Hocus Pocus director shares child-stealing deleted scene

kathy najimy, bette midler, sarah jessica parker, hocus pocus 2
Hocus Pocus director reveals deleted sceneDisney+

Hocus Pocus director Kenny Ortega has revealed that a scene from the original 1993 classic was cut in which one of the Sanderson sisters attempted to steal a child.

The Disney film, which was released nearly thirty years before its sequel, saw the dastardly Sanderson sisters cause chaos and magical mayhem – but Ortega has shared that one scene featuring Kathy Najimy's Mary Sanderson was cut.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said that there was a wealth of "genius" material that ended up on the cutting room floor.

"We honored the writing, and then we had a party, and some of that party had to be left behind because of the length and timing," he said.

hocus pocus
Disney

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When asked about his favourite scene that ended up cut, he went on to fully explain the sequence.

"There was a scene with Kathy in a grocery store, where there was a woman shopping with a cart, and she had her child in the cart," Ortega began, mentioning that the Sanderson sisters very much enjoyed sucking the souls out of children.

"While the woman was shopping, she turned away from her cart for a moment, and Mary steals the cart because there's a child in it. The woman turns around and her child is gone, and the woman goes chasing after Kathy, who's trying to beat it with the child."

sarah jessica parker, bette midler, kathy najimy, hocus pocus 2
Disney+

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Hocus Pocus received a sequel with its original cast – including the other two Sanderson sisters, Sarah Jessica Parker and Bette Midler – three decades later.

A re-do of sorts of the cut scene was created in Hocus Pocus 2, where the sisters are resurrected for a second time by a different group of teens and make their way through a supermarket with all the comedy one would expect.

A third instalment, Hocus Pocus 3, has already been confirmed to be in the works, with Disney boss Sean Bailey announcing the news in June 2023.

Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are available to watch now on Disney+.

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