Bette Midler Resurrects Winifred Sanderson and Blows People’s Minds

Yahoo Life
Halloween: Bette Midler as witch Winifred Sanderson.
Bette Midler as the witch Winifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus at the Waldorf Astoria Hulaween celebration. (Photo: Getty Images)

If there ever were a more convincing play for a sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, Bette Midler made it Friday night. As a part of this year’s Halloween weekend, the actress dressed up as Winnie Sanderson in a costume deserving of its own award.

The look was Midler’s option for a party at the Waldorf Astoria in celebration of the holiday. It seemed like just the latest of her hints that she would welcome a redux on the cult classic. To pull the look off completely, she opted for the same purple robe she wore in the film, complete with the heart-shaped red hair, and big teeth (to eat the children, don’t you know). It was the perfect idea for the annual Hulaween bash Midler sponsors in support of the New York Restoration Project, an NYC-based environmental and green space organization.

The 70-year-old spared no detail, going so far as to commandeer a broom for the night. And it’s not the first time she’s made a play to reconjure Hocus Pocus in the public space.

We all remember when she did a Reddit AMA back in 2014 and said that she and all the witches of Hocus Pocus would be up for getting the coven back together. “Inundate the Disney company, because I have canvassed the girls and they are willing to do it, but we have no say in it, so if you want a HOCUS POCUS 2, ask the Walt Disney company,” she wrote.

And in case you think she’d changed her mind, Midler was harping about a sequel a full 23 years after the film’s release. “You don’t get to see women doing slapstick too much, and in the movie, you can see that we’re having a blast,” she told Billboard. “For the life of me, I can’t understand why there’s not a sequel. All the shackles were off, as Donald Trump likes to say, and we were allowed to be as wild as we wanted to be. It was a perfect storm of fun.”

What do you think? Would you be down for Bette and Sarah Jessica Parker casting another spell on you?

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.