Return from Witch Mountain

Return from Witch Mountain

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Hough
Produced by Ron Miller
Jerome Courtland
Written by Malcolm Marmorstein
Based on Characters created by Alexander Key
Starring Bette Davis
Christopher Lee
Kim Richards
Ike Eisenmann
Jack Soo
Anthony James
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography Frank Phillips
Edited by Bob Bring
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Release dates
  • March 10, 1978 (1978-03-10)
Running time
 94 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Return from Witch Mountain is a 1978 American science fiction-adventure film and a sequel to Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was written by Malcolm Marmorstein and is based on the novel by Alexander Key. Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards, and Denver Pyle reprise their roles as Tony, Tia, and Uncle Bené—humanoid extraterrestrials with special powers including telepathy and telekinesis. The two main villains are played by Bette Davis as Letha Wedge, a greedy woman using the last of her money to finance the scientific experiments of Dr. Victor Gannon, played by Christopher Lee.

In September 1978, the film was re-released to theaters on a double bill with Escape to Witch Mountain.

A television film sequel called Beyond Witch Mountain was made in 1982.

Plot

Having spent a good deal of time enjoying the company of their newfound family and friends at Witch Mountain and intensively studying and practicing their supernatural powers, Tony and his sister Tia are in need of a vacation. Uncle Bené drops them off in their flying saucer at the Rose Bowl stadium in Los Angeles, California, after which the siblings quickly become separated from each other. A man named Dr. Victor Gannon (Lee) and his assistant Letha Wedge (Davis) happen to see Tony using his powers to save their henchman from certain death. Realizing that Tony has supernatural powers, Dr. Gannon drugs the boy with a tranquilizer shot and takes him back to their laboratory. There, Dr. Gannon successfully tests a new mind-control technology on him. Under its influence, Tony is completely hypnotized and does everything that his kidnappers want him to do, like stealing gold from a museum exhibit and stopping Tia from finding them. With Tony at his robotic bidding, Dr. Gannon hopes to achieve recognition within the scientific community and worldwide power, while Letha merely wants a return on her investment.

Tia uses her telepathic powers to locate Tony. She gets additional help from a group of would-be toughs whom she comes across, called the Earthquake Gang, and a hapless truant officer Mr. Yokomoto — whom the toughs call "Yo-Yo" — to find her brother, and foil the villains' nefarious plans.

Filming locations

The otherwise vacant lot, upon which the children's dilapidated hideout mansion stands, was at the Alameda Street railroad yard in California, where the Rochester House (a relic from 1880's) was waiting for restoration and relocation. The house however was never restored and ultimately demolished in 1979.

Scenes of Dr. Victor Gannon's mansion, the location of his laboratory, were filmed at Moby Castle on Durand Drive, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles.

The tunnel scenes were filmed at the Fillmore & Western Railway in Fillmore, California constructing a faux tunnel structure. The faux tunnel still stands and can be seen from CA-126/Telegraph Road.

The gold-bar robbery sequence was filmed at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. The building facing the Park's Rose Garden was used for exterior shots of the museum. The scene in which Yokomoto's van is overturned and breaks a fire-hydrant was filmed near the Sunset Boulevard bridge and Glendale Boulevard underpass intersection, in the Echo Park district.

Cast
  • Helene Winston — Dowager
  • Albert Able — Engineer
  • Denver Pyle — Uncle Bene
  • Brian Part, Pierre Daniel — Goons
  • Wally Brooks — Taxi fare
  • Mel Gold — Security guard
  • Bob Yothers — Cop
  • Casse Jaeger — School patrolman
  • Larry Mamorstein — Guard
  • Bob James — Gate guard
  • Ruth Warshawsky — Lady in car
  • Adam Anderson — Man in museum
  • Rosemary Lord — Woman in museum
  • Ted Noose — Policeman
  • Wally Berns — Man in car

Actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann appear in at least four films together — this one, the original 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain, and the television film Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell. Richards portrays the roadside waitress and Eisenmann portrays the Sheriff in a re-imagined remake of the original film, Race to Witch Mountain, released in March 2009.

Jack Soo (Mr. "Yo-Yo" Yokomoto) was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the Autumn of 1978, several months after the film's release. Return from Witch Mountain would be his final movie appearance, as he died the following January.

The emergency voice heard over Yokomoto's van radio — announcing the problem at the plutonium plant — is that of Gary Owens.

Production

The franchise was continued in 2009 with the release of Race to Witch Mountain starring Dwayne Johnson and directed by Andy Fickman.

Media releases

Return from Witch Mountain was released on VHS on June 25, 1986. It was first released as a Special Edition DVD in Region 1 on September 2, 2003 and re-released on DVD in a 2-movie collection along with Escape to Witch Mountain on September 5, 2006 and re-released as part of the Walt Disney Family Classics line on March 10, 2009.

On October 13, 2015, Return from Witch Mountain was released on Blu-ray Disc as a Disney Movie Club exclusive title.

External links

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