Passes the Bechdel test
Hocus Pocus
1993. Directed by Kenny Ortega, written by David Kirschner and Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 27 scenes out of 108. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
300 years have passed since the Sanderson sisters were executed for practicing dark witchcraft. Returning to life thanks to a combination of a spell spoken before their demise and the accidental actions of Max, the new-kid-in-town, the sisters have but one night to secure their continuing existence...
- Released
- 16 Jul 1993
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 43 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Max 212 lines, man
- Binx 110 lines, man
- Dani 102 lines, woman
- Winifred 97 lines, woman
- Allison 91 lines, woman
- Mary 51 lines, woman
- Sarah 41 lines, woman
- Dave 26 lines, man
- Ernie 26 lines, man
- Jenny 19 lines, woman
Full cast, 32 people
- Omri Katz as Max Dennison
- Thora Birch as Dani Dennison
- Vinessa Shaw as Allison
- Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson
- Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson
- Tobias Jelinek as Jay
- Larry Bagby as Ernie / 'Ice'
- Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson
- Amanda Shepherd as Emily
- Stephanie Faracy as Jenny Dennison
- Charles Rocket as Dave Dennison
- Karyn Malchus as Headless Billy Butcherson
- Sean Murray as Thackery
- Steve Voboril as Elijah
- Norbert Weisser as Thackery's Father
- Kathleen Freeman as Miss Olin
- D.A. Pauley as Fireman #1
- Ezra Sutton as Fireman #2
- Don Yesso as Bus Driver
- Michael McGrady as Cop
- Leigh Hamilton as Cop's Girlfriend
- Devon Reeves as Little Girl 'Neat Broom'
- Joseph Malone as Singer
- Jordan Redmond as Little Angel
- Frank Del Boccio as Lobster Man
- Jeff Neubauer as Boy in Class
- Teda Bracci as Calamity Jane
- Peggy Holmes as Dancer
- Jason Marsden as Thackery Binx (voice)
- Garry Marshall as Devil (Husband) (uncredited)
- Penny Marshall as The Master's Wife (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 108
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 25 | 8 |
| 4 to 6 | 10 | 14 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 8 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 24 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 20 | 29 |
| 22 to 24 | 30 | 15 |
| 25 to 27 | 49 | 24 |
| 28 to 30 | 26 | 11 |
| 31 to 33 | 24 | 30 |
| 34 to 36 | 12 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 24 | 18 |
| 40 to 42 | 2 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 7 | 24 |
| 46 to 48 | 12 | 22 |
| 49 to 51 | 5 | 10 |
| 52 to 54 | 17 | 12 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 12 |
| 58 to 60 | 9 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 14 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 7 | 20 |
| 67 to 69 | 16 | 23 |
| 70 to 72 | 5 | 26 |
| 73 to 75 | 10 | 4 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 4 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 5 | 6 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 7 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 3 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 23 | 32 |
| 106 to 108 | 2 | 6 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MARY: We are innocent! SARAH: Victims we are! Let this madness stop! No last meal?
JENNY: Honey, fix your nose, it's falling off! Have a good time! Don't stay out too late! DANI: I've got our route all planned. We're going to clean up ... Where's your costume? DANI: Unacceptable.
ALLISON: The Sanderson Museum. I'll get my mom's keys, they'll never know .I ' .m. gone. Allison moves off. DANI: Just take her to the movies like a normal person. My friend said that those witches ate kids!
ALLISON: We shouldn't be fooling around with this. DANI: No kidding!
ALLISON: Let's .get out of here! DANI: Great idea!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 49 are women's.
416 lines from women, 431 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 13 men in the cast. 11 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 913.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 21 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 49% of the words (4,742), men 51% (4,964).
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
57
Two men
57
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kenny Ortega (man)
- Written by
- Mick Garris (man), Neil Cuthbert (man)
- Story by
- David Kirschner (man), Mick Garris (man)
- Produced by
- Steven Haft (man), David Kirschner (man)
- Shot by
- Hiro Narita (man)
- Edited by
- Peter E. Berger (man)
- Music by
- John Debney (man)
- Production design by
- William Sandell (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary E. Vogt (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Gail Artz (woman), Barbara Cohen (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 12 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 21 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Thora Birch 11, Vinessa Shaw 16, Sarah Jessica Parker 28, Kathy Najimy 36, Bette Midler 47
Men
Tobias Jelinek 16, Omri Katz 17, Larry Bagby 19, Doug Jones 33
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $28 million
- Box office
- $51.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 913 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
