If you’re like us, you’ve already watched Hocus Pocus 2 multiple times. The long-awaited sequel is an instant classic, and a perfect Halloween flick for both fans of the original and newcomers.
Of course, if you’re a massive fan of Hocus Pocus, you surely noticed a bunch of delightful callbacks, Easter eggs, and more nods to the original flick. Here’s everything we spotted all in one place for your nostalgic enjoyment:
1. For starters, the opening sequences of both films are very similar: They both show an overhead, sweeping view of Salem as something (or someone) flies across the screen.
2. This is more of a fun detail than an Easter egg, but the actors who played young Winnie (Taylor Henderson), Mary (Nina Kitchen), and Sarah (Juju Journey Brener) absolutely nailed it, and we NEED to take a look at them side by side with their elder counterparts.
3. Also, we finally got to see what dear, sweet Billy Butcherson looked like in his living form.
4. It turns out that Mother Witch (Hannah Waddingham) is the origin of the Sanderson sisters’ whole “eating the souls of kids for the eternal youth and beauty” thing. You can hear her sing, “Come, Little Children” at the beginning of the film when the Sandersons first encounter her.
5. Also, now that we’ve seen Mother Witch in Hocus Pocus 2, if you go back to the original film, it looks as if Dani’s witch costume resembles Mother Witch.
6. Another major part of that opening encounter? We’re reintroduced to Book! (Or should we say, “BOOOOOOOK!”) You know, THE spell book that belongs to Winnie and the other Sanderson sisters. Of course, he comes to be a crucial part of the entire sequel.
7. When young Winifred first opens up Book, she reads “Cat Transformation spell,” which is the spell she ultimately uses on Thackery Binx at the beginning of Hocus Pocus.
8. If you look closely, when they’re introduced, Becca, Izzy, and Cassie wear colors that mirror the Sanderson sisters’ color scheme.
9. In present-day Salem, the Sanderson Witch Museum (formerly just their home) has been reopened as the Olde Salem Magic Shop run by Gilbert (Sam Richardson).
10. Gilbert tells a crowd at the shop that some people swear that on Halloween 29 years ago, they saw the Sanderson sisters. Of course, 29 years ago was 1993, and he’s referring to the original plot of Hocus Pocus.
11. Also, Gilbert’s recounting of the story of the Sanderson sisters is very similar to the beginning of Hocus Pocus, when Max and Alison’s teacher is telling their story as well.
12. There’s a hilarious moment when a small child asks Gilbert, “What’s a virgin?” Whitney Peak (Becca) told EW that the kid’s mom is actually played by Hocus Pocus 2 writer Jen D’Angelo, who makes a cameo appearance.
13. In fact, it turns out that Gilbert himself was present the night everything went down with Max, Alison, and Dani in 1993, and saw the Sanderson sisters right before they vanished at sunrise. If you look closely, you can see the silhouettes of Max, Alison, Dani, and Billy in that graveyard scene.
14. Gilbert also refers to Halloween 1993 not being a great year for him because a “bunch of bullies stole all his candy” — a reference to Jay and Ice in the original film.
15. When Becca and Izzy spot Cassie on the billboard in town, you can actually see what looks like the Dennisons’ family home from the original film behind Cassie in the photo.
16. When Becca and Izzy first encounter the Sanderson sisters, Mary talks about “the boys being in cages” and the “fake sunrise” that tricked them. These are obviously callbacks to what happened with Jay and Ice and then with Max, Alison, and Dani in Hocus Pocus.
17. When the Sanderson sisters discover Walgreens, they need to acquire new modes of transportation. Mary hilariously decides to use robot vacuums, while Sarah is on a Swiffer. This is a fun callback to when they used a good old-fashioned 1993-era vacuum and mop in the first film.
18. When the Sanderson sisters enter Gilbert’s shop for the first time, Sarah remarks that her rat tails are missing. In Hocus Pocus, the first thing she found in the cottage when they returned were her lucky rat tails.
19. Sarah mistakes Gilbert’s cat Cobweb for Thackery Binx, saying, “The Binx boy, he lives?” and Winifred swears it’s really Thackery.
20. At one point, Gilbert suggests the Sanderson sisters try a calming circle, which is something Mary mentioned in the first movie.
21. When Winifred reads the spell, Sarah remarks that they aren’t allowed in a sacred place, which we learned about in Hocus Pocus when Binx told Max, Alison, and Dani to hide in the graveyard.
22. At the town fair, Mayor Traske (Tony Hale) stands in line in front of a couple wearing a devil costume and a robe and curlers. This is, of course, a callback to Garry and Penny Marshall’s cameo in the first movie.
23. In fact, later in the movie, we see someone watching this exact scene in Hocus Pocus. Which means Hocus Pocus THE MOVIE exists in the Hocus Pocus 2 universe.
24. As in the original movie, the Sandersons perform a song to put the townspeople into a trance. Originally it was “I Put a Spell on You,” and this time it was “One Way or Another.” But the “spell” portion of the song used the same lyrics: “Ah say into pi alpha mabi upendi.”
25. When everyone in town is under the Sanderson sisters’ spell and they dance through town, you can see that someone is dressed up as Madonna. This is a nod to Hocus Pocus when Dani and Max’s mom went as Madonna for Halloween too.
26. The girls rely on a circle of salt as a way to keep the Sanderson sisters contained, which is a nod to the way Alison handled them in the first movie.
27. When the Sanderson sisters run into Becca again, Mary can’t remember her name, and she actually gives Becca the same nickname she gave Dani in the original movie.
28. When Mayor Traske’s car pulls into the garage, the Sandersons mistake the headlights for sunrise. This is a nod to the way that Max, Alison, and Dani tricked them into believing car headlights were actually the sunrise in Hocus Pocus.
29. And when they realize it’s actually a car, Mary says, “Oopsie, my mistake, it’s just a very small bus.” The Sandersons famously learned what a bus was in an iconic scene in the original flick.
30. Sarah Sanderson uses her hilarious catchphrase “Amok, amok, amok” once again when the sisters fly off to try to find Book at their cottage.
31. We finally get more of Billy’s backstory. In the original, Billy is called Winifred’s “unfaithful lover,” whom she poisoned after he cheated on her with Sarah. However, Billy uses Hocus Pocus 2 to set things straight — he says he and Winnie only kissed ONE TIME, a fact that Gilbert later promises to clear up for everyone.
32. You might have noticed that in Hocus Pocus 2, Mary’s mouth skews to the left instead of the right. This actually isn’t a continuity error — the reason for the change is that Kathy Najimy literally couldn’t hold her mouth in that same position anymore.
33. In fact, Mary’s mouth skewing the opposite way is explained very early in the film, when Winifred slaps Mary during their opening song and her mouth switches direction.
34. At the end of the film, Becca, Izzy, and Cassie walk off the same way the Sanderson sisters do.
35. And finally, ICYMI, there’s a post-credits scene that potentially teases even MORE Hocus Pocus goodness to come.
Did you catch any other Easter eggs or cool callbacks? Tell us everything in the comments below!
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