20 hidden ‘Hocus Pocus’ details

When the Sanderson sisters reference the life potion they’re preparing, viewers can read other spells.

The book of witches is filled with spell and potion recipes.

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At the beginning of the film, the Sanderson sisters are concocting a potion of immortality. However, as Winnie flicks through the book in search of the recipe, other pages holding more spells, formulas, and incantations are visible.

The book features an alphabetized section on punishments.

In their book, the horrible afflictions are enumerated in alphabetical order.

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As the Sanderson sisters flick through their spellbook, the audience can see an alphabetical list of spells.

The page is headed “Excruciating Punishments” and provides several possibilities for each letter. For instance, “amnesia” and “aching bones” are adjacent to the letter “A,” “boils” and “bunions” are adjacent to the letter “B,” and “carbuncles” and “cholera” are adjacent to the letter “C.”

The animal version of Thackery Binx was developed by combining actual cats with animatronic effects.

The film’s cat was augmented using animatronics.

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Throughout the most of the film, Thackery Binx appears in cat form.

Several live cats were utilized to bring the figure to life, but animatronics were also used in the sequences where Binx is speaking, which explains why his expression is never the same.

There are an absurd number of fish decorations in Max’s home.

The majority of the rooms feature fish-themed decor.

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On Halloween, when Max arrives home from school, we first see the interior of his residence. There are framed photos of fish throughout the interior of the home, as well as decorative boats and other nautical accents.

As Max enters his bedroom, this pattern continues. There is sailboat wallpaper, a wooden fish on the wall, and even fish-patterned bed covers.

Salem, Massachusetts, is located on the Atlantic coast, which may explain the film’s nautical theme. However, it still appears overbearing across the entire home.

Allison gives Dani a lollipop that resembles one of the Sanderson sisters.

This confection resembles Winifred Sanderson.

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During a conversation with Max and Dani at Allison’s parents’ party, Allison nods at Dani’s outfit and states that she like witches as well. Allison delivers a chocolate lollipop to the young girl, and they begin to discuss the Sanderson sisters.

Allison offered Dani a gift fashioned to resemble a witch on a broom, which is appropriate for a Halloween celebration. However, upon closer study, the witch on the lollipop had fiery red hair and a green and purple dress resembling that of Winifred Sanderson, whom the children encounter later in the film.

A sign identifies the Sanderson residence as a witch museum.

The community converted the house of witches into a museum.

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Allison informs Max and Dani at the opening of the film that the old Sanderson mansion served as the Sanderson Witch Museum for a period prior to its closure.

This is also indicated by the sign outside the house that the witch sisters squat under a short time later, which provides information about the house and the legend of witchcraft.

The picture features two distinct voices for Thackery.

Sean Murray portrayed the role, while Jason Marsden provided the voice of the mechanical cat.

John Shearer/Invision for the Hub/AP Images; Disney

Those who pay close attention may notice that Thackery’s voice changes when he is a human and when he is a cat.

Due to the fact that the character was performed by two distinct performers. Sean Murray portrayed the human form of Thackery, while Jason Marsden provided the voice for his feline form.

Old Burial Hill in Massachusetts is a real cemetery.

The location of Old Burial Hill is near Marblehead, Massachusetts.

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Viewers of “Hocus Pocus” are likely to recall that the film was set in Salem. However, there are some locale-specific details that fans may have missed.

For instance, the cemetery gate where Billy is resurrected reads “Old Burial Hill,” which is a real cemetery in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a short drive from Salem.

The Sandersons board a bus whose side reads, “Serving the witch city.”

Salem is famed for its infamous witch trials in the 17th century.

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The village depicted in “Hocus Pocus” fully embraces its ghostly legends, as evidenced by the Halloween lesson and the preservation of the Sanderson residence.

Apparently, the city’s public transportation follows this pattern as well. On the side of the Salem city bus that the Sanderson sisters ride, the motto “Serving the witch city” is printed.

After Max removes his hat at Allison’s residence, he regularly places it in his back pocket.

Max’s hat may appear to vanish, yet it is in his pocket.

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Max removes his hat and places it in his back pocket upon seeing Allison and realizing that he and Dani are at her house.

The hat is later shown hanging from this pocket throughout the remainder of the film, including the first time the adolescents visit the Sanderson residence and the scene in which Max performs on stage at the adult party.

A child dressed as Mrs. Potts appears in the backdrop of a scene.

“Beauty and the Beast” was released by Disney two years before “Hocus Pocus.”

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A few children can be spotted trick-or-treating at the houses behind the witches as they exit the bus. Numerous children are wearing generic costumes, but one child is costumed as a known Disney figure.

Mrs. Potts from “Beauty and the Beast” is shown by a girl dressed as a teapot who approaches the Sanderson sisters’ home and then returns to the street in Mrs. Potts garb.

Apparently, the Sanderson sisters were Satan’s minions.

A man costumed as Satan is mistaken by the witches for the actual demon.

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Allison informs Dani and Max that Satan gave the Sanderson sisters’ spellbook.

The witches admit later in the film that they knew Satan after mistaking a man in a Halloween costume for the devil himself. During the scene in which they speak with the man with devil’s horns, the sisters refer to him as master, implying that they work for or serve Satan.

Max, Dani, and Allison encounter a “policeman” wearing a Salem witch badge.

The man had just donned his Halloween costume.

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Max tries to convince a man dressed as a police officer that he accidently resurrected the Sanderson witches, but the man believes Max is joking.

The emblem of a “policeman” depicts a witch on a broomstick. This appears to be a strange choice for a real police station’s emblem, but it makes sense once the observer realizes that this is only a man in a costume.

Max mentions a renowned horror actor.

Boris Karloff was a renowned actor of horror films.

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Max identifies himself over the school’s public address system as Boris Karloff Jr.

In the early to mid-20th century, Boris Karloff was an actor most recognized for his work in horror films.

In one moment, the title of the spellbook used by witches is shown.

The title of the spellbook is “Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy.”

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Throughout the film, additional information about the Sanderson sisters’ spellbook is revealed.

The title of the book, “Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy,” is clearly visible on the title page.

Various hues of smoke emanate from the book during the duration of the film.

In the beginning of the film, the smoke is purplish pink, but by the end it is orange.

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As Thackery searches for Emily at the opening of the film, he observes a purplish-pink flame emanating from the Sanderson residence and realizes that the witches are casting a spell.

However, when Max and Allison open the spellbook later, orange flames emerge from his roof.

Evidently, the children in the community are quite independent.

Everyone shed their Halloween costumes and donned beautiful pajama ensembles.

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When the children are shown meandering around the streets in a trance during Sarah Sanderson’s song the morning after Halloween, they are all wearing matching pajama outfits, complete with robes and slippers.

It is the small hours of the morning, so it may seem obvious that children will be wearing pajamas.

However, Winifred cursed all the adults at the party to “dance until they die,” thus the majority of the children’s parents would not have been present to make them remove their costumes and prepare for bed.

This also appears to explain why some of the children are leaving their beds while still wearing portions of their Halloween costumes, such as masks and crowns.

Moths truly emerge from Billy’s mouth.

Doug Jones played Billy in the film “Hocus Pocus.”

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Billy’s mouth is sewn shut when the Sanderson sisters resurrect him at the graveyard, but later in the film, the zombie breaks the stitches on his lips so he may speak.

When he does this, realistic-looking moths immediately emerge from his mouth.

According to an interview with the film’s special-effects makeup artist, the actor Doug Jones kept real moths in a pouch in his mouth between takes.

The witches unexpectedly insult Dani.

Most likely, “Trollimog” is an English dialect word for “filthy woman.”

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Before attempting to add Dani to the potion, Winnie nicknames her a “little trollimog” when she scoops her up.

The phrase is uncommon and yields remarkably few definitive results online, but it may be an old English dialect word meaning “filthy, slovenly girl” – an offensive term for anyone, let alone a Disney film character.