Escape to Witch Mountain
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Escape to Witch Mountain is 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. Another remake began pre-production in July of 2007, set to be directed by Andy Fickman. The movie will begin filming in March 2008 and is set to release March 13, 2009.
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[edit] Novel
The story is about two orphans, Tony and Tia, who have moderate paranormal abilities. Tony possesses the ability of telekinesis, though he can only access it through playing music, whereas Tia can telekinetically unlock any door as well as communicate with any mammal. Whilst Tony can talk normally, Tia must communicate via telepathy, although she talks only to Tony in this way. After their foster guardian, Mrs. Malone, dies, they are placed by social services in a juvenile detention home under grim, unwholesome conditions; with them is their pet black cat, Winkie.
Both have suppressed memories of their past, but discover a clue — an old road map hidden in Tia's "star box", a leather purse-like box with a double-star design on it. 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 an inner-city Irish priest, Father O'Day, 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; their people having come to Earth because their own planet was dying. In the end, Tony and Tia find their way to their own people. When their would-be captor, Lucas Deranian, attempts to interrogate Father O'Day, the priest speaks to the effect that God is capable of creating many worlds and many peoples; that there are mysteries beyond Deranian's "narrow dreaming".
As with most of Alexander Key's stories, the embattled protagonists find that most of the people they meet are untrustworthy, greedy and hateful.
[edit] 1975 film
| Escape to Witch Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | John Hough |
| Produced by | Ron Miller Jerome Courtland |
| Written by | Robert M. Young |
| Starring | Eddie Albert Ray Milland Donald Pleasence Kim Richards Ike Eisenmann |
| Music by | Johnny Mandel |
| Cinematography | Frank V. Phillips |
| Editing by | Robert Stafford |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
| Release date(s) |  March 21, 1975 August 21 December 11 January 29, 1975 February 6 February 11 February 16 February 27 April 9, 1977 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
In the film version, the story is considerably different from the darker, original novel, and the children's powers have been amplified. While Tony is somewhat clairvoyant and telepathic (he can only hear Tia's projected thoughts), his greatest gift is telekinesis. Unaided, he can telekinetically move small objects, but playing his harmonica helps him utilize his power to even greater effect.
Tia possesses a greater degree of clairvoyance and telepathy; she can communicate with animals and Tony, who can only hear her psychic voice but cannot respond in kind. She also possesses the ability of telekinesis, though to a lesser extent than Tony, displaying a talent in working small mechanisms, such as locks and vehicle ignitions. At one point, considering the differences in the facility of their powers, such as Tony's need of the harmonica as a focus while Tia needs none, Tony muses, "Maybe it's because you're a girl." While Tia's telepathy proves to be very useful, such as when she turns guard dogs upon their pursuers, or taming a rebellious horse, it can also create problems, as she is prone to rescuing animals at inconvenient times, like releasing a captive bear during an escape.
Both Tia and Tony have fragmented memories of their early childhood, including an accident at sea and a man they later remember as their Uncle Bené (pronounced Ben-ay), whom they believe drowned during their rescue. After the death of their foster guardian, Mrs. Malone, they are placed in an orphanage, and are ostracized by the other children because of their abilities. They later uncover a clue to their true origins: a map hidden on Tia's "star case", a box-shaped purse with a double-star emblem that has been in her possession for as long as they can remember.
Responding to a premonition from Tia, Tony warns well-to-do attorney Lucas Deranian of an impending accident with his limousine, saving him from serious injury. Deranian promptly relates the incident to his employer, Aristotle Bolt, a ruthless and power-hungry multi-millionaire obsessed with the paranormal and the occult. Hoping to exploit the children's gifts to further expand his wealth and influence, Bolt backs Deranian with the resources to forge documentation of Deranian's blood relation to the twins in order to gain custody. Though somewhat suspicious, knowing Deranian is not truly their uncle, the twins are at first entranced by the luxurious trappings of wealth, even a home for their pet black cat Winkie, offered at Bolt's mansion. However, Tony and Tia's worst fears are realized when Bolt later reveals to the children that they have been under camera surveillance since their arrival, witnessing marionettes dancing to Tony's harmonica music, and Tia taming Bolt's rebellious horse, Thunderhead. As Bolt reveals his plans to exploit their powers, Tony and Tia realize Bolt will never let them go. Soon after, the twins overhear the two men planning to move them to a remote snowbound chalet, and they determine to leave during the night. Riding Thunderhead, Bolt's guard dogs and Winkie eagerly assist in the children's escape at Tia's behest.
Tia and Tony sneak into the Winnebago camper owned by embittered widower Jason O'Day, who is traveling alone to see the country. Showing some signs of gentleness upon encountering Winkie, Jason becomes his usual irascible self upon finding the two stowaways. Eventually though, he warms to Tony and Tia and is later amazed by the twins' abilities. After realizing that Bolt and the others chasing them are up to no good, Jason finally overcomes his reluctance to help. They follow the star case map's route, which leads towards Witch Mountain, a landmark notorious for strange, unexplained phenomena since the arrival of a band of reclusive strangers that settled there some time earlier. Local townsfolk are lured into joining the pursuit by the promise of a big reward from Bolt and Deranian. However, displays of the twins' powers while on the run soon create a mob out for blood, convinced that Tony and Tia are evil witches.
As their memories begin to fully return, they realize their accident at sea did not involve a boat, but a spacecraft. Tony and Tia are actually of extraterrestrial origin; the double star emblem on the star case stands for a binary star system where their home planet was located. Having come to Earth because their own planet was dying, survivors of the journey made their way to Witch Mountain and formed a community to await the surviving children; all sets of twins each in possession of a star case to help them find their way to their new home. Tony and Tia are the first to reach the destination. Leaving Winkie with Jason, who promises to keep his eyes open for other children like Tony and Tia, the twins are reunited with their Uncle Bené, who did not drown after all: "If you know exactly what to say to a shark," Bené tells the children, "he can be very accommodating!". Knowing that a man like Bolt will never stop chasing them, they board another spacecraft to leave Earth, never to return. However, when Bolt and the others leave in defeat, Jason witnesses the ship's return as it flies over him to say a final goodbye.
[edit] Cast of the 1975 film
- Eddie Albert .... Jason
- Ray Milland .... Aristotle Bolt
- Donald Pleasence .... Deranian
- Kim Richards .... Tia
- Ike Eisenmann .... Tony
- Walter Barnes .... Sheriff Purdey
- Reta Shaw .... Mrs. Grindley
- Denver Pyle .... Uncle Bené
- Alfred Ryder .... Astrologer
- Lawrence Montaigne .... Ubermann
- Terry Wilson .... Biff Jenkins
- George Chandler .... Grocer
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[edit] Sequels
- Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
- Beyond Witch Mountain (1982)
[edit] 1995 film
| Escape to Witch Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Rader |
| Produced by | Joan Van Horn Scott Immergut Les Mayfield George Zaloom |
| Written by | Alexander Key (novel) Robert M. Young (screenplay) Peter Rader (teleplay) |
| Starring | Robert Vaughn Elisabeth Moss Erik von Detten Vincent Schiavelli Brad Dourif |
| Music by | Richard Marvin |
| Cinematography | Russ T. Alsobrook |
| Editing by | Duane Hartzell |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Television |
| Release date(s) | April 29, 1995 |
| Running time | 87 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The 1995 remake of the film changes several details of the original. The twins, now named Danny and Anna, are found by Zoe Moon (Perrey Reeves) a young waitress, who notices when the children's hands touch, they create a wave of purple energy. However, before she can do anything, the infant children are separated.
Danny (Erik von Detten) spends the next few years of his life between foster families, none of which he feels at home with. Fed up with trying to find a home for him, his social worker decides to leave him at an orphanage with other children, where he can a least make some friends. He is reunited with Anna (Elisabeth Moss), but they are initially not aware of their relationship, despite their odd mannerisms such as arranging the food on their trays exactly the same way. Once they realize they are siblings and possess supernormal powers, they catch the attention of Edward Bolt (Robert Vaughn), a local magnate seeking to develop the nearby Witch Mountain. He decides he wants to take care of them as their foster father; Danny is happy with the development, since he now has his sister and will have a nice home, but Anna is more apprehensive about being adopted by Bolt.
During one of their outings, Anna uses her powers. As a result, the owner of the shop takes them aside, revealing that he has the same powers they do. He goes on to say that they are many more like them, all extraterrestrials from a planet where everyone has a twin. They came to Earth to explore, but all of them separated out of quarrels they experienced on Earth. The shopkeeper has been working to reunite them all and take them home from Witch Mountain. Danny dismisses him as joke, but Anna believes there is some truth to what he is saying. Meanwhile, Zoe sees the purple light from the front of the shop and recognizes it; she confronts the shop owner in hopes of finding the twins she saw, but he dismisses her accusations, though he leaves her some clues as to what will happen to Anna and Danny if she wants to help them.
Bolt reveals that he intends to use Anna and Danny to blast open Witch Mountain without explosives. When Anna discovers the truth, Bolt decides to separate them and use Anna as a hostage so Danny will do as he asks. The two escape with help from Zoe, Bruno the Hermit (Brad Dourif), Bolt's chauffeur Luthor (Brad Dourif), and Anna's friend Zander from the orphanage to Witch Mountain, where the shopkeeper and many other reunited twins are waiting for them, the last two sets of twins, the hermit and the chauffeur are revealed to be twins as well, to join them. Using the shopkeeper's powers, they all return home in pairs, with Anna and Danny going last to close the gate between their home world and Earth. Bolt arrives too late to capture them and the shopkeeper casually comments that he will be waiting for the next group of tourists. The waitress leaves with what she has discovered from the experience.
[edit] Cast of the 1995 film
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[edit] Future film
Although limited details have been announced, Walt Disney Pictures announced in July of 2007 that the long-awaited remake of Escape to Witch Mountain had begun development, directed by Andy Fickman[1] and starring Dwayne Johnson, Alexander Ludwig, AnnaSophia Robb[2] and Ciaran Hinds.[3] According to IMDB, production began March 2008 and is set to release March 13, 2009.
As of April 2008, the movie is to be called Race to Witch Mountain.[4] Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann are to appear in the new movie as a waitress and a sheriff.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Peter Sciretta (2007-07-23). Disney to Remake Escape to Witch Mountain. slashfilm.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ www.comingsoon.net
- ^ Hinds, Ludwig cast in 'Witch Mountain'. Digital Spy (2007-03-05). Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
- ^ a b Hollywood Reporter Two 'Witch Mountain' vets return: Actors who played kids in original are back for the remake 29 April 2008 Retrieved 30 April 2008
[edit] External links
- The Witch Mountain Experience - An Extensive Fan Site
- Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) at the Internet Movie Database
- Escape to Witch Mountain (1995) at the Internet Movie Database
- Race to Witch Mountain (2009) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Official Ike Eisenmann Site
- How much was Alexander Key influenced by Zenna Henderson?
