Kathy Najimy Explains Why Mary's Crooked Mouth Is Backwards In 'Hocus Pocus 2' After Fan Speculation

As the first looks at the sequel to the 90s classic Hocus Pocus have appeared online, many fans noticed a very specific discrepancy between the original and the new chapter—actor Kathy Najimy's crooked mouth.

Specifically, fans noticed Najimy's character Mary Sanderson's crooked mouth is crooked in the wrong direction, a sort of mirror image of the original character.

Naturally, tons of speculation amongst fans ensued about what this all means.

But in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Najimy revealed the explanation couldn't be more simple.

Speaking to EW, Najimy said Mary's crooked mouth was an improvisation she came up with while preparing to shoot the 1993 original about the hijinx three witch sisters played by Najimy, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker get into on Halloween night.

But there's nothing "amok" about her new mouth posture.

As she told EW:

"It's on the other side mainly because it's so hard for me to do it on the side I did it on 30 years ago. I'm sure the fans are going to go into deep detail about why it's on the other side."

"It's just something I came up with the first week. This is a big comedy, so you don't have to be subtle or have a 40-page Shakespearean backstory."

But if you're disappointed, don't worry.

The switch to the new side is justified in the sequel in a hilariously and quintessentially Hocus Pocus way.

"We can justify it because there's a scene at the beginning where Winnie [Midler] slaps me, and my mouth goes to the other side, and then she slaps me again and it goes to the other side, and sticks."

There are few things more canoncially Hocus Pocus than Better Midler's character smacking her sisters, so this sounds perfectly plausible.

On Twitter, people are loving Hocus Pocus 2.

Fans are celebrating the film's premier on Disney+ as if it's a national holiday regardless of what direction Najimy's mouth goes.

In addition to its superstar trifecta of witches reprising their roles, Hocus Pocus 2 also features VEEP's Sam Richardson and Tony Hale, Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham and RuPaul's Drag Race alums Kahmora Hall, Kornbread Jeté and Ginger Minj.