By Megan Riedlinger
8:35am PDT, Jul 12, 2018
Who doesn't love "Hocus Pocus"? But did you know the classic kid-friendly, spooky flick that marathons around Halloween actually came out in July?! Yep, the Bette Midler-led Disney movie actually came out in the middle of summer on July 16, 1993 — which means the film's 25th anniversary is almost upon us! In honor of the Black Flame Candle being lit a quarter century ago, we're checking in with the stars to see how their careers have changed since they played Salem residents! Keep reading to find out…
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Bette Middler was already a big name in the '90s, and she's continued her prolific career ever since. After "Hocus Pocus," she made appearances on huge shows like "Seinfeld," "The Nanny" and "Murphy Brown" in the '90s then jumped back onto the big screen in 2000's "What Women Want." From there, she landed her own TV show, "Bette," which ran from 2000 to 2001. Aside from acting, Bette's continued her music career, which included a Vegas show in 2008 called "Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On" and a return to Broadway for the play "I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers" in 2013. More recently, she appeared as Dolly in Broadway's "Hello, Dolly!" until January 2018, and she'll reprise that role in July 2018. Bette has one daughter with husband Martin von Haselberg, Sophie, who was born in November 1986.
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Kathy Najimy brought the laughs as witch Mary Sanderson, the middle Sanderson sister who has a knack for smelling children.
Kathy Najimy has worked steadily since her big role in "Hocus Pocus." She returned to her role as Sister Mary in the sequel to "Sister Act," "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," in late 1993 and appeared in tons of funny films after that including the hysterically underrated "It's Pat: The Movie" in 1994 and "Dumb and Dumber" in 1995. She took up residence on the small screen for the sitcom "Ellen" from 1994 to 1997 and bounced back and forth from movies to television in the years that followed, doing voice work for kid shows like "Pepper Ann" and "Hey Arnold!" and voicing Peggy Hill on "King of the Hill" from 1997 to 2010. More recently, she had a role in 2018's "Weight." Kathy has been married to actor-singer Dan Finnerty since 1998. The have one child, daughter Samia, who was born in 1996.
Rounding out the Sanderson sisters was Sarah, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. The youngest and prettiest of the witch siblings used her talent for singing to attract young children.
These days, sister Sarah Sanderson is a bonafide superstar! Sarah Jessica Parker famously moved on to star as the iconic Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's "Sex and the City" from 1998 to 2004, reprising the role for the 2008 and 2010 "SATC" films. Aside from bringing the stylish writer to life, Sarah kept busy busy starring in films like 2006's "Failure to Launch" and 2011's "I Don't Know How She Does It." More recently, she returned to her HBO roots for the show "Divorce." She can be seen on the big screen again, alongside Renee Zellweger, in the upcoming "Blue Night." Sarah has been married to Matthew Broderick since 1997. They share a son, James, who was born in 2002, and twin daughters Loretta and Tabitha, who were born in 2009.
Omri Katz played Max Dennison, a Los Angeles teen forced to make the move to Salem with his family. Reluctant to settle in the creepy town, Max ends up bringing back the Sanderson sisters on Halloween night by lighting the Black Flame Candle.
Omri Katz stuck around Hollywood for a little while after "Hocus Pocus." He played Tony on "The John Larroquette Show" from 1993 to 1995. From there, he starred as J.R. Ewing in the TV Movie "Dallas: J.R. Returns" in 1996, and did episodes of "Freaks and Geeks" and "General Hospital" before his very last role in the short film "Journey Into Night" in 2002. Now completely retired, Omri has evaded the public eye, remaining mysterious. He popped up on "Hocus Pocus" co-star Vinessa Shaw's Instagram feed in 2015 (he' seen in a reunion pic here with Vinessa and co-star Thora Birch) and occasionally shares pictures of his motorcycles and dog on his Instagram account.
Little Dani Dennison was played by Thora Birch. The 8-year-old was a pest to older brother Max, tagging along and becoming the first potential victim of the Sanderson sisters.
Thora Birch had already made a name for herself as a child actress by the time she starred as Dani in "Hocus Pocus" at age 11. She went on to star in hits like 1994's "Clear and Present Danger" with Harrison Ford and 1995's "Now and Then" alongside fellow young stars Gaby Hoffman and Christina Ricci. Her biggest film to date was 1999's Academy Award-winning "American Beauty" with Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari, which earned her a BAFTA Award for best supporting actress. She followed that up with the black comedy "Ghost World" opposite a young Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. Thora has worked steadily on and off over the last two decades though her most notable roles have been in TV movies including "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story" in 2003 and 2010's "Pregnancy Pact." Next up for the star is the drama "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" opposite Danny Glover and Finn Wittrock. She keeps her personal life private, and aside from a Twitter account remains absent from social media.
Vinessa Shaw played Allison, Max's crush who grew up in Salem. Her family owns the Sanderson cottage, which is where all the trouble begins.
After making a name for herself in "Hocus Pocus," Vinessa Shaw went on to have a busy career in Hollywood. She had a small role in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" in 1999 alongside Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. From there she snagged parts in a wide range of films from Chris Kattan's 2001 comedy "Corky Romano" to the 2002 romantic comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights" with Josh Hartnett to the 2006 horror flick "The Hills Have Eyes." She also worked on the small screen, starring on "Vegas" from 2012 to 2013 before landing a role on "Ray Donovan" in 2014. More recently, she starred in the 2018 indie flick "Family Blood." Off-screen, Vinessa's taken on the role of mom: She welcomed son Jack in February 2018 with husband Kristopher Gifford.
What's a Halloween-themed movie without a zombie? Doug Jones played Winnie's ex-boyfriend Billy Butcherson, the man who rises from the dead to help the witches chase Max, Allison and Dani.
Doug Jones has had some pretty impressive roles since coming out of the grave as Billy — but you might not recognize him! Like his role in "Hocus Pocus," most of his work is done while wearing prosthetic makeup: He notably acted in 2006's Academy Award-winning flick "Pan's Labyrinth" and 2017's "The Shape of Water." He also appeared in "Hellboy" and its sequel, making it six films to date that he's done with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Next up, you'll see him starring as Count Orlok in "Nosferatu."
