Hocus Pocus wasn’t an instant cult classic but, after it was around for a few years, people’s love for the Disney film grew tenfold. Now, it’s a film that's regarded as a Halloween tradition for many households, effectively passing the film down to new generations. For some wild reason, the film never received a sequel… that is, until now. The follow-up is now in development and, apparently, star power isn’t the only thing pushing the film forward. There’s some serious firepower involved in creating the sequel as well.
The crew has built an entire village for the high-profile film and, apparently, the whole thing could be burned down, too. According to The Providence Journal, production on the film led to the application for an open burning permit, which has now been investigated by the State Department of Environmental Management.
The department apparently thought the plan was to burn the entire village down and was concerned about the fire’s effect on air pollution. When laying out the concerns, it wanted to know exactly what was used to build the village in order to determine what chemicals may be emitted into the air upon burning.
Ultimately, it turns out Disney’s intention is not to burn everything down but to use a special “fire beam” fueled by natural gas that would make it look as if the village were burning on camera. The fire used would not really burn, allowing multiple takes to be shot and not having a majorly negative effect to the environment. As cool as a huge fire would be to the many pyromaniacs out there, this “fire beam” honestly could be even more awesome. It sounds like something straight out of an Austin Powers film, and I’m all about it.
Even though they aren’t planning on burning their whole set down, Disney is still taking some major precautions. Chase Farm Park, which is where the set is located, will be closed to the public and there will be a fire engine and utility vehicle on set while they are filming the “fire beam” scenes just in case something goes wrong. Police officers will also be patrolling the back entrance and the hiking trail entrances to make sure no one goes into the park and is put in a potentially dangerous situation.
Hocus Pocus 2 is being made exclusively for streaming on Disney+, and fans will be ecstatic to hear that all three of the Sanders sisters will be reprising their roles, even if some other favorite cast members will not be joining in on all the fiery fun. With Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy all reunited and returning for the sequel, chaos and fun should ensue. The film is currently reported to be arriving to the service sometime next year.
