Disney Halloween Facts Day Eleven!!

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Disney Halloween Facts

Day Eleven!

Come here everyday for a new spooky Disney fact as we count down to Halloween!!

 

Good morning foolish children - er, I mean Palace peeps, to Disney Halloween Countdown. It is I your host, sofieremix, back with some spooky Halloween facts. Today, let’s look into one of everyone’s favorite Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus. Disney's "Hocus Pocus" was released in 1993 and it has since become a Halloween classic. Did you know that the role of Max was originally going to go to Leonardo DiCaprio? The role of Max was originally offered to Leonardo DiCaprio. He turned it down to do What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Additionally, Sarah Jessica Parker is actually related to a woman famously accused of being a witch. Had Sarah Jessica Parker known then what she knows now, she might have approached the role of Sarah Sanderson a little differently. When the actress went on the show Who Do You Think You Are to trace her family history, Parker discovered that one of her ancestors was Esther Elwell, one of the women accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. After a young girl said she saw Esther’s “spectre” strangling neighbor Mary Fitch, Elwell was arrested, but escaped going to trial. Also, remember the scene with those moths? Real moths fly out of Billy's mouth in the film and this was done using special make-up. The actor had to use a pocket to stop the moths from flying down his throat. 

 

Did you also know that Hocus Pocus is the result of many movie mishaps? Throughout the movie, you can spot the wires on Mary Sanderson’s broom. Additionally, the movie claims that the Sanderson sisters first died in Salem on October 31, 1963, despite the fact that the Salem Witch Trials ended in 1692. Late in the film, Winifred quotes Max (and the movie title) when she exclaims, “It’s all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!” Max said this while lighting the black flame candle. Winifred was still dead at this time, and as she didn’t know who lit the candle, it is unlikely she could have heard him. Despite this being an iconic film, it’s pretty interesting to see the multiple lists of mistakes editors made while writing and revising the film.