There are movies that have become staples of most people’s Halloween viewing every year. One of them is undoubtedly Hocus Pocus, the witchy Disney film from 1993. The movie bombed in theaters, but has only grown in popularity over time. Now it’s one of THE movies to watch around Spooky Season.

It really makes one wonder why that is. What about Hocus Pocus makes it such a go-to, perfect flick for people to watch during October? There’s quite a few reasons for that.

For starters, it represents people of all ages during the scariest holiday of the year. We see kids having a blast trick-or-treating. Groups of teenagers scour neighborhoods looking to play pranks and wreak havoc. All the adults in town dance all night at a party. Even the older folks sit at home and enjoy movies, decorations, and handing out candy. It perfectly captures the Halloween experience for people of every age. 

The movie also does a fantastic job celebrating Halloween as a whole and everything it stands for. Witches, zombies, ghosts, and black cats are all present. There’s dialogue that discusses the origins of the holiday and what it was originally about versus how it’s celebrated today. It also does a fantastic job hyping up Halloween as something that’s incredibly fun. Why wouldn’t you want to watch something like that around Halloween?

For a lot of people, especially for younger audiences, there’s a lot of whimsy around Halloween. Monsters and magic and the paranormal make it feel like such a unique time of year. Hocus Pocus plays with the idea of bringing that magic and whimsy to life. The plot of the film heavily focuses on a Halloween naysayer discovering that it’s all actually real and can be quite interesting and offer up a lot of fun. It really allows those younger viewers to look at those elements and feel that they’re real. The movie truly captures the enchanting nature of it all.

Also, Hocus Pocus is overall a very good family film in general. It’s funny, exciting, and full of surprises. The characters feel real and are relatable. The cast clearly had a blast in their roles. There’s some solid character development. It’s a really fun adventure that the whole family can enjoy together.

Looking at it all, it’s really no surprise that Hocus Pocus is now such a major Halloween staple. If anything, it’s more shocking that it took so long for it to find success.

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