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 comedy that found its true audience only after years of Halloween television airings turned it into a seasonal staple. Directed by Kenny Ortega and set in Salem, Massachusetts, the film built its identity around three resurrected witch sisters, with Bette Midler's performance as the eldest becoming the engine of its cult afterlife. What began as a soft theatrical release grew into an annual ritual for generations of fans, cementing the movie's place in Disney's library of beloved oddities.
This cell isolates Winifred Sanderson herself, the domineering elder Sanderson sister whose booming will and theatrical flair anchor the entire story. Collectors prize her above her sisters because she carries the film's comic engine and its most quoted lines, making any frame bearing her name a centerpiece rather than a supporting piece. A single-character cell like this one functions almost like a character study, isolating her from the ensemble to let her presence stand alone. For archivists and fans alike, it represents the character at her most essential, unaccompanied and undiluted.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a fine modulated stripe.
Edge print
"M L" is legible at the lower-right corner; remaining edge text is not legible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base carries a warm amber-gold tint typical of colour print stock; the dye image reads with strong colour saturation and no visible fading.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the picture area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of Hocus Pocus (1993).
Era check
The variable-area optical track, warm amber base stock, and colour dye saturation are all 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 000063377
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
