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 later, through home video and annual October television airings. Directed by Kenny Ortega, it paired family friendly Halloween spectacle with a broad comic sensibility that skewed older than typical Disney fare of the period. Over the following decades it grew into a genuine cult perennial, its popularity swelling each fall until it became one of the studio's most enduring seasonal properties, eventually spawning a sequel decades after the original's quiet theatrical debut.
This cell preserves Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson, the eldest of the three Sanderson sisters and the film's central witch, the role that anchors the entire story and drives its yearly resurrection theme. She is the character most sought after by collectors of this title, the face most associated with its poster art and merchandising. Isolated on 35mm, this frame stands as a piece of the performance itself, a single unit of film carrying her presence apart from any scene description, a keepsake for those who return to this story every autumn.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Hocus Pocus (1993).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two full frames with partial frames at each side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; the punched edges appear cleanly cut with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers clearly.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-yellow tint along the lower edge strip; the image area appears predominantly deep blue-black with a neutral to slightly warm dye image.
Projection history
Light surface abrasion lines are visible running along the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two visible full frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of Hocus Pocus (1993).
Era check
The combination of a dual bilateral variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and amber-base polyester stock is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
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 000063362
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
