Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Hocus Pocus arrived from Walt Disney Pictures in the summer of 1993, a modest box office performer that found its true audience in the decades after, through television airings and home video that turned it into an autumn perennial. Directed by Kenny Ortega and led by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, the film has become inseparable from Halloween viewing traditions, prized by collectors for its place in that seasonal ritual rather than for its initial reception.
This cell holds Dani Dennison, played by Thora Birch, the younger Salem sibling whose curiosity sets the story's events in motion. Dani serves as the audience's entry point into the town's history and its witches, making her a favorite among those who collect character-focused frames tied to the film's family core. A cell bearing her name preserves that connective role within the reel, a single frame standing in for the sibling bond that anchors the wider Hocus Pocus mythology.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Hocus Pocus (1993).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area stripe; a blue-tinted Dolby Digital data block band is also visible in the inter-perforation zone on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers clearly.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm yellow-amber tint along the lower edge strip; the dye image in the picture area reads with warm, slightly orange-shifted tones consistent with a colour print stock.
Projection history
No obvious deep scratches or splices are visible; faint surface abrasion lines are present across the picture area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with a 1993 live-action theatrical feature.
Era check
The combination of dual bilateral variable-area optical track and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1993 production date of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063358
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
