In 1653 Salem, a young Winifred Sanderson is banished from Salem by Reverend Traske after she defied the authority of the church by refusing to marry John Pritchett. Rather than let her sisters Mary and Sarah be taken away from her, Winifred escapes with them to a nearby forbidden forest.
Hocus Pocus. In 1693, the Sanderson Sisters, now graying and stooped with age, decide to brew the Life Potion, which will steal the life force of a child to restore their own youth and vitality. As Winifred and Mary work on the potion, they send Sarah out to lure a child with her siren-like voice.
CNN reported that the Sanderson sisters are fictional characters. There were not three sisters named Winifred, Sarah and Mary who were executed for practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. However, even though they might be fictional, CNN said that there were really three sisters who were accused of witchcraft.
But before they are hanged in the town square, Winifred casts a curse that will resurrect the sisters during a full moon on All Hallows' Eve if a virgin lights the Black Flame Candle in their cottage. Binx devotes his life to guarding the cottage to ensure that no one can bring the witches back to life.
For her witchcraft, she was sentenced to death by the Salem townsfolk in 1693 and was later brought back from the dead by Max Dennison after three hundred years. Upon her return, Winifred began to terrorize the town in hopes of kidnapping children and stealing their souls to keep herself from dying and aging once more.
How The Sanderson Sisters Became Witches!: Disney’s Hocus Pocus Theory
Why did the Sanderson sisters become witches?
Unlike other girls who accepted Reverend Traske's marriage arrangement, Winifred Sanderson was fearless enough to refuse. The villagers feared her temper and called her a witch even before she realized her power. This eventually led to Winnie and her sisters becoming the witches viewers knew.
In Hocus Pocus, it's explained that the Sanderson Sisters got their powers from a pact with the Devil and used them to terrorize the people during the Salem Witch Trials. The sisters possessed an in-depth knowledge of the arts of necromancy, alchemy, and other schools of black magic, which they used to remain young.
Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson is the main antagonist of the Hocus Pocus film duology. She is the eldest and most intelligent witch who lived during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, along with her two younger sisters Mary and Sarah.
It turns out Isabella is the descendant of Elizabeth, the daughter of a fourth, secret Sanderson sister, and she discovers later in the book that she also has magical abilities, similar to Becca in "Hocus Pocus 2."
Hocus Pocus 3 is officially in the works, with the Sanderson Sisters potentially returning for a new adventure. The new movie is being created with "full idealism," according to screenwriter Jen D'Angelo. "We're still in the story phase; we're still working on it," she told EW in October 2023.
She promises "some wonderful surprises in the mythology" of the trio, confirming that "they're not witches in the beginning," but that their origin story intertwines with that of the new threesome of modern-day teens (Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, and Lilia Buckingham) who resurrect the Sanderson Sisters in ...
The Spellbook is an evil magic book owned and used by the Sanderson Sisters (Winnie, Mary and Sarah) to create potions and cast spells, and it plays a major antagonistic role in the 1993 live-action Disney movie Hocus Pocus.
In the scene in the witches' home, Allison was supposedly meant to reveal that Winifred's dad was a warlock, Mary's was a bloodhound, and Sarah Jessica Parker later claimed that the father of Sarah was the "village idiot." Therefore, in that version of their backstory, the sisters had the same mother but very different ...
At first glance, it may appear as if the witches look exactly the same as they did when Hocus Pocus was released in 1993. For the sequel, however, the filmmakers wanted their costumes to look similar to the originals, but not be actual replicas. “We wanted to refresh their looks,” says costume designer Salvador Perez.
The conclusion of both movies is the reunification of family. In the original film, Binx's soul is returned and he becomes Thackery once again, and reunites with his beloved sister Emily. And in the sequel, the Sanderson Sisters are reunited forever.
Sarah Sanderson is one of the secondary antagonists of Disney's 1993 film Hocus Pocus and its 2022 sequel, alongside her sister Mary. She is the youngest and most beautiful but air-headed witch who lived during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, along with her two sisters: Winifred and Mary.
Enhanced Smell: The ability to possess a sense of smell drastically beyond what was naturally possible. Mary's sense of smell was such that she could locate children both in close proximity and from great distances and could even accurately determine the children's genders and ages.
"The Devil's Wife" (also known as "Medusa") is a minor character in Hocus Pocus. She is the wife of the man whom the Sanderson Sisters initially assume to be the devil. They also think she's Medusa because of her snake-like hair curlers.
Sarah: [singing in the sky] Come little children, I'll take thee away / Into a land of enchantment / Come little children, the times come to play / Here in my garden of magic.
Director Kenny Ortega hints at the possibility of Allison being a witch, expressing that he felt there was a little witch in the character throughout Hocus Pocus. While it is not confirmed that Allison is a witch in the Hocus Pocus canon, her fascination with witches and the supernatural raises the theory.
We learn that the Sanderson Sisters were orphaned at a young age. And when a young Winifred refuses to obey Salem's reverend, he tries to take Mary and Sarah out of her custody (though the girls escape). Winifred is domineering over her sisters even though they are good to her.
Although Sarah is an airhead (much to Winifred's frustration) and often says or does stupid things, her unique power -her enchanting, siren-like voice- make her a very powerful, dangerous, and valuable witch. With her voice, she has charmed all of the children of Salem, using the song quoted above.
Max drinks the potion that witch Winnie intended for Dani, so Winnie tries to suck Max's life force instead. Max manages to knock Winnie off her broom and onto the ground. Since Winnie is standing on hallow ground, she turns to stone.
