Customer Reviews

Escape to Witch Mountain Special Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

To coincide with the new Witch Mountain film being released to theaters, Disney is re-releasing "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) as a special edition loaded with well-done extras.

The story is about Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and his younger sister, Tia (Kim Richards), two orphans who have recently lost their foster parents as well. While getting used to their new home, an orphanage (run by Disney favorite Reta Shaw), the children draw the attention of an attorney, Lucas Deranian (Donald Pleasence), whose life is saved because of the children's esp powers. Deranian's boss, Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland) is an evil (and wealthy man) fascinated with paranormal powers. He pretends to be the children's uncle so that he can take custody of them and use them for his own gain. Meanwhile, Tia's star case (a metal purse) reveals a map to Witch Mountain, providing clues to their origins. Once Tony & Tia discover Bolt's plot to exploit them, they escape his mansion and with the help of a crusty (only on the outside!) widower, Jason O'Day (Eddie Albert), they try to find their way home to Witch Mountain. Bolt and the greedy townspeople (hungry for Bolt's financial reward) chase after the children. Will they make it home?

Sure, the special effects will not be quite as dazzling to current generations used to digital, but the story and its universal themes more than make up for the film's 1970's appearance. What child couldn't relate to having a hard time fitting in with others, feeling lost and just wanting to find the comfort and warmth of home? Richards and Eisenmann have excellent chemistry, and are ably supported by veteran actors Ray Milland, Eddie Albert, and Donald Pleasance (who is extremely menacing in his understated performance). The scenery is also fantastic, as much of the film is shot on location in Carmel and Palo Alto. And as for style...the opening credits still pack a wallop--WAY COOL!

The extras are fantastic, giving a very complete look at how the film was made.

Audio Commentary:
Fantastic memories from Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, and director John Hough. Very enjoyable to listen to, filled with fun behind the scenes info, such as Tia's star case currently residing in the Disney archives, and learning that Kim's younger sister played Tia in the flashbacks. What is fantastic is that both Kim & Ike have excellent recall of what occurred during filming.

"Making the Escape" (26:41): What a fantastic making-of featurette. Interviews with Richards, Eisenmann (who now goes by the name Iake Eissinmann), red-headed bully orphan Dermott Downs, and director John Hough. Hough tells how Disney wanted a grittier and darker feel to "Witch Mountain," which is why he got the job (thanks to previous films, including "Legend of Hell House"). Kim & Ike share very warm memories of making the movie (Ike is even moved to tears when discussing the themes of the movie and people's reaction). Kim remembers Disney as the best studio and most loyal, with a family feeling; obviously, these were special times for these two actors who also enjoyed being part of the special effects used in the film. Interestingly enough, Jodie Foster was considered for Kim's part until Foster took another project instead.

"Conversations with John Hough" (6:52): Interview with the director, who discusses his philosophy on filmmaking. "Get passionate about a subject, and don't give up." He attributes his long career to making a variety of movies and gambling on risky projects. He aptly feels that good directors must be part psychologists, to understand the actors and crew.

"Disney Sci Fi" (2:45): A montage of clips from films such as "Escape to Witch Mountain," "The Rocketeer," "Tron," "The Cat from Outer Space," and "The Navigator."

"Disney Effects--Something Special" (11:03): Harrison Ellenshaw, a visual effects designer who also happens to be the son of famous Disney matte artist Peter, discusses the history of visual effects at the Disney studio. "20K Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) was the first visual effects film shot on the Disney lot. Ub Iwerks was the genius who accomplished many of the dazzling effects at Disney, and the man behind the the process lab. "Mary Poppins" and other films show how rich and artistic matte paintings could look on film, giving a special perfection not possible with location filming. "Dick Tracy" (1990) was pretty much the last Disney film to use the traditional photochemical processes & matte paintings. Today, most of these effects are handled digitally. A clip from "The Rookie" is shown, illustrating how a grip is digitally removed from the film. "Fix it in post" has become the standard line after a mistake is made.

"Disney Studio Album 1975": Shows clips from what was going on at the Disney Studio during that year: "Escape to Witch Mountain," "The Apple Dumpling Gang," "Strongest Man in the World," "One of our Dinosaurs is Missing," Debut of America On Parade (Disneyland), Mission to Mars (Disneyland), "No Deposit No Return" in production, "Crazy With the Heat" (reissue), "Pluto's Christmas Tree" (reissue), "Pluto's Housewarming" (reissue), "The Sky's The Limit" (TV), "The Boy Who Talked to Badgers" (TV), "The Secret of the Pond" (TV), and Welcome to the World--Space Mountain Opens at WDW.

"Pluto's Dream House" (1940): Mickey wants to build Pluto a new doghouse, and with the aid of an unseen Genie in a lamp, accomplishes his goal. Although enjoyable, it is extremely curious that Disney puts this on the DVD with no background or explanation, especially with its politically incorrect depiction of the genie (who sounds like he wandered off the set of Amos & Andy) and Pluto being painted in blackface and getting dubbed "Mammy." And yet, "Song of the South" remains in the vaults.

Sneak Peeks:
Featuring previews of Bolt, Disney XD, Tinkerbell & The Lost Treasure, Morning Light (inspiring true story of Roy Disney putting together a team of 15 inexperience sailors for a trip from LA to Honolulu), Snow White (on Blu-ray), and Bedtime Stories (Adam Sandler).

Pop-Up Fun Facts

Specs:

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (English & French), French & Spanish Subtitles. Audio is good and clear, but not especially outstanding.

Video: Widescreen (1.75:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs. Picture is clear with good color, but definitely has a 70's soft feel.

The sequel, Return from Witch Mountain Special Edition is also now available.

The classic Walt Disney sci-fi film "ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" (1975) is released on DVD to help celebrate the theatrical release of "RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" (the third `WITCH MOUNTAIN' film which can be considered a new storyline or a re-imagining of the first film).

"ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" would be a family sci-fi film to utilize the latest special effects at that time and bring popular British director John Hough ("THE AVENGERS", "THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE"), known for his work on television episodes and horror films to direct a family film.

Based on the original novel by Alexander Key, "ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" focuses on two children Tony (played by Ike Eisenman) and Tia Malone (played by Kim Richards) who have supernatural powers.

Tia can communicate with Tony via telepathy and has the ability to work things in her mind and sense the future, while Tony has the ability to create or levitate things while playing the harmonica.

Both Tony and Tia (with their black cat named "Winkle") move to an orphanage and try to watch each other's back but with a bully at the orphanage always challenging both brother and sister, Tia tends to use her power to help Tony in the public eye. Such as helping him levitate many feet high to catch a ball during a baseball game or during a fight with a bully, levitating a baseball glove and while it's in the air, using it to hit the bully. Of course, it doesn't help that the kids of the orphanage see this and thus, they tend to look at the two as strange people.

Throughout the course of the film, Tia has images in her mind of their childhood. Not being able to understand what is happening, these fragments of memories are all she has of their past. Something that both really can't remember.

While on a school trip, Tia gets one of her premonitions about a guy who will be hurt in his car. Both Tony and Tia try to find the guy named Lucas Deranian (played by Donald Pleasence) and hopefully prevent him from getting into his car. Tina pleads with the guy that she senses things and he should listen to her and not get in the car. He listens to her and next thing you know, a tow truck rams into the car.

Deranian is surprised by the children's power and he tells his boss, multi-millionaire Aristotle Bolt (played by Ray Milland) about the children. Bolt who likes to use psychics to help him make more money is now interested in the two children and thus he and Deranian concoct a scheme with faked paperwork to say that Deranian is the kid's long lost uncle.

At first the kids are happy to have a new home, especially in a mansion and having all they can ever want. But Tina starts to sense the future and learns that Bolt is an evil man that will try to exploit them for their powers and possibly hurt them.

She is so afraid that she tells Tony that both of them must leave the mansion. At first Tony feels that maybe Tia is just feeling weird because they have everything that they want but he knows better not to question his sister's premonitions and thus decides to help her escape from the mansion.

Thus Bolt has all his men looking for the children and bring them back to the mansion but the kids manage to use their powers to help them out of the private property and hide in a camper by a disgruntled old man named Jason O'Day. O'Day is asked by Deranian if he has seen the children but O'Day has not and doesn't want to be bothered.

O'Day just wants to travel and be left alone and as he parks near the beach, he finds a cat (which belongs to the children) and when he goes to feed it, he finds out that the children are hiding in his camper. At first, O'Day wants nothing to do with them but being an older man who never had any children of his own, he is surprised by the children's power and tries to help them escape from Aristotle Bolt and the police who are looking for them.

And thus the film becomes a cat versus mouse storyline of O'Day and the children trying to escape and go to witch mountain before they are caught.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" is a 35-year-old film that is featured in widescreen 1:75:1 and enhanced for 16×9 televisions. The film looks well-preserved for its age but of course, special effects from that time do look quite cheesy in today's standards, but one could imagine how in 1975, the special effects featured were top of the line. Also, the film benefits from being shot outdoors, so the picture quality is colorful.

As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with a secondary French language track. I didn't recall hearing many special effects utilized in the rear channel but dialogue and effects were quite clear coming from the front channels.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" includes several special features. Many which were included in the 2003 DVD release but there is one special feature that is exclusive to the 2009 DVD release. Included are:

* ALL NEW Pop-Up Fun Facts - For those who want to watch the film with fun facts popping up on the bottom of the screen.
* Making the Escape - A pretty lengthy featurette with interviews with director John Hough, Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards and more. Hough talks about working with Disney, while Eisenmann and Richards talk about working with the talent, the animals and their overall experiences.
* Conversations with John Hough - A short featurette about Hough's past experience in television and film and working on a Disney film.
* Disney Sci-Fi - A short music video of various clips of Disney Sci-Fi
* "PLUTO'S DREAM HOUSE" - An animated short featuring Mickey Mouse and Pluto. Mickey Mouse finds a magic lamp and has the lamp build a dog house for Pluto.
* Disney Effects - Something Special - A very intriguing featurette about special effects in Disney films, especially the utilization of painting backgrounds on glass to how special effects were done in "Parent Trap" and other films.
* 1975 Disney Studio Album - A short musical featurette featuring stills from all films that were shown in 1975.
* Audio Commentary - Commentary by John Hough, Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards. It appears that Hough's commentary was recorded separately from Eisenmann and Richards. But the three talk about their experiences and some tidbidts of certain scenes from the film.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" is indeed a classic Disney sci-fi film.

As a film such as "MARY POPPINS" was instrumental in wowing audiences for its musical and its special effects back in 1964. "ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" was a Disney film that would be a family film but utilize quite a bit of special effects to make the supernatural abilities look natural on film. With the use of wires and the use of editing tricks available in 1975, children were mesmerized by it.

And since it was a Disney film, it made it that much special for children and families, to have a film that would attract people of all ages. Something that Walt Disney has always wanted for his films...animated or live.

Of course, the special effects used in 1975 looks dated compared to what we have seen Disney do these days but considering how films were at that time, it's how things were.

But for many children, like Elliott and E.T. were for children in the 80's, Tony and Tina were popular characters for children in the mid-70's. The fact that these two had special powers was quite exciting at the time and the film became a big hit.

It resonated well with adults and children and It was quite interesting for me because I was a young child when this film first came out and I had the opportunity to watch the film on DVD together with my six-year-old. He absolutely loved the film and asked if we could watch the second film afterwards.

Now, for those who own the 2003 DVD release, you may not need this DVD because there really is no major addition in terms of special features but for those who are looking forward to watching Dwayne Johnson in "RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" in 2009 and have never watched the original films or its been too long since you have last seen it, then definitely pick up both classic Witch Mountain films.

As for "RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN", both "ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" and "RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN" both come with a free ticket coupon (attached to the slipcase cover) to download a certificate (ticket) in order to watch the latest film at a participating theater for free.

Overall, "ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN" is a fun and enjoyable film and despite being nearly 35 years old, it's a film that families can watch with their children now and still be entertained.

Definitely a Disney classic worth having in your DVD library.

While it is a truth universally acknowledged that a good novel is likely to be destroyed in Hollywood, at least this version of EtWM was made with respect to Key's novel. It's a good movie--Eddie Albert was good, and the kids were well-cast; the plot is the plot of the book (unlike other versions). If you have even a passing fancy for the plot, run, don't walk to your nearest source of Alexander Key novels. His sci-fi books are STILL some of my favorites, after 30 years. The Forgotten Door is still in print, and I've recently managed to dig used copies of some of the others up as well. They are absolutely worth it.

I first saw this movie when I was ten, and had a crush on Kim Richards because of it. Heck, I wanted to be a child actor for Disney because of it.

This movie was made when Hollywood knew how to make movies well, relying on good acting, excellent writing, and innovative special effects, instead of the lazy computer-driven special effects and lackluster writing and performances so prevelent in movies today.

The commentary by Richards and Eisenmann are entertaining and insightful, particularly when they both said they were a little afraid of Bolt (Milland) in real life (he probably did that on purpose to get a better performance out of the kids.)

At the time, I really dug the kids' powers, and I remember trying to move things with my mind and trying to get my friends at school to hear my thoughts.

This movie is truely a classic, standing alone out of all the other live Disney films. It was a mistake for them to attempt a remake, when everyone's comparing it to the original. Even Return From Witch Mountain was a disappointment, when compared to the original. You don't even attempt a remake or even a sequal, unless you have something to say that will blow away the original, or at least build on it. Escape remains the classic and the standard, as E.T. and Tron were.

This is a very popular Walt Disney film. If you were a child of the 1970's, you must have seen this film.
Even though Walt himself had died in 1966, the production company, Buena Vista, still made movies. Any movie advertised as "Walt Disney's" was a movie you knew you just had to see.
Tony Malone (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia Malone (Kim Richards) are exceptional children. Their foster parents have just passed and Tony and Tia now have a new home at the Pine Woods Orphanage. They are greeted by mrs. Grindley (Reta Shaw) who makes them feel welcomed. However, they have a kid bully, Truck (Dermott Downs) they have to deal with.
As you will see, Tony and Tia have special mental and physical powers to help them out of dangerous situations.
A spiteful man, Mr. Bolt (Ray Milland) wants the children as his own and tells his henchman (Donald Pleasence) to acquire the children.
Once at the mansion, the children have a strong feeling they should not be trusting Mr. Bolt as he is only interested in their powers.
They must escape. With the use of Tia's Star Case and the special help of the black cat, Winkie, they all make a getaway. They enlist the help of a man, Jason O'Day (Eddie Albert) to help them get to Witch Mountain.

Also in the cast: Lance Kerwin, Walter Barnes, Paul Sorensen, Al Dunlap, Kyle Richards, Denver Pyle.

Followed by:

Return from Witch Mountain Special Edition (1978), Ike Eisenmann & Kim Richards return for a new adventure.

Beyond Witch Mountain (1982-tv) Tv-movie and an episode with Edward Albert returning as "Jason O'Day". Andy Freeman & Tracey Gold are "Tony" & "Tia". It was broadcast on CBS, "Walt Disney".

Escape To Witch Mountain (1995-tv). Remake tv-movie broadcast on The Disney Channel. Erik Von Detten and Elizabeth Moss as "Danny" & "Anna".

Race to Witch Mountain (Two-Disc Extended Edition + Digital Copy) (2009). Alexander Ludwig as "Seth". AnnaSophia as "Sara". Ike Eisenmann as "Sheriff Anthony". Kim Richards as "Tina".

Note: Ike Eisenmann & Kim Richards also appeared in Devil Dog; Hound of Hell (1978-tv).

It was a gift and well received by our 8 year old grandson...he liked it.

My grand kids loved this movie. I remember seeing it as a kid and enjoyed it as well.

A brother and sister team Tia and Tony (Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann) find themselves orphans. They remember their foster parents and only glimpses of their previous life. They are also aware that they have abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Tia carries a star-case that may give a clue to where they came from. The duo may have stayed in the orphanage forever however, they have a chance encounter with a stranger, Mr. Deranian (Donald Pleasence) and then their adventure begins.

Mr. Deranian's employer Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland) on the surface he appears benevolent it soon they find he has a nefarious plans to use their powers for evil or profit. It behooves them to escape and continue their search for their previous life. In their effort to find, where they came from, they also help another stranger Jason O'Day (Eddie Albert) get back his emotional life.

Will they ever find their way home or is he destined to run forever?

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This movie is among one of Disney's best presentations. One advantage is that it was made before somebody tried to be politically correct or force some politically correct idea down our throats.

As with many of the earlier movies one nicety is that the credits appear before the film so that you can anticipate the actors and the music that you are about to hear.

Because now day's people have larger television, screens it is a little easier to see the wires that hold up items that are supposed to be floating. Nevertheless, this does not interfere with the entertainment.

One advantage of this DVD and DVDs at this time is the added voice overview, "Conversations with John Hough", which gives insight to what they were trying to produce as they made this movie. Listen to the overview and then watch the movie again and you will gain more insight and still not lose any of the entertainment value.

Escape to witch Mountain may be superseded by a new version but it will never be duplicated or exceeded for pure entertainment.

The Uninvited ~ Ray Milland (1944)
Teahouse of the August Moon ~ Eddie Albert [VHS]

I actually like this film better than the new one with Dwayne Johnson. Here. the story feels a little more realistic and less campy, and I actually like the two child actors in this one better. It's about two orphan kids who get adopted by this man who seems rather generous, but turns out to be really selfish, wanting to take advantage of their unique gifts. Good film!

The only reason I purchased the Witch Mountain series(Three films) is because
they were produced by Walt Disney; needless to say, I am a devoted Walt Disney fan.
Two children with extraordinary powers of clairvoyance come to the attention
of a dasterdly millionaire who seeks to lure the children to his estate in order to
exploit these powers for his own purposes. Ray Milland aptly portrays this believable, money grabbing, character. While attempting to escape the clutches of
this demon, the children meet a friendly camper, Eddie Albert, who takes the
children under his wing. As the story of the children's origin and powers develops,
the townspeople label them witchs. Then a totally other worldly person appears to
save the day; this person possess even greater powers than the children and proceeds to take them and the audience on a fantastic trip that is truly other
worldly and dazzaling.