Every October, the Sanderson sisters return to our screens. With their colourful costumes, strange spells and unforgettable personalities, Winifred, Sarah and Mary have become some of the most recognisable witches in film history. For many people, watching Hocus Pocus is now as much a part of Halloween as carving pumpkins or decorating their homes. However, when Disney released the film in 1993, the situation was very different. Critics were unimpressed, cinema audiences were not particularly interested, and nobody expected the film to become a Halloween tradition.

So how did a film that originally disappointed Disney become one of the most beloved Halloween movies of all time?

A Halloween Story That Began with a Black Cat

The idea for Hocus Pocus came from producer David Kirschner, who was inspired by a story he told his young daughter. One evening, they were sitting outside their house when a neighbour’s black cat appeared. Kirschner invented a story about a boy who had been transformed into a cat by three evil witches hundreds of years earlier.

His daughter loved the frightening story, and Kirschner realised that it could become something bigger. Eventually, the idea developed into a screenplay, originally called Halloween House.

The early version of the story was much darker and more frightening than the film audiences know today. However, as the project developed, Disney decided to make it more suitable for families, adding comedy and colourful characters.

The film was eventually directed by Kenny Ortega, who had previously directed Newsies and would later become famous for Disney’s High School Musical films.

Three Witches, One Unforgettable Halloween Night

The story begins in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1693. Three sisters, Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, are executed for practising witchcraft and stealing the life of a young girl. Before their deaths, Winifred casts a spell that will allow them to return if a virgin lights the mysterious Black Flame Candle on Halloween night.

Three hundred years later, in 1993, a teenager named Max Dennison accidentally brings the sisters back to life. Together with his younger sister Dani, his friend Allison and a talking black cat named Thackery Binx, Max must stop the witches before sunrise.

The Sanderson sisters are played by three well-known actresses: Bette Midler as Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah and Kathy Najimy as Mary.

Each sister has a very different personality. Winifred is the intelligent but extremely impatient leader, Sarah is beautiful and easily distracted, while Mary has an excellent sense of smell and often behaves like the most practical member of the family.

Their arguments, facial expressions and ridiculous attempts to understand the modern world provide some of the film’s funniest moments.

One particularly memorable scene shows the witches discovering modern cleaning equipment. While traditional witches travel on broomsticks, Mary eventually finds herself flying through the sky on a vacuum cleaner.

The Magic Behind the Cameras

Although the story takes place in Salem, most of Hocus Pocus was filmed in California. The production team built several impressive sets at Disney’s studios, including the Sanderson sisters’ house and the cemetery.

However, the filmmakers also spent a week shooting scenes in the real Salem, Massachusetts. Today, the town’s connection with the film attracts visitors who want to see some of its famous locations.

The production also included several technical challenges. The flying scenes were created using wires and special equipment, while the talking cat, Binx, required a combination of real animals and special effects.

For a film made in the early 1990s, some of these effects were quite ambitious. The filmmakers wanted to create a world that felt magical and slightly frightening without becoming too scary for younger audiences.

Another unforgettable part of the film is Bette Midler’s performance of I Put a Spell on You. The musical number was included because the filmmakers wanted to use Midler’s extraordinary singing abilities. It eventually became one of the most popular scenes in the entire film.

Interestingly, not everyone involved in the production originally supported the idea. Producer David Kirschner was concerned that a musical performance might interrupt the story. Years later, however, he admitted that the scene had become one of the film’s greatest attractions.

A Halloween Movie Released in the Middle of Summer

Perhaps the strangest decision Disney made was the film’s release date.

Instead of showing Hocus Pocus in October, when audiences were preparing for Halloween, the studio released it on 16 July 1993.

The reasoning was simple. Summer was an important period for family films because children were on holiday and families had more opportunities to visit cinemas. Disney hoped to attract a large audience during the summer season.

Unfortunately, the competition was extremely strong. Jurassic Park, released only a month earlier, was dominating cinemas around the world. Other popular films were also attracting audiences, leaving relatively little attention for Disney’s unusual Halloween comedy.

The results were disappointing. Hocus Pocus earned approximately 39.5 million dollars during its original American cinema release, while its production budget was around 28 million dollars. Once marketing and other expenses were considered, it was far from the financial success Disney had hoped for.

Critics were not particularly enthusiastic either. Some found the story confusing, while others thought the humour was too childish. Even the combination of three talented actresses could not convince everyone.

For a while, it seemed that Hocus Pocus would simply disappear among the many forgotten family films of the 1990s.

How Television Saved the Sanderson Sisters

The real success story began after the film left cinemas.

During the following years, Hocus Pocus appeared regularly on television, especially around Halloween. Disney Channel and later ABC Family, which eventually became Freeform, included the film in their seasonal programming.

This changed everything.

Children who had missed the film in cinemas discovered it on television. Many watched it repeatedly, and as those children grew older, they continued returning to it every October.

The film slowly became associated with childhood memories, family evenings and the excitement of Halloween.

By the 2000s and 2010s, Hocus Pocus had become a genuine cult classic. Fans dressed as the Sanderson sisters, bought merchandise and visited filming locations in Salem.

The film’s popularity also grew through social media, where memorable scenes, costumes and quotations found new audiences.

In 2018, Disney celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special event that brought together cast members, celebrities and fans.

It was clear that the film’s reputation had changed completely.

The Witches Return After Almost 30 Years

The growing popularity of the original film eventually convinced Disney to produce a sequel.

On 30 September 2022, Hocus Pocus 2 was released on Disney+, almost three decades after the original.

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy returned to play the Sanderson sisters, while a new generation of young characters accidentally brought them back to modern-day Salem.

The sequel was directed by Anne Fletcher and introduced several new characters while keeping the familiar combination of comedy, fantasy and Halloween atmosphere.

Although reactions to the second film were mixed, its release demonstrated how much the original had grown in popularity. According to Disney, Hocus Pocus 2 became the biggest movie debut on Disney+ in the United States at the time of its release.

For a story that had started with a disappointing summer release in 1993, this was quite a remarkable achievement.

Hocus Pocus 2 – A New Generation Meets the Sanderson Sisters

The second film takes us back to Salem, where Halloween is still a very important event. However, the story begins much earlier, in 1653, when the Sanderson sisters are still young girls.

This opening scene gives viewers an opportunity to discover more about their childhood and how they became witches. After Winifred refuses to accept an arranged marriage, she and her sisters escape into the forest. There, they meet a mysterious woman known as the Mother Witch, played by Hannah Waddingham, who introduces them to the world of magic.

The story then moves forward to 2022. This time, the main characters are three teenage girls: Becca, Izzy and Cassie, played by Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham.

Becca and Izzy are preparing to celebrate Halloween and Becca’s sixteenth birthday. During their celebration, they accidentally light another Black Flame Candle and bring the Sanderson sisters back to life.

Once again, the witches find themselves in a world they do not understand. Almost thirty years have passed since their previous visit, and technology has changed considerably.

One of the funniest scenes takes place in a modern supermarket, where the sisters discover beauty products and believe that some of them might help them stay young. Mary also finds a new way to travel through the air: instead of an ordinary vacuum cleaner, she uses two robotic vacuum cleaners.

However, the witches have a much more serious plan. Winifred wants to become the most powerful witch in existence, and she is determined to use a dangerous spell to achieve her goal. Naturally, Becca and her friends must find a way to stop her.

Unlike the first film, the sequel also explores the relationship between the three sisters in greater detail. Although they spend much of their time arguing, their connection is stronger than almost anything else in their lives.

Without revealing too much about the ending, the second film places greater importance on friendship, family and the idea that having power is not necessarily the same as being happy.

Old Friends, New Faces and Missing Characters

One of the biggest attractions of Hocus Pocus 2 was the return of its original stars.

For Bette Midler, the sequel was particularly important. She had wanted to return to the character of Winifred for many years and had regularly expressed interest in making another film.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy were also happy to return. Despite the long break between the two productions, the three actresses quickly found their familiar characters again.

Another returning actor was Doug Jones, who once again played Billy Butcherson, Winifred’s former boyfriend who had been brought back from the dead. The character was a fan favourite in the original film, and his appearance in the sequel provided another connection with 1993.

However, several familiar faces were missing.

Omri Katz, who played Max, Thora Birch, who played Dani, and Vinessa Shaw, who played Allison, did not return. According to director Anne Fletcher, the filmmakers wanted the sequel to concentrate on new characters rather than include appearances that did not naturally fit the story.

For some fans, this was disappointing. After all, Max, Dani and Allison had been central to the original film, and many viewers were curious about what had happened to them during the previous three decades.

Nevertheless, the second film introduced several interesting new characters. Sam Richardson played Gilbert, the owner of a magic shop who knows more about the Sanderson sisters than he first admits. Tony Hale appeared as Salem’s mayor, while Hannah Waddingham brought a new mysterious character into the magical world.

Creating the Magic All Over Again

Although both films take place in Salem, the sequel was mainly filmed in Rhode Island, where production began in October 2021.

The filmmakers wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the original while also making use of modern technology. The costumes were more detailed, the special effects were more advanced, and the magical scenes were considerably more spectacular.

However, the production team understood that special effects were not the main reason people loved Hocus Pocus. The personalities of the Sanderson sisters were just as important.

The sequel also continued the musical tradition of the original film. This time, the witches performed a version of Blondie’s One Way or Another, turning the residents of Salem into an enormous dancing crowd.

The scene was an obvious reminder of the famous I Put a Spell on You performance from 1993.

Another interesting detail is that the sequel includes several small references to the original film. Familiar objects, locations and jokes appear throughout the story, giving long-time fans something extra to enjoy.

The filmmakers clearly wanted to create a film that would introduce the Sanderson sisters to a new generation while also bringing back memories for those who had grown up with the first movie.

Was the Sequel Worth the Wait?

Making a sequel to a beloved childhood film is never an easy task. Audiences often expect the same atmosphere and characters they remember, but they also want something new.

When Hocus Pocus 2 arrived in September 2022, reactions were divided.

Many viewers were delighted to see Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy together again. Their performances were widely considered one of the film’s strongest points, and the familiar Halloween atmosphere helped make the sequel an entertaining experience.

Other viewers, however, felt that the story was less memorable than the original. Some critics believed that the new film relied too heavily on nostalgia and did not have the same charm as its predecessor.

The sequel also had a different emotional tone. While the original was mainly a comedy about three dangerous witches trying to survive until sunrise, the second film explored the importance of sisterhood and friendship.

Whether audiences enjoyed these changes often depended on what they expected from the film.

From Disney’s point of view, however, the sequel was a major success in terms of streaming. During its first three days, it became the most-watched Disney+ film premiere in the United States up to that point, measured by hours streamed.

Almost thirty years after their first appearance, the Sanderson sisters had proved that they could still attract an enormous audience.

Why Do We Still Love Hocus Pocus?

There are certainly more frightening horror films, more sophisticated comedies and more spectacular fantasy adventures than Hocus Pocus. Its special effects sometimes reveal its age, and some parts of the story are rather silly.

But perhaps that is exactly why people love it.

The film captures a particular feeling of Halloween: mysterious old houses, colourful autumn leaves, strange legends, children wandering through decorated streets and the excitement of believing that something magical might happen after dark.

It also offers something that many modern productions struggle to recreate: the unmistakable atmosphere of a 1990s family film.

For those who watched it during childhood, returning to Hocus Pocus can feel like visiting an old friend. For younger viewers, it offers an entertaining introduction to a film that has already become part of Halloween culture.

More than three decades after its original release, the Sanderson sisters are more popular than ever.

And although they were defeated at the end of the first film, one thing is certain: every October, someone will bring them back to life again.

All it takes is a television, a little nostalgia and, of course, a bit of hocus pocus.