Warning: This article contains spoilers for Hocus Pocus 2. Read at your own risk!
Who is Mother Witch in Hocus Pocus 2?
Hocus Pocus 2 really hits a major vibe as it releases in time for Halloween this year, bringing new life to the cult classic released in 1993. Yes, it’s been almost three decades since the iconic Sanderson sisters graced the screens and this time, they get a major origin story. Dating back to 1653, the origin story of the Sanderson sisters show how they became an iconic trio. Winifred Sanderson was a stubborn 16-year-old back then as she wouldn’t want to marry John Pritchett, a town bachelor. This led to their banishment from Salem, along with her sisters, Mary and Sarah, and they ran into the woods to escape the angry townsmen. At the sacred woods, as the people would call it, they encounter Mother Witch, from a bird, she immediately becomes a human. Mother Witch sings the “Come Little Children” song, a familiar tune to everyone who watched the original cult classic, and she grabs Sarah to eat her. Well, thankfully, she changed her mind as she felt something different from the sisters.
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She felt the inherent power of Winifred, possibly that of Mary and Sarah, too, so she gave the girls the Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy. See, Mother Witch had no coven as opposed to the lore of witches having one but she paved way to a birth of a new one with the Sanderson sisters.
Played by Hannah Waddingham, known for Emmy-award winning role in Ted Lasso as Rebecca Welton, she portrayed Mother Witch in Hocus Pocus 2 for one reason: her own daughter. In an interview with The Zoe Report, Hannah Waddingham revealed that she took the role of Mother Witch because her 8-year-old daughter really loved the first movie, “I do keep warning people that I am so very much blink-and-you’ll-miss-me, but I did it for my daughter, who is obsessed with the original." See Mother Witch in Hocus Pocus 2, now streaming on Disney Plus.
