What Only Hardcore Hocus Pocus Fans Know About Binx The Cat's Portrayal
From the casual Halloween enthusiast to the ones that lose their minds the first time they see a pumpkin for sale at the supermarket, now is surely the time to take stock in the month's worth of TV/movie-themed entertainment options for you to roll through on a daily basis. Of course, whether its on a handheld screen or viewed off a massive projection on a cemetery wall, one of the top choices has to be the Disney 1993 horror-comedy, "Hocus Pocus," which continues to provide annual entertainment for anyone soaking in that October spirit. This giggly classic stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, surrounded by a terrifyingly silly supporting cast.
As the years have gone on, the experience of viewing classics like "Hocus Pocus" has been expanded with countless behind-the-scenes tidbits that allow viewers to feel as if they are suddenly privy to some movie-making magic that the average fan isn't aware of. For example, one of the film's stars, Vinessa Shaw, when sitting down to chat about the upcoming sequel, recently quenched fans' thirst for some inside information about filming the original movie. Delightfully, Shaw revealed an interesting, unknown fact about the film's talking black feline, Binx.
On the Hocus Pocus set, Binx had many, many friends
With the "Hocus Pocus 2" actors making their rounds to promote the film, fans check in to possibly learn any new inside information about the franchise. When talking to Entertainment Tonight, actress Vinessa Shaw reveals how the real feline behind the film's black cat, Binx, needed much more room behind the camera than most people know. That's because the cat that used to be a human boy (Thackery Binx before he was transformed) wasn't played by just one cat but by a bunch of them.
Back when the actors who played the kids of "Hocus Pocus" spoke to ABC News, actress Thora Birch explained that although her character loves Binx in the film, in real life, she wasn't a big fan. She remembers, "Dani [her character] was in love with the cat. For me, I had an issue whenever the cat came up." Well, it's possible, based on this newly revealed information, Birch's dislike for the cat may have been due to a case of mistaken identity.
During her ET interview, Shaw talks about how there was actually a surprising number of cats on set, each trained for its own individual skill. She recalls, "There was literally a wall of cats that can all do one thing ... if they jumped on your shoulder, that was the one thing they could do." She continues explaining that there was one cat that was trained to close the spell book and so on. Of course, this new piece of behind-the-scenes information may be a bit jarring for fans who wished they had a Binx of their own, especially now realizing that doing so will require a shocking amount of kitty litter.