The movie opens on October 31, 1693 Salem, Massachusetts where three witch sisters — Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson — transformed a boy, Thackery Binx, into an immortal black cat as punishment for trying to prevent them from absorbing the life force of his younger sister, Emily, after making her drink a potion. He fails to rescue her and instead is cursed to spend eternity as a black cat. The sisters are tried and hanged by the locals. However, thanks to a curse created by Winnie's magic spell-book, they vow to return when a virgin lights the Black Flame candle on a Halloween night when the moon is full.

Three hundred years later on October 31, 1993, Max Dennison (Katz), a skeptical teenager from Los Angeles, lights the Black-flamed Candle at the Sanderson house with his younger sister Dani (Birch) and his love interest Allison (Shaw) present bringing the witches back from the dead. However, the kids manage to escape from the witches along with the black cat (Binx) who can now talk, and Max steals Winnie's magic spell book. In an attempt to get the book back, the witches chase the kids to the local graveyard where Winnie resurrects Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), her previous unfaithful partner. He is sent to chase the kids across town. The witches also reveal that in order to remain alive and young, they must steal the "life force" of a child before the sun rises and Halloween night ends.

The cast then & now...

Max Dennison

Omri Haim Katz (born May 30, 1976) is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R. Ewing (played by series star Larry Hagman) and Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) from 1983 to 1991.

Katz was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the son of Israeli Jewish immigrants Rina and Yoram Katz. Katz has an older brother named Michael and an older sister named Lali. While Katz was young, he lived in Israel but left to pursue a career in acting.

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Dani

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She was a leading child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as Hocus Pocus (1993), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Since the 1990s she has moved on to more mature roles, in films such as American Beauty (1999) and Ghost World (2001).

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Allison

Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American actress.

Shaw was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Larry Shaw and actress Susan Damante-Shaw (née Susan Jean Damante). She is known for her potrayal of Lynn Carter, one of the family members that is being terrorized by a clan of deformed mutants in the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake.

Vinessa played Sally St. Claire in the film Garden Party, which opened July 11, 2008 in Los Angeles, New York, Portland, and Seattle.

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Thackery Binx

Sean Murray (born November 15, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for playing Timothy McGee on the CBS television drama NCIS, and Danny Walden on the military drama JAG.

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Billy Butcherson

Doug Jones (born May 24, 1960) is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

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Winifred Sanderson - played by Bette Midler. Winifred is the loud, red-headed, buck toothed leader of the group. The only intelligent member of the trio, she has to put up with her two idiot sisters. She has the power to stun her victims from a distance by firing bolts of lightning-like energy from her fingertips, and is the primary spell-caster of the group. It is her book that the children steal. Winifred, or Winnie as she tends to be called, has a tendency to be rather melodramatic. She is also very sensitive about being called "ugly." She rides a regular house corn broom in the climax of the film, forcing her sisters to fly by other means. She admits shortly before her second death that hell was actually 'quite lovely'. Her costume is green-themed, with black spikes on the toe end of her black shoes.

Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress and comedian, also known (as her informal stage name) as The Divine Miss M. During her career, she has won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. She is currently performing a new concert show, The Showgirl Must Go On, live five nights a week as one of the current headliners at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas (together with Cher and Elton John).

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Sarah Sanderson - played by Sarah Jessica Parker. The most beautiful of the trio, Sarah is boy-crazy, extremely ditsy, and also unbearably stupid. Her primary power is a siren song: granting her the ability to control children's minds with her voice. She also possesses uncharacteristically-refined knowledge of spellcasting in general, as she has no problem assisting Winifred in spells of perpetual-dance and transmogrification. Sarah rides a mop in the climax of the film and dramatically bids farewell to Winifred before exploding. Her dresses are pink/purple themed and more revealing than the other sisters.

Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and producer, with a portfolio of television, film, and theater performances. She is best known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw, a columnist, on the HBO television series Sex and the City, for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Emmy Awards. She played the same role in the feature film version of the show, which was released on May 30, 2008. She also has three fragrances out, Lovely, Covet and Covet Full Bloom.

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Mary Sanderson - played by Kathy Najimy. The "fat" sister of the trio who, while not nearly as ditsy as Sarah, is still rather dim. She has various canine tendencies, including barking when she is excited and having the power to sniff out the presence of any children near her. Mary acts as the voice of reason and has to calm down Winifred on several occasions. She also does whatever she can to be in Winnie's favor, including helping her make a potion or compliment her. Mary rides a vacuum cleaner in the climax of the film, known for yelling "broom ho!" to invoke a flight-spell onto a vessel. As she sees the sun come up, she says 'Bye-bye' before exploding into dust. Her garb is red themed, and she sports a very interesting hairstyle.

Kathy Najimy (born February 6, 1957) is an American actress, known as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill.

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TRIVIA:

» When Bette Midler takes the stage at the town Halloween Party, she says, "Hello Salem, my name is Winifred! What's yours?". This is a take-off of the famous "Hello world, my name is Rose! What's yours?", a line from the musical Gypsy, spoken by Mama Rose. Midler played Mama Rose in the television version of Gypsy the same year that Hocus Pocus was released.

» The role of Thackery Binx was originally offered to Leonardo DiCaprio, but he turned it down to appear in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, for which he ended up being nominated for an Academy Award.

» A very quick eye will discover that Binx actually died on his sister's grave. Upon finding that Binx died, you can see her name written on the gravestone in which he lies.

» During the 1990s, this movie was shown along with The Worst Witch and A Disney Halloween on the Disney Channel around the time of Halloween.

» When the witches sucked the life out of Emily Binx, you would see that Winifred has her hood on when she is looking at her new younger form and when she says, "but it's a start!" which is right after, her hood is off.

» After Emily Binx has the life sucked out of her, one can see her moving her legs in the background of numerous shots.

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MORE TRIVIA:

» The movie started life as a script for a special original movie for the Disney Channel, to be produced by one of the smaller studios owned by The Walt Disney Company, but the script caught the eye of Walt Disney Studios who decided that the film was strong enough to carry well-known names and to attract a cinema audience.

» Omri Katz was unwell at the time of his first audition, and was initially rejected for the role of Max.

» There were seven statues made of Bette Midler for the scene in which she bursts in the sunlight toward the end of the movie. One of the statues, along with Winnie's spell book, is housed at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Orlando, Florida.

» Rosie O'Donnell was originally offered the role of Mary Sanderson, but it was ultimately given to Kathy Najimy. O'Donnell claims on her blog that she turned down the offer to work with the Divine Miss M because she didn't want to be a "scary witch".

» After having locked the Sanderson sisters in the school kiln, the three kids celebrate as they walk to the park. The house shown directly behind Max and Thackery while they talk is, ironically, the residential edifice used as Thora Birch's home in 1999's American Beauty (1999).

» During the final fight in the cemetery, the background music imitates Miss Gulch's (the Wicked Witch) theme from The Wizard of Oz (1939).

» The film grossed $39,514,713. Although it became more popular over the years; not only is it a cult favorite but it also can be viewed regularly on television during the month of October.

» Brother and sister Garry Marshall and Penny Marshall play husband and wife. He's the one dressed as Satan.

» Several scenes appear in the original trailer that are not included in any theatrical, VHS, or DVD version of the film. They include the kids attempting to push the witches into a pool, the witches being surrounded by trick-or-treaters holding out their hands, and Mary snacking in a grocery store only to be dragged out by Winifred.

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oops, they made mistakes:

» Factual errors: The movie takes place on Halloween, 1993. The first part of the movie shows Max at school, yet Halloween 1993 was on a Sunday.

» Factual errors: Salem Massachusetts does not have its own bus line. The Buses that go to around Salem are buses of the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority) or known locally as the T.

» Anachronisms: When the kids are hiding in the alley and Mary smells the scrod, she says they are good with bread crumbs and margarine. Her character, having lived 300 years ago, would not have known about margarine which was invented in 1869.

» Errors in geography: When Sarah sings her song she's in the sky above the lighthouse along the coastline of Marblehead - one town over from Salem.

» Factual errors: The real Salem witch trials began during the first few months of 1692, and were finished by the October of that same year, though in the movie they state that the Sanderson sisters were hanged on October 31st, 1693.

» Factual errors: New Zippo lighters don't have any lighter fluid. You have to add it yourself. Max takes one off the rack in the Sanderson house, and lights it on the spot.

» Revealing mistakes: When the Sanderson sisters are hung, you can see by the knees, that they are actually hung dolls.

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Clips:

Hocus Pocus begins in a small town in 1693, were a teenager named Thackery Binx realises his little sister has fled into the woods, under the control of a witch. Thackery rushes after his sister, Emily, and eventually finds a pilgrim-style mill house where Emily has been captured. Inside the house, 3 ageing evil witches (Midler, Najimy and Parker) known as the Sanderson sisters are brewing a potion in a cauldron. Winnie, the eldest sister, highlights that the potion, when drank by a child, has the ability to rejuvenate them and restore their youth. Before the witches can force the potion into Emily, Thackery stops them and engages in a brawl with Winnie, and is soon stripped of his energy. The sisters then suck the life-force from little Emily and their youth is restored, then cast a spell on helpless Thackery that he take the form of a black cat for eternity. Immediately, a mob of angry villagers wielding torches capture the sisters and prepare to hang the trio from a branch of a tree. Winnie's spellbook reveals a prophecy that on All Hallows eve a virgin shall light the black flame candle and ressurect them. The sisters are then hanged and Thackery remains a feline, unable to reassure his parents that he has taken the form of a cat.

300 years later, in Salem, a teacher tutors her class about the Sanderson sisters, since Halloween is approaching. Max Dennison, a new student after arriving from Los Angeles, isn't gullible towards the tale and befriends fellow classmate Alison as the school closes for Halloween break. While cycling home, Max cuts through a cemetery and runs into two rebellious teens named Ice and Jay who tease him, later stealing his trainers. When an irritated Max returns home, unhappy about his new location, he finds solace in his room and daydreams about Alison. Dani then frightens him and demands that he take her trick or treating later into the night, at first he refuses, but is later forced to take his little sister into the neighbourhood to collect candy. After an embarrassing confrontation with Ice and Jay, Dani storms off on Max and he goes to reconcile with her. The two then find a mansion run by Alison's family and they engage in a conversation about the Sanderson sisters, planning to break into the abandoned museum dedicated to them. Dani is anxious about their Halloween prank, and when they break into the mill house, now a museum, Max foolishly lights the black flame candle after Dani tries to dissuade him from doing so. Odd occurances begin to haunt the sanderson house and the floorboards rattle, presenting the Sanderson sisters returning back home. The three kids hide while the sisters comicly settle back into domesticity after a centuries-long stay in hell. Dani soon shows her face, claiming that she was the one who lit the candle. To protect his sister, Max and Alison distract them and engage in a brawl. Max plays a practical joke to distract the witches from following him, he then steals the spellbook and is introduced to Thackery, a now 300-year-old feline with the ability to speak. After escaping the Sanderson sisters, Max, Alison and Dani follow Thackery 'Binx' into a cemetery where he shows them Billy Butcherson's grave and his sister's headstone, they soon realise he is Thackery Binx, and that the legends are true.

The sisters discover they have been tricked and devise a plan, since the candle only brings them back for one Halloween night, they plot to suck the lives out of children before sunrise, so that they can stay alive and youthful forever, but need to find Max since they have stolen the book. The witches set out into a more modern world, and are constantly confused as to the ways of the world in the early 90's. They track down Max and the gang to the cemetery, unable to set foot on hallowed ground, and taking flight on their broomsticks. Winnie resurrects Billy Butcherson, now a decaying zombie, to find the trio after losing them. The kids take rescue in a sewer and make their way through the underground while the witches board a bus and seduce the driver. Binx finds a sewer hole that they can escape from Billy and makes his way out into the streets, and is then driven over by the bus the sisters have boarded. Binx returns to normal health, since he is immortal and the witches depart the bus in Halloween-themed suburbia. Max, Alison, Dani and Binx soon enter city hall, crowded with people attending the Halloween party so that they can find their parents. The witches are tricked into believing an elderly man in a devil-costume is really satan himself, and soon learn what All Hallows eve has become in modern times.

When the witches enter city hall to find the children, Max's parents do not believe them and he is forced to tell the party-attendants on stage that the witches have come back to life. The spotlight soon switches to Winnie and the sisters, who secretly cast a spell on the party-goers by singing a spell on stage. The attendants are then unable to control the urge to dance into the night. Max and the gang flee the city hall party, and hide from the sisters behind a restaurant alley. Alison soon has an idea and they go to their high school. The witches enter the school, since Mary has caught the scent of children. Thinking it is a prison for children, the witches search the halls and follow a voice, actually played by tape recorder and step into a furnace, Alison and Dani then close the hatch and turn the heat full blast, defeating the witches forever. In celebration, Max and Dani head home with Alison and raise Binx as their own cat. They fall asleep, definite that the witches are gone forever. Winnie, Mary and Sarah soon take their normal form after being burnt alive, but are desperate since the children have the book and they can't remember the spell for eternal youth. Along the way, returning home, the witches run into Ice and Jay and hold them hostage in cages at their home. Winnie breaks down, certain that they are doomed. At the Dennison household, Alison and Max wake up, both feeling sympathy for Binx in his feline-form. They open the spellbook to see if they can reverse his spell, and the sisters see the signal from across town. Winnie soon takes flight along with Mary and Sarah and they head into the suburbs on broomsticks to retrieve the book. Alison has an eerie feeling that something isn't right. Acting on her uncertainty, she and Max fetch some salt from the kitchen, as a defence mechanism if the witches do return. Max and Alison's moment of romance is interrupted by odd noises from upstairs, and they go to see what happened. Alison learns the book is gone, and pulls back the covers of Dani's bed to reveal Sarah. Mary and Winifred enter from the closet holding Dani hostage and after retrieving the book. To defend herself, Alison pours salt round the room and the trio of witches take to the skies with Dani. As Max and Alison are in need of a miracle to get Dani back, Sarah sings a gentle spell to summon all the children of Salem to the Sanderson house. Sarah returns home, and Winnie is fixing up the potion in their cauldron while Dani is strung up to a chair.

Max enters the Sanderson house in time to save Dani from consuming the potion, and the sun begins to rise. The sisters fall to floor, but are tricked for a third time as the ray of light turns out to be the frontal beam of Max's car. The sisters have the opportunity to suck the lives of the children that are approaching their house, but Winnie is determined to have Dani's soul since she called her 'ugly'. However, there is just enough of the potion left for one child, so they take flight on their broomsticks. After losing the witches, Max, Alison, Dani and Binx return to the cemetery since the witches can't set foot on hallowed ground. Dani protected by a ring of salt as Billy, the zombie, joins them since he also has a hatred for Winnie. The sisters find them in the cemetery and capture Dani from the ring of salt, Winnie is about to force Dani to drink the potion when Binx forces the potion from her hand, Max grasps the potion and threatens to drink it, just to save the life of his sister. Max drinks the potion, and Winnie frees Dani, claiming that he is a fool to give up his life for Dani. Winnie then attempts to suck the life out of Max, as Alison and Billy prevent Mary from helping Winnie. Alison catches hold of the extension cord from the vacuum cleaner Mary is using as a broomstick, Sarah tries to help Mary, and the two lunge into the sky. Winnie eventually falls from her broom along with Max, and lands on hallowed ground, taking hold of him and sucking his life-force. The sun begins to rise from the horizon of the cemetery, Winnie is then fixated between the sun and the hallowed ground, slowly turning to stone. The Sanderson sisters then disintigrate from the sunrise and Binx takes his final breath. Dani and Max are reunited, and she is touched that he would give up his own life for her. Dani then realises that Binx is dead and begins to weep, suddenly Binx's spirit appears and his curse has been lifted, he thanks them for their heroic fight against the Sanderson sisters, reuniting with his sister at the gates of heaven. The film ends with Max and Alison victorious after the defeat of the Sanderson sisters and Dani smiling as Thackery and Emily finally cross over.

Premise: After the end credits, Max and Dani's parents exit city hall exhausted from hours of dancing, then cuts to Ice and Jay still hanging from the cages at the Sanderson home, singing 'Row row row your boat'. As the credits approach, the spellbook opens its eye.

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