Back when I first started teaching, there was a new Halloween movie that everyone was talking about. Hocus Pocus was a fun Disney take on Salem witches and the zany exploits of a trio of modern kids who accidentally bring the Sanderson sisters back from the dead to menace the good people of their 20th century hometown. The movie was Halloween staple at school for at least a decade or two before streaming made showing pretty much anything obsolete, and the kids (and I!) loved it every time we showed it.
So, even though I couldn't remember the last time I saw Hocus Pocus, I can tell you I was super excited when I read about the sequel, featuring the original Sanderson sisters, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimi, and Sarah Jessica Parker. And the buzz spread pretty wide beyond me. Not only were the kids at school excited, (I watch it every year with my parents, reported more than a few) but our 35-year-old neighbor (she was six when the original dropped) also asked if we could do a viewing party. Seems that the movie has become regarded as a classic.
This weekend turned out to be our Hocus Pocus weekend. We watched the original on Saturday night, and I must confess that I was a bit disappointed. 29 seems awfully old for a non-animated kids' movie: the pace was slower, the jokes were uncomfortably racier, and the cast was way whiter than what we are used to viewing now. Watching the new movie on Sunday night was a bit more satisfying. It is definitely a more contemporary story, full of girl-power and diversity, and it even tries to give the villainous sisters a sympathetic backstory. (And Bette, Kathy, and Sarah Jessica looked amazing!)
And, in keeping with the entertainment business model of the times, they left that ending open and ready for a sequel. Even so, I'm not sure quite how enthusiastic I'll be for Hocus Pocus 3.
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