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 Halloween comedy that found its true audience not in theaters but in the decades of television reruns that followed. Directed by Kenny Ortega and led by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, the film built a devoted following among viewers who grew up with it as an annual autumn ritual, eventually becoming one of Disney's most enduring seasonal properties.
This cell preserves the opening title card, the frame where the production first announces its name to the audience before a single scene unfolds. For collectors, title cards hold a particular appeal: they mark the threshold between anticipation and story, a single strip of film carrying the weight of the whole feature's identity. As a piece of Hocus Pocus history, this cell represents the moment the Sanderson sisters' world is named and promised, the gateway into the mythology that would outlast its initial release.
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 three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and appearing cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-line wavy pattern consistent with a stereo variable-area optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture; any edge keycodes or manufacturer text are obscured by the curl and dark surround.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a neutral to very slightly warm tint; the dye image reads as a strong black with purple-toned title graphics, showing no visible fading.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames appear to show the same title-card graphic, consistent with a title sequence frame repeated across the strip, matching the film on record.
Era check
A stereo variable-area optical track alongside a 35mm positive print is consistent with a 1993 theatrical release print, as digital soundtrack formats were only beginning to appear on select prints at that time.
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 000063366
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
