Hocus Pocus is a beloved Halloween classic. Who doesn't love to watch the Sanderson sisters
tear Salem apart? But even the most die-hard fans haven't discovered all the movie's spooky
secrets. These are the details of Hocus Pocus you've missed, one candle, cat, and cauldron
at a time.
Timing is everything. As viewers learn right at the beginning of the film, the Sanderson
sisters were hanged for witchcraft on October 31, 1693. The filmmakers no doubt chose that
date because they wanted to make their return occur exactly 300 years after they died and
on an appropriately creepy holiday, Halloween, of course. It's a cool choice, but unfortunately,
one that makes the movie slightly anachronistic.
The infamous Salem witch trials mostly took place in 1692, with the last trial taking
place in May, 1693. By October, no more witch trials were taking place. This isn't a huge
problem, really Hocus Pocus is already taking liberties with history, given the fact that
the Sandersons are, well, actual witches.
"Will you two stop that? I need to concentrate!"
"Sorry."
It's easy to believe townsfolk would have taken matters into their own hands upon being
confronted with their powers. And anyway, the villagers hanged the sisters the morning
after they sucked the life out of little Emily, so no real trial even occurred. Still, the
film depends upon its association with the infamous Salem witch trials, despite taking
place after they'd ended in reality.
For a Disney movie aimed at kids, there sure is a whole lot of talk about virginity in
Hocus Pocus. Watching Hocus Pocus as an adult, there's a definite ick factor when it comes
to this conversation teenagers seem a lot younger once you're older than they are. It's
also incredibly judgmental: Max's virginity is noted as a negative aspect of his personality.
His "lack of experience" is constantly mocked, at one point even by an adult.
His virginity, the movie makes clear, is something he should be embarrassed by. Teenage dudes
of this era weren't supposed to be virgins but of course, teenage girls absolutely were,
lest they be shamed. It's interesting, then, that when Max asks his crush Allison if she
wants to light the Black Flame Candle, she sheepishly declines. The Sanderson sisters
can only be brought back by a virgin lighting the candle, after all, suggesting something
that flies right over kids' heads about Allison's experiences.
At the beginning of the movie, after the Sanderson sisters have killed Emily and turned her brother,
Thackery Binx, into a black cat, the townsfolk rise up against the witches. Thackery and
Emily's dad asks the sisters what they've done with his son, but Winnie only says,
"Cat's got my tongue!" (laughter)
It's at that point that the camera cuts to a black cat rubbing up against Mr. Binx, trying
to get his attention. But of course, Thackery's dad doesn't realize that this cat is his son,
and kicks the cat away. It's a pretty sad moment, and naturally fans have always wondered
why Thackery doesn't talk to his dad here the way he talks to Max, Dani, and Allison
later in the movie.
There are a few possibilities here. The most probable theory, however, is that Binx couldn't
talk until the Black Flame Candle was lit. After all, if he could have talked earlier,
he would've said something instead of just pouncing on Max.
The devil is in the details. And in this instance, the details are that real-world siblings play
a married couple in Hocus Pocus. Dearly departed director and sometimes-actor Garry Marshall
plays some guy dressed up as Satan for Halloween that the Sanderson sisters mistake for being
the actual devil himself. Naturally, when they make themselves at home in his Salem
house, his wife gets a little jealous, especially when Satan starts dancing with the very sultry
Sarah. Said wife is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking woman, whose hair curlers convince the sisters
that Satan has married Medusa. The wife isn't cowed by this, however, staunchly asking them,
"Aren't you broads a little bit old to be trick-or-treating?"
Satan's wife is actually played by the late, great comedic actress and director Penny Marshall,
Garry's sister. It's a little weird that a legendary brother and sister comedy duo play
husband and wife in Hocus Pocus, but really, who better to channel the realities of an
annoying spouse than an annoying sibling?
In an effort to track down the kids while they hide in the cemetery, Winnie resurrects
Billy Butcherson, an old flame. Super fans will know that this decaying ex is played
by the incomparable Doug Jones, an actor whose physical abilities and character work have
seen him portray some of the coolest movie characters ever put on screen.
Notably, Hocus Pocus was actually one of the first films that Jones performed in. And he's
clearly way more famous now than he was in 1993. In the intervening years, he’s played
multiple aliens in The Outer Limits, the lead Gentleman in the iconic Buffy the Vampire
Slayer episode "Hush," the amphibious Abe Sapien in Hellboy, the Faun and the Pale Man
in Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, the Amphibian Man in the Oscar-winning The Shape
of Water, and Commander Saru on Star Trek: Discovery. Jones' extensive career is filled
with some of the most visually interesting characters of the past few decades, and his
brilliance in Hocus Pocus helped kick off that career full of colorful characters.
The Sanderson sisters sure are familiar with modernity for people who died 300 years prior.
For example, Mary references cooking with margarine, when margarine wasn't actually
invented until 1869. Mary also flies a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom, having stumbled
upon one in the closet of the Sanderson house after her first broom is lost. This implies
that she'd understand that a vacuum is something like a broom, only more advanced, which its
design really wouldn't convey to someone from 1693.
Winnie is also guilty of a few anachronisms that make her seem far too modern. First off,
despite the fact that the three sisters are unfamiliar with paved roads, town buses, and
any kind of automobile, Winnie flies up on her broom alongside Max's getaway car and
asks to see his "driver's permit," implying that she knows what one is, why he needs one,
and how a cop would ask for one when pulling someone over. But Winnie's biggest modern
insight is knowing the music and lyrics to Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1956 hit, "I Put a
Spell On You." Sure, they know magic, that could be a factor here. But let's be real:
The movie needed an excuse for Bette Midler to sing. And really, we're not too mad about
that.
The Sanderson sisters are ultimately defeated, their bodies exploding in the light of the
rising sun. As they didn't achieve their goal of sucking the life from a child before the
sun came up on November 1, all their previous curses are broken. This includes the one placed
on Thackery Binx, turning him into a cat for all eternity. Binx the cat doesn't just lie
down anywhere to take his final rest, however: He purposefully heads straight to his little
sister's 300-year-old grave.
It's a sad moment when Dani finds him lying there, but a tender tribute indeed to the
girl he couldn't save. Binx no doubt regretted what happened to Emily for 300 long, lonely
years being able to save Dani became his ultimate redemption. Thankfully, Binx's spirit does
get to bid our heroes a final farewell, and is ushered into the afterlife by Emily. All's
well that ends well, even if it took three centuries for Binx to get there.
Hey, remember the bullies, Jay and Ice? Remember how they're just kind of left to die? When
Max returns to the Sanderson sisters' house to save Dani and Binx, he finds that his tormentors
have been captured by the witches. But instead of letting the guys out of their cages, even
when they plead for help, Max just takes his stolen shoes back and leaves them there.
Look, they're probably fine. Someone probably came and got them after the Sanderson sisters
were taken down. But when Max left them there, the witches were still alive and totally capable
of sucking Jay and Ice's souls away. Not only did Max leave Jay and Ice to fend for themselves,
leaving the two there could have allowed the Sanderson sisters to succeed. Being bullied
is terrible, but of all the times to take one's revenge, this probably wasn't the best.
At the end of Hocus Pocus, the Sanderson sisters are dead, Billy is back in his grave, and
Binx has traveled to the afterlife to be with his sister. So all is well, right? Not so
fast. The spellbook, as we can see in the closing credits of the movie, is still alive.
Does it have a new master?
Very possibly, yes. Throughout the movie, Allison is drawn to the spellbook. She knows
all about Salem's history, after all, is a Sanderson sister expert, and, as she tells
Dani, is really into witches. She is also able to use magic, but only in small ways,
like circles of salt. Still, she's adept to the point that Winnie calls her a "clever
little white witch." Is Allison, in fact, a white witch? She definitely has the potential
to be. Even when the sisters are burned in the kiln, she knows that something didn't
quite work, meaning they're all still in danger. Maybe a Hocus Pocus sequel could explore the
idea of Allison going on to become a powerful white witch in her own right? Time will tell,
as the Sanderson sisters know quite well.
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