Disney World's Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular!

  The 90's kid in me is freaking out about how great this show is! Disney always brings out their villains for Halloween, but hasn't brought out the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus ever, as far as I know. When I worked at Disneyland, Halloween time approached and I kept asking myself why we didn't have face-character Sanderson sisters with their own meet n' greet. Needless to say, I couldn't be happier now that they've brought them into Disney World (fingers crossed they'll one day come to Disneyland), in a live stage show, no less (with a brief prologue narrated by Thakery Binx)!

Luckily, I found the show on YouTube, I'd watch it now, if I know Disney they'll find it soon and take it off asap. Enjoy!

Halloween Movie Countdown: Hocus Pocus

     I know it's completely ridiculous that I am just now throwing out a mini Halloween Movie Countdown for this season, but I figured, "why not post about at least two or three?" Anyway I thought I'd first bring up my all-time favorite this time since it's the film's 20th anniversary: Hocus Pocus.

     Need I say anything more? Hocus Pocus is without a doubt my ultimate, nostalgic, and festive Halloween go-to movie. This film is definitely one for my generation, but I think most can agree that it's silliness still contains enough charm, sense of adventure, and overall "spookery" that will appeal to all.

    Hocus Pocus is a classic Disney holiday film. Charm, humor, sometimes far-fetched or complicated plot-lines (particularly when dealing with the supernatural), and let's not forget the festive and fun set dressing. All of these factors make for a great and silly Halloween adventure directed by the talented Kenny Ortega and starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

    One of my other favorite actors in the film is Doug Jones who plays Billy Butcherson. I love his performance and look so much that I even dressed up as him for Halloween in 2009. Not only have I always loved Billy's character design, but Doug Jones' performance really stood out to me as a young kid as I was afraid of all things scary... especially decapitation. The whole concept freaked me out more than anything, but when Billy lost his head, it was funny. And not the kind of cheesy funny we always see in family films trying to mix magic or the supernatural with humor. Doug Jones had some real talent. I guess you could say it was one of the first times I noticed true comedy (brought on by the great performance) being mixed with horror and spookiness- dark comedy- from then on, I was inspired.

    Another first brought on by Hocus Pocus was finding out about the Salem witch trials. Of course, the film depicts the tragedy as just kind of a... bummer, as most Disney films tend to do when it comes to tragedy. I quickly found out, of course, that the trials were a much bigger deal and a huge part of American history. To this day, it is still, out of the many historical events that interest me, the one that peaks my interest the most. I have read several books on the subject and continue to research more information, mostly because it inspires a lot of my writing, but also I guess you could say I'm just naturally curious about it, probably all thanks to Hocus Pocus.

    Thackery Binx was also a character I truly loved in the film, mostly because I had a black cat, when I was little. We called her Bagura, from The Jungle Book. She was chubby black cat with a knack for hunting anything and everything. She was probably also the reason I loved (and still do) Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I guess I just wished the my own black cat would speak like those in my favorite spooky movies and shows.

    Hocus Pocus is truly a Halloween classic, a must-watch every year. Obviously, I have a major nostalgic attachment to it, but regardless, anyone can see that the film is filled with Halloween spirit, great atmosphere, and a story filled with adventure, humor, and Halloween fun!

I Put a Spell On You!

Billy: Some Early Sketches

Looking through a few old notes, I found some of my early sketches of Billy Butcherson's costume. I usually find myself coming up with random sketches of what I consider good ideas for Halloween costumes, Billy was certainly one of them. I will try to post some more random sketches of Halloween costumes from my notebooks, promise.

(2007)

(2009)

(Love how I gave him such a girly figure in this one.)

Me as Billy Butcherson

My Halloween costume for 2009 (Billy Butcherson from "Hocus Pocus") came out really well. To create the full look, I started by looking closely at and collected pictures of him from the internet (the same I do when I get inspired by anything; I make a collage of it). Then I make some quick sketches to visually list all the things I need to complete the look.

I look around to see if I have anything that can work and if not, I head over to the thrift store. This year I found a weird pair of brown pants that lace-up in the front (very random for everyday wear, but perfect for my costume). I also found a cream-colored satin button-up blouse with pretty puffy sleeves. My aunt helped me sew lace ruffles to the shirt and some lace to the cuffs. She actually sewed the whole jacket too, and she did an amazing job! We cut the pants just below the knee and the costume was really coming together. All I had to do was buy cream-colored stockings (which I later dyed in tea and coffee along with the fabric I used as a hair ribbon) and some green face make-up. After that, the distresses on the costume began.

I tried random dry brushing with dark water-color, charcoal, even rubbing the whole costume in the fire pit. After all that, it just didn't show up enough, so I did as my mother suggested, I wrinkled the whole thing up and dabbed it with paint and did my best to make it look messy. Finally that seemed to work best and to add even more age to it, I glued bits of cobwebs all over it. After I had worn the costume for a while, however, the cobwebs eventually fell off and began to appear in random places all over the house.

At first I was pretty bummed, but after a while it didn't bother me so much, I was having too much fun!

As for my hair and make-up? My mom teased my hair like crazy last minute and I quickly applied the green face make-up and black eye shadow, then I used some eyeliner for the stitches. Overall, I was extremely happy with the way it came out, wish I had gotten the chance to take some better pictures of it though. Perhaps I will ask my friends who are really into photography if we can have a little photo shoot pretty soon...

My Costume for 2009...

Billy Butcherson.

For those who have seen the 1993 film "Hocus Pocus" and adore it as much as I do, you will hopefully remember the character Billy Butcherson played by Doug Jones. I remeber when I first saw Billy while watching the film as a child and he scared the ever-lovin' daylights out of me! He just looked so frightening.... but he was funny. Doug Jones uses his bizarre physicality to make the scary charater quite enduring. I remember the scenes where his head would fall off and at the time, I had a major fear of decapitation. But when I watched those scenes, I found it to be more funny and interesting than scary and since then, the character has always been an all-time favorite. For years I have wanted to dress up as him and this Halloween, a dream is coming true- I get to be Billy Butcherson!

Photos...