A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: The Sanderson Sisters

This year for Halloween, I’ve decided to return to the world of live action witches. However, this first entry is a bit of a redo as I looked at The Sanderson Sisters years ago as a crossover and I’ve always wanted to redo considering a sequel was released a few years ago that added some new context  to the witches.

 

First Appearance

Hocus Pocus 2 opens even further back than the original on Winnie’s 16th birthday after she rejected a marriage set up by the town mayor even though she has her eye set on Billy Butcherson, though the sequel makes it clear he never loved her and it was one time. Honestly, the sequel makes a lot of choices that I feel are a misunderstanding of why people liked The Sanderson Sisters as it puts an emphasis on sisterhood. Which from a perspective of witchery, I get as the young Sanderson Sisters are told a witch is nothing without her coven after meeting a witch and being gifted Book.

 

But my issue with that is you are trying to humanize cartoon characters as it were, The Sanderson Sisters are witch versions of The Three Stooges. And the idea that Winifred cares about her sisters goes against what we are shown in the original, Winnie views Sara and Mary as idiots and treats them as underlings.  By showing Winnie have compassion for her sisters is making her sympathetic and people like the witches because they revel in being evil.

Consider how the original movie opens with them ready to take the life of Emily Binx and they succeed. And not to mention, what they do to Thackery.  In the original movie, The Sanderson Sisters are a legitimate threat and the way Winnie treats her sisters is meant to parallel both Thackery beating himself up for not saving Emily and Max learning to be a better brother to Dani.

The sequel tries something similar as it ties into the theme of sisterhood and female friendship as the main character in this one, Becca is a young witch who has to rely on her friends and repair a broken friendship to take on The Sanderson Sisters, mainly Winifred.  This in of itself is not a bad idea as it goes back to the idea of how a witch is nothing without her coven.  Having said that however, I think it might’ve been stronger if it were actually sisters who needed to mend a broken relationship going up against The Sanderson Sisters.

Personalities

In the original movie, the personalities are a bit simple as they should be for a Halloween comedy, Winifred is the leader and brains of the three. Sara was the blonde ditzy one obsessed with boys and Mary was the one who loved food. That’s all you needed,nothing more but again the sequel tried to add more depth to them… well two of them rather. Again, Winnie was shown as mostly evil but caring for sisters as the only ones she cares for. Something about this just feels wrong as Winnie wasn’t afraid to say how buffoonish her sisters are and that’s the part of the reason, people love her. She’s like Scar where she think she’s surrounded by idiots failing to realize she isn’t that smart either.

As for the other one, Sara. I mentioned she’s the ditzy one but in the sequel during the third act, she stands up to Winifred being tired of being called dumb but it’s quickly shut down. I kinda wish more had been done with this instead of it being a one off joke. Also in the original, Sara loved boys like how she sat on the lap of the bus driver or danced with the old man dressed as Satan. She was stripped of this in the sequel, which is so disappointing. She’s a villain, let her be sultry.

This also ties back to something else the sequel wants to emphasize, Winifred, Sara, and Mary are all each other have as their father recently passed before Winnie turned 16. Again, I get it but I’m not sure it works hearing them talk lovingly of a father that was never mentioned in the original. And when they mentioned Mother, they looked down implying she’s in Hell. To compare this to the much better book sequel, we actually get to meet Mother Sanderson and she is someone to be feared.

“The witch, the Sanderson sisters’ mother, raises a dramatically arched eyebrow. “It appears as though you have, Winifred.” She’s reserved and regal, unlike her daughters, and resembles none of them. Her face is severe and shows only the signs of aging that were stubborn enough to stick around and suffer her.”

Different mediums yes but in my opinion, this gets at the heart of why people like these characters because they’re evil. Whereas this movie tries to play it like a villain origin story and make the sisters sympathetic and show they’re justified in their anger. And I get that as Winifred’s sisters were almost taken away from her for her refusing to marry a boy she didn’t love.  But my issue again is that this would’ve worked better if it weren’t The Sanderson Sisters. We already know how evil they are and what they’re capable of doing. In many ways, the sequel wanted to highlight how women who were crucified as witches were treated as outcasts.

This is something I’m always very mixed on when media depicting Salem and the Witch Trials wants to use real witches, it’s a tough balancing act. Anyone regardless of gender or status could be accused of witchcraft, yes it was usually women and those from poorer families but trying to tie one of America’s atrocities to characters in comedy movie feels weird. Yes, the original is also set in Salem but we don’t focus as much on the witches and their past. It’s a brief prologue but with the sequel, you get a whole section dedicated to the sisters as children.

 

Also regarding Mother, it could be taken two ways here in the original when they look down. It could be interpreted as them paying respects to their biological mother as was seemingly implied or the woman who they met as young girls who was a witch and is credited as Mother.

 

 

Grand Desire

In the original movie, the sisters want to regain their youth and they lure the children of 1993 Salem in order to do so. It’s simple and easy to understand, it also shows how vicious they are as they’re willing to harm children. Quick and easy to understand. Again, the sequel overdoes it. Youth isn’t enough this time. Now Winifred wants to be the most powerful witch and in order to do that, she has to perform one of the most dangerous spells in her Book. Even though, Book doesn’t like it. Yeah, the sequel decided that the Book should be a character now to when it was just a spell book in the first movie.  This is where they also tie Winnie’s past to the present day Salem as the spell requires the blood of your enemy. A descendant will do and the mayor is a descendant of the man who tried to force Winifred to marry and take her sisters away. They don’t get him but his daughter who conveniently is one of the main character’s friends who she’s had a falling out with.

This is meant to parallel how Winifred treats her sisters compared to these friends needing to come back together. The thesis of the sequel is “A witch is nothing without her coven”.  It’s a nice sentiment but as I’ve already said, the first movie covered this fairly well and I also think it would’ve worked better if the girls were sisters even if that also would’ve been retreading the original.

Lackeys

We’ve got a lot to get through here

Billy Butcherson

He only works for the sisters in the original movie and is a fun character doing Winnie’s bidding against his will. Though when he finally lets her have it, you can feel the catharsis he gets.

 

In the sequel, he’s duped by a Sanderson Sisters obsessed magic store owner as Winnie needs the head of a lover for the spell she wishes to preform.  He gets his name cleared and it is understood he never loved Winifred in the sequel

Gilbert

 

This character, ugh this character.  So, he was one of the kids that saw the Sanderson Sisters on Halloween Night 1993 and instead of being scared, he’s obsessed with them and had researched ways to bring them back for years. Which just so happens in the sequel as he made another Black Flame Candle and tricked Becca, the main character of the sequel into using it for a birthday ritual. So, he’s the reason they return. Consider how in the original, it was Max lighting the candle to impress Alison and again going back to the book sequel, Max and Alison’s daughter, Poppy does the same thing to impress the girl she is crushing on. And Isabella was also interested in the witches but it felt more organic.

“Isabella raises her hand. When she gets a nod from my dad, she says, “What about in October sixteen ninety-three?”

Also, I feel  though there’s a difference between a teenage girl who wasn’t there being curious what happened that night and a young boy who should know the dangers, Winifred, Sara, and Mary actually are. Saying that he was there the night

Book

 

As I mentioned, the sequel decided to make Winnie’s spell book a non speaking character whereas in the original, it was just a book but here it has a personality and attempts to trick the main characters but then later teams up with them as Book doesn’t want to perform the spell that Winnie wants to do. I don’t know why the book needed to be a character, it being a spell book was enough.

Most Evil Deed

In the original movie, I’d say that the evilest thing the Sanderson Sisters did was kidnap Dani and use her to try and remain youthful. Yes, there is also killing of Emily Binx which is very bad but I feel like that is minor as it happened before the events of the movie.  But there is a pattern in them harming children. That shows how far they are willing to go to get what they want.

 

The sequel tries to replicate this with them kidnapping the daughter of the mayor who is a descendant of the person who wronged Winifred three hundred years ago. However, there’s a key difference in my opinion that makes this less impactful. Being that the friend is a teenager, yes she is in danger but it’s easier for her to fight back than Dani or Emily as they were young girls. Perhaps, it’s a bit much to complain about a teenager not fighting back but the stakes don’t feel the same when you factor in the age difference.

 

Villain Songs

I Put a Spell on You

When people think of Hocus Pocus, this is one of the most iconic moments in the movie, it’s so much fun as Winnie brainwashes the town of Salem with this number. It’s a blast and wish it was available for streaming.

Come Little Children

I love the eeriness of this number as it sounds like a twisted lullaby as Sara leads the children of Salem away. This is something the sequel was missing to show how Sara and Mary could be useful.

The Witches are Back

 

And here we have an example of doing too much, why is the first thing the sisters do upon their return to the world sing a witchy cover of The Bitch is Back. It makes no sense, at least when Winnie performed I Put a Spell on You and another song in this movie, it made a bit more sense. I have to wonder if Hocus Pocus 2 was at one point going to be a musical as that’s really the only way I can wrap my head around this.

 

One Way or Another

This is just trying to recreate one of the best moments from the original movie having Winnie sing another beloved song to put the townspeople under a spell. I want to like it as it’s somewhat fun but I feel like I’ve seen it done better.  Also, sorry Winifred but there’s another witch I associate this song with as I heard Sabrina sing it before you.

 

 

Demise

The Black Flame Candle plays a big part in their demise both times, in the original, once it goes out and the sun comes up after Winnie drains Max’s life force, she is turned to stone and her sisters are blown to smithereens.

 

The sequel goes for a more sympathetic and undeserving fate for the sisters as after Winifred performs the spell that would make her the most powerful witch, she absorbs the power of her sisters and begs Becca, the young witch to help her as she is nothing without her sisters. It doesn’t bring them back but sends Winnie to them.

 

 

This acts as a form of redemption for Winifred but I’m sorry, it just rings so hollow.  The audience knows of the heinous acts that she has committed and while the movie tries to argue that The Sanderson Sisters were only evil because they had to be, that doesn’t work. They reveled in being bad. Not every villain is secretly tragic, sometimes it’s just for a villain to be bad.

Are The Sanderson Sisters Good Villains?

If I was just going by the first movie, I’d say yes as they are some of my favorite witches but the sequel just forgot that people liked them being bad and decided to give them a redemption when I have to imagine that no one was interested in seeing them being redeemed. The Sanderson Sisters are fun because they’re bad.  Like villains be evil because they enjoy being evil.

Join me next time as we head to the land of Oz to look at Mombi

 

About Author