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 Halloween comedy that underperformed on first release before finding its true audience through home video and annual television airings. Directed by Kenny Ortega and led by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, it built a cult following over the following decades, eventually becoming an autumn perennial. Its legacy now rests less on box office numbers than on its status as a seasonal ritual, screened every October by a generation that discovered it long after theaters had moved on.
This cell preserves the moment the film announces itself, the opening card that carries its name onto the screen before a frame of story unfolds. Such cards are prized by collectors because they mark the threshold of the picture, the instant an audience first meets the movie by name rather than by scene. For a film whose identity is now inseparable from Halloween itself, this piece represents that recognition in its purest, most direct form.
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 cleanly punched with no visible torn or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the inner edge of the lower perforation strip.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture as a legible edge code; the text on the frames reads 'HOCUS POCUS' mirrored, consistent with emulsion-up viewing.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a slight warm-amber tint along the lower edge; the dye image renders in deep black with purple-toned title graphics, showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show identical title-card content running consecutively, consistent with a title sequence repeat, and the stylised 'HOCUS POCUS' title lettering matches the known 1993 release title treatment.
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 window.
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 000063367
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
