The film “Hocus Pocus” is a classic that has stood the test of time since it’s debut in 1993. For me, it’s an absolute favorite and my go to movie each Halloween season. Some have watched this movie so much that we almost feel like we know the characters! Well, how would you like to see some of your faves in person? The House of Mouse Expo THIS WEEKEND is bringing you four beloved characters from Hocus Pocus, to meet in person plus do a panel about the movie! Exciting isn’t it? Here’s the breakdown!
Doug Jones “Billy Butcherson”
Doug Jones is perhaps one of the most brilliant actors of our time. Some say he is this generations “Boris Karloff”!
Doug’s career spans numerous years in television and on film, currently Doug can be seen as Cmdr. Saru in CBS’ “Star Trek Discovery” (perhaps one of the best “Trek” series to hit airways)! He can also be seen in the Oscar winning film “The Shape of Water” in which Doug teams up again to bring an original story to life by director Guillermo del Toro! He is also set to star as Count Orlok in the highly anticipated remake of “Nosferatu”!
Fans will long remember Doug for his work as THE SILVER SURFER in FANTASTIC FOUR RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER. He’s also the life and soul of ABE SAPIEN in HELLBOY and HELLBOY II THE GOLDEN ARMY (based on the popular Dark Horse comic book, returning to his role of ABE SAPIEN as well a taking on 2 other roles, that of THE CHAMBERLAIN and THE ANGEL OF DEATH for director Guillermo del Toro.)!
In the film he wants to be remembered for, Doug portrays 2 characters in the Oscar winning film PAN’S LABYRINTH (in the native tongue of Spanish “El Laberinto del Fauno”). He plays BOTH Pan (the faun creature) and The Pale Man. Little trivia fact: He learned ALL his lines for the film in Spanish while comparing it to a special script prepared for him in English!!!! Another fan favorite is the Halloween classic, HOCUS POCUS, in which Doug plays the goofy zombie, ex-boyfriend of Bette Midler, BILLY BUTCHERSON. And his earliest comic book movie appearance was alongside Danny De Vito as a faded circus clown in BATMAN RETURNS.
In addition to these very popular films, you can also find Doug as the very smart alien, COCHISE, on TNT’s critically acclaimed series, Steven Spielberg produced FALLING SKIES, season 3 (Summer 2013) and season 4 (Summer 2014). Other notable TV guest roles for Doug include William Barrow on TEEN WOLF, Grady Edlund on FEAR ITSELF, Dominique Wilkins on THE NEIGHBORS, and the lead Gentleman on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER’s Emmy-nominated “Hush” episode!
Charity Work
1) The Doug Jones Scholarship #8366, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
This is an endowed scholarship that when it reaches it’s goal, it will pay out it’s earnings as an annual scholarship to Theatre & Dance students who meet the requirements.
2) Street Grace, Atlanta, Georgia
The organization trying to abolish the sex trafficking of minors in the state of Georgia, then the whole USA. This was the group we partnered with to film The Candy Shop.
Jason Marsden “Binx the Cat”
You’ve seen him. You’ve heard him. Appearing across platforms such as television, feature film, animation, video games, commercials, talking toys, promotion, narration, and internet; as a result, Mars is affectionately referred to as “That Guy From That Show”.
At age eleven, Jason Marsden relocated from Warwick, RI, to Hollywood to pursue his dream of being an actor. Starting with commercials, on camera and radio, Marsden landed his first recurring role on “General Hospital” as Alan Quartermaine Jr.. Soon after, Mars was cast as Eddie Munster on the 80’s revamp, “The Munsters Today” with John Schuck and Lee Meriwether, in an 86 episode, three season run! Marsden’s career continued to blossom when he joined the cast of the critically respected “Eerie Indiana” (now on Amazon). From there, Marsden continued to work on pilots and series, guest staring and recurring roles, and appearances in feature films through the mid 90s! To name a few, “Blossom”,”Baywatch” “Tales from the Crypt”, “Ally McBeal”, “Will & Grace”, “Just Shoot Me”, and most notably his recurring appearances in “Full House”, “Boy Meets World”, and ultimately joined the cast of “Step by Step”.
In the feature film world; Jason played a young Billy Crystal in Crystal’s directorial debut “Mr. Saturday Night”. In “Fun With Dick and Jane”, Jason botches Jim Carrey’s shoplifting attempt. At age 20, Jason landed the job of a lifetime when Sir Ridley Scott cast him in “White Squall”, opposite Jeff Bridges along with an ensemble of talent. The film shot in 8 countries around the world in 4 months. Recently, Marsden appeared in Steve Taylor’s indie hit, “Blue Like Jazz”.
During his 30 plus years as an actor, Jason built an outstanding legacy in Voice Over. Lending his pipes to hundreds of animated cartoon series, feature films, video games, toys, and counting! Amongst the most popular, Mars is the voice of Goofy’s son, Max, in “A Goofy Movie” and the follow up “Extremely Goofy Movie”, Thackery Binx in “Hocus Pocus”, “Kovu” the rogue lion in “Lion King 2”, Chester McBadbat in “Fairly Odd Parents”, Nermal in “The Garfield Show”, Conrad ‘Duke’ Hauser in “GI JOE: Renegades”, and appearing in episodes of “Ultimate Spiderman”,”Batman: Brave and Bold”, “Avatar: Legend of Korra” to name a few more. A fan fave is Jason’s performance in Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award winning “Spirited Away”, as Haku the mysterious boy/dragon. Jason absolutely loves working in animation! Getting to working with the talented voice over artists that he used to listen to while watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid is a dream come true! Current projects include: futuristic speedster, Impulse/Kid Flash in DC’s “Young Justice”, “Transformers – Rescue Bots”, “Monsters U”, “Secret Life of Pets”, “DuckTales”, and the popular video game, “Skyrim”.
Marsden currently lives in Nashville, TN. Between gigs, he produces live music events and original web and television content through his company Mars Presents.
Tobias Jelinek “Jay”
Tobias Jelinek’s professional break came at age 15 when a Disney scout spotted him on stage in a local Santa Barbara stage production. The encounter lead to Jelinek’s first film role as Jay in Disney’s classic HOCUS POCUS (1993).
Beginning with his recurring role on STRANGER THINGS (receiving a SAG Award as a member of Best TV Ensemble in Drama) TOBIAS JELINEK has been recognized for bringing vivid, dynamic characters to the screen and stage in both drama and comedy. His recent credits include the memorable train-hopping gang leader ‘Morpheus’ opposite Zach Galifianakis on FX’s award-winning BASKETS, the villain ‘Boots’ on CW’s ARROW, and a number of chameleon guest characters on popular network and cable shows including NCIS, NCIS:LA, MAJOR CRIMES, MACGYVER, and Showtime’s I’M DYING UP HERE.
His recent comedy credits include guest performances on Comedy Central, THE MINDY PROJECT, and his regular role on Youtube sensation RHETT & LINK’S BUDDY SYSTEM with Molly Shannon and Tony Hale.
Currently, he plays Dennis Bishop on Paramount Network’s AMERICAN WOMAN starring Alicia Silverstone. His feature credits include the lead role in Academy Award Winner Tom Woodruff’s Fire City: End of Days. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.
Larry Bagby “Ernie/ICE”
You may recognize Larry Bagby from acting roles in films and television shows as “Walk The Line” (Marshall Grant), “Saints and Soldiers” (Pvt. Shirley “Shirl” Kendrick), “The Young and the Restless” (Frank Ellis) and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (Larry Blaisdell) but the actor long ago realized he’s happiest when he’s writing songs.
Born and raised mostly in California, Bagby was exposed to the musical world early on in life; his father played in a dance band and Bagby was known to jump on stage and start entertaining the crowd. However, it was Bagby’s debut performance as “Oz” in the play “The Wizard of Oz” at the tender age of 8 that really got him interested in music.
Since that time, Bagby has been writing, singing and playing his songs. He recorded his first 4- track when he was in junior high and over the years his musical talent has progressed into prolific songwriting and live performances. Bagby’s songs have been included in several independent film projects (“The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “The Break Up Artist,” “Pirates of The Great Salt Lake”), and he received national airplay for his vocal rendition of “America Stands Tall.” He also performed an original song, “Counting My Lucky Stars” (written by Mike Stinson) alongside the music of Tim McGraw for an episode of the CBS hit series “Cold Case.”
His recent project is a music video “Where Do I Belong” released December. 2012 (YouTube). The song is written by Don Cromwell (who wrote for and played bass with Air Supply). The music video sends a strong message about man’s struggles in his pursuit of his dreams. Bagby delivers with an outstanding acting performance and a smooth strong voice. With talent that goes beyond belting out tunes, Bagby is preparing to release his third full-length CD, DREAM IT AWAY, in 2013. Self-produced with Curt Piar, and featuring appearances by songwriter and bassist Don Cromwellbass, the CD follows his 2005 debut WHERE I STAND and PLAYER WITH A HEART, the 2009 album in which Bagby also partnered as producer with Curt Piar.
Taking the listener on a musical journey through his life, Bagby describes his music as “country by the sea.” Inspired by his California upbringing and the legendary sounds of Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, along with the more modern melodies of John Mayer, Zac Brown Band and Dave Matthews, Bagby successfully blends the upbeat resonance of rock and roll with the richness of alternative country allowing his vast catalogue to encompass a wide array of musical genres.
As an artist, Bagby has opened up for such acts as Hunter Hayes, Glen Campbell,
The Bacon Brothers, Mark Chesnutt, Pat Green, Collin Raye, Joe Diffie, Restless Heart, Hal Ketchum, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Nail, Luke Bryan and more. He has also worked with The Tennessee Three, Johnny Cash’s original band, and Lady Antebellum, who penned a track on Larry’s second CD release, PLAYER WITH A HEART. Bagby also worked worked with Charles Kelly (of Lady Antebellum) and Tyler Hilton (who played Elvis Presley alongside Bagby in “Walk The Line”. Another Bagby’s artisitic abilities is to write and sing songs in Spanish. Bagby performed six shows, in Spanish, for the inmates at the Val Verde Correctional Facility in Del Rio, Texas on July 11, 2011.
Larry Bagby has been featured in Country Weekly, GAC, on the website of the late Johnny Cash and other music-related sites. He signed autographs at the CMA Music Festival, sharing a booth with Montgomery Gentry and became a fan favorite during SXSW, Toronto’s Indie Week and the Sundance Film Festival.
Bagby is currently in the studio working to finish Dream it Away. He is in the process of securing more live shows to introduce his unique style of country music to new audiences and creating innovative pathways to combine his acting and musical talents.
The first-ever House of Mouse Expo kicks off November 27th and 28th 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (9a.m. VIP) at Embassy Suites by Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista South. This inaugural expo event is brought to you by the creators of The Main Street Mouse and will combine all the magical properties from the big house of mouse (Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel) under one roof to make the ultimate fan event! Get your tickets now at www.houseofmouseexpo.com!
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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