Nearly 30 years ago, Disney’s Hocus Pocus flew into theaters – but not exactly to a rapturous reception, at first. But the film has become a certified cult classic over the years, thanks to many showings on cable television during the month of October, and today many Witches celebrate the Halloween season with an annual visit to the film.
After years of denial that a sequel was in the works, in 2019 Disney finally announced a new film starring the witches played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy. That film, Hocus Pocus 2, appeared exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service on September 30.
The Wild Hunt invited several Pagans to provide their reactions to the film.
Stacy Psaros, TWH‘s Technical Director
If you were a fan of the original Hocus Pocus movie 29 years ago, you will love Hocus Pocus 2. It’s full of the same camp, with more songs and with a dash more sisterhood.
The Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus 2. Courtesy Disney.
Our story begins on Halloween, which is the biggest holiday in Sanderson Sister Salem (as it is in the real Salem). While in modern times Salem is prepping for the big Halloween Bash, we flash back to the Sanderson Sisters as tweens.
It’s here that the importance of sisterhood starts being introduced – Winnifred refuses a marriage arranged by the Reverend, and the sisters run into the Forbidden Woods for safety away from the evil townsfolk who are trying to separate them.
In the woods they meet a witch who gifts Winnifred her “Book” (with its one blinking eyeball) when she realizes they, too, are witches and not just children for her to feed upon. She teaches them to be independent and rely on each other, for a witch is nothing without her coven.
Back in present day Salem, a pair of budding, and unknowing, witchlings go about school, plan to have their annual spooky Halloween movie marathon, celebrate a birthday, and shop at their favorite witch shop. At the shop, we are treated to an interesting, if not entirely accurate, recap of the original Hocus Pocus movie. The shopkeep is friendly with our teen heroines, gifting them angelica root and a birthday candle.
Throughout the movie, actual herbal remedies are peppered in – angelica root to break a curse and salt to bind evil magick. It was lovely to see some actual witchery in a movie about witches.
When a new Black Flame candle gets lit as part of the birthday celebration in the Forbidden Woods (their Sacred Space), the Sanderson Sisters return, hungry for children and looking to stick around past sunrise.
What ensues is trickery, a quick trip to Walgreens for potions of youth, a Sanderson Sister costume contest that the actual Sandersons lose, and a quest for a caramel apple. All of which is peppered with more songs, more cackling, a spell-working that impacts most of the town, and lots of shenanigans during which the Sisters attempt to finally last past sunrise. And don’t worry – we still have Sisters flying make-shift brooms. One rides a Swiffer and the other skates through the skies “Back to the Future” style on two Roombas.
By the end of the film, our new witchling and her coven must battle the Sandersons, who are now turning to the most forbidden of magic in “Book” to defeat their sunrise curse.
All in all, this was a fun romp, a wonderful “spoopy” visit back to Sanderson Salem, and a wholesome tryst on the power of Sisterhood. And it portrayed witches in a much better light than the original Hocus Pocus, where they were simply evil beings bent on eating children. We get a better understanding of why the Sandersons are the way they are, and it’s actually sweet. We also see modern-day Witches portrayed as normal, and not abominations or evil.
Kasha, a Witch from central Florida
Hocus Pocus 2 was fun. I enjoyed the references to the first movie and the scenery of Salem, the more modern touches and the Sisters’ reaction to them, and the fact that the door was left open for part 3. It’s a different time now, society is ( maybe?) more progressive then when the first one came out, but the vibe was much lighter, less threatening, normalization of the Sisters’ legend in town. I liked the young witches that had a practice, and people knew about it, and the fact that there was a metaphysical store in town where they could talk to someone or get supplies. There were touches of realism- protection, raising energy, but all very non threatening. I think its good in terms of positive PR for witches, or at least not negative. The ultra conservative people that I spoke to who don’t know I am a Witch enjoyed it also and didn’t have any Satanic Panic rhetoric to offer, so I consider it a win for us.
Eligiah Thornton, TWH Contributor
As I prepared to watch the long-awaited and most anticipated Hocus Pocus 2, I readied my candies and my blankets. I turned the lights down low and sank into my special spot on the couch and closed my eyes.
Then the eight-year-old me opened his.
The Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus 2. Courtesy Disney+
For us millennials, the original Hocus Pocus has become a staple of Halloween and there hasn’t been a Halloween that has come and gone that hasn’t seen at least one viewing, or few, of the original film.
I will admit that I was worried. Sequels can ruin an original while casting a long unending shadow on the magic, especially for a movie that has become a tradition for many families the world over, including mine.
But like the original, Hocus Pocus 2 exceeded my expectations.
Written by Jen D’Angelo (Workaholics, Young Rock) and directed by Anne Fletcher (The Proposal, Dumplin’), Hocus Pocus 2 takes place 29 years after the original in Salem, Massachusetts. Though the setting is the same, and, well, the plot is still kind of the same, there are differences that allow the Sanderson Sisters to be softened. Thanks to a glimpse into their backstory, the sisters aren’t quite the monsters they were portrayed to be in the original. Still, sacrificing children for personal gains still makes one evil, unless that sacrifice goes by a more acceptable name, like, say capitalism. (Speaking of which, the product placement was a little heavy in this one.)
This time the Sanderson sisters are unknowingly brought back by a couple of young witches, played by Whitney Peak and Belissa Escobedo, via the trickery of Gilbert, played by actor Sam Richardson, the owner of a magic shop that was once the Sandersons’ home.
As in the original, the Sisters spend the night trying to stay alive while battling a young witch, her friends, and technology well beyond their comprehension, while performing songs and spells along the way. Classic Sanderson sisters’ stuff, nostalgic indeed.
As a Pagan, Hocus Pocus 2 represents to me the evolution of thought and acceptance in an ever-changing world. The backstory of the Sanderson sisters I feel was an important contribution to the plot line, as it gave the sisters a “human edge” with an overall theme for the film being “sisterhood.”
Patriarchy still oppresses women today in a variety of ways and in countries that range from Iran to the U.S. The world still seems to be wary of a powerful woman, a theme that comes across in the film.
The original film, released in 1993, portrayed the sisters and witches in general as “evil without a cause” and we accepted that was the simple truth: witches were evil. Hocus Pocus 2 reveals to us that not all witches are evil, in a fun and most unique Disney way. There isn’t much truth to the film’s depiction of witchcraft, sticking to the original film’s use of “hokey magic” and basic stereotypes of a “witch” in general, but I do feel this film is a step in the right direction for the Pagan world.
Overall, I highly recommend the film. Hocus Pocus 2 holds true to the original while also encompassing the modern-day wheel of thought and progression of this generation. Though the film is a bit heavier than the original with its darkened, unique cinematography and emotive writing style, it is the perfect addition to my annual kitschy festivities.
After all, it’s just a bit of Hocus Pocus.
Manny Moreno, TWH‘s Editor-in-Chief
The original Hocus Pocus has become a fan favorite. At the risk of sounding like Elrond talking about the severing of the Ring, I was there when it came out. But I was not particularly enamored with it. It arrived at a time when the earlier representations of Witchcraft were severely tainted with Satanism. Those elements were there in the original, with the characters’ search for immortality and through murder and some cannibalism, topics that are, no pun intended, unpalatable.
Hocus Pocus 2 fares better. The sequel relies on the well-developed formula of technology jokes, gothic puns, and narrative symmetry to create a film targeted at children but enjoyable by everyone. The cinematography, effects, and set are Disney to the core, as was the reliably placed future “Disneyana” that will undoubtedly make its way to the Magic Kingdom and stores worldwide.
Witches in the “dark wood” summoning the Sanderson Sisters. Courtesy Disney.
But Hocus Pocus 2 is enjoyable – if perhaps just enjoyable enough – primarily because of the enchanting performances of Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. It is camp and slapstick, and they nail it, combining Addams-esque humor with the Three Stooges.
In that sense, Hocus Pocus 2 does not disappoint. The three actresses shine through every possible fog the film might have, both literal and figurative. Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson does an excellent job as a zombie – words one never expects to write – and Sam Richardson, who plays Gilbert, delivers an excellent performance.
That’s an awfully long, and perhaps cynical, way of saying the film is fun, though that at times slow and, well, adolescent.
There are also good lessons about resisting oppression and the patriarchy, harnessing one’s power, and living one’s truth. I’m not sure that everyone will get that, but those plot elements will be obvious to the Pagan and Witchcraft community.
But there is much out of place with Hocus Pocus 2. For all its witchery, I found the film to be very Christian.
The original story was about the relationship between brothers and sisters. The symmetry here is the same. Virginity as a precursor to invoking power is another trope present and yet, unsurprisingly for Disney, unexplained.
Perhaps what surprised me the most is Disney’s need to continue redeeming its villains. The trend that started with Gregory Maguire’s Wicked has accelerated with films like Maleficent. It seems to be Disney’s way of erasing evil, making it acceptable to the broadest market by offering paths for deliverance, not unlike the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Moreover, the element of redemption, as sisterhood and love, echoes the words of Virgil in Ecologue X, which are often cited in Christian storylines: amor vincit omnia. That redemption may extend to Witchcraft too, a practice that is less weird and dark to one that is more love and more light and, basically, more palatable for general audiences.
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