Hocus Pocus (1993) is a classic Disney Halloween comedy-fantasy directed by Kenny Ortega, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters — three 17th-century witches accidentally resurrected in modern Salem.
The cult classic follows the Sanderson sisters on Halloween night. New-in-town teen Max Dennison lights the Black Flame Candle and brings Winifred, Sarah, and Mary back to life. They set out to suck the souls of children so they can stay young forever, while Max, his little sister Dani, and classmate Allison race to stop them with help from a talking cat, a zombie, and a lot of slapstick spellwork.
The version audiences know is far tamer than what was first put on the page. Disney bought the script in 1984. Writer Mick Garris’s earliest drafts had the protagonists as 12-years-old rather than teenagers, which placed children in far greater and more explicit jeopardy. Kathy Najimy has recalled being initially reluctant to take the part.
The Sanderson sisters also weren’t originally the slapstick, bumbling trio Midler, Parker, and Najimy eventually made them. Cast members have described the script’s early tone as closer to the straightforwardly menacing Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz — witches played for genuine fright rather than laughs. The script went through nearly a decade of rewrites by roughly a dozen different writers, all of it working to tone down the horror and lean into family-friendly comedy before the film finally reached theaters in 1993.
It still opened as a flop: mixed reviews, a midsummer release that made about $40 million against a $28 million budget, and no awards run to speak of. Cable, VHS, and yearly Disney Channel / Freeform Halloween airings turned it into a cult seasonal ritual. The Sanderson sisters became Halloween icons, merchandise exploded, a 30th-anniversary rerelease cracked the box-office top 10, and Hocus Pocus 2 arrived in 2022.
Hocus Pocus is currently streaming on Disney+.
