Winter of the Witch

I can't believe I found this movie! I have been thinking about it for years. We used to watch it on rainy days in elementary school (Grandview Elementary School, Manhattan Beach, California). The only people I knew who shared a memory of this movie were my old classmates but now I see we weren't the only ones that were left with indelible images from the "psychedelic pancake" movie. I didn't even know the original title until today. I really want a copy of it. I heard they have an old reel to reel copy of it in the archives of the Manhattan Beach library. My memories of the witch, the psychedelic dancing splotchy things, the pancakes, are so vivid. It was such a treat whenever it rained and the whole school got to see this movie. We never got tired of it. I am so stoked to know the memory of this awesome movie is alive through out the USA.

I could cut and paste everyone's statements into this text. I wonder if there are other IMDb films that pull together movie orphans like this one has? I, too, watched this annually in Elementary School and NEVER forgot it. I remembered the song that accompanied the freeze frame dot frenzy and the sound of the running film projector in the background. I also remember thinking it was out of date---I saw it in 1982-84 so no one dressed like that anymore. I was a melancholy kid at times and remember thinking how great it would be to eat mood-altering pancakes--this movie really opened up my eyes relative to I suppose the way LSD did for the adults who made the film!! I found someone who had a VHS and got a copy...it holds up to memory. The other movie he sent me was "ciphor in the snow." I can't believe they showed us that film now that I'm viewing it through the eyes of an adult. It breaks your heart. Sigh--thanks for a place where people love this movie as much as I. I'd never met anyone else who remembered seeing it besides my brother.

i watched this movie when i was in grade school too. i've wanted to see this movie again for a long time. i've looked for it for a long time, and this is the first time i have proof that it was a real movie and not a figment of my imagination. I have told my husband about it,and i'd love to show him the movie. i've asked people if they remember it, but most haven't. My older siblings remember seeing it too, but no one could remember the title of the movie. For a long time i thought it was a lost cause. Does anyone have a copy that can be downloaded to the computer? i've seen that it is available to buy, but i'd love to see it without having to pay $20 for a 22 minute program.

For about the last 10 years I'd been having vague visual recollections of what I thought was a film I must have seen sometime between grades K-2 (circa 1975-1978) at Pinecrest Elementary School in East Lansing, Mich. It involved a kid named Nicholas who had some connection with a witch who made pancakes. I also kept picturing a three-chimneyed haunted house with pink and purple polka dots flying all over the place. Since nobody else who was in grade school at the same time seemed to have a similar recollection, I figured I was either hallucinating or simply a few fries short of a Happy Meal. So I finally googled the keywords "witch" and "pancake" and came across this book, "Old Black Witch," that featured a similar-sounding setting, with a kid named Nicky (and -- according to commentators on Amazon.com -- a racist subtext). So I punch the author's name into IMDb and I'll be damned, the film actually exists! I'm not delusional after all! I don't even remember if the flick was any good (it was certainly no "Paddle to the Sea" -- the other school-library classic from the period), but I'll give it a 10 just for the fact that it's not just a figment of my imagination.

I'd give it a 20 if I could actually get my hands on a VHS or DVD version.

I would say I can't tell you how excited I was to stumble upon this comment section, but it appears many of you already have. I have been googling "witch, movie, pancakes" for years and only today, did I finally find this bevy of info from like-minded souls. I'm of the group that other people thought was crazy because no one I asked had for the last several years ever heard of it. And why did everyone see this movie in elementary school and ONLY elementary school? My school was in Sacramento, CA, and this was in the 1970s, just like everyone else. And I think I had completely forgotten about The Red Balloon! Gawd, I feel so validated! Now I can't wait to run out and tell everyone how uncrazy I am!