Escape.to.witch Mountain

[Heather Mitchell]

Escapeto Witch Mountain is a 1975 American fantasy science-fiction film, based on Alexander H. Key's 1968 novel of the same name and directed by John Hough. It was released on March 21, 1975 by Walt Disney Productions and Buena Vista Distribution Company. It is the first film of the Witch Mountain series.

The film centers upon the siblings Tony and Tia, whose surname they initially know only as that of their deceased adoptive parents, Malone. The children are placed in an orphanage, where they face difficulties stemming from their strange psychic/psionic abilities: Tony can psychokinetically move and control inanimate objects with the aid of his harmonica, while Tia can communicate telepathically to Tony and commune empathically with animals and experiences premonitions. Tia also possesses minor telekinetic abilities. She carries a "star case" with her at all times, which eventually reveals a strange map. Tia has fragmented memories of her early childhood, including an accident at sea and a man she later remembers as the children's Uncle Ben, who they believe drowned during their rescue.

During a field trip, Tia experiences a premonition and warns wealthy attorney Lucas Deranian against a potentially dangerous accident. Deranian informs his employer, millionaire Aristotle Bolt, of the children's unique abilities. Bolt, obsessed with the paranormal, demands that Deranian retrieve the children at all costs. Deranian's detective work leads him to the orphanage, where he poses as Tia and Tony's uncle, though not under the name Ben, and takes them to Bolt's mansion. Though initially suspicious of Bolt's motives, Tia and Tony are lured in by the wealthy trappings of Bolt's home. Bolt eventually reveals that he has been monitoring the children via a closed-circuit television system and that he and Deranian are fully aware of their unusual powers. The night of this revelation, Tia and Tony make an escape, using their abilities to psionically control a wild mustang, guard dogs, and the security fence, as well as using Winkie, Tia's cat, to make the allergic security guard let them pass.

Bolt sends Deranian and a thug, Ubermann, after the children. Tia and Tony hide out in a green-and-white Winnebago motor home owned by a crotchety widower named Jason O'Day. Initially negative toward the children, Jason gradually begins to recognize their powers and the truth of their story; Tia's vague memories of a disaster at sea intrigue him. He agrees to take the children on the route indicated by Tia's star case, which leads them to a mountain known as Witch Mountain, home to unexplainable phenomena. Avoiding Bolt, the law, and an incited mob convinced the children are witches, they eventually make their way up Witch Mountain, pursued by Deranian and Ubermann, as well as by Bolt in a helicopter. As their memories begin to fully return, the children realize their accident at sea did not involve a boat but a spacecraft. Tony and Tia are actually of extraterrestrial origin; the double star emblem on the star case stands for a binary star system where their home planet was located.

Having come to Earth because their own planet was dying, survivors of the journey made their way to Witch Mountain and formed a community to await the surviving children, each pair in possession of a star case to help them find their way to their new home. Tony and Tia are the first to reach their destination. The children are reunited with their Uncle Ben (who survived after all, thanks to an "accommodating" shark whom he'd telepathically asked for help) and board another spacecraft. When Bolt and the others leave in defeat, Jason witnesses the spaceship's return as it flies over him to say a final goodbye then landing nearby where the inhabitants now live.

Escape to Witch Mountain is based on the novel by Alexander Key. Significant differences from the book include its tone and plot elements. For example, in the book, the children are befriended by Father O'Day, an athletic, young Catholic priest, rather than crusty widower Jason O'Day. The children's ship is shot down, rather than crashed, and the children are olive-skinned, though with light-colored hair, rather than fair-skinned and blonde-haired. In the book, Deranian is the main antagonist, and he is working for a shadowy European cabal who are trying to capture the children for their special powers, instead of for Aristotle Bolt.[2] The novel is set along or near the Atlantic Coast of the United States, whereas the film was shot along the Pacific Coast in California.

The film earned a Total Lifetime Gross at the Domestic North American Box Office of $20,000,000. The film charted on the All time Domestic North American Box Office at Rank No. 145 for 'Rated G' films under the MPAA.[8] The film earned $8,500,000 in rentals at the North American Box Office.[9]

Okay, this is embarrassing, but "Escape to Witch Mountain" [and its sequel], along with "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" were my favorite Disney movies growing up. Yes, I know I could have chosen better ["Mary Poppins" and "The Jungle Book" ran a close fourth and fifth], but there you have it. But consider yourself lucky: my daughter's favorite thing to watch at present is friday night wrestling, and she thinks it's real, including the ridiculous back stories for each of the wrestlers. I had to buy her a glow in the dark poster for her favorite, John Cena. Seriously. It's all low-brow over at our place, all the time.

Ah, old Disney movies. My favorite.

JJC> Glad to know I'm not the only person who found that creature with the eyeballs to be nightmare inducing. What a frightening (if beautifully made) film.

Eileen> you're not alone: "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" was my favorite growing up too. I loved the way the armor came to life. And the animated animals on the island. And the songs. Most of which I still remember (the things my brain retains are slightly frightening -- and the list definitely includes lyrics from almost every Disney movie).

Also topping the list: Flight of the Navigator. That *never* got old.

I have to weigh in with worse: i, on many-a occasion had my father sit down with me to watch the disney "the sword in the stone." yes. my favorite's disney movie had the message "brain over brawn." you can tell what sort of child i was.

It's reassuring to see that others love that film, and other tacky Disney fare as well. Somehow as a kid I convinced my siblings that I, like the kids of Witch Mountain, possessed telekinetic powers and ESP. I also owned the record of the Bedknobs and Broomsticks soundtrack (yes, record: I played it on a Disney record player with a Pluto theme; the little arm that held the needle was shaped like a bone). Ah to hear me sing "Portobello Road, Portobello Road, street where the riches of ages are stowed, artifacts to glorify a regal abode ..."

My only Witch Mountain memory involves reading the "novelization," probably in 4th grade...

I also owned the record of the Bedknobs and Broomsticks soundtrack

Ah, a slight gap in generations. I had a 7" of The Rescuers, which, in a bit of aprs coup, I remember liking because of the gothic element: the pit with the skull in it where our (human) hero nearly bites it. Never saw it in the theater, but I must have worn the record out on my Disney themed record player with a Mickey (?) theme (the playing arm was a yellow-gloved limb terminating in a...mouse? termite? sasquach? potlatch?). I must have owned the Pete's Dragon record as well.

As for childhood Disney movies: well, the 70s were rather a desert, but I remember their Alice in Wonderland, which I saw in its second rerelease (1979?),* and which I remember as the first movie I hated for aesthetic reasons: I just thought it ruined the book.

Ah to hear me sing "Portobello Road, Portobello Road, street where the riches of ages are stowed, artifacts to glorify a regal abode ..."

karaoke in Kzoo?

(* as long as I'm remembering and not grading, I remember the greatest double feature I'll ever see: 1981, Clash of the Titans and Lord of the Rings. I was probably 10 years old, and nothing will ever top it. I'm inclined to say that whatever medieval wonder I draw on my work comes from the well that evening sunk in my soul. Likewise with the sweet, sweet bathos of that last clause)

MKH> YES on Flight of the Navigator. Just, yes.

Karl> My parents bought me Alice in Wonderland and I watched it once was scared out of my mind, and refused to touch the thing again. And it takes a lot to scare me: the next movie that scared me was Being John Malkovich.

Never seen Escape to Witch Mountain, though it sounds like something I would have loved. Way to get Kid #1 making those comparative approaches early!

I never was a fan of the Witch Mountain movies, nor of "Bedknobs & Broomsticks," nor of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"--but some of the others mentioned already really bring me back with great resonance. Yes, "Flight of the Navigator," ""The Rescuers" (and "Rescuers Down Under"), and "The Sword in the Stone" were among my tops, too. Right up there with them was "The Chipmunk Adventure" and--I still do not know why my parents let me watch this movie--was "Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold" in all of its 80s adventure glory.

I, of course, could go on... but I won't mention all of the other late 70s/early 80s favorites that held such a sway over my young life ("Star Wars," "Indiana Jones," and "Back to the Future" as the top trilogies)...

dan>Thank god! I'm not the only person who made their parents watch The Sword in the Stone over and over again. My sisters still whine when I ask to watch it at home (I know they really love it, and are just hiding it from me). A legend was sung, of when England was young and knights were brave and bold....

If I'd gone on to #3 on the list, Sword in the Stone would have totally been there. Followed closely by Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I can *recite* that movie. And of course was scared out of my wits by the banshee, as well as the Death Coach.

Karl>Pete's Dragon! Such an awesome movie. I think I also know all the songs to that by heart.

And hasn't the option of karaoke at kzoo been raised? Semi-seriously? I'd be totally game.

Liza> Thank god I'm not the only one with Flight of the Navigator!

3a8082e126