Escape to Witch Mountain
Encyclopedia : E : ES : ESC : Escape to Witch Mountain
Escape to Witch Mountain was originally a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was made into a film by Walt Disney Productions in 1975, directed by John Hough. A remake directed by Peter Rader was released in 1995.
Summary
The story is about two orphans, Tony and Tia, who have moderate paranormal abilities. After their foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Malone, die, they are placed by social services in a juvenile detention home under grim, unwholesome conditions. Both have repressed memories of their past, but discover clues -- a map and a huge amount of money -- hidden in the bottom of a leather box owned by Tia. When a man claiming to be the brother of their deceased father shows up at the detention center to take custody of them, they instinctively know he is not their uncle and has ulterior motives. With the assistance of a tough-nut inner-city Irish priest, the pair run away, following the map's route leading towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. As their memories begin to return, they realize that they are actually of extraterrestrial origin, and in the end they find their way to their own people.
As with most of Alexander Key's stories, the embattled protagonists find that most of the people they meet are untrustworthy, greedy and hateful. This plotline somewhat resembles the fiction of Zenna Henderson and there is some speculation that Key was influenced by her writings.
In the film version, the children are adopted by a millionaire who plans to use their abilities for his own purposes. They escape from his clutches and are helped toward their destination by a crotchety Irish widower who is initially reluctant to let these two juvenile hitchhikers into his life and Winnebago camper. The story has been considerably cleaned and lightened up from the original novel, and the children's powers have been amplified.
Sequel
A sequel was made in 1978, titled Return from Witch Mountain, starring Bette Davis and Christopher Lee. Author Alexander Key had nothing to do with this film, though he did write a second novel based on the film's screenplay. The plot concerns Tony and Tia visiting a large city when their trip is interrupted by a vision of a falling man. Tony leaves Tia in their taxi while he goes to investigate, and ultimately saves the man's life. His intervention is witnessed by an evil scientist, who kidnaps him and uses drugs and a mind-control device to make Tony his slave. Tia befriends a Disneyfied "gang" whose members help her search for Tony. In the end, Tia must free Tony and prevent both a major gold robbery and a nuclear power plant incident.
A made-for-TV sequel called Beyond Witch Mountain was made in 1982, and was intended to be the pilot for a TV series based on Escape To Witch Mountain, which never materialised.
Cast of the original version (1975):
- Eddie Albert
- Paul Sorenson
- Don Brodie
- Sherpherd Sanders
- George Chandler
- Terry Wilson
- Lawrence Montaigne
- Alfred Ryder
- Reta Shaw
- Walter Barnes
- Denver Pyle
- Kim Richards
- Ike Eisenmann
- Donald Pleasence
- Ray Milland
Cast of the 1995 remake:
- Robert Vaughn
- Elisabeth Moss
- Erik Von Detten
- Lynne Moody
- Perrey Reeves
- Lauren Tom
- Vincent Schiavelli
- Henry Gibson
- Brad Dourif
National Society of Fans of Witch Mountain
The [National Society of Fans of Witch Mountain] began in April 2006 and is a service for all dedicated fans, which only costs a one-time fee of $2.00. It consists of an online database dedicated to connecting fans of Escape To Witch Mountain and its sequels.External links
- [The Witch Mountain Experience - An Extensive Fan Site]
- [The National Society of Fans of Witch Mountain]
- [The Official Ike Eisenmann Site]
- [How much was Alexander Key influenced by Zenna Henderson?]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.