10 Hidden Details About The Sabrina The Teenage Witch Movie You Never Knew

Melissa Joan Hart is one of the coolest actresses to come of age in the 1990s. She is known for tons of film and television roles, but two of her most nostalgic characters are Clarissa from Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Sabrina is always a great choice when it comes to sitcoms, but it is especially fun during the fall and Halloween season. The show ran from 1996 to 2003, and some fans don’t even realize or remember that there are also three Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV movies. These hidden details will surprise avid fans of Salem, Hilda, Zelda, and Sabrina.

10 The First Movie Was Before The Series

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is the title of the franchise’s first movie. The film premiered in April of 1996 on Showtime, and the series premiered in September 1996 on ABC as part of TGIF.

The other two Sabrina movies aired while the series was on television. Sabrina Goes to Rome first aired on ABC in October 1998, and Sabrina Down Under had a September 1999 premiere date.

9 Sabrina Sawyer, Not Spellman

It is easy to miss the finer details of the pre-series movie, which is available on Amazon Prime and Tubi. The movie is incredibly different from the television series. One of the discrepancies is Sabrina’s last name.

Everyone knows her as Sabrina Spellman, which is easy to remember since she is a witch who performs spells. The title character is Sabrina Sawyer in the first movie, though. It’s hard to imagine her not being a Spellman, so some fans just forget this little detail.

8 Totally Different Setting

The setting of the series and the first movie are not the same at all. In the film, Sabrina has just moved away from Massachusetts to Riverdale, Archie’s hometown from Archie Comics. Some may not know that Sabrina originated in Archie Comics. On the television show, she resides in the fictional town of Westbridge, Massachusetts.

Sabrina consistently lives with her aunts, but their house in the movie looks nothing like the one fans know and love from the show. Sabrina’s high school feels much larger in the movie, too.

7 Hilda & Zilda Aren’t Played By Caroline Rhea & Beth Broderick

Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick are known for their work as Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda, respectively. They add so much character to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but they weren’t around yet for the show’s movie.

Sherry Miller played Aunt Hilda, and Charlene Fernetz played Aunt Zelda. Oddly, the voices of the movie aunts aren’t too far off from those of the TV aunts. It’s weird seeing other actors play them in the movie, even though the film did come first.

6 Jenny Is Marnie

Plenty of Sabrina fans lament the fact that Jenny Kelley (Michelle Beaudoin), Sabrina’s best friend, leaves the series after the first season. The second season introduces Valerie as Sabrina’s new high school best friend.

Michelle Beaudoin and Melissa Joan Hart are the only actors to appear in both the movie and the television series. Beaudoin’s character gets a name change, though. She isn’t Jenny until the show; she is Marnie in the movie.

5 The Mean Girl Is Katie, Not Libby

Libby Chessler (Jenna Leigh Green) is the famous mean girl during Sabrina’s high school years. The brunette cheerleader is nowhere to be seen in the movie. A blonde named Katy Lemore is the movie’s mean girl, and she is way less believable than Libby (but still pretty mean).

This character change is just another element that gives the movie such a different aura. To add some levity to the situation, the movie’s teacher, who is never seen on the show, is named Mr. Dingle.

4 Ryan Reynolds Plays The High School Hunk

A couple of years ago, fans started to discover that Ryan Reynolds was, indeed, in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch movie. Since Harvey is painted as a less than cool guy in the movie, Seth plays the high school hunk.

While it is fun to see Ryan Reynolds in his youth, his character is actually a liar and a creep who just wants to see some action on the night of the school dance. Sabrina gets away and makes his car go crazy with her powers, and then she salvages a lovely romantic evening with Harvey (who is played by Tobias Mehler, just in the movie).

3 Salem Has A British Accent

Salem sees the most interesting change from the movie to the TV show. The spunky black cat is famously voiced by Nick Bakay on the show. Anyone who watches the movie for the first time will notice that something is off about the cat’s voice.

A different voice actor provides the voice for Salem in the movie and gives the cat a British accent. Salem has a smaller role in the movie than he does on the show. Fans love how the Salem they know adds even more comedic charm to the show’s episodes.

2 Sabrina Learns She Is A Witch In The Middle Of The Night

One of the significant facets of the TV movie is that Sabrina spends most of it with her magical powers. After she has already turned 16, Sabrina finds out that she is a witch in the middle of the night, in a scene with her aunts.

On the television show, Sabrina learns about her powers on the day of her 16th birthday, in the first episode.

1 Messes With The Canon

There are some obvious complications with the canon of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The character technically already has her powers before the series begins, yet the entire first episode’s storyline is Sabrina learning she has powers. It doesn’t seem possible that those levitation scenes could happen twice! The movie also does not have the time or space to fill out Sabrina’s backstory with her parents the way that the show does.

It is safe to say that true fans side with the canon established in the beloved television show. Since it is a sitcom, it has a much lighter, more fun tone than the movie, but the movie is still great for those who want to see where the live-action take on the character Sabrina began.

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