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 modestly budgeted horror comedy that found its true audience later, through home video and annual television airings. Directed by Kenny Ortega and set in Salem on Halloween night, it paired family friendly scares with musical numbers and a trio of resurrected witches. Its theatrical run was unremarkable, but decades of seasonal replay turned it into an enduring cult favorite, especially prized by collectors of nineties Disney live action.
This cell carries the name Mary Sanderson, the bloodhound nosed sister among the three witches, played by Kathy Najimy, whose comic timing made her a fan favorite alongside her siblings Winifred and Sarah. As a piece from a 35mm print, it preserves a physical fragment of the film's original theatrical run, a tangible link to Sanderson's presence within the Sanderson coven's return to Salem. For collectors, that connection to a beloved supporting witch is the draw, a keepsake from the picture's earliest release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Hocus Pocus (1993).
Gauge
35mm; the strip holds three frames, each showing four perforations on the visible top edge and four on the visible bottom edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no torn or deformed edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running as a dense waveform band along one edge, consistent with a dual bilateral or variable-area stereo optical track; a narrow coloured stripe adjacent to it suggests a Dolby SR or similar analogue optical format.
Edge print
Partially legible text reads 'N S' and what appears to be 'T+1' or similar code; remaining edge print is mirrored and partially obscured.
Base & colour
Base appears warm-amber to golden in the clear rebate area; the dye image reads with warm, slightly orange-shifted tones typical of Eastmancolor print stock.
Projection history
No obvious deep scratches or splices are visible; the image area appears clean with no prominent projection wear lines seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames of a single shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of the film on record.
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, warm Eastmancolor base tint, and perforation layout are all 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 000063364
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
