Disney subsidiary Freeform has the exclusive TV rights to the 1993 classic ‘Hocus Pocus’ and hoo-boy are they exploiting that to the max for their upcoming October-long ’31 Nights of Halloween’. Don’t worry, this isn’t a TBS/’A Christmas Story’ situation where they will be airing it non-stop for days on end– well not right off the bat. But the Bette Midler romp will air almost every day through the month of October, along with a plethora of spooky favorites, from Disney and other studios, including the original ‘Ghostbusters’ movies, the ‘Scooby-Doo’ flicks, ‘The Haunted Mansion’, ‘Hotel Transylvania’ and more. Disney recently acquired 20th Century Fox, and to that end, will be airing multiple episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror.”
Freeform’s audience is mainly female, and range from tweens to twentysomethings. As such, ’31 Nights of Halloween’ mixes all-ages fare like ‘ParaNorman’ and ‘Monster House’, with edgier installments, including the Freeform premiers of ‘Scream’, ‘Scream 2’, and ‘Scream 3’, originally released by Miramax, a company that was owned by Disney. Also making their Freeform premieres are ‘Goosebumps’, and ‘Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins’.
RELATED: Doug Jones Thinks That A “20 Years Later” ‘Hocus Pocus’ Sequel Could Happen
Tim Burton fans should be happy, as ’31 Nights of Halloween’ includes a number of his creations– ‘The Addam’s Family’, ‘Addams Family Values’, ‘The Corpse Bride’, ‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’– including a couple you may have forgotten, like ‘Dark Shadows’, and ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’.
In addition to Burton’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, Freeform will also air the original ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’. Either is kind of a stretch for Halloween-themed programming, but I suppose they are both about candy, and Willy Wonka is a popular Halloween costume.
Even bigger stretches include the films ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Finding Dory’, ‘The Incredibles’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Moana’, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, ‘National Treasure’, and ‘Zootopia’. But maybe they just wanted to mix in a few non-holiday films to break things up.
But finally, on Halloween day, which is on a Thursday this year, Freeform will air ‘Hocus Pocus’ on a loop for the entire day.
You can find Freeform’s entire ’31 Days of Halloween’ schedule below:
Tuesday, Oct. 1
12:30 p.m. – “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”
3:00 p.m. – “Monster House”
5:05 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
6:45 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Monster’s Inc.”
8:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Wednesday, Oct. 2
11:30 a.m. – “Scared Shrekless” – Freeform Premiere
12:00 p.m. – “Monster House”
2:05 p.m. – “R.L. Stine’s Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House” – Freeform Premiere
4:10 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
5:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:00 p.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon – Freeform Premiere
Thursday, Oct. 3
12:30 p.m. – “Edward Scissorhands”
2:40 p.m. – “ParaNorman”
4:45 p.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
6:50 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
8:55 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
Friday, Oct. 4
11:00 a.m. – “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins” – Freeform Premiere
11:30 a.m. – “Hook” (1991)
2:35 p.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
4:40 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
6:45 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
8:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Saturday, Oct. 5
7:00 a.m. – “ParaNorman”
9:00 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
11:10 a.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon
1:40 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
3:45 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
5:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:00 p.m. – “31 Nights of Halloween Fan Fest” – Freeform Premiere
9:00 p.m. – “Goosebumps” – Freeform Premiere
11:30 p.m. – “Monster House”
Sunday, Oct. 6
7:00 a.m. – “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
9:30 a.m. – “Monster House”
11:30 a.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
1:30 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
3:35 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
5:45 p.m. – “Goosebumps”
8:15 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
10:20 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Monday, Oct. 7
11:30 a.m. – “Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic”
12:30 p.m. – “31 Nights of Halloween Fan Fest”
1:30 p.m. – “Dark Shadows” (2012)
4:10 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
6:20 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
8:25 p.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
Tuesday, Oct. 8
11:00 a.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
1:00 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
3:00 p.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
5:30 p.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
8:00 p.m. – “Iron Man”
Wednesday, Oct. 9
11:00 a.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
12:40 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
2:45 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
4:55 p.m. – “Iron Man”
8:00 p.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon
Thursday, Oct. 10
11:00 a.m. – “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins”
11:30 a.m. – “R.L. Stine’s Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House”
1:40 p.m. – “Monster House”
3:45 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”
6:15 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:25 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
10:30 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story of TERROR!”
Friday, Oct. 11
11:00 a.m. – “Scared Shrekless”
11:30 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”
2:00 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
4:05 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “The Incredibles”
6:45 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story of TERROR!”
7:15 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
9:20 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
Saturday, Oct. 12
7:00 a.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
9:30 a.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “The Incredibles”
12:10 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
1:50 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
3:55 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
Saturday Scream-a-thon!
6:00 p.m. – “Scream” – Freeform Premiere
8:40 p.m. – “Scream 2” – Freeform Premiere
11:20 p.m. – “Scream 3” – Freeform Premiere
Sunday, Oct. 13
7:00 a.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
9:35 a.m. – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
11:10 a.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
1:15 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
3:20 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Dory”
5:25 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
7:30 p.m. – Disney’s “Moana”
10:00 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Monday, Oct. 14
11:30 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
1:40 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
3:45 p.m. – “Matilda”
5:50 p.m. – “Mrs. Doubtfire”
8:55 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
Tuesday, Oct. 15
11:30 a.m. – “Matilda”
1:40 p.m. – “Mrs. Doubtfire”
4:45 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
6:50 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
8:55 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
Wednesday, Oct. 16
11:00 a.m. – “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007)
1:40 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
3:50 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
5:55 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
8:00 p.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon
Thursday, Oct. 17
11:00 a.m. – “ParaNorman”
1:05 p.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
3:10 p.m. – Disney’s “101 Dalmatians” (1996) (Live Action)
5:15 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
6:50 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
8:55 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
Friday, Oct. 18
11:00 a.m. – “31 Nights of Halloween Fan Fest”
12:00 p.m. – “National Treasure”
3:00 p.m. – “Scream”
5:40 p.m. – “Scream 2”
8:20 p.m. – “Scream 3”
Saturday, Oct. 19
7:00 a.m. – “ParaNorman”
9:05 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
11:15 a.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon
4:15 p.m. – Disney’s “Zootopia”
6:45 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:55 p.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
11:25 p.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
Sunday, Oct. 20
7:00 a.m. – “31 Nights of Halloween Fan Fest”
8:00 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
10:05 a.m. – Disney’s “Zootopia”
12:35 p.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
3:05 p.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
5:35 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
7:45 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
9:50 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
11:55 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
Monday, Oct. 21
11:00 a.m. – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
12:35 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
2:40 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
4:45 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
6:25 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
8:30 p.m. – “Goosebumps”
Tuesday, Oct. 22
11:00 a.m. – “Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic”
12:03 p.m. – “Scared Shrekless”
12:35 p.m. – “Monster House”
2:40 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
4:20 p.m. – “Goosebumps”
6:50 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo”(2002)
8:55 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
Wednesday, Oct. 23
11:00 a.m. – “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”
1:30 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
3:30 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
5:30 p.m. – Disney’s “Moana”
8:00 p.m. – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” marathon
Thursday, Oct. 24
11:00 a.m. – “Matilda”
1:10 p.m. – Disney’s “Moana”
3:40 p.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
6:15 p.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
8:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Friday, Oct. 25
11:00 a.m. – “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins”
11:32 a.m. – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
2:05 p.m. – “Ghostbusters II”
4:40 p.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
6:45 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:55 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
Saturday, Oct. 26
7:00 a.m. – “Monster House”
9:10 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
11:20 a.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
1:25 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
3:30 p.m. – Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
5:35 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
7:40 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
9:45 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
11:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Sunday, Oct. 27
7:00 a.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
9:00 a.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
11:05 a.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
1:15 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
2:55 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
5:00 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
7:05 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
9:10 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
11:20 p.m. – “Dark Shadows” (2012)
Monday, Oct. 28
7:00 a.m. – “Dark Shadows” (2012)
11:30 a.m. – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003)
1:30 p.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
3:10 p.m. – “Scream”
5:40 p.m. – “Scream 2”
8:20 p.m. – “Scream 3”
Tuesday, Oct. 29
7:30 a.m. – “The Haunted Mansion”(2003)
11:00 a.m. – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
12:35 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
2:40 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
4:45 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
6:50 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
8:55 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
Wednesday, Oct. 30
7:30 a.m. – “Scooby-Doo” (2002)
11:00 a.m. – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
12:30 p.m. – “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”
2:35 p.m. – “The Addams Family” (1991)
4:40 p.m. – “Addams Family Values”
6:45 p.m. – “Hotel Transylvania”
8:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Thursday, Oct. 31 – Hocus Pocus Marathon!
11:30 a.m. – “31 Nights of Halloween Fan Fest”
12:30 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
2:35 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
4:40 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
6:45 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
8:50 p.m. – “Hocus Pocus”
Source: Entertainment Weekly
