Our 5 Favorite Callbacks In 'Hocus Pocus 2'!

Our favorite witches are back! Disney spoiled a few weeks ago with the release of the long-awaited Hocus Pocus 2, featuring the original cast. In the film, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy return as the Sanderson sisters and are as spooky -- and fabulous -- as ever.

Fans who hold the original movie near and dear had much to look forward to in this new addition to the franchise. The second film is jam packed with references to the first and we’ve broken down our top 5 of these throwback moments!

1. Binx

The first film introduced us to the beloved boy-turned-cat Thackery Binx, who helped teenagers Max and Allison outsmart the sisters. While Thackery Binx as a character is not present in the second film (since the curse was broken and he was reunited with his sister in the afterlife), he is honored in the appearance of Gilbert‘s magic shop cat, Cobweb, who is a black cat with green eyes resembling Thackery in his cat form. The Sanderson sisters even hiss at Cobweb thinking it’s Thackery before Gilbert informs them that it’s just a normal cat.

2. Calming Circles 

In the first film, the Sanderson sisters form a "calming circle" in order to help them focus on their mission at hand. They visualize grotesque things like the Black Plague and rabid bats to help them relax and become clear-minded. In the second film, we as an audience see the backstory of their calming circle routine, where the sisters run away from Salem into the forbidden woods and comfort each other by holding hands in a circle. This time, they list things that make them happy such as the screams of the reverend and fresh mud. While we love seeing that the sisters have been providing each other with emotional support since childhood, we are a little concerned about the things that make them happy.

3. The Sisters’ Love for Consuming Youthful Flesh

In both films, it is mentioned that the Sanderson sisters stay youthful by consuming young souls. In the first film, we open on Thackery Binx’s little sister Emily being captured with the purpose of being harvested for her youthfulness. Her young life is sucked dry by the sisters, and it transforms their complexions into much younger ones. In the second film, the main character Becca is aware of their fixation with youth because the story of the Sanderson sisters is widely known. Taking advantage of the sisters' obsession, Becca tricks them into believing that the beauty products at Walgreens are pre-made youth potions. The sisters eat lotions, creams, serums, and even face masks while exclaiming phrases such as "Delicious! The face of a newborn!", thinking that the products are a convenient 21st century way of finding young souls to eat -- no more going through all that effort to capture children! While the Sanderson sisters do still look fabulous 29 years later, we don’t think we will be partaking in their skincare routine.

4. Come Little Children

The second film gives us a bit of a prequel to the Sanderson sisters' lives. In the beginning of the film, during the flashback to the sisters’ mortal lives in colonial Salem, we see them run away from the angry villagers into the forbidden woods where they are lured in by a witch with a song. “Come little children”, as the song goes, is how the witch was able to capture the girls’ attention and put them under a spell that brought them right to her. If the song sounds familiar to you, it’s because you’ve heard it before! It is the same song that Sarah Sanderson sings in the first film to lure the children of Salem to Max’s home when they are trying to come up with a plan to destroy the sisters. Now we know where the sisters first heard the song and how they learned to use it as a spell; It was passed down to them by their witch mentor! 

5. Amok

One of the running jokes in the first film was Sarah Sanderson’s catchphrase "amok amok amok", which Winifred would get incredibly fed up by. She particularly was punished for the phrase when the sisters were trying to track down Max and Allison on Halloween night and Winifred mentioned how it was so difficult to do with all the children "running amok". Sarah liked the word so much she danced around repeating it until earning a whack from her eldest sister. In the new film, the catchphrase continues. When the Sanderson sisters steal updated "brooms" from Walgreens and are on their way to find the Mayor, Sarah enjoys their own running amok by repeating the word over and over again, prompting Winifred to warn “don’t make me come over there with this broom!” Amok means "to behave uncontrollably and distributively", and is admittedly a great catchphrase for these trouble-making sisters. We think Winifred shouldn’t be so harsh on her sister for loving the word; after all, she’s the queen of running amok! 

Hocus Pocus 2 is now streaming on Disney+!