Like Brian Henson’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, Hocus Pocus is now passed down from parent to child, uncle to nephew, and aunt to niece every Halloween, its place in our celebrations cemented alongside pumpkin pie and trick-or-treat.
When exploring Disney’s 1993 box-office bomb Hocus Pocus, one should always start with the classic Christmas template born of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Scrooge had lost all faith in Christmas and his fellow man, but three Ghosts arrived to remind him of his life and reignite his joy in family, Christmas, and kindness. You may wonder what this has to do with Kenny Ortega’s Hocus Pocus. The answer is simple: Hocus Pocus takes the classic Christmas movie template and places it in Halloween.
Max (Omri Katz) has lost faith in Halloween’s joy and meaning. He dismisses Halloween traditions while viewing time with his young sister, Dani (Thora Birch), as a chore. Max isn’t a bad lad; he’s just a teenager desperate to shake off his inner child, but the supernatural world has other plans, as three witches, a black cat, and a zombie return to remind Max that Halloween is full of unexpected scares, love and meaning.
Hocus Pocus playfully explores this classic Christmas template while incorporating several nods to classic horror; for example, the vulnerable virgin girl of classic horror becomes a vulnerable virgin boy hunted by a group of female witches. Our delightfully camp and controlling witches’ coven of Midler, Parker, and Najimy dominates every man, sticking two fingers up at a male-dominated genre that casts women primarily as victims rather than villains. Here, Hocus Pocus carries some rather adult themes beneath all the music and laughter, from a complex exploration of innocence to the silent and unseen loss of Max’s virginity before the final act.
Hocus Pocus nearly slipped into the mists of time, with its lacklustre theatrical run, disappointing reviews, and poor box office receipts earning it the title of a flop. But, like many ’80s and ’90s films, it was saved by VHS. Here, Hocus Pocus has much in common with The Muppet Christmas Carol, a movie that would also bomb at the box office, only to earn its cult status years later.
Like Brian Henson’s movie, Hocus Pocus is now passed down from parent to child, uncle to nephew, and aunt to niece every Halloween, its place in our celebrations cemented alongside pumpkin pie and trick-or-treat.
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