A year or so ago, when I found out that Hocus Pocus 2 was really happening, after years of rumors, I was beyond excited. I had visions of a big watch party with tons of themed treats. The original movie has been among my favorite movies since it first came out, and I don’t just watch it around Halloween. Despite the ability to stream new movies at home, my girls and I regularly pick old favorites to watch on family movie nights, and Hocus Pocus is a frequent choice.
As the day for the big release neared, I quickly let go of all hopes of grandeur. I’ve barely been keeping my head above water lately, so finding time to create brownie books or pretzel broomsticks was not going to happen. Instead, I order a few extra groceries for an un-themed watch party with just my husband and our two girls, and we snuggled in to watch. Of course, I posted a quick picture on Facebook of my girls and our snacks before we pushed play.
Afterward, as I checked the comments on my post and scrolled through my Facebook feed, I saw that so many of my friends had been doing the same thing. Some of them had had big, themed watch parties, as I had hoped to have, but many others were just posting pictures of family snuggled on the couch with popcorn and blankets. And that’s when I realized how many people had been doing the exact same thing that evening. Big party or not, everyone was spending quality family time with the Sanderson Sisters.
Hocus Pocus is a cult classic from my generation, but my generation has been really great at passing on our big love to the next generation. No one I know had to show their kids the first one before they watched the new one, because their kids had already seen it. Maybe that big musical number from the first film really did put a spell on all of us, but instead of making us dance until we died, it got us to bring the Sanderson Sisters back, year after year, without the need for a virgin or a black flame candle. And while the sisters may have needed to feed on the souls of children to stay youthful in the movie, it will be the love of our children that will keep them alive for years to come.
