Anjali Mathur“Hocus Pocus” (1993) is an iconic Disney movie. The story revolves around a group of kids trying to fight against a trio of witches on Halloween.
The movie is induced with some cute Disney notions, such as talking animal and clueless parents, but surely has some pretty dark moments.
Read further for some biting and spooky details you may miss in “Hocus Pocus”.
19 Spooky Details you probably Missed in ‘Hocus Pocus’
1. The book Hocus Pocus has a section of punishments in alphabetical order.
As the Sanderson sisters are flipping through their spellbook, viewers can see a list of alphabetical spells.
The page is titled “Excruciating Punishments,” with various options listed next to each letter. For example, “amnesia” and “aching bones” are next to “A,” “boils” and “bunions” are next to “B,” and “carbuncles” and “cholera” is next to “C.”
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2. Thackery Binx’s animal form was created using a combination of real cats and animatronic effects.
To make the character of the cat more lifelike, there was a combination of several real cats but animatronics used this is why its face is not the same throughout the movie.
3. There are words related to Halloween on the blackboard in the classroom.
At the beginning of the movie when Max and Allison are in class their teacher is giving a lesson about the Sanderson sisters and written behind her on the chalkboard are various words related to Halloween and fear, such as “ghost,” “witch,” “monster,” “scare,” and “righten.”
4. There’s a bizarre amount of fish decor throughout Max’s house.
At the time we are introduced to the interior of Max’s house there are framed pictures of fish throughout the house, along with decorative boats and other nautical decors on his bed. Most of the rooms are filled with fish-themed decorations.
5. The lollipop that Allison gives Dani looks like one of the Sanderson sisters.
When Max and Dani are talking with Allison at her parent’s party the treat Allison gave Dani is decorated to look like a witch riding on a broom, which is based for a Halloween party. But upon closer inspection, the witch on the lollipop has bright-red hair and a green and purple outfit that seems evocative of Winifred Sanderson, who the kids face off against later in the film.
6. There’s a sign labeling the Sanderson house as a witch museum.
As Allison tells Max and Dani that the old Sanderson house was turned into the Sanderson Witch Museum for some time before it got shut down. The sign outside the house that the witch sisters crouch under provides information about the house itself and the legend of witchcraft.
7. Thackery has two different voices throughout the film.
Viewers who may have heard carefully must have realized that Thackery’s voice sounds different when he’s a human and when he’s a cat. That’s because the character was actually played by two different actors. Sean Murray portrayed the human version and Jason Marsden voiced the cat form.
8. Old Burial Hill is an actual graveyard in Massachusetts.
This movie “Hocus Pocus” if the viewers remember took place in Salem. But there are several location-specific touches that fans may not have noticed.For example, the gate of the cemetery where Billy comes back to life reads “Old Burial Hill,” which is an actual graveyard in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a short drive from Salem.
9. “Serving the witch city” is written on the side of the bus Sanderson’s get on.
The town “Hocus Pocus” firmly embraces its supernatural legends, exemplified by the lesson about Halloween. The public transit in town apparently follows this trend, too. The Salem city bus has the slogan “Serving the witch city” written on the side of it.
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10. After Max takes his hat off at Allison’s house, it can frequently be seen in his back pocket.
When Max sees Allison and realizes that he and Dani are at her house, he takes his hat off and puts it in his back pocket. The hat is then seen hanging out of this pocket throughout the rest of the movie.
11. There’s a child wearing a Mrs. Potts costume in the background of a scene.
Disney released “Beauty and the Beast” two years before “Hocus Pocus.” When the witches get off the bus, a few children can be seen trick-or-treating at the houses behind them. There are plenty of kids dressed in generic costumes, but one child is a recognizable Disney character.
12. The Sanderson sisters were apparently servants of Satan.
Allison tells Dani and Max that the Sanderson sisters’ spellbook was a gift from Satan.
Later in the film, the witches confirm that they knew Satan after mistaking a man in a Halloween costume for the devil himself and refer to him as master, confirming that they worked for or worshiped Satan.
13. The “cop” that Max, Dani, and Allison run into is wearing a Salem witch badge.
Max attempts to tell a man dressed as a cop about accidentally raising the Sanderson witches from the dead. The “cop’s” badge has a picture of a witch on a broomstick. This seems weird for a real police-station logo, but it makes sense when viewers realize that this is just a man in a costume.
14. Max references a famous horror actor.
While speaking over the school’s announcement system, Max introduces himself as Boris Karloff Jr. Boris Karloff was an actor during the early- to mid-1900s who was best-known for his work in horror films.
15. During a scene the viewers can see the title of the spellbook the witches use.
Throughout the movie, there are pieces of information that revealed more about the Sanderson sisters’ spellbook. Viewers can also see the name of the book, “Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy,” on its title page.
16. Different colored smoke comes out of the book throughout the film.
When Thackery is looking for Emily at the beginning of the movie, he sees a purplish-pink flame coming from the Sanderson house, and later, when Max and Allison open the spellbook, orange flames shoot out of his roof.
17. The children in the town are evidently pretty independent.
The morning after Halloween, when the children are seen walking in the streets in a trance during Sarah Sanderson’s song, they’re all wearing coordinated pajama sets, complete with robes and slippers. However, Winifred cursed all the adults at the party to “dance until die,” so most of their parents probably wouldn’t have been around to make the kids change out of their costumes and get ready for bed.
18. Real moths actually fly out of Billy’s mouth.
When the Sanderson sisters raise Billy from the dead at the cemetery, his mouth is sewn together, but later on, in the film, the zombie ends up breaking the stitches. When he does this, realistic-looking moths fly out of his mouth right away. According to with the film’s special-effects makeup artist, they were real moths that were kept in a pocket in actor Doug Jones’ mouth in between takes.
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19. The witches call Dani an unexpected insult.
When Winnie picks up Dani before attempting to add her to the potion, she calls her a “little trollymog.”
The phrase isn’t very common but it may be an old English dialect word meaning “dirty, slovenly female” — which seems to be an incredibly insulting thing to call anyone, especially a child in a Disney film.
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