Thora Birch Birch appeared in the fantasy comedy "Hocus Pocus" (1993) at the age of 10, opposite Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. The film saw her play the younger sister of a teenage boy who inadvertently resurrects a villainous trio of witches. "Hocus Pocus" rated average with reviewers and made a modest US$39 million in the US, but became a cult film due to strong DVD sales and large television following. In the 1994 comedy "Monkey Trouble", Birch portrayed a girl who adopts a Capuchin monkey trained to pick pockets and burglarize houses. The movie had a mixed reception,
Walt Disney Animation Studios became the highest-grossing first-issue animated film to that point. Katzenberg, Schneider, and Roy Disney set about changing the culture of the studio, increasing staffing and production so that a new animated feature would be released every year instead of every two to four. The first of the releases on the accelerated production schedule was "Oliver & Company" (1988), which featured an all-star cast including Billy Joel and Bette Midler and an emphasis on a modern pop soundtrack. "Oliver & Company" opened in the theaters on the same day as another Bluth/Amblin/Universal animated film, "The Land Before Time"; however, "Oliver" outgrossed