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A 1993 [[Halloween Special|Halloween-themed]] [[Disney]] film for [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's for Kids?|"kids"]]. This was the second film directed by Kenny Ortega, previously known for ''[[Newsies]]'' (1993). Now considered [[Cult Classic|a cult favorite]], the film's rather campy, but pretty entertaining. It does, after all, contain a memorable rendition of "I Put A Spell On You" by Bette Midler. The song "Come Little Children" from this film went on to become a Halloween classic.
 
The film opens in the year 1693. Thackery Binx (role shared by Sean Murray and [[Jason Marsden]]), a teenager living in Salem, Massachusetts, discovers his little sister Emily (Amanda Shepherd) has gone missing. Emily has been lured away to the farm of the Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches--consisting of older sister/leader Winifred "Winnie" (Bette Midler), middle child/tracker Mary (Kathy Najimy) and little sister/siren-like predator Sarah ([[Sarah Jessica Parker]])--who suck the life-forces of little children to prolong their lives; such is the fate suffered by Emily. Thackery attempts to save her, but the sisters transform him into an immortal black cat. The sisters are soon after captured by the townspeople and hanged; before her death, Winnie pronounces her death-curse, that "on [[All HallowsHallow's Eve]], when the moon is round, a virgin will summon us from under the ground."
 
The scene shifts to 1993. The Dennisons are a California family who has just moved to Salem, bringing along teenaged son Max (Omri Katz) and 8-year-old daughter Dani ([[Thora Birch]]). Max is a virgin. Halloween night, Max takes his sister trick-or-treating and gets to hang with new [[Love Interest]] Allison (Vinessa Shaw). Allison tells him of the legend of the Sanderson sisters and of a supposed way to revive them; Max laughs and tries it out, bringing the Sandersons back to life. Now the three kids and the immortal cat Binx have to face the witches throughout the night, with the lives of every kid in Salem at risk.
 
In late 2022, Disney released a sequel, ''[[Hocus Pocus 2]]'', available on [[Netflix]].
 
[[I Thought It Meant|While a 1994 side-scrolling platformer]] [[Similarly Named Works|by the same name]] [[I Thought It Meant|also exists, they don't have any connection to each other]]. Also unrelated is [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s 1991 novel of the same name.
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{{tropelist}}
=== This movie contains examples of: ===
* [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]: Max, Dani and Allison have to flee the witches and zombie Billy Butcherson by following Thackery into the sewers, which are filled with spiders and rats, [[Reduced to Ratburgers|which is what Thackery eats as a cat]]! Very [[Squick|squicky]] to the trio.
* [[Adults Are Useless]]: The children tried to get help from their parents and the rest of the partygoers at the party.
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** Max and Dani's parents are useless long before anything supernatural happens. When Max comes home in his stocking feet after his shoes are stolen by bullies, they assume it's somehow a form of protest against them.
** And at the party, when Billy (the zombie) pushes between the parents and chases the children:
{{quote| '''Mom:''' ''(cheerfully)'' I wish we had the camera.}}
* [[All HallowsHallow's Eve]]
* [[All Part of the Show]]: What the adult partygoers think of the Sandersons taking over the stage and singing a song to them, to the point they actually indulge in audience participation and sing too, thus ''[[Refuge in Audacity|unknowingly enchanting themselves]]''. May well count as a [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|Moment of Awesome]], particularly for Winifred figuring out that the witches could do this.
* [[All Witches Have Cats]]: Inverted in ''[[Hocus Pocus]]''. The witch sisters transform one of the protagonists, Binx, into a black cat [[For the Evulz]]. By the time of the main narrative, he's their sworn enemy. As mentioned in Animal Motifs below, Mary's more like a dog.
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* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Thackery Binx and Max are both deeply protective of their little sisters, and Binx projects a lot of his feelings about Emily onto Dani.
* [[Black Magic]]
* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]]: The three witches; Sarah is blonde, Mary has dark hair, and Winnie is a redhead.
* [[Bratty Half -Pint]]: Dani, who keeps mocking her brother for being a virgin. It's possible she just doesn't know what it means, though, but she does still keep saying it to get a rise out of him.
* [[Burn the Witch]]: Averted. In a Disney film! The witches are hanged, just like the real "witches" of Salem.
** {{spoiler|Double Subverted. They end up getting cooked in a large walk-in kiln in the school.}}
*** {{spoiler|Triple Subverted: it doesn't keep, because the Candle is still lit.}}
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Max, whose virginity is repeatedly invoked and commented on.
* [[Card -Carrying Villain]]: Winnie Sanderson at one point says to her sisters "We are witches, we are evil!"
* [[Cats Are Magic]]: Binx, a teenager who [[Baleful Polymorph|was transformed]] into a black cat by the Sandersons. He has the ability to speak, and he is effectively [[Immortality|immortal]].
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Sarah.
* [[Compelling Voice]]: Sarah's primary power - her song about halfway through the movie calls '''all the children in Salem''' to the Sanderson Sisters' home, and let's the viewers know that [[Not -So-Harmless HarmlessVillain|she isn't as harmless as she appears to be]] (up to this point, she played the part of [[The Ditz]] and was pretty much Winifred's punching bag).
* [[Convenient Slow Dance]]: Parodied: While the Sanderson Sisters are in "[[Satan|the Master's]]" house, Sarah goes to "the Master" and says, "Master, wouldst thou dance with me?" She then makes a tender slow dance with him... until his wife shows up and sees them both dancing, which triggers her [[Berserk Button]].
* [[Credits Pushback]]: Because of this, the [[Disney Channel]] no longer airs [[The Stinger]] for the movie.
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* [[Disney Death]]: Binx revives after being crushed by the bus.
* [[The Ditz]]: Sarah.
* [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"]]: One of the two bad boys, "Ice", hates being called "Ernie".
* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: Winnie apparently can't understand self-sacrifice, especially for a family member.
* [[Evil Is Hammy]]: Let's face it, the witches are about the biggest hams you've ever seen.
* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: Winnie is this when she's not busy to kill children or whatever.
* [[A Fete Worse Than Death]]: The party at the town hall, at least after the witches take over the proceedings.
* [[Fiery Redhead]]: Winifred.
* [[Five -Man Band]]:
** [[The Hero]] - Max
** [[The Lancer]] - Dani
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** [[The Chick]] - Allison
* [[Flying Broomstick]]: Used straight and then parodied when their brooms are stolen, forcing [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|Sarah to fly on a mop and Mary on a vacuum cleaner]].
* [[For Halloween I Am Going Asas Myself]]:
** Max wears street clothes when he takes Dani trick-or-treating. His father thinks he's supposed to be a hip-hop deejay, while Dani insists he's a Little Leaguer.
*** Of course, it could just be a form of protest (For Halloween, I Am Not Going As Anything), since Max had no intention of taking Dani trick or treating at all [[Bratty Half -Pint|until Dani started shrieking at the top of her lungs]].
** Allison dresses as an aristocratic lady for her parents' soiree, but quickly changes out of it and is in modern-day clothes for the rest of the movie.
** The Sanderson sisters are dressed as stereotypical witches because, well [[Captain Obvious|that's what they are]]. Meaning they're attending Halloween as themselves, but just happen to fit in extremely well.
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* [[Functional Magic]]
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: See above.
{{quote| '''Winifred:''' We desire...''[[Eats Babies|children]]''.<br />
'''Bus Driver:''' Hey, it may take me a couple of tries, but I don't think there will be a problem. }}
* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: Invoked in setting up the [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]] [[Overly Long Gag]].
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* [[Holy Burns Evil]]: When Winifred sneezes, a passing little girl (in costume as an Angel) says "Bless you!", prompting all three sisters to react with horror.
** As per the spell that only resurrected them for one night, the Sanderson Sisters will be turned to dust when the sun rises. Witches can't set foot on [[Holy Burns Evil|hallowed ground]] either, and when Winifred tries to quickly kill Max in the graveyard before sunrise, she's [[Taken for Granite|turned into a stone statue]] for standing in a holy place. As if that weren't enough, when the sunlight hits the statue, it explodes.
* [[Hot Mom]]: Max and Dani's mom, at least when she's dressed up as [[Madonna (Music)|Madonna]].
* [[I Take Offense to That Last One]]:
{{quote| '''Jay:''' Man, how come it's always the ugly chicks that stay out late?!<br />
'''Winifred:''' "''Chicks?''" }}
** Contrast with Winifred's offense at Dani calling her "Ugly."
*** It's probable that Winifred is confused as to her and her sisters being referred to as "chicks." When they're from, chicks are baby chickens.
* [[Infant Immortality]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in a Disney movie! The Sanderson Sisters kill Emily.
{{quote| '''[[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Chick]]:''' First plot point, death of a child.}}
* [[Intellectual Animal]]: Binx to some extent, but especially when compared to those around him...
* [[Ironic Echo]]: At one point, Winifred swoops in on the kids, taunting them with Max's earlier line "It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!" [[Fridge Logic]] kicks in when you realize Winifred wasn't [[Back From the Dead]] yet when Max said it, and couldn't have heard it.
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* [[The Man Behind the Man]]: The devil is implied to be behind the Sandersons (see "Satan" below)
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: The audience is reminded every five minutes that [[Overly Long Gag|Max is one]]. Rather jarring considering the target audience and that Max is young enough to still be commuting by bicycle. Seriously, Disney?
** [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|"What are you doing if you're in High School and still a virgin?"]]
** Insinuating that Max is not a real man.
* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]: In one scene Max introduces himself to the two bullies, Jay and "Ice", and says he's from L.A. Since they realize where he's from, they start calling Max "Hollywood" from then on.
* [[New Age Retro Hippie]]: Max appears to be this at first, and gets treated this way by most of the other characters. And who can blame them? Max does wear a tie-dyed T-shirt and harbors radical left-wing beliefs (such as his suspicion that Halloween is actually a conspiracy on the part of the candy companies). But he ultimately subverts the stereotype [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|when he's offered a marijuana cigarette and he turns it down]].
* [[The Nineties]]: Max's ''hair'' alone dates this movie.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: What kicks the whole plot off in the modern time when Max lights the enchanted candle, of course he didn't know the legend was real at the time but still. Binx even nearly title drops the trope name when he reveals to Max he can talk.
{{quote| '''Binx:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Nice going, ''Max''.}}
* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: The party-goers are cursed to dance until they die. The curse ends when the witches die.
** Also, Binx and Billy are allowed to die.
* [[Not Evil, Just Misunderstood]]: {{spoiler|Billy, unless two-timing his lover can be considered "evil". The whole movie, the protagonists (and the viewers) assume he's trying to kill them on Winnifred's behalf, and he can't speak because his mouth is sewn shut. When he finally manages to burn away the stiches and is able to talk, his true loyalties can be known, showing him to be [[Good All Along]].}}
* [[Not -So-Harmless HarmlessVillain]]: The Sandersons may seem comically bumbling about 80 percent of the time, but you'd be wise not to mess with them when they ''really'' get angry. Sarah in particular seems a harmless, ditzy woman through most of the movie. Then she starts singing sweetly, luring children out, and you ''know'' she's deadly.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Billy reacts in this way ''twice'', each time just before he (literally) loses his head.
* [[One -Scene Wonder]]: Those skull-faced jazzers/rockers at the Halloween party were pretty cool.
** It may take a second viewing to realize that these performers segued from "Witchcraft" into "I Put a Spell on You" shortly before Winifred took over the show.
* [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome]]: Given how much trouble the three witches gave the protagonists, it seems ''quite'' a commendable feat that the mob at the beginning was able to subdue them and hang them from the gallows.
* [[Painful Transformation]]: Thackery Binx, intentionally invoked by the Sanderson Sisters.
* [[Perky Goth]]: Sarah, a rare villainous one.
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* [[Please Wake Up]]: {{spoiler|Dani, to Binx. Harsher because he was immortal up until then.}}
* [[Police Are Useless]]: Subverted -- the apparent cop who bullies the children and insults Max's manhood is only in costume.
* [[Product Placement]]: In one scene, "[[Satan|the Master]]" and his wife are tossing the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Bar:Clark Bar|Clark Bar candy bars]] to the Sanderson Sisters, but after discovering the weirdness of the sisters, the wife forces them to leave with the Clark Bars. Once they're back out on the prowl, Mary at first thinks that she has "[[I'm a Humanitarian|a chocolate covered finger of a man named Clark]]", but when she eats the Clark Bar and discovers that it's candy, [[Comically Missing the Point|she asks why "the Master [would] give us candy"]], to which Winifred replies, "Because he's NOT our Master!"
** Also, while still at "the Master's" house, Mary turns on the TV and sees [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ABvOay1g7U a commercial for DuPont Stainmaster with a running baby in it], and [[Squee|she gets ecstatic]].
* [[Psychopathic Manchild|Psychopathic Womanchild]]: Sarah. She's so childlike, it's very easy to forget she's homicidal and very dangerous, and her idea of "play" likely involves death and, at one point, possibly torture. Sarah Jessica Parker's delivery makes her lines less creepy, until you think about them.
** One line sums her up instantly.
{{quote| '''Sarah:''' My lucky rat tail! Just where I left it!}}
* [[Really Gets Around]]: Sarah. It's honestly shocking for a Disney film that she flirts with every single male she comes across--from Thackery to Max to Billy to a random bus driver to Max's bullies to a random costumed man at the party...the list goes on and on. Although her idea of [[Cold -Blooded Torture|fun]] probably isn't what most men anticipate.
{{quote| '''Sarah:''' Thou wouldst hate me in the morning.<br />
'''Bus Driver:''' No I wouldn't![[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe|...st]].<br />
'''Winifred:''' ''Believe me'', thou wouldst. }}
* [[Redhead in Green]]: Winifred.
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* [[Schmuck Bait]]: The candle.
* [[See You in Hell]]:
{{quote| '''Billy Butcherson:''' Go to Hell!<br />
'''Winifred:''' Oh! [[Insult Backfire|I've been there, thank you. I found it quite lovely]]. }}
* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Max begins the film extremely self-centered, over-dramatic, short-tempered and showing an enormous amount of disdain for his annoying but loving little sister. Obvious and weak comparisons are drawn with Max and Binx, but the stronger parallels are with Max and Winifred, an extremely self-centered, over-dramatic and short-tempered witch who despises her incompetent, yet devoted, younger sisters. Sarah and Mary follow Winifred into what will clearly be their own demise and die after a clumsy attempt to save her from Max, a gesture Winifred would hardly return.
{{quote| '''Winifred:''' {{spoiler|What a fool to give up ''thy'' life...for thy ''sister's''.}}}}
* [[Shock and Awe]]: Winnie can do this on [[Star Wars|Emperor Palpatine's]] levels.
* [[Shout -Out]]: During the "I Put a Spell on You" number, Winnie calls out, "Hello, Salem, my name is Winifred! What's yours?" This is a nod to Mama Rose in ''[[Gypsy]]'', who said, "Hello, world, my name is Rose! What's yours?" (which was spoken by Louise earlier) Doubles as an [[Actor Allusion]] when Bette Midler played Mama Rose in the TV version on the same year that ''Hocus Pocus'' was released.
** At the beginning of "I Put a Spell on You", Winnie gives out a shout-out to one of [[Elton John (Music)|Elton John]]'s songs:
{{quote| '''Winifred:''' Now the [[Witch Withwith a Capital B]] [[Elton John (Music)|is back!]] And there's hell to pay.}}
** Also, the "I Put a Spell on You" number is an [[Homage]] to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who wrote the song, [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|although the original actually started with "I put a spell on you]], ''[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|because]]'' [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|you're mine."]]
* [[Skeptic No Longer]]: Max loses his skepticism at the moment Binx first talks to him..
* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: Binx snarling [[Totally Radical|"Nice going, Max!"]] in his standard 17th-century Colonial accent.
* [[Spell Book]]: Bound in human skin, and emblazoned with a living human eye, no less.
* [[The Stinger]]: A number of them, actually. After we see {{spoiler|Thackery and Emily finally reunited at the gates of [[Heaven]]}}, the end credits are accompanied by the following: Max and Dani's parents and all the other townspeople stumbling out of the town hall in their costumes, with the dad commenting that "I thought L.A. was a party town!"; [[TethercatOffscreen PrincipleInertia|Jay and Ice still locked in birdcages in the Sandersons' lair, pitifully singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to pass the time]]; and a final tip-off that {{spoiler|the Sanderson sisters may be [[Not Quite Dead]].}}
* [[Surrounded Byby Idiots]]:
{{quote| '''Winifred:''' WHY? Why was I cursed with such IDIOT sisters?<br />
'''Sarah:''' Just lucky, I guess. }}
** Binx as well. Max, Dani and Allison are about as sharp as bowling balls.
* [[Take a Third Option]]: {{spoiler|At the end, Max either has to give up the potion or Dani dies. What does he do? He drinks the potion instead.}}
* [[Take Me Instead!]]: {{spoiler|Max drinks the potion to keep Winifred from force-feeding it to Dani. "What a fool to give up ''thy'' life... for thy ''sister's''."}}
* [[Taken for Granite]]: {{spoiler|Winifred... the result of her standing on "hallowed ground"... which was a big no-no when trying to steal Max's life.}}
* [[Talking Animal]]: Binx.
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** "Come Little Children" also opened the movie in Salem 300 years earlier.
* [[Virgin Power]]:
{{quote| '''Max:''' ''(after feeling the room shake)'' What happened?<br />
'''Dani:''' A ''virgin'' ''(referring to Max)'' lit the candle. }}
* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: What happened to the three girls who got the Sandersons' brooms?
** Well, you can hear a *whoosh* sound after they run off-camera.
** Assuming the brooms had been around since the sisters were alive back in 1693 and if some kids tried to fly on the brooms but failed in the past, then with the sister's resurrection the magic has returned to them and stays. But what if the girls were flying at sunrise when the magic could leave...
** The last we saw of Max's house was the Sanderson Sisters completely destroying the top floor. One wonders what his parents will think when they finally get home.
* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: Happens to Binx in the beginning. Not that he wanted it in the first place.
** [[Living Forever Is Awesome]]: You might think the Sanderson sisters are [[Vain Sorceress|Vain Sorceresses]] but eternal youth is only half of what they want.
{{quote| '''Winifred:''' We want to live ''forever''. Not just until tomorrow!}}
* [[Wicked Witch]]: Three of them.
* [[Witch Withwith a Capital B]]: Winnie does this in a nod to [[Elton John (Music)|Elton John]] during "I Put a Spell on You"; see [[Shout -Out]].
* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: The Sanderson Sisters drain Emily's life.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: The Sanderson Sisters, and Thackery and Emily Binx, and the rest of the Salem townsfolk in 1693.
** Played with on the bus:
{{quote| '''Sarah:''' Thou wouldst hate me in the morning.<br />
'''Bus Driver:''' No I wouldn'st! }}
* [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]]: For a little while, it seems that {{spoiler|the witches have been cooked in the school oven. They were, but it didn't stick}}.
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[[Category:Fantasy Films]]
[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Hocus Pocus{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Matte World Digital]]
[[Category:Disney]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
[[Category:Witch Works]]
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