Hocus Pocus (film)/Trivia


 * The Danza: Sarah Jessica Parker playing Sarah.
 * Executive Meddling: Positive example. The film was intended to be a Disney Channel Original Movie, but when higher-ups saw the script they felt it was strong enough for a theatrical release with well-known actors.
 * Fake Nationality: The three White Anglo Saxon Protestant Sanderson sisters are played by two Ashkenazi Jews and an Arab Catholic!
 * ...Protestant?
 * Hey, It's That Guy!:
 * It's Timothy McGee! And Carrie Bradshaw! And Mildred Finch! And that chick from Mermaids!
 * And Abe Sapien! And Enid Coleslaw!
 * Dani grows up to date an strange guy and become Empress of Izmer.
 * The little girl who the witches kill in the beginning is the Venetian Princess.
 * Marshall Teller just seems to have a knack for moving to odd little burgs.
 * Max has more problems than a literally Goofy dad in this town. And Larry's just bullying Max to over-compensate.
 * Misattributed Song: Check the Net and you will find "Come Little Children" is attributed by the ignorant to everyone from Charles Addams to Edgar Allan Poe.
 * Real Life Relative: "The Master" and his wife are played by (uncredited) real-life siblings Garry and Penny Marshall.
 * Unintentional Period Piece: It's basically impossible to set this movie other than the 1980s or early 1990s, because Max being shamed for being a virgin is reminiscent of the period in American history where Americans lost their virginity at the earliest (and therefore teenage pregnancy was at its highest), and the censors wouldn't go crazy over it.
 * Vindicated by Cable: It got terrible reviews when released and was a box-office disappointment. Decades later, it has become a Halloween tradition.
 * What Could Have Been: The casting director's other choice for Thackery was Leonardo DiCaprio. He chose not to do it because it was too family-friendly, and ended up getting Oscar nominated in What's Eating Gilbert Grape the same year.
 * Yes. Too family friendly. Keep in mind there is very much a sliding scale of family-friendliness.
 * James Horner was originally supposed to score the film, but pulled out due to scheduling conflicts and recommended John Debney to score the film (after Rachel Portman turned it down). Horner still did a theme for the film and is credited.