Halloween season is here, and for many of us that means it’s time to re-watch our favorite movies or Halloween TV episodes. Perhaps the most quintessential of this content is Hocus Pocus, which became a cult classic in the ‘90s. And the movie’s director Kenny Ortega recently responded to a fan theory that Vinessa Shaw’s Allison was actually a witch. Alexa, play “I Put A Spell On You.”
Hocus Pocus is arguably the most iconic spooky season movie of all time– except for maybe John Carpenter’s original Halloween. In fact it’s so popular that a long-awaited sequel Hocus Pocus 2 was released last year, and there are still popular fan theories about the 1993 film. Kenny Ortega was recently asked by EW about the idea that Allison was a witch in the first movie. He responded by offering:
I did feel the whole time that there was a little witch there. I even thought there was potential for a spinoff that was about that, and I had conversations about that many years later at the Disney Channel.
Well, my mind is blown. While Allison doesn’t actually do any magic throughout the runtime of Hocus Pocus, it seems like Ortega did think she might have had a connection to the supernatural. And what’s all this spinoff chatter about? My head is spinning.
Kenny Ortega’s comments to EW are sure to blow the minds of Hocus Pocus fans who would have loved to see a spinoff surrounding Allison. This was news to me, and I wish I could know more about what that project could have been, and why it never happened. Suddenly I really need actress Vinessa Shaw to return to the Hocus Pocus franchise. Later in that same interview, Ortega spoke more about the character of Allison, and her inherent witchy-ness. As he put it,
I thought she was bewitching as a teenage girl. It was not typical for Max to fall head-over-heels for her. She had a mystical beauty, and she was bewitching.
Points were made. Hocus Pocus’ Max falls pretty hard for Allison, despite seemingly not having spoken to her before he shot his shot in class. Could that infatuation have a magical origin? And you can’t deny that Allison and her yabbos give big witch energy when she turns him down, complete with a red cloak as she walks away.
Both of the Hocus Pocus movies are streaming now with a Disney+ subscription. Be sure to check out the 2023 movies release dates to plan your next movie experience.