The Witches (1990) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The boy was turned into a mouse because he witnessed the witches' secret meeting and discovered their plan to transform children into mice. When his friend Bruno accidentally consumed the enchanted candy and transformed, the Grand High Witch spotted the boy and cast a spell on him as well, turning him into a mouse to silence him and eliminate the witness.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, the Grandmother warned that witches would stop at nothing to silence those who discover their true identities.

• boy transformation
• grand high witch spell
• mouse curse

Daisy was already a mouse long before the boy's transformation. She revealed to the grandmother that she was formerly a human girl named Mary who was transformed into a mouse by a witch approximately one year earlier. This explains why she was so knowledgeable about the witches' ways and could guide the boy through the hotel's ventilation system.

Foreshadowing: The boy noticed Daisy seemed unusually intelligent and aware for a mouse, hinting at her human origin.

• daisy mouse
• mary transformed
• witch transformation

The Grand High Witch was transformed into a rat. During the final confrontation, the boy launched a potion directly into her throat, causing her to transform into a rat like the other victims. Her own cat Hades then turned against her, attacking his former mistress as she had previously abused him.

Foreshadowing: The Grand High Witch frequently abused Hades, setting up his eventual betrayal.

• grand high witch transformation
• anne hathaway witch
• rat transformation

No, the transformation cannot be reversed. The grandmother attempted to create an antidote using her herbal remedies and magical knowledge but discovered that the witches' spell was permanent. Once transformed, the victims remain in their mouse form forever.

Foreshadowing: The grandmother's own story about Alice Blue, who was transformed into a chicken, established that witch transformations are permanent.

• permanent transformation
• reversal impossible
• spell antidote

Bruno's parents rejected him because they were terrified by his mouse form and refused to believe he was their son. When the grandmother brought him to them hoping for reunion, they recoiled in fear and could not accept him. This prompted the grandmother to adopt Bruno alongside Daisy, creating a new family unit.

Foreshadowing: The witches' potion was designed to make children 'harmless' to their families, suggesting the transformation would strain human bonds.

• bruno family
• mouse form rejection
• adoption

The room key with number 666 belonged to the Grand High Witch's lair. The number symbolically represents evil, aligning with the film's depiction of the witches as the embodiment of wickedness. The mice seized this key during the chaos, using it to access the witch's chamber and steal her potions and treasures.

Foreshadowing: The ominous atmosphere surrounding the hotel's upper floors hinted at something sinister.

• room 666
• witch lair
• key symbolism

The boy poured the Grand High Witch's potion into a large bowl of pea soup served to the witches during their meeting. When the Grand High Witch consumed the soup, she began transforming and inadvertently passed the potion to the other witches through shared serving bowls. This chain reaction caused all the witches to transform into mice simultaneously.

Foreshadowing: The witches' gluttony and willingness to share food among themselves made this plan feasible.

• potion sabotage
• soup plan
• mass transformation

The grandmother told the story of Alice Blue from her childhood, a girl who was transformed into a chicken after accepting candy from a stranger. This traumatic event taught the grandmother that witches are real and dangerous. The story served as a warning to the boy and justified her preparedness against witch threats.

Foreshadowing: This backstory establishes that the grandmother had personal experience with witch evil and knew how to protect herself.

• alice blue
• grandmother past
• witch attack

The witches' potion preserved the victims' human intelligence and speech despite transforming their physical form. This allowed the boy, Bruno, and Daisy to communicate verbally with each other and with the grandmother. The potion was specifically designed by the Grand High Witch to make children 'harmless' while keeping them aware of their fate.

Foreshadowing: The Grand High Witch emphasized creating a potion that would make children ' harmless but aware' as part of her twisted plan.

• mouse speech
• human intelligence
• conscious transformation

Hades, the Grand High Witch's cat, turned against her because she had been abusive and cruel to him throughout the film. When the opportunity arose during the final chaos, Hades attacked his former mistress as she was transforming, joining the side of the mice and the grandmother.

Foreshadowing: The Grand High Witch was shown kicking and mistreating Hades multiple times, establishing her cruelty toward even her own companions.

• hades cat
• witch betrayal
• final battle