Hocus Pocus & Nightmare Before Christmas to Screen For D23 Members

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Hocus Pocus & Nightmare Before Christmas Returning to Theaters - For Some of Us

By Alexandra August

Published Aug 18, 2018

D23 is bringing back two of Disney's most beloved Halloween classics for a select group of fans to see again in theaters.

Disney will resurrect two of its most beloved Halloween as a benefit to members of D23, the official fan club.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their release, Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas -- which is as much of a Halloween movie as Die Hard is a Christmas movie -- will return to select theaters nationwide as part of D23's Spooktacular Fanniversary.

Hocus Pocus premiered in 1993, and the age of nostalgia combined with a once-in-a-lifetime cast has given the comedy horror film new life in recent years. The Nightmare Before Christmas has always been an artistic cult classic, but Tim Burton's continuing success after the film's 1993 release solidified its place in the mainstream. The two movies make for an odd pairing -- a bit like having some really good pizza with a craft cocktail on the side -- but they'll allow Disney to take advantage of a couple of different demographics at the same time. If you're a member of D23, that is.

During a Disney press event this week for the D23 Expo 2019, discussion moved to what club members could expect in the coming months, in addition to logistics surrounding next year's event in Anaheim, California. The Spooktacular Fanniversary details included the announcement regarding what will surely be highly anticipated screenings. Members in Southern California will be able to see either film at a screening on the Disney Studios lot in Burbank or at Disney Springs in Disney World, but also at select locations around the country. The catch is that fans in those locations will actually decide which movie they want to see as opposed to both features being screened on different dates and times.

Of course, that does mean you'll need to become a member of D23 to take advantage of these events. However, if you already are one, that means Disney is delivering on its continued promise to offer exclusive content to its most devoted fans.

Directed by Kenny Ortega, Hocus Pocus centers on a teenage boy (Omri Katz) who inadvertently resurrects three wicked 17th-century witches -- played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker -- in present-day Salem, Massachusetts. Due to annual viewings on Disney Channel and Freeform, the film has cultivated a new generation of fans, and periodic rumors about a sequel. A television remake is in the works for Disney Channel.

Directed by Henry Selick and produced and conceived by Burton, the stop-motion animated Nightmare Before Christmas tells the story of Jack Skellington, the restless king of Halloween Town, who is reinvigorated by his discovery of Christmas Town, and decides to make the holiday his own.