Hocus Pocus (movie)

***Hocus Pocus*** is a 1993 American family fantasy horror comedy movie. It was directed by Kenny Ortega. It stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. The movie is about a family of witches, known as the Sanderson Sisters. They were resurrected by a teenager named Max (Omri Katz) along with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and girlfriend Allison (Vinessa Shaw). The movie received negative reviews from movie critics. However, it performed well in theaters where it grossed $39,514,713. After the movie was released on home video, it received a cult following.

## Plot

Three sisters, who are witches, are sentenced to death in the 17th century. They returned 300 years later because of a curse by Winifred Sanderson (Bette Midler). Three kids try using a chant to stop them from scaring modern-day Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween. They plan to turn immortal with the lives of modern day trick-or-treaters.

### Theatrical

_Hocus Pocus_ was released in the United States and Canada on July 16, 1993. It opened in fourth place with $8.1 million. The movie grossed $5.2 million in its second week. The movie fell out of the top ten, ending its domestic box office run with $39.5 million. The film was released to foreign markets in October 1994.

### Home video and television

The movie was released to VHS in North America on January 5, 1994. Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection release on April 2, 1996. After part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection release on August 2, 2000 and later to DVD on June 4, 2002. Someone as the VHS and DVD release on September 2, 2003 in the United States in THX. It continues to show strong annual sales. It ranks in more than $1 million in DVD sales each October. On September 4, 2012 _Hocus Pocus_ was released by Disney on Blu-ray for the first time.

## Cast

- Bette Midler - Winifred Sanderson
- Sarah Jessica Parker - Sarah Sanderson
- Kathy Najimy - Mary Sanderson
- Jason Marsden - Voice of Thackery Binx (voice)
- Omri Katz
- Thora Birch
- Vinessa Shaw

## Awards and nominations

|Year|Association|Category|Result|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="11"|1994|rowspan="6"|Saturn Awards|Best Actress — Bette Midler||
|Best Supporting Actress — Kathy Najimy||||||
|Best Supporting Actress — Sarah Jessica Parker||||||
|Best Fantasy Film||||||
|Best Special Effects||||||
|Best Costumes||||||
|rowspan="5"|Young Artist Awards|Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Thora Birch||||
|Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Vinessa Shaw||||||
|Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Omri Katz||||||
|Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy — Sean Murray||||||
|Best Youth Actor in a Voice Over Role - TV or Movie — Jason Marsden||||||

## Infobox (movie)

- **name**: Hocus Pocus
- **director**: Kenny Ortega
- **producer**: Steven Haft
David Kirschner
- **screenplay**: Mick Garris
David M. Evans
Neil Cuthbert
- **story**: David Kirschner
 Mick Garris
- **starring**: Bette Midler
Sarah Jessica Parker
Kathy Najimy
Omri Katz
Thora Birch
Vinessa Shaw
- **music**: John Debney
James Horner
- **cinematography**: Hiro Narita
- **editing**: Peter E. Berger
- **studio**: Walt Disney Pictures
- **distributor**: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures
- **runtime**: 96 minutes
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
- **budget**: $28 million
- **gross**: $39,514,713