Hocus Pocus is the gift that keeps on giving. Many of us can’t wait to have the 1993 movie streaming on our TVs all fall long. Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Kajimy, Hocus Pocus is about a new family moving to Salem, Massachusets where they have to learn to fit in and get used to their new town. Max (Omari Katz) and Dani (Thora Birch) soon befriend Max’s crush, Allison, and she shows them the iconic Sanderson Sisters Museum. It’s there that they learn about Salem’s witchy history and unlock the portal to the mortal world where the three Sanderson sisters are now free to haunt Salem.
It’s been almost 30 years since Hocus Pocus released, so let’s take a look back at the movie’s amazing cast to be reminded of other works they’ve gotten themselves into over the years!
BETTE MIDLER: CAT’S & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE
Bette Midler is so much more than Winifred from Hocus Pocus. She is a singer and actress, and above all an entertainer! Like Mery Streep, Bette Midler is a performer that only gets better with age. And while she’s been in some amazing movies like The First Wives Club, she was also in the animated movie Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.
Bette voiced Kitty Galore and worked alongside other famous hotshots likes James Marsden, Christina Applegate, and Niel Patrick Harris.
SARAH JESSICA PARKER: FOOTLOOSE
Sarah Jessica Parker is most known for playing Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City but she really needs credit for her role of Sarah in Hocus Pocus. As the second witch in command, Sarah was kinda ditzy in the movie but more flirty than anything (remember the bus driver scene?).
However, let’s take it all the way back to 1984 when she starred as Rusty in Footloose! While this wasn’t SJP’s first role, she almost lost out on the Footloose role after she told producers she wouldn’t cut her hair for the part. Over time, however, they decided to go with SJP anyway.
KATHY NAJIMY: BRIDE OF CHUCKIE
Playing Mary in Hocus Pocus, Kathy Najimy knocked it out of the park. She was scary, she was funny, she was kind of ditzy (she did use a vacuum as a witch’s broom after all). And when she wasn’t portraying one of the most beloved witches in history, she was starring in Sister Act and Bride of Chucky.
Najimy didn’t have a large role in Bride of Chucky, but she did show up as the motel maid. It looks like she has an infinity for scary things.
OMRI KATZ: FREAKS AND GEEKS
Omar Katz starred as the man character, Max. Unlike his younger sister Dani, Max hated living in a new town and didn’t want to accept the new life his parents were making him have. While he seemed confident at school, he had some troubles with neighborhood bullies which haunted him throughout the movie (until he got his revenge, of course).
Outside of Hocus Pocus, Omar hasn’t done too much acting outside of 2002. He was in an episode of 1999’s Freaks and Geeks though! He was Brad in the episode “Tests and Breasts” and had a small part.
THORA BIRCH: NOW AND THEN
Sweet little Dani was Max’s younger sister. She had a happy-go-lucky attitude and seemed to find her older brother’s moody behavior humorous. She even got him to take her trick-or-treating, which was a sweet gesture, as we saw these two bond amidst the drama.
Although Thora Birch is no longer a little girl anymore, many forget that she starred as Teeny in 1995’s Now and Then. Birch is also still acting, having just wrapped up portraying Jolene in Above Suspicion.
VINESSA SHAW: VEGAS
Portraying Max’s crush, Allison, Vinessa Shaw was the cool girl of Hocus Pocus. She knew the history of Halloween, had access to the Sanderson museum and knew the town like the back of her hand (unlike Max and Dani). Max and Dani wouldn’t have made it as far as they had without Allison.
When Shaw isn’t running away from witches on broomsticks, she starred as Laura Savino in the TV series Vegas. She had a strong role and was acting beside Dennis Quaid and Carrie-Anne Moss.
LARRY BAGBY: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Better known as “Ice,” Larry Bagby portrayed one of the town’s bullies. He tried stealing Max’s shoes and the candy of little children while they were trick-or-treating. He seemed a tad dumb but he was stuck to his sidekick (below) which encouraged his bad behavior.
Larry Bagby has come a long way since Hocus Pocus though. He portrayed Larry in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marshall Grant in Walk the Line, Frank Ellis in The Young and the Restless, and more! Bagby even has two jobs in the works being released next year.
TOBIAS JELINEK: STRANGER THINGS
Portraying Jay in Hocus Pocus was one of Tobias’s first roles as an actor (and what a role it was!). Jay was the mind behind the pranks he and Ice would play on the people in their town, and man, was he annoying.
Fast forward a couple of years and Tobias Jelinek starred as the lead detective in Netflix’s Stranger Things back in 2016. From there, he also portrayed Boots in Arrow and Luke in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
STEPHANIE FANCY: MODERN FAMILY
Stephanie Faracy played Max and Dani’s mother who was too excited about her own Halloween party to really worry about her kids trick-or-treating. Dani had her older brother max to take her, which meant it was mom and dad’s night out.
Dressing like Madonna, Jenny and her husband went to the party where they danced the night away. Stephanie has done a lot since her Hocus Pocus days though. She also starred as Dottie (the woman Jay had a one night stand with) in Modern Family. Her character was actually very memorable because she tried to mess up Claire’s election thanks to Jay standing her up.
CHARLES ROCKET: DUMB AND DUMBER
Charles Rocket played the dad in Hocus Pocus, Dave. Like his wife Jenny, these two didn’t have many lines as they were dancing the night away at the local Halloween party. Just a year after Hocus Pocus came out, he portrayed “bad guy” Nicholas Andre in Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey!
Rocket has also done some voice work for Star Wars video games and played Adam in Touched by an Angel. According to IMDb, however, he hasn’t done anything in showbusiness since 2008.
