15 Hocus Pocus Secrets You Didn't Know About
That time of year is approaching again, and you all know what that means! Yes, we're making way for pumpkin carving and bags of candy, but it's also time to gather the squad and sit down for the annual Halloween viewing of Hocus Pocus.
Everybody's fave Halloween flick of all time, HP is as brilliant today as it was back then. Even though we're adults now (talk about scary thoughts!), we still watch this bad boy on the edge of our seats and can quote it even better than we can quote Mean Girls. But does that mean that we know everything about it?
Surprisingly, even after all this time there are still plenty of facts that most people don't realize about this spooky flick. And it's time to find out what they are! Here are 15 things that might surprise you about Hocus Pocus.
15 The Original Draft Was Much Scarier
HP might be our all-time favorite Halloween flick, but that doesn't mean that it's overly scary. In fact, it might have even struggled to scare you as a child, let alone today! Originally, though, this movie was intended to be much more frightening. The first draft of the script saw the children being younger than they are and having their lives directly threatened by the witches. There was also far less comedy in the original script-thank goodness they did something about that, right? Screenwriter Mick Garris told Entertainment Weekly, “The kids being younger and in more jeopardy was certainly something more explicitly frightening.” To help change things from dark to hilarious, he added in scenes like Satan's house and made the scene with Billy Butcherson more “broadly comedic” to suit the new tone of the film. Otherwise, we might have had another Annabelle or Sinister on our hands!
14 Is SJP Really a Descendent of Witches?
At the time that she took on the role of Sarah Sanderson, Sarah Jessica Parker wasn't the household name she is today. This was a few years before she brought Carrie Bradshaw to life, don't forget! Since rising to icon status, SJP appeared on the show Who Do You Think You Are, tracing back her family tree through the centuries. As it turns out, one of her direct ancestors, Esther Elwell, was accused of being a witch during the trials in Salem. So does that mean that fate wanted her to play Sarah, just so she could get back to her family roots? Well, no. Like many people who were accused of witchcraft at the time, there was no concrete evidence that Elwell was actually doing anything wrong, let alone playing around with black magic. She was arrested after a young girl claimed that she saw Esther's specter strangling their neighbor, Mary Fitch. But luckily, Elwell managed to escape going to trial.
13 The Popularity Came Later
We now view HP as a Halloween classic-seriously, try and go at least one year without feeling compelled to watch it! So it's difficult to imagine that this kind of popularity wasn't always the case. In fact, when the film first came out in 1993, it hardly did well. It's hard to believe now, but it even received bad reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly tore right into it, labeling it a “piece of corny slapstick trash” and then basically attacking Bette Midler. “It's acceptable scary-silly kid fodder that adults will find only mildly insulting. Unless they're Bette Midler fans. In which case it's depressing as hell.” Well, excuse you all over the place! The film went on to achieve icon status, sell record numbers of DVDs and cement a screening just about every Halloween, so take that.
12 A Major Star Could Have Been Involved
Omri Katz did a great job as our hero Max, but that role was first offered to someone else. None other than Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio was asked to play the part but declined so he could play Arnie Grape in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. You know you're going to be a superstar when you're still a kid and you're already telling big Hollywood producers that you're too busy for them! The filmmakers offered him “more money than [he] ever dreamed of” but he decided to follow his heart. And though Hocus Pocus went on to achieve such success, the heartthrob doesn't regret a thing: “I don't know where I got the nerve,” he said later. “You live in an environment where you're influenced by people telling you to make a lot of money and strike while the iron's hot. But if there's one thing I'm very proud of, it's being a young man who was sticking to my guns.”
11 They Lied to You
There are a few sobering truths that have come to light regarding everybody's favorite black cat, Binx. As the story goes, young Thackery Binx was turned into a cat and forced to live forever with his guilt as punishment by the Sanderson sisters. His soul is eventually freed in its human form, thanks to Max and the gang. Now, the actor who played the human Thackery Binx, Sean Murray, did not actually provide the voice for the kitty-he was voiced by an actor called Jason Marsden. The filmmakers just believed that his old English accent was better and that his voice sounded more authentically 17th century. Later, they realized that the cat and the boy had different voices, so they had to dub over Murray's lines with Marsden's voice. So even though you're watching Murray play Binx, you're not really hearing him. Don't you just feel like your whole life is a lie?
10 Doug Jones Is a Horror Genius
The zombie Billy Butcherson who's got bad blood with the Sanderson sisters is played by Doug Jones. Though it's hard to recognize him under all that makeup that makes him look dead, the chances are you've seen him before if you're a horror buff, since he's appeared in plenty of scary films. He has a real talent for being made up to look like a monster! Some of the notable characters he'd played include the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, Abe Sapien in Hellboy, el Fauno, and the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He's also played severable minor terrifying characters in shows like Tales from the Crypt Moths and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not only is Jones great at acting in these roles, but he'll do whatever it takes to make them seem authentic. Case in point? The moths that fly out of Butcherson's mouth are real-Jones wore a mouth dam to stop them going down his throat…
9 The Cats Weren't Cuddly
If you told us to take on a job where we'd have to work with several different cats all day, we would definitely be up to the challenge. That's the dream! But the actors on set didn't enjoy working with the animal talent like you'd think they would. They had to get to know more than one kitty, since quite a few were used. They could all do different things that Binx was required to do-for example, one could jump on command, one was good at cuddling, and another could lift its paws when asked. The cast members, especially the kids, were tired of having to get to know a different cat in each scene. It would take time to gain the cat's trust through the use of treats and clickers, and they just wanted to get the heck on with it. So there you go! Working with a clowder of cats isn't actually all it's cracked up to be…
8 Halloween or Summer Flick?
Even if you haven't seen HP (which you definitely have), just from the name you can tell that it's a Halloween movie. Even in other countries where it's called Abracadabra, you just know that there's going to be witches and spells and black cats. But did you know that in 1993, it wasn't actually released on Halloween? Not only that, but it wasn't even released in October. Not only that, but it wasn't even released in the fall! That's right: Hocus Pocus was released in the middle of summer. July 16th, to be exact. It's thought that the producers did this because they didn't want to compete with other Halloween-themed films in October, like Addams Family Values and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Maybe this is why HP failed to do well at the box office? People aren't exactly in the mood for pumpkins on the way back from the beach!
7 We Aren't The Only Ones Obsessed
Yes, you may have gathered that we're desperately in love with HP. But it's actually okay but we're not the only culprits! Bette Midler herself has said that as of 2008, Winnifred Sanderson was her very favorite role. When you think about all the amazing things Midler has done before and after HP, it says a lot that this is still her favorite. “I love it,' she told E! News. “We made it before the tidal wave of Halloween happened. Now it's like huge. It's huge-kids, grown-ups, everyone takes part in it. This movie was kind of like the beginning of the wave. We laughed the whole time, and we flew! We flew! And we got to wear like crazy noses and fake teeth… ” Kathy Najimy also has a special place in her heart for HP and watches it every single year with her family. Not a bad tradition at all!
6 Anachronisms Everywhere
We hate to get in the way of the magic that is HP, but it's true that the film has just a few anachronisms. When part of it is set 300 years before the other part, you're bound to have a few little bumps in the story! One of the most notable ones is when the Sanderson sisters claim to cook with margarine, which wasn't even around the last time they were alive. Mary Sanderson knowing what a vacuum cleaner is has been the cause of much debate, since some fans believe that she simply took whatever was in the closet, not realizing its connection to other cleaning tools like the broom. But others think that this was a mistake on behalf of the filmmakers, believing she chose the vacuum cleaner because it's the next best thing to a broom which, being from the 17th century, she couldn't possibly know. What do you think?
5 An Interesting Pitch
The folks at Disney are probably hard to impress. They definitely have standards and a reputation to uphold, so if you're going to pitch a project to them, you want to spare no costs and no effort. That's what the HP filmmakers did when they brought their script to the Disney executives. Rather than just having a boring old meeting, they decorated the conference room that they used to get everybody in the mood for witches and spells. Two broomsticks were hanged from the ceiling with wire, in addition to one hanging vacuum cleaner. They also adorned the room with 15 pounds of candy, maybe hoping one of the execs was a sweet tooth? Even if the script was terrible, who in their right mind would refuse 15 pounds of candy?! It may sound like an outlandish idea, but as we can all see, it worked. Remember that the next time you come up with something silly!
4 “Come Little Children” Is Catchy for a Reason
Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole film (which is not even terrifying!) is the eerie song that Sarah Sanderson sings in order to lure all the local children to her. Called “Come Little Children”, the tune was actually written by the late composer James Horner, who was nothing but a genius musician. If there was ever someone put on this earth to move people with music, it was him; he co-wrote “My Heart Will Go On” with Will Jennings for Celine Dion, as well as the Titanic score. Need we say more? He's also scored other epic films like Braveheart, Avatar, Aliens, and A Beautiful Mind, just to name a few. Basically, anything that is hauntingly beautiful and kind of inspired by Celtic sounds is probably the work of this man. SJP sang all her own vocals for the song, adding to its unnerving and supernatural vibe.
3 The Multiple Statues
At the end of the film, Winifred Sanderson explodes in the sunlight and becomes nothing more than a statue, capable of no more evil. You obviously knew that, but what you might not have known is that the filmmakers didn't just create one statue for the scene; they created seven. Nobody has really confirmed why there needed to be so many statues, but at least the filmmakers weren't greedy with their excess Winifreds! One of the statues actually resides at the Planet Hollywood restaurant, which is located in Orlando, Florida. Make sure you check her out the next time you're in town! The famous living spellbook is also located at the restaurant too. Midler didn't rely on this book in real life, instead, she was using a dictionary filled with old curse words to make her lines seem authentic, but she still touched it. It's definitely worth seeing!
2 It All Started Innocently
The plot for HP isn't exactly complex, but it's definitely left a mark on our generation, and will probably do so on those to come. You might be wondering how someone can even come up with such a simple yet effective idea for a children's film! Apparently, David Kirschner, who's one of the producers of the film, came up with the plot himself when he was writing a bedtime story for his children. After realizing that he had something worth pursuing, he submitted the idea to Muppets Magazine. The readers really enjoyed it, so he knew he had to take it all the way. And that's how we ended up with what we have today! Kirschner knows a lot about horror films, having produced other cult classics like the Chucky movies. He also produced the animated adventure An American Tail, proving he can do spooky and he can do kids movies. Really, how could HP not have been a hit with someone like that behind it!
1 It Wasn't Always Going to Grace the Silver Screen
In the beginning, HP wasn't intended to be a feature film. For a brief time, they were planning on airing the film on the Disney Channel as an original TV movie. There are a few reasons why this didn't eventuate, the main one being that once more execs read the screenplay, they could see the potential for something huge and didn't want to waste it on a TV movie. The makeup used on the witches and the zombies in the film was also slightly too scary for the Disney Channel. In the end, they ended up toning down the makeup to make it less scary, though luckily for us and every other HP fan, the film was never reverted back to TV movie status. There were also a few adult themes in the movie that parents would not be impressed with hearing from the Disney Channel!