Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Disney released Hocus Pocus in 1993, a Halloween comedy that paired the studio's family friendly instincts with a darker, more gothic sense of humor than audiences expected. It underperformed at the box office on first release, overshadowed that summer by bigger tentpole films, but found new life through television airings and home video, eventually becoming an annual autumn tradition for a generation of viewers. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy anchored the film as the Sanderson sisters, three witches whose comic timing and theatrical flair became the reason the movie endured. The film's cult status now rivals or exceeds its modest theatrical run, making early promotional and title material a point of interest for collectors tracing its rise.
This cell preserves the opening title card, the frame where the film first announces itself before the Sanderson sisters or Salem's autumn setting come into view. Title cards mark that threshold moment, the handoff from studio logo to story, and for a film like this one that moment carries particular weight given how the title itself has become shorthand for a whole season's viewing habit. For collectors, a title card cell represents the film's identity in its most distilled form, tied to no single scene or performer but to the work as a whole.
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 deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-bilateral wavy pattern consistent with a stereo optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture; the edge margins do not show legible key numbers or manufacturer text at this size.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a slight warm-golden tint at the bottom edge; the dye image reads as a deep black with purple and white title graphics, showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen on this strip.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show identical title card artwork, consistent with a title-sequence repeat, and the title text matches the film on record.
Era check
A dual-bilateral variable-area optical track and clear safety base are consistent with a 1993 theatrical release print era, when optical stereo was standard for Disney releases.
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 000063370
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
