'Hocus Pocus 2' on Disney Plus is a Halloween cult classic

Just in time for October and Halloween, Disney Plus debuts “Hocus Pocus 2,” the sequel, starring Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker. The reviews are in.

Just in time for October and the hallowed “spooky season,” Disney+ debuts “Hocus Pocus 2,” the sequel to 1993’s box office flop “Hocus Pocus.” Original stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker return as the Sanderson Sisters, three witches who were driven out of Salem but return on the regular (or at least every time a virgin accidentally lights a black flame candle) to wreak havoc until morning. The original movie was terrible; Roger Ebert gave it a one-star review and thumbs-down. However, the sequel is brilliant, and a reminder of why Disney has become the biggest success story in entertainment.

To call the original “Hocus Pocus” a flop would be kind.

To call the original “Hocus Pocus” a flop would be kind. The first film was directed by Kenny Ortega (who would go on to be the driving force behind Disney’s hit “High School Musical” franchise) and was released during an era when box office films aimed at kids were typically released in the summer. The Halloween-set film thus arrived in mid-July.

At the time, Ebert described the film as one where “they’re all in on a joke but won’t explain it to you,” which checks out. Part of enjoying Midler’s character depends on knowing she was a gay icon who performed jazz standards in New York before “Beaches” made her a more mainstream, household name. (She sings “I Put a Spell on You” and “Witchcraft,” and her entire look feels like it’s begging to be turned into a drag costume.) Parker’s character could be read as a tribute to her Broadway roots, and very unrelated to the rom-com persona she was in the middle of cultivating. And then there are the cameos. For instance, both filmmaker Garry Marshall (who directed “Beaches”) and his sister Penny Marshall (best known for directing “A League of Their Own”) have an entire 10-minute comedy sequence with Midler, Parker and Najimy, where they appear as random characters, and go completely uncredited.

“Hocus Pocus,” which cost over $28 million to make, was estimated to have made only about $8 million on opening weekend. And it might have languished in Disney’s surprisingly large vault of live-action flops had it not been for the sudden rapid expansion of cable television following the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The removal of restrictions that prevented companies from cross-competing allowed Disney to buy ABC and cable staple The Family Channel and launch the Disney Channel, all of which required massive amounts of programming. And just like Lifetime leaned into Christmas movies, Disney harnessed the power of Halloween. It began debuting yearly films best described as family-friendly scary movies on the Disney Channel, smashed in between endless reruns of “Hocus Pocus.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/hocus-pocus-2-disney-halloween-cult-classic-rcna50230

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