‘Hocus Pocus’ Nearly Had Christmas Lights in the Background While Filming, Actor Recalled

‘Tis the season to be scary! Every Halloween season, Disney fans celebrate their favorite classics. And who could ever forget about Hocus Pocus? Now, the Hocus Pocus 2 movie is in development. But before Disney announced the sequel, the original Hocus Pocus cast already spilled a cauldron of on-set secrets.

In a cast interview, one actor revealed the movie could have had Christmas lights in the background.

The movie was only partially shot in Massachusetts

Like many older productions, most of the Hocus Pocus movie was filmed on sound stages. After all, how would the actors film broomstick-flying scenes in a real town? Most of the stunt work and night scenes took place in Burbank, Calif.

However, the plot takes place in Salem, Mass.—the American witchcraft hotspot. The production only filmed a few exterior scenes in town, such as Max and Dani’s house per Boston.com; The home is on Ocean Avenue in Salem.

There were a couple of other on-location scenes as well: the woods scene between Max, Jay, and Ice was filmed in Marblehead, Mass.; the Halloween party was shot at the Old Town Hall in Salem; the Sandersons’ kiln-heated scene was filmed at Phillips Elementary School and the beginning 1693 Salem shots were filmed in Pioneer Village.

It was almost Christmas when they filmed ‘Hocus Pocus’

Production took place between October 1992 through February 1993. So it was inevitable for the Hocus Pocus cast and crew to see winter holiday decorations in town. But that could have been problematic for the Halloween flick.

Larry Bagby and Tobias Jelinek played the bullies, Ice and Jay, respectively. They dub Max “Hollywood” after telling them he’s from Los Angeles, shortening it to “LA.” The actors told E! News that they filmed around Christmas.

“The thing I love about the Salem stuff is, when we went there, it was getting into Christmastime. And so, people were starting to put up all their Christmas ornaments. [Production was] having to pay them out block by block…you know [to] get the Halloween stuff. The autumn vibe was there and then they had bags of leaves for the rest of the show that we had to pick up in LA.”

Jelinek referred to the crew who had the bags of leaves to create a fall ambiance. The actor didn’t specify who “paid out” the town residents or how the crew handled that process. But fans haven’t seen any winter holiday decorations in any scene. So it’s safe to assume that the town didn’t mind the addition of a Halloween backdrop. After all, Salem attracts Halloween fans every year.

‘Hocus Pocus’ 2 began filming in Rhode Island

It’s too early for fans to wonder about the locations for Hocus Pocus 2. Like the 1993 movie, the sequel might require various locations and sound stages to perform stunts and special effects. Nevertheless, fans caught the production filming in Rhode Island.

According to the new set images, Hocus Pocus 2 was filming in a small town named Lincoln. Disney has not confirmed when the cast will arrive to the set. However, the production already paid the town $25,000 to use the site and an extra $10,000 per month.

Fans caught the new images in September 2021. It appears the production hasn’t commenced filming.