Some things will never change. Hocus PocusThe sequel is back nearly 30 years later than the original. But the Disney+ movie cast claims that the greatest change is that the film has more fans.
“Even when it became a phenomenon, [a sequel] wasn’t considered,” Bette MidlerTelled Entertainment Weeklyfor a feature published in September. “Ten years on, when I started seeing the returns, I was surprised, and I started making calls. We got no interest at all, and a few years after that, I remember I needed the costume, and I asked the studio to loan it to me, but they couldn’t. My friend suggested that I go online, so I looked, and I was shocked because I’d never seen so much Hocus Pocus merch. I bought the costume, and I came as Winnie here and there, for this benefit or that benefit, and I realized there was something going on.”
The Emmy winner, 76, didn’t give up. “As I watched it progress, I’d call the studio once a year to ask, ‘How about it?’ It wasn’t until about three years ago that they advocated for it, and movement started,” Midler revealed. “It picked up when they decided that they wanted it to be on a streamer. They never looked back until they got their movie.”
Stars had no difficulty finding their characters just a few decades later. Doug JonesAccording to Billy Butcherson, the zombie Billy, it was shockingly simple to get back into his grave.
“Billy came back to me immediately, it was frightening how he’s been alive while I’ve been playing other characters all these years,” the Oscar winner told EW. “He was pretty decrepit to start with, and I [come]It looked like only two minutes had passed when I stepped out of the grave. I drank some formaldehyde. The prosthetics look exactly the same, makeup artist. Tony Gardner … It was the exact same wig. They had it on a dummy on display for 29 years, they put it back on my head in the same style, it didn’t even need a touch-up.”
Original Hocus Pocus cast members who changed the most are the ones who were children when the franchise started — but they won’t return for the sequel. This includes Thora BirchDani Dennison, 8 years old, was played by. “I was just a little dismayed I wasn’t able to make it,” the actress, now 40, told Entertainment TonightSeptember “I was working on something else when they were filming … otherwise I was definitely going to be there on set with the girls.”
Only four of the cast members from 1992’s movie were able to return. Hocus Pocus 2. Scroll down to see how they’ve changed between films:
