Witches of Salem

About Hocus Pocus (1993)

Kenny Ortega’s Hocus Pocus (1993) was a box office disappointment upon release, earning just $39 million against a $28 million budget, but decades of annual television airings transformed it into the definitive Halloween movie for multiple generations. Bette Midler’s wildly theatrical performance as Winifred Sanderson—a 17th-century witch resurrected in modern Salem—anchors the film, with Midler performing “I Put a Spell on You” in a sequence that wasn’t in the original script and was added specifically to showcase her talents. The film’s production design recreated Colonial Salem with meticulous detail, while the flying broomstick sequences used a combination of wirework and early CGI that still holds up due to clever cinematography. Disney initially considered the project too scary for their brand, and the film’s journey from theatrical flop to beloved cultural institution—with a 2022 sequel—remains one of Hollywood’s greatest comeback stories.