#HOCUS FOCUS REVIEWS MOVIE#

Alexis currently lives with his wife in Maryland. Originally from Houston, Texas, Andrew currently lives in New York City.Īlexis Frederick-Frost's illustrations have appeared in a variety of publications including Nickelodeon Magazine, First Second Books, and others. He is the co-founder of the Seattle alternative newspaper the Stranger and the Center for Cartoon Studies, an MFA degree granting college.Īndrew Arnold's work has appeared in several publications, including Nickelodeon Magazine and Cambridge University Press. James Sturm's books include The Golem's Mighty Swing, Market Day, and Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow. With simple how-to-draw tutorials on the endpapers, these cute picture books are a playful extension of the hit instructional series.Īuthor: James Sturm, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Andrew Arnold

Hocus Focus offers more sweet, goofy storytelling from the creators of Adventures in Cartooning. Her potion transforms Edward into a giant worm-and he's hungry She wants to make a magic potion, not soup Things get a lot more exciting when she steals the wizard's magic wand and spell book. This isn't what she had in mind for her first magic lesson. Running time: 95 min.All day long, the Knight peels turnips. Reviewed at the Mann Bruin Theatre, L.A., July 10, 1993. Schwartz visual effects supervisor, Peter Montgomery casting, Mary Gail Artz, Barbara Cohen. Darin Knight associate producer, Jay Heit assistant director, Ellen H. Berger music, John Debney production design, William Sandell art direction, Nancy Patton set decoration, Rosemary Brandenberg costume design, Mary Vogt sound (Dolby), C. Screenplay, Garris, Neil Cuthbert story by Kirschner, Garris.Ĭamera (Technicolor prints), Hiro Narita editor, Peter E. For all its “E.T.”-type flourishes - from John Debney’s score to one particular line of dialogue at the end - these broomsticks won’t give anyone that sort of lift.Ī Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a David Kirschner/Steven Haft production. Unfortunately, like the zombie revived by Winifred, the film keeps losing its head, particularly during the final sequence, when it’s hard to ascertain exactly what the heroes are hoping to accomplish. Tech credits are modest yet solid, with creditable visuals from Buena Vista Visual Effects, some nifty costuming and a sharp look from cinematographer Hiro Narita.

#HOCUS FOCUS REVIEWS MOVIE#

There are a few inspired moments from the witches, but for the most part the movie belongs to the kids, with Katz appropriately earnest as Max, Birch cute and wisecracking as the sister and Shaw spunky and well-cast as the quintessential dream girl. “Hocus Pocus” suffers from inconsistency, careening around somewhat aimlessly between the coven being menacing to the kids or a comedic sort of Three Stooges on broomsticks.Ĭhoreographer-turned-director Kenny Ortega, whose own last flight was on the ill-fated Disney musical “Newsies,” can’t quite pull off this tap dance either, even with the ripe comedic possibilities from the fact that on Halloween night no one takes these real-life witches seriously. They are, in fact, the Sanderson sisters: the cruel Winifred (Midler), the daft Mary (Kathy Najimy of “Sister Act”) and the positively dense, boy-crazy Sarah (Parker).Īccording to Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert’s script, from a story by Garris and producer David Kirschner, the trio must suck the lifeforce out of children by dawn or risk being scattered forever. Stuck with taking moppet Dani (Thora Birch, one of the pic’s major assets) trick-or-treating on Halloween night, he meets up with his dream-girl classmate (Vinessa Shaw) and ends up traveling to a musty old museum where, inadvertently, he conjures up three children-hungry witches from the dead. That tried-and-true storyline has a teenage boy (Omri Katz) feeling out of place having moved to a new town - in this case venerable Salem, Mass.

Hocus focus reviews