Escape to Witch Mountain
Tia and Tony Malone are two orphaned youth with extraordinary powers who are escaping authorities and a scheming millionaire trying to make their way to a place only Tia sees in her dreams.
Film making 18/25
Cinematography 17/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 24/25
Total 77/100
Tia Malone, played by Kim Richards, is the stronger physic of the two orphans while Tony, played by Ike Eisenmann, can perform some telekinesis as well as communicate to his sister using just his mind. Tia has a faint dream about being in a ship wreck as their Uncle Bene tries desperately to help the kids onto a small boat in rough seas.
The two children have spent years in a foster home until their foster parents died and the children are moved to an orphanage. The two siblings make some trouble for a bully using their powers and meet a millionaire by telling him not to get in his limo when they see him on the street near a movie theatre.
The millionaire, Aristotle Bolt played by Ray Milland, tells the driver he will walk after hearing the kids tell him he is in danger if he goes in the vehicle. As Aristotle walks away a tow truck careens wildly and plows in the side of the limo where he would have been sitting.
The millionaire tells his assistant to pretend he is their uncle and takes the kids in and has rooms for the kids made up so they are happy staying at the Bolt mansion. Aristotle believes the kids have super powers and wants to exploit them for his own gains but the children know something is up as they are sure the assistant, Lucas Deranian played by Donald Pleasance, is not their uncle.
The children flee the mansion using their powers to escape with the help of their cat Mr. Winky and travel to the mountain using a map on the box that Tia carries. The box or star case as they know it is a strange object they have never been able to open until an accident at the orphanage broke the cover off to reveal a map on the side.
After escaping the mansion they meet up with an old widower, Jason O’Day played by Eddie Albert, who helps them to their destination. When arriving near the mountains from the map they have several close calls with both locals who believe they are witches from Witch Mountain, a local legend, and the millionaire who is still chasing them.
In the final chase scene someone is helping them and makes the camper the kids and Jason are in fly and turns the helicopter that Bolt and his assistant are in upside down. They meet the man who is responsible for these incredible feats that the kids cannot perform to find out that it is their long lost Uncle Bene who explains everything to Jason and the kids.
He thanks Jason for helping the kids and Mr. Winky decides to stay with Jason to keep him company, Jason tells their Uncle that he will help the other kids that were lost just as Tia and Tony were. When Tia and Tony were young they were in a flying saucer that crash landed on earth along with several others and the families of the children are still searching for them.
Escape to Witch Mountain was a big hit for the Walt Disney Company that was released in 1975 and is based on the novel by Alexander H. Kay. The film had some pretty good effects for the time but was such a big hit more for the family values and good old fashioned Disney character and charm.
Today the film is still just as cute but the effects are quite interesting to see from these early movies of Disney with their first rate special effects of the time. The scenes are a lot of what would be considered cheesy for today’s standards but at the time it was some of the best special effects and did look okay.
The film is fun and the bonus content on the DVD is a really fun look back for many of the actors, director and others as they reminisce about the film. Kim Richards and Ike Eisemann give a lot of insight into the film making as as they look back at the effects, being a child actor of the 1970’s and the film as a whole.
The Walt Disney Film Classics edition of Escape to Witch Mountain includes a making of feature, a conversation with John Hough, audio commentary while the film plays and a few other features. There are plenty of bonus features and additional content that really adds to the fun and entertainment of the film that makes this a really worthwhile feature.
Just looking back at the special effects and seeing the child actors all grown up and remembering back on the film set and how they made the movie is great. The additional content also includes a featured look at the Walt Disney studios sets from 1975 that is a rare treat.
The Walt Disney Family Classics edition also contains a coupon you redeem online for a free movie pass to see Race to Witch Mountain starring The Rock Dwayne Johnson. The coupon is valid through 4/4/09 so you have till April 4 to redeem and use the movie pass which makes this DVD a great value indeed.
The Walt Disney Family Classic edition contains plenty of bonus features as well as the film in its original standard definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and a French language track with French or Spanish subtitles. Escape to Witch Mountain is a great film and one of those wholesome family entertainment features you wish they would have more of.