Omg, the Hocus Pocus 2 cast have said what Dani’s role would have been if she had returned

After 30 long years of waiting for Hocus Pocus fans, Hocus Pocus 2 is finally here – but fans were desperate for the original kids to return and Thora Birch has shared that she had planned to initially come back to Salem and reprise her role as the iconic, stroppy and brave Dani Dennison. Thora Birch had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, and now what would have been her future co-stars have shared what role she would have had in the sequel!

‘You’re the ugliest thing that ever lived, and you know it!’

Thora Birch kinda steals the show in the first Hocus Pocus as Dani, which makes sense considering the actress would go on to get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in American Beauty. The three actors who play the main kids in the sequel, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham, told EW what Dani was meant to do when she returned in early drafts of the Hocus Pocus 2 script.

Thora Birch as Dani Dennison

Escobedo says: “She was supposed to be our school teacher, I remember talking to Anne about it being a thing where she was our teacher, and we went to her for help.” She also said that in the early drafts, the character of Gilbert didn’t appear at all.

Director Anne Fletcher has already spoken about how she tried to get as many of the original cast on board as possible, but that it was logistically difficult.”We wanted to weave in all of the people that the fans loved, and when you sat back with all the ingredients and story, you’re like, ‘how do we make this work?’ “It was very difficult to try to have them be a part of it because we did talk about it — painstakingly. You’re trying to stay on track with story, even if they came in as a cameo. People would say, ‘They could be in the background!’ And I’m like, really? You’re going to put the leads of the first movie in the background and be satisfied? You’re not going to be satisfied, you’re going to be angry.”

Hocus Pocus and the disappointing Hocus Pocus 2 are available for streaming on Disney Plus here.

Recommended stories by this writer:

• Only Winnie Sanderson herself could get full marks in this Hocus Pocus trivia quiz