warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

'Hocus Pocus': 20 Years Later And Still Brilliant

Caitlin Plummer |
October 18, 2013 | 10:18 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as Winnie and Sarah Sanderson in the 1993 classic, Hocus Pocus. (Creative Commons/Flickr)
Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as Winnie and Sarah Sanderson in the 1993 classic, Hocus Pocus. (Creative Commons/Flickr)
Halloween is only two weeks away, and though it’s always fun to get in your share of scares before the big day, Halloween is also the perfect time to revisit some of your favorite childhood memories. Besides pulling out the old photo albums and laughing about your worst 90s costumes, watching a few Halloween comedies from your youth can be a good way to get in the spirit.

To help you reminisce, here are five of the best moments from the 1993 classic "Hocus Pocus" starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the infamous Sanderson sisters.

 

 “You know, I've always wanted a child. And now I think I'll have one... on toast!”

Hell hath no fury like a witch scorned. After little Dani calls Winifred Sanderson (Bette Midler) ugly, Winnie becomes determined to make Dani the subject of the youth spell the sisters need to carry out if they want stick around past dawn. Evil has never been so sensitive.

 

“Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok...”

Sarah Jessica Parker may be known for her starring role as Carrie on "Sex and the City", but her performance as the beautiful brainless Sanderson sister, Sarah, is even more fun to watch. Face it, we all love the work “amok” already, but it just sounds so much better when she says it.

 

“Well, tell me friend, what is this contraption?”

If you had been dead for 300 years, you wouldn’t know what a bus was either. The thing that makes this scene memorable, however, is the smarmy bus driver and his apparent love of witches. It’s even funnier when you watch it now and understand the interaction between Winnie and the driver:

“We desire... children.”

“Hey, it may take me a couple of tries, but I don't think there's gonna be a problem.”

Ah, the naivety of childhood.

 

“I've waited centuries to say that.”

Besides the fact that Billy Butcherson used to have a thing for Winnie, he seems like a pretty good guy – er, zombie – for refusing to kill Max. It’s understandable he’d be a little frustrated with his ex-flame after being buried and silenced for hundreds of years. Poor Winnie never saw his defiance coming.

 

“I put a spell on you…”

If Bette Midler is going to star in your movie, it only makes sense to give her a featured song. It may not be “The Rose,” but Winnie Sanderson makes a pretty good front-woman. Her sisters aren’t too bad at dancing, either.

It may have been 20 years since "Hocus Pocus" was released, and the 90s haircuts are almost too much to bear, but the simultaneous brilliance and silliness of the film will always keep it relevant. Just remember: don’t light the candle.

 

Reach Staff Reporter Caitlin Plummer here. Follow her on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness