realizing that Marsden and Murray’s accents didn’t sound anything alike, the producers had Marsden record Murray’s lines as well. Murray even read Binx’s lines on set for the cast to react to.

Hocus Pocus takes place on an impossible day

Everyone can rest easy knowing that the Sanderson sisters will never return to this Earth because Hocus Pocus it has to be set in a completely different reality. In the real world, the events of the film occur on an impossible day.

The film takes place on October 31, 1993. During the film, children go to school and then return home to participate in Halloween parties or trick-or-treating. The problem is that that day was a Sunday in 1993. Likewise, there was no full moon that day. The last time Salem, Massachusetts, saw a full moon on Halloween was in 1944. The next one occurred in 2020 — albeit on a Saturday.

Hocus Pocus it was filmed from October 1992 to February 1993 and hit theaters in July 1993, in hopes of getting more kids into places with classes outside over the summer holidays. It had been in development, however, since the early 1980s for Disney. This means the year the film was set likely changed with each draft. This is not uncommon. It just means that it’s unlikely that anyone was actually checking to see if Hocus Pocus could actually happen on the film’s calendar.