“OCTOBER IS HOCUS POCUS MONTH!” exclaimed Bette Milder, who played one of the three witches in the cult classic film “Hocus Pocus,” in an interview with Logan County Public Library. Hocus Pocus was released in July 1993, and since then has grown into something bigger than a movie: a concept and an aesthetic.
The creator of Hocus Pocus, David Kirschner, created the story for his children’s bedtime stories. He later submitted his Sanderson sister story to the Muppets Magazine. This story captivated the readers so intensely that he was encouraged to turn it into a film. He finally submitted his story to the official producers, Disney.
When the film debuted in 1993, it was a monumental flop. It grossed shy of $39.5 million against its $28 million estimated budget (according to BoxOfficeMojo). For a film to break even, it should make double the initial budget. The movie thoroughly disappointed most people, and critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes is, “Harmlessly hokey yet never much more than mediocre, Hocus Pocus is a muddled family-friendly effort that fails to live up to the talents of its impressive cast.”
But in the 30-plus years since the film was released, the wacky film has become relatably quirky to its newer audience. The main stars are Bette Milder, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, who’ve become a staple in the Halloween season for their dramatic performances. There are viral TikTok audios with overlays of their voices, decorations based on the movie (both store-bought and DIY), GIFs used in text messaging and memes shared among various social media apps.
Not only has there been a social effect since the movie’s debut, but it has also increased tourism for Salem, Massachusetts. Though the film is set in Salem, Massachusetts, it was filmed in a production lot in Los Angeles that was built to resemble Salem streets. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Executive Director Kate Fox said, ”We estimate that about 85 to 90 percent of the visitors who come to Salem as tourists say that they’re coming for ‘the witchy things.’ —I do think more people are coming because of Hocus Pocus, whereas at one point people were coming because they wanted to do the Salem Witch thing, whatever that means to them.”
Halloween culture itself has been reimagined over the course of 30 years of mass manufactured DVD’s and reruns on Disney Freeform’s annual “13 Nights of Halloween.” Because of the dedicated and growing fanbase, in 2022, “Hocus Pocus 2” was released only on select streaming services.
“Hocus Pocus 2 is actually the better made film,” says Variety. The second, more musical film was overall better critically received than the first, possibly due to the cult following it gained from the first movie. The audience, however, says, ”Hocus Pocus 2 has its moments, but for fans who’ve waited years for a sequel to the original, this is mostly a disappointment,” according to Rotten Tomatoes.
In conclusion, the Hocus Pocus film itself was a technical flop, but the culture and space it created for kids and adults alike is telling of its true quality.