Hocus Pocus Trivia: 69 Answers to Make You an Expert

Hocus Pocus trivia won’t win you any awards, accolades, or promotions at work, but it does give you an excuse to waste sometime at your desk when you are “working.” You can thank me later or take the Hocus Pocus Quiz to Stump The Skeptics to test your knowledge.

What's in this review

Hocus Pocus Trivia

As promised, here are a bunch of random trivia questions and answers about Hocus Pocus.

1. What is the name of the school Max and Allison attend?

Max and Allison go to the local high school named Jacob Bailey High School. The school is a relatively typical school that features a full pottery kiln and lectures about the Sanderson Sisters on or around Halloween.

2. What is the setting of Hocus Pocus?

Salem. The events of the movie take place in an actual town in Massachusetts’ named Salem. Hocus Pocus very loosely references the Salem witch trials that made the town famous in the first place.

3. What does Dani and Max’s mother dress up as for Halloween?

She dresses as Madonna, and in true Disney fashion, seems confused and self-conscious that Dani didn’t know who she dressed as. Her outfit comes complete with the conical bra Madonna made famous.

4. Who said “Hag? Sisters, did you hear what he just called you?”

Winifred says that to her sisters when Thackery Binx calls her a hag. I think we can all agree, names hurt, and that was hurtful for Thackery to say. It may have even more hurtful for Winifred to say that of her sisters.

5. Who plays Winifred?

Bette Midler plays Winifred in both Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2.

Fun additional trivia. I didn’t grow up watching Hocus Pocus. The Simpsons first introduced me to Bette Midler in an episode that featured her. During it, Snake threw a piece of garbage out his car window where Midler was cleaning the road.

She growls “you pigs!” before cashing down his truck on foot. Snake sees her coming in his rear view mirror and exclaims “OH NO! Bette Midler!”

Here’s the complete clip from the episode:

The Simpsons – Bette Midler taking out the trash

6. What color is associated with Mary?

You have to have literally no time on your hands to watch for this, but Mary wears red throughout the entirety of Hocus Pocus.

7. What is the final ingredient for the “Life-Sucking” potion?

The final ingredient the sisters add was a bit of “thine own tongue.” Once complete, the sisters could still Emily’s life force in the beginning of the movie or any child who drank the potion later on in Hocus Pocus.

8. What was Thackery Binx turned into in the beginning of the movie?

If you don’t know the answer to this question you might as well get the hell out. They turn him into an immortal black cat.

9. Who played Sarah Sanderson?

Long before Sarah Jessica Parker became famous for Sex and the City, she played Sarah Sanderson. Ironically, she also played the role years after becoming famous for her role in Sex and the City. Rumor has it, they named the third sister Sarah so that Parker wouldn’t get confused. It didn’t work. She seemed confused throughout the movie.

10. How many times do they mention the word “virgin?”

No Hocus Pocus trivia is complete without this question. They mention virgin 9 times throughout Hocus Pocus. Yes, I counted. Virgin is pretty central to the plot after all considering they need one to light the Black Flame Candle. For a family friendly movie, they sure get obsessed about Max’s sex life.

11. What color gets associated with Sarah Sanderson?

Throughout Hocus Pocus, Sarah wears clothing with the color purple. Isn’t that fascinating?

12. Which character utters the phrase “Come on, it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus?”

Max says the line as he lights the Black Flame Candle. He is the first character to say the name of the movie in Hocus Pocus.

13. Who plays Mary Sanderson?

Kathy Najimy plays Mary Sanderson in both Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 where she reprised the role. She was in other movies of the era, such as Sister Act and the Wedding Planner.

14. Who gets called “Hollywood” in Hocus Pocus?

When Max first meets Jay and Ice, they don’t know where or what Los Angeles is. Max clarifies that is means “L.A.” and they respond “Hollywood!” They proceed to call him Hollywood throughout the rest of the movie.

15. What needs to happen to raise the Sanderson Sisters from the dead?

The Sanderson Sister’s curse specifies that the following must happen for the to get raised again from the dead:

must occur on All Hallow’s Eve
the moon needs to be round (full)
a virgin must light the Black Flame candle

Technically, when Winifred says the spell, she only mentions that “a virgin will summon us from under the ground.” The Black Flame candle gets mentioned slightly later.

16. Who sings “Come Little Children” in Hocus Pocus?

Sarah sings the song at the very beginning when she lured Emily Binx to her doom and towards the end of Hocus Pocus when she really rides – I mean really rides and molests the hell out of – a mop as she lures the children of Salem to their house. Following the settlement, she must stay at least 100 feet away from all mops in the future.

17. Who says “Legend has it that the bones of a hundred children are buried within these walls?”

When Allison, Dani, and Max enter the Sanderson house, Allison tells Dani about this fun legend. She’s really great with children. Very comforting.

18. Who played Allison?

In one of her only big roles, Vinessa Shaw played Allison in Hocus Pocus. She also had a role in Eyes Wide Shut and 40 Days and 40 Nights with Josh Hartnett as the lead.

19. What song does Winifred Sanderson sing at the Halloween party?

Winifred modified the classic song that Jalacy “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins released in 1956 “I Put a Spell On You.” Winifred used it to cast a spell on the adults and parents of many of the children of Salem to make them “dance, dance until you die!”

20. Who plays Dani?

If you don’t know that Thora Birch played Dani, then you really don’t know much Hocus Pocus trivia. She’s actually been in a lot of different movies and TV shows. One of her latest was her appearance in later seasons of the Walking Dead.

21. What color is associated with Winifred Sanderson?

After reading through all this Hocus Pocus trivia, you can now successfully make color-correct Sanderson Sister costumes without having to look it up again. Winifred wears green throughout Hocus Pocus.

22. What does Max call water when the Sanderson Sisters first return to life?

The Great and Powerful Max summons the burning rain of death from the sprinklers after holding an old zippo lighter near one. The sisters become confused and act as though water is torturing them. They’re not that bright.

23. What can a person use to protect themselves from the Sisters’ power?

According to Book, a circle of salt can protect a person from Winifred’s powers. Allison uses this trick when they capture Dani and Book towards the end of the movie.

24. Why can’t Max burn the book in Hocus Pocus?

While there are a few things you can say about his technique in book burning, even if he did it properly, Book still would not burn because magic protects it. Thackery Binx informs Max this as he tries to light Book.

25. What kind of candy did the Master give out?

Master (aka Satan) gave the Sanderson sisters full size chocolate covered fingers of a man named Clark. People know them by their given name of Clark Bar.

26. What group costume do the band and singer at the Halloween party wear?

The band and singer wear skeleton costumes. Movie Halloween parties are always so well budgeted. Everyone always wears amazing costumes and such compared to the generally lackluster ones you find in real life.

27. What do the Sanderson sisters hope to accomplish by sucking the life out of the children of Salem?

This is a two-fold answer. In the beginning, they hope to achieve youth, beauty, and vitality. At the end, they need the souls to stay alive past Halloween night.

28. When the sisters get off the bus and enter the master’s house, whose broom was irregular?

Sarah’s broom’s bristles got split in half. I don’t know why.

29. What happens to the Sanderson Sisters’ original brooms?

When the sisters visit Satan’s house, three young girls dressed as witches grab them. It is implied that they fly off with them. This would have made for a great intro to sequel, but instead we got what we got with Hocus Pocus 2.

30. Who plays Max Dennison?

Omri Katz plays Max Dennison. He really didn’t do much after his performance as Max.

31. Who says “Thackery Binx, what took thee so long?”

Thackery Binx’s sister, Emily, asks the hell took him so long at the end of the movie when his soul releases and presumably goes to heaven.

32. Winifred hates being called what word?

This is a fun bit of Hocus Pocus trivia here. One of Winifred’s pet peeves is when a person calls her ugly. It really hurts her feelings apparently.

33. What is the cover to Winifred’s unholy spell book made of?

Book is covered in human skin. It never specifies whose skin, but I doubt it matters much.

34. Who turned to stone before turning to dust?

Both Mary and Sarah just blew up, but Winifred turned into a stone statue before she turned to dust. It is never explained why, but may be it has to do with the fact she stole some of Max’s life force before the sun came fully up.

35. In what year was Hocus Pocus released?

Hocus Pocus came out in 1993. Since then, a cult following developed in appreciation of the nostalgic movie, much like the cult following of Halloween Town, the inferior nostalgic Halloween movie.

36. Who directed Hocus Pocus?

Kenny Ortega directed Hocus Pocus. Here’s a bit more of fun Hocus Pocus trivia for you. It was Ortega’s second major motion picture that he directed.

37. Who turned down the role of Max Dennison?

Believe it or not, Leonardo DiCaprio turned down Hocus Pocus because he wanted to appear in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I think we can all agree that was a foolish career move on his part. What did he actually accomplish in his career compared to Omri Katz?

38. During development, what was the original title of the movie?

When under development, Hocus Pocus was called Disney’s Halloween House. It was a good change. A good change.

39. Who played Billy Butcherson?

Doug Jones, who reprised his role for Hocus Pocus 2, played Billy Butcherson in the original.

40. What is the actual name of Book in Hocus Pocus?

Though characters like Winifred referred to it as simply “Book,” the full title was actually The Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy.

41. Who provided the voice for Binx the cat?

Jason Marsden provided the voice for Binx the cat in Hocus Pocus. He also voiced Max Goof and other roles throughout his career.

42. What was the budget for Hocus Pocus?

The movie producers and director had to work with a $28 million budget.

43. How much did Hocus Pocus gross?

Hocus Pocus made $44.9 million worldwide. Though it barely made money for Disney, it became increasingly popular over the years and spawned the straight to Disney+ sequel Hocus Pocus 2 and a confirmed Hocus Pocus 3 that is under development.

44. Which two characters share a romantic subplot?

Max and Allison share a romantic connection that develops throughout the film. I speculate heavily that Thackery romantically loved his sister Emily and may have had the hots for Dani, but that is mainly speculation and not actual Hocus Pocus trivia.

45. What is the name of the potion used to drain children’s life force?

The potion’s name is simply The Life Potion. It makes a lot of sense given it’s purpose.

46. What year did the events in Salem occur in the beginning of Hocus Pocus?

Thackery Binx first went toe to toe with the Sanderson Sisters in 1693 Salem. It was exactly 300 years before the setting for the remainder of the film of 1993.

47. How are the Sanderson sisters resurrected?

A virgin lit the candle. More specifically, Max (a virgin) lit the Black Flame Candle, bringing the sisters back to life.

48. How do the Sanderson sisters finally meet their end?

The Sanderson Sisters perish when the sun rises the next day since the candle’s magic was spent.

49. Where was the majority of Hocus Pocus shot?

The film production shot Hocus Pocus mainly on site in Salem. You can actually go on a Hocus Pocus tour if you like.

50. What is Allison’s last name?

Here full name is Allison Watts.

51. What is the zombie’s name in Hocus Pocus?

Winifred’s unfaithful lover, long since dead’s name was Billy Butcherson. You find out more of the back story in Hocus Pocus 2, which I won’t spoil here.

52. What rating did Hocus Pocus receive from the MPAA?

The MPAA gave Hocus Pocus a PG rating, which a piece of Hocus Pocus trivia I’m sure you really wanted to know. This means you have to watch it with your children because you need to guide them and answer questions, such as “what is a virgin?”

53. How many Academy Award nominations did Hocus Pocus receive?

Given Hocus Pocus’ current popularity, it may surprise you to learn that it received absolutely no Academy Award nominations. But let’s face reality here, the movie, though fun and entertaining, fits into the category of so bad it’s good so this should not be a shock to anyone.

54. What is Mary’s power?

Mary can sniff out children and identify approximate age and gender. It makes sense because some children do have an odor, particularly when they take off their shoes.

55. Who wrote the score for Hocus Pocus?

Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert wrote the musical score used in Hocus Pocus. That’s some obscure Hocus Pocus trivia for you right there.

56. What do the bullies steal from Max?

After asking for cash and cigarettes, Ernie and Jay end up taking Max’s new cross trainers. Max later steals them back and leaves Ice to hang in a cage in the Sanderson’s house.

57. What famous witch trial judge is mentioned in the film?

The answer to this Hocus Pocus trivia question is Judge John Hathorne. That’s pretty much all he is known for.

58. Did Hocus Pocus come out in October?

Oddly enough, Hocus Pocus came out on July 16, 1993, not October or September, which would have made a bit more sense.

59. What did they originally call the song “Come Little Children?”

The original title of Come Little Children was “Sarah’s Song.”

60. Who refused to co-produce the film?

Steven Spielberg refused to co-produce the film. Like DiCaprio, this decision seemed to kill his career, so who’s laughing now Spielberg?

61. What was Max and Dani’s mom’s name?

Jenny. In an alternate universe, Forrest Gump’s Jenny settled down in L.A., had two kids, and moved to Salem. Hocus Pocus takes place in that universe.

62. Who played Jenny in Hocus Pocus?

Stephanie Faracy, who appeared in many movies in her career, played Jenny, Max and Dani’s mom.

63. How old was Bette Midler when Hocus Pocus came out?

Fun Hocus Pocus trivia here, Midler was 47 years old when Hocus Pocus came out.

64. What is the name of the cemetery where Dany, Max, Allison, Binx, and Butcherson took their last stand?

The name of the Hocus Pocus cemetery is Old Burial Hill, not to be confused with New Burial Hill. They couldn’t use New Burial Hill because it had not yet been created when the Sanderson Sisters got executed.

65. What type of car do Max’s parents drive?

Max’s parents drive a station wagon. Yeah those precursors to the SUV offered the convenience of a car and back end of an SUV. A lot of them sported faux wood side panels to complete the 80s and 90s look.

66. What is the name of the Sanderson sisters’ cottage?

The locals refer to their house as the Old Sanderson House.

67. What did the Sanderson’s sister house become that Allison’s mother worked at?

Prior to the events of Hocus Pocus, the Sanderson house became a museum dedicated to the Sanderson sisters. They shut it down and left everything in place instead of placing it in storage or auctioning it off.

68. Why did the Sanderson’s house museum shut down?

According to Allison, a lot of spooky things kept happening. The teacher says that some say a black cat still haunts the house on Halloween, warning off any who might bring the sisters back to life.