Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas: the 25th Anniversaries

The Blind Eternities forum

Posted on Oct. 25, 2018, 10:27 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

This year marks the 25th anniversaries of both Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, two classic Halloween movies that are much beloved by people who were children in the 1990’s.

I can still remember when I first saw those films and how much I enjoyed them, I now own both on blu-ray, and I watch both of them every year on or around Halloween. The music in TNBC is exceptionally well-written and catchy and the art style is quite unlike anything that preceded it, clear examples of Tim Burton’s unusual and distinct style. Having seen the film so many times, I have nearly the entire script memorized, and certainly know the lyrics to all of the songs. As a side note, Tim Burton was only the produce of the film, not its director, so I wonder if the film would have been any difference if he had also been its director, but it already is such a great film that there really is no need for it to be any different, nor much room for improvement.

Hocus Pocus is the first Disney film in which the villains kill a child on-screen (Emily Binx, Thackery’s sister), and also contains a rather large number of adult jokes for a family film (most of which I naturally did not understand when I first saw the film, but then understood years later), making it the only (as far as I can recall) Disney film in which the word “virgin” is used. On that subject, an interesting thing that I noticed is that, when Max reads the plaque describing the black flame candle, he mentions how it shall “raise the dead when lit by a virgin,” and then asks Allison if she would like to “light the sucker and meet the old broads,” to which Allison curtly says “no, thank you,” making the unspoken implication that she is not a virgin, an idea that is later reinforced when Allison comments that salt is “guaranteed to keep away witches, zombies, and old boyfriends.” I will admit that, when I was younger, I found the scene in which Thackery is run over by a bus to be somewhat intense and graphic, especially when the movie shows his flattened body, but I was very glad that he recovered, although it was also very sad when he died for real at the end of the film. This film was also the first time that I ever heard I Put a Spell on You, so the version that is sung in the film is my favorite version (out of many versions) of that song, although I also am very fond of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version, as well.

As I mentioned, above, both of these films are available on home video, to continue to provide audiences both old and new with the joy of experiencing these great films, although I will mention, as a side note, that I dislike the anniversary edition of Hocus Pocus because its special features must be accessed by watching the film itself, rather than by having them as separate menu items, as most films would have them.

What does everyone else say about this? What are your thoughts about Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas celebrating their 25th anniversaries this year?

shadow63 says... #2

Since I can't up vote a post I'll just leave this here happy halloween Here's hoping we'll get another level in the new kingdom hearts game

October 25, 2018 10:53 p.m.