The long-awaited sequel to Halloween favourite Hocus Pocus has just landed on Disney Plus, with Hocus Pocus 2 seeing the Sanderson sisters return to Salem after they are accidentally summoned when teenager Becca lights a Black Flame candle.
In total, there are four returning cast members from the first film – Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the three witches, of course, but also Doug Jones as loveable zombie Billy Butcherson.
But with other characters from the first film – such as Max and Allison – not returning, how exactly does the new film link to the previous one? Read on for everything you need to know.
How does Hocus Pocus 2 link to the original?
Although the new film tells a separate story from the original, there are several ways in which they are connected.
For example, although magic shop owner Gilbert (Sam Richardson) is not a character in the first film, we learn during the new one that as a child, he had spotted the Sandersons flying above during their visit in 1993 – and they had made his night after he’d had his candy stolen by bullies Jay and Ice. Ever since, he had made it his goal to one day bring the witches back.
Meanwhile, there are several things that both films deliberately have in common: they each begin with a flashback to the Sandersons’ youth in the 1600s, for example, while Billy Butcherson is awoken from his grave in both films.
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And although director Anne Fletcher has revealed she couldn’t compete with the I Put a Spell on You scene from the first film, we do once again see the Sandersons bewitch the inhabitants of Salem through song and dance – this time with their own version of Blondie’s One Way or Another.
Meanwhile, there are also callbacks to the original, such as when the Sandersons spot a black cat and they assume it must be Thackery Binx, as well as running gags including Mary continuing to use a vacuum cleaner as her broom.
But the most bizarre connection between the two films comes when Winnie is looking for the mayor and peeks her head into a window to find two people watching a film on TV. The film they’re watching? That’s right – the original Hocus Pocus!
Hocus Pocus 2 is available to stream now on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year.
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