Cinema20 interesting facts about Abracadabra (or Hocus Pocus) that you probably didn’t knowDiscover interesting facts about the film that became a Halloween classictoday at 5:12 pm

The film Abracadabra (Hocus Pocus)released in 1993 and starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parkerhas become a beloved Halloween classic, immortalized in pop culture. Since the release of the original film, the three actresses have reunited once again to bring the Sanderson Sisters to life in the highly anticipated Hocus Pocus 2released by Disney+ in 2022. Now, Abracadabra 3 is already in development by Disney.

Here are 20 fun facts you might not know about this classic:

1. The film was not released on Halloween

Although it’s an October favorite, Hocus Pocus premiered on July 16, 1993, months before Halloween. The producers likely did this to avoid the other Halloween-themed films released, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas.

2. The original title was not Hocus Pocus

At first, the script was titled Halloween Houseand the screenwriter Mick Garris imagined it as a much darker film than the family comedy we know today.

3. It was a failure initially

At launch, Abracadabrait came in fourth place at the box office, grossing just US$39.5 million. But since then, it has gained a loyal following and reached second place at the American box office in 2020, almost three decades later.

4. The script started as a bedtime story

Producer and co-writer David Kirschner He created the story to tell his daughters before bed, later turning it into a film: “Halloween has been a big party in our house since our daughters were little.”

5. The creators went to great lengths to convince Disney

At a D23 panel celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary in October 2013, kirschner told the crowd that to really sell the idea to Disney, they set the mood by having the executives enter a dark room with brooms, a vacuum cleaner hanging from the ceiling, and 15 pounds of candy corn.

6. The film could not have been set on Halloween 1993

In 1993, Halloween fell on a Sunday, so there would be no school on the day.

7. It’s one of Bette Midler’s favorite films

In a 2013 interview, Midler said: “I love it. We did it before the Halloween tidal wave happened. Now it’s, like, huge. It’s huge — kids, adults, everyone participates. This movie was kind of the beginning of the wave.”

8. Bette Midler doesn’t watch the movie often

During her annual Hulaween charity event in 2018, Midler told PEOPLEwho hadn’t seen the film until his 25th birthday: ‘‘I watched it the other night, the night before the [25º] birthday, because I said, ‘You know what, I better watch it again.’ So I watched it and loved it! I loved! The first time I watched it, I was just watching myself. But this time I saw everyone. And I tell you, those girls were in full swing! They were giving me trouble. The kids were great, everyone was great!”

9. Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t remember much about the movie

When host Stephen Colbert asked her if she had “any memories” of the film during the show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018, Parker said: ”I remember the filming, I just don’t remember much about what the film is about. Apparently my character isn’t very intelligent. But I fly and I sing, and I think I like killing children, I don’t know”

Furthermore, the actress admitted that she loved flying. Sarah said that she would sit on the platform, in costume, and read the The New York Times as people “took their breaks or switched cameras.”

10. Sarah Jessica Parker is related to a real-life witch

In 2010, Parker discovered that he is a descendant of Esther Elwellaccused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials.

11. Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the role of Max

He rejected an offer “more lucrative than he could have imagined” to play in Gilbert Grape: Dreamer’s Apprentice. “I don’t know where the hell I got the courage from”, told Variety in 2014. “You live in an environment where you are influenced by people who tell you to make a lot of money and fight while the iron is hot. But if there’s one thing I’m very proud of, it’s being a young man who was firm in his convictions.”

12. Rosie O’Donnell also turned down a role

O’Donnell turned down the role of Mary Sanderson, which ended up going to Kathy Najimydue to not wanting to play a “fat, evil witch who eats and kills children”, O’Donnell said to The Hollywood Reporterin 2023.

“Even if it was Bette Midler, who was, like, my favorite, and Sarah Jessica Parker… I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do a role where I would be mean to kids, and the joke was about size. I I just felt like I had to say no to it.”

13. Two actors played Thackery Binx

Sean Murray played Binx in his human form, while Jason Marsden made the cat’s voice.

Jason Marsden is also close friends with Omri Katz who plays Max in the film. The two also shared the screen in the children’s series Eerie, Indiana.

14. Thackery Binx the cat also appeared in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

Thackery Binx’s animatronic was reused as Salem Saberhagen in the series of Sabrina from the 90s.

15. The film shares the iconic Friends font

The source of the opening scenes of Friends also appears in Hocus Pocus.

16. The house from American Beauty also appears in Hocus Pocus

The same house where the children escape from the witches appears in the film American Beautywhere Thora Birch also works.

17. Garry and Penny Marshall play husband and wife, but they are brothers in real life

They play a couple, which would be weird if it weren’t so funny.

18. Hocus Pocus was the first Disney film to use the word “virgin”

The word is repeated several times, something unusual for a Disney film.

19. Real moths come out of Billy Butcherson’s mouth

Tony Gardner, the man behind the film’s special effects makeup, told Bloody Disgusting in 2018 that they built “a rig inside the mouth [do ator Doug Jones] to house some moths and dust for him to spit out whenever he wanted.”

20. Hocus Pocus 3 it’s really happening

In 2023, Disney confirmed that Winifred, Mary and Sarah will reappear in a third film.