Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Focus On The Hocus Part I!

Kathy Najimy

Best known to horror fans (and probably most fans in general) as the child-smelling Mary Sanderson in Disney’s Hocus Pocus, Katy Najimy is a multi-talented actress and comedian whose career has spanned over three decades. Teaming up with fellow comedian Mo Gaffney, Najimy first gained attention with The Kathy And Mo Show, a feminist play.

Najimy’s career really took off when she landed the role of Sister Mary Patrick in 1992’s Sister Act alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith and its 1993 sequel. In that same year, she would take on the role of Mary Sanderson in Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker. The trio terrorized the town of Salem, Massachusetts as they sought out the souls of children only to be thwarted by a young boy, his sister, a cursed cat, and the girl that he has a crush on in the town.

Najimy would continue to see success on both television and the big screen with roles in Veronica’s Closet, Chicago Hope, Rat Race, VEEP, and Hope Floats, among others. She is also a successful stage actress having performed in multiple productions on Broadway.

Najimy has also proven to be an exceptional voice actress as well. She has given her voice to characters on numerous animated films and television shows over the years including multiple Disney productions. Her biggest voice role to date is portraying Peggy Hill on the popular Fox series King of the Hill. She voiced the character for all of the show’s thirteen seasons.

As previously mentioned, Najimy has performed in a number of Disney animated productions. She has also appeared in numerous live-action productions for the company as well. Some of those roles (live-action and animated) are in productions such as The Scream Team (2002), Hercules (1998 TV series), Descendants (2015), Tinker Bell (2008), and The Rocketeer (2019). She is also rumored to be hopping on a broom once more as Mary Sanderson in the upcoming Hocus Pocus 2.

Najimy was my favorite Sanderson sister and she’s also one of my favorite actresses in general. While she doesn’t seem to gain as much attention as her famous co-stars in Hocus Pocus, she’s definitely no slouch when it comes to her career.

Thanks for checking out my post. Which witch will I focus on in tomorrow’s post? You’ll have to check in at noon in order to find out!