Die Flucht zum Hexenberg

I first saw Escape to Witch Mountain when it came out in 1975. Even though I was 22 at that time, I still remember the warm feelings that were in my heart when the movie was over. It made me feel like a little boy again! Over the years, I must have seen this movie at least 50 times, and I still get heart-warming feelings every time I view it. I have three children, (girls), and made sure that they saw it. They loved it! I originally went to see this movie because I was a fan of Donald Pleasence and Eddie Albert. It was'nt long before I became a fan of Ike and Kim as well. It would be terrific if Disney would do a sequel, (with Ike & Kim).

It always puzzles me how adults can review movies that were meant for a young audience and review it negatively (through adult eyes), completely forgetting about a child's unique and innocent perspective on the film. Shame on them all!!

As a young kid in the 70's, Disney, cartoons and sports were all weekly staples- so many good memories!! Escape to Witch Mountain was one of the first movies I saw in the theater, and was both entertaining and fun. A good adult cast; Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland and the underrated Eddie Albert, all provide good support for our two hero kids who use their powers to not only try to find home again but thwart the evil intentions of those trying to use their powers for their own benefit. The movie is well paced and has the usual hi jinks one expects in a "chase" film. I enjoyed it then and liked it just as much after a recent viewing on cable.

This movie also illustrates how one doesn't need bad language or crude behavior/jokes to appeal to kids. What some people regard as "corny" others find a refreshing change from today's standards of "acceptable" programming.

In 1975, I was 11 years old. "Escape To Witch Mountain" played to a packed house at a now-defunct old theatre called, Miracle. People were sitting on the floor because they sold more tickets than they had seats. I'd never seen anything like that before.

My dad and step mom took me to the movie and we got the last of the few remaining seats. They probably only took me because it was a Disney flick. Had to be harmless, right? Hardly. Afterward, they were puzzled by the seemingly surprising UFO angle. I remember being absolutely transfixed. I'm still fascinated with mysterious stuff like UFOs and ghosts. I wasn't supposed to like that stuff but this film made it impossible for me not to.

And I identified with the kid heroes on a deeper level as well. I, myself, was kind of a ragamuffin misfit kid from a broken home who spent weekends with my dad's new blended family. I felt the siblings' pain at being torn from their home. Tia broke my heart. She was as fragile as me, but far stronger when it really counted. Tony was just hot! Older and very cute at 13. And those powers they had? How cool was that? By the time the credits rolled, I knew I'd seen the best movie ever!

I was lucky enough to have an older cousin who loved movies and hanging out with me and she bought the Disney movie record for me. I don't know if any of you remember these; Disney used to release LPs of the audio track of some of their movies, usually truncated and featuring narration. In the case of "Escape", it was narrated by Eddie Albert. This thing enabled me to memorize every line of Tony and Tia's dialog and much of that of the other characters, too. I still have it, though the sleeve is long lost. It's tough for me to watch the movie without speaking along with the characters (especially Tia), at least in my head.

My cousin also bought me Alexander Key's book. Boy, Disney sure took liberties, didn't they? Key's book is far more serious and developed and meaningful. I tried to take the best parts from the book and the movie and incorporate them together into the Tony and Tia of my imagination. It deepened them. Too bad there was no fanatic outlet back in those days! It was pretty egolesss of Alexander Key for coming together with Disney on the eventual novelization of "Return". Without Key's kind participation, it would of been an empty exercise. I was especially impressed with how he incorporated the issue of Tia needing to learn to speak.

Through the years, I never "Escape" and I saw it as often as I could. For instance, when "Return" was released, Disney sent the movies out as a double feature. I loved "Return", silly as it was, even though there were things in it that really bugged me. Like the sibs being split apart for most of the movie. I loved them together! I think most of the fans of the first film were most affected by their chemistry. I think we wanted to see more of that. Even so, I really liked the Earthquakes, all of them. And it was fun to see Kim and Ike a bit older and even cuter than before. I also remember seeing "Escape" on an odd revival double-bill with "Bambi" at some point in my teen years. I think I would've followed Kim and Ike anywhere. Heck, I even followed them to "Devil Dog, The Hound Of Hell". You have to see the comments page here at IMDb if you haven't already.

I would've seen "Tuff Turf" even if Kim wasn't in it, but that's a convoluted story for another thread. Suffice to say I have seen TT far too many times and many of them were for Kim. Also, I can honestly say I enjoy the TV edit of "Star Trek II" far more than the theatrical cut because it has more Ike. I even had a good time watching "Blair Witch Mountain..." when it hit the web. I have to agree that it might be fun to revisit Tony and Tia with the original actors today. Hey, last year, the new "Twilight Zone" brought Anthony (Billy Mumy) back and introduced us to his similarly gifted, but far less scary (real life) daughter (Liliana Mumy). And all those people came back from the cornfield. Why not Tony & Tia?

I could rhapsodize for paragraphs about both "With Mountain" films, and I may still do so when I get my special edition DVDs. In the meantime, here's hoping that a whole new generation of kids will discover "Witch Mountain" for themselves.

Having seen the new version of this film recently ("Race to Witch Mountain"), I cannot tell you how much of a pleasant surprise "Escape to Witch Mountain" was to me. The new version, in my opinion, lacks any kind of character development and is full of annoying characters that do nothing to help the movie. Essentially, the new version basically did away with the first 45 minutes or so of this film, which helped set up the story, develop the characters, and give us a better sense of why the kids are running away. Also, Dwayne Johnson is incredibly lacking in emotion and character compared to Eddie Albert in this movie. While I admit that most of the special effects in this film may seem cheesy by today's standards, they actually make the film even more fun to laugh at. This film came out of a couple of decades when Disney was at its height of live action movies, when even film of this type they turned out was at least worthwhile. This is an enjoyable movie, with good jobs of acting done by basically all of the characters. Appropriate for anyone in the family, exciting, funny, and likable.

***1/2 out of ****

Honestly, very few things in life fill me with more joy and happiness than re-watching the favorite movies of my childhood during lazy Sunday afternoons, now more or less 20 to 25 years after I last saw them. During the past couple of years, I discovered that I still love them all just as much as back when I was a geeky 9- year-old with an unhealthy interest in macabre kids' films! I'm talking about titles like "Dark Crystal", "The Watcher in the Woods", "Return to Oz", "Island at the Top of the World" and "Something Wicked this Way Comes". "Escape to Witch Mountain" was also on my list of childhood favorites, and re-watching this particular one also became another emotional milestone for me, since I watched it together with my 6-year-old son! We live in Belgium, so he doesn't speak English and he can't properly read subtitles yet, so I pretty much narrated the entire movie to him. But that was a big pleasure since he was clearly just as impressed and intrigued as I was 25 years ago and he truly loved all the legendary scenes, like with the flying RV, the trained bear and the upside down helicopter! Now, nearly a week after having seen the film he still talks about it and he particularly feels proud about having watched a more mature movie whereas his friends at school are still just watching the animated Disney movies!

But anyways, even my more objective opinion states that "Escape to Witch Mountain" is a recommendable film for all types of audiences. It has an engaging plot, good pacing, plenty of versatile action and – most of all – wonderful acting performances. Back when I was 9, I obviously didn't know who Donald Pleasance or Ray Milland were, but over the years I became a horror fanatic and now they are both ranked among my favorite actors of all time. It's good to see that even in Disney movies they remain loyal to their reputations and depict villainous characters that are equally menacing and loathsome as in regular hardcore horror movies! The story introduces two cherubic but orphaned siblings, Tia and Tony, with sensational supernatural powers. The girl Tia can foretell things before they occur and talk to animals, while the boy has telekinetic capacities. Nobody knows where they come from, although Tia has vague recollections of a shipwreck, and they are placed in a boarding school where they clearly don't fit in with the other children. When the girl saves the life of a certain Mr. Deranian (Donald Pleasance) by warning him about an accident about to happen, he is immediately intrigued by her powers and informs his employer Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland). Their intentions obviously aren't peaceful and even though they offer Tia and Tony a giant room full of toys, the girl senses they are in danger and they flee from the estate. With the - initially reluctant – help of lone tourist Jason O'Day (Eddie Albert), they set out on a dangerous journey in search for their true personalities. "Escape to Witch Mountain" is still a great and adventurous kids' movie, accomplished with a lot more heart and passion than nowadays. I hope to quickly track down the sequel "Return to Witch Mountain" as well, as it has an equally impressive cast featuring Christopher Lee and Bette Davis.