Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Thackery Binx is an integral part of 1993’s Hocus Pocus, and what made him look and move like a real cat was shared with a hit '90s TV show character. The Sanderson Sisters and their machinations to take over Salem were at the center of the 30-year-old hit movie Hocus Pocus, making it a Halloween classic with their hilarious villainous approach and fumbles.
Thackery Binx being a guiding light to Dani, Max, and Alison in Hocus Pocus guaranteed his presence in cat form throughout the majority of the movie. To achieve that, a mix of various real cats and animatronics was used, especially for the scenes where Thackery Binx had to speak to the kids, to share his story or instruct them on how to deal with the highly-quotable Sanderson Sisters.
Sabrina The Teenage Witch's Salem Uses The Same Animatronic Cat As Hocus Pocus' Binx The teen fantasy comedy Sabrina the Teenage Witch reused the Hocus Pocus animatronic cat for Salem Saberhagen , who acted as Sabrina’s familiar despite being a sassy warlock trapped in the body of a cat. With both Thackery and Salem presenting as black cats, the ABC then WB comedy managed to reuse one animatronic cat already made famous in Hocus Pocus.
To give life to the sardonic Salem, Sabrina the Teenage Witch used multiple animatronic puppets, built of foam rubber and rabbit fur . The two main animatronic cats were operated by multiple puppeteers, both stationed on set hidden behind sofas or tables to maneuver Salem, or off the set for those who controlled the mouth, ear, and tail movements of the warlock-turned-cat.
Binx & Salem Have Oddly Similar Backstories Besides the animatronic cat that Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Hocus Pocus have in common, the stories of Binx and Salem are also eerily similar, as both cats were once humans. As Thackery Binx explains in Hocus Pocus, he was turned into an immortal black cat by the Sanderson Sisters when he tried to save his little sister Emily from the trio.