Escape to Witch Mountain is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film as Escape to Witch Mountain in 1975.
Novel
The novel, written by Alexander Key, is about two teenage orphans, Tony and Tia, who have paranormal abilities. Tony possesses the ability of telekinesis, which he can access most readily through playing music, particularly his harmonica. Tia's strengths include the ability to unlock any door by touch and communicate with animals. Both siblings can communicate via ultrasonic speech audible only to each other; but Tia cannot speak normally and is regarded as strange because of this. It is later revealed that Tia is not unusual in this respect, but Tony is; few of their kind have the ability to speak out loud. After their foster guardian, Mrs. Malone, dies, they are placed by social services in a juvenile detention home under grim, unwholesome conditions, where Tia befriends a black cat, Winkie. Both have suppressed memories of their past, but discover a clue in an old road map hidden along with a cache of money in Tia's "star box", a leather purse-like box with a double-star design on it. In a chance encounter with a nun who is an art teacher, the nun reveals that she once received a letter on stationery with an identical design. The writer, a Blue Ridge Mountains resident with "a name like Caroway, or Garroway, or Hideaway" sought information on students who had "unusual aptitudes." When a man named Lucas Deranian, 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. Unfortunately, when they attempt to reach the nun, they find that she has died. With the assistance of an inner-city Roman Catholic 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 drifting towards one of its two suns. Their flying saucer was shot down over Hungary, resulting in the deaths of all but Tony, Tia, and Uncle Bené - a non-relative, but one of their own people, who rescued the children from Soviet captivity. The book ties this event to the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. Through a series of hardships, Tony and Tia find their way to their own people, who adopted the name Castaway. When the teenagers' would-be captor, 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 far beyond 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 — making the decency of the few all the more poignant. O'Day puts himself in danger in order to help Tony and Tia, but he does so willingly, because their battle presents O'Day with an opportunity to fight the agents of evil, which is what he knows is his purpose in life and will deliver meaning to his life. The novel was illustrated by Leon B. Wisdom, Jr. and originally published in 1968 by the Westminster Press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Films
''Escape to Witch Mountain'' (1975)
In 1975, Walt Disney Productions released a live-action film based on the novel, also called Escape to Witch Mountain. In this live-action film, Tony and Tia were played by Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards, Lucas Deranian by Donald Pleasence, and the children's Uncle Bené by Denver Pyle. The film replaces the inner-city priest Father O'Day with Jason O'Day, a widower traveling in an RV who helps Tony and Tia escape their pursuers. Both Tia and Tony are able to speak out loud in the film, but Tony is not capable of Tia's seemingly telepathic speech. A new major character in the film who is not in the novel is millionaire Aristotle Bolt, Deranian's employer, who wants to obtain the children's powers. This change was due to the passage of time between writings: Key wrote the novel during the depths of the Cold War, so his Deranian was a Communist agent; by the time the screenplay was being written, greedy capitalists had become the preferred villains of fiction. The film was one of Disney's most successful live-action films. Eisenmann and Richards again played siblings in the otherwise unrelated .
''Return from Witch Mountain'' (1978)
The success of the first movie resulted in a sequel, Return from Witch Mountain. Director Hough returned for Return, as did Eisenmann, Richards, and Pyle, but new villains Letha Wedge and Dr. Victor Gannon took the place of Bolt and Deranian. Key penned a novelization of the film for Disney based on the screenplay by Malcolm Marmorstein. It was originally published in 1978 by the Westminster Press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
''Beyond Witch Mountain'' (1982)
Beyond Witch Mountain was developed as a television series based on the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain. Although Eddie Albert returned to play Jason O'Day from the original 1975 movie, the parts of Tony and Tia were recast with actors comparable only in age to Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards when they first played the parts. Tracey Gold from Growing Pains played Tia. The parts of Aristotle Bolt, Lucas Deranian, and Uncle Bené were also recast. Director Hough did not return to direct the pilot. The proposed series did not occur and resulted in just a 60-minute television film. The film contradicts and totally ignores the 1978 sequel Return from Witch Mountain, because in the latter film, Tia and Tony are of teenage years, Uncle Bené is still alive, and in both of the original movies, Tony had to answer Tia verbally; he did not have the power to speak telepathically. In Beyond Witch Mountain, Tia and Tony are around the same age as the first movie, and Uncle Bené dies early in the film.
''The Blair Witch Mountain Project'' (2002)
The Blair WitchMountain Project is a 13-minute short film developed as a parody of the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project. The film is directed by Ike Eisenmann, who also reprises his role as Tony alongside Kim Richards as Tia. The film follows intrepid journalist Blair Billingsley, portrayed by Hope Levy, as she tries to track down Tia and Tony, now adults.
Race to Witch Mountain is a second Disney live-action remake of the 1975 Disney live-action film Escape to Witch Mountain. The live-action film is directed by Andy Fickman and stars Dwayne Johnson, Ciarán Hinds, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, and Carla Gugino. Original co-stars Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann also play small roles in the film. Filming began in Los Angeles, California in March 2008. Race to Witch Mountain was released on March 13, 2009. In the new film, the children's names are Sara and Seth. They crash their spacecraft and look for an experiment their parents left on Earth for research to help their own dying planet. Sara can move things with her mind and read minds. Seth can go through solid objects and resist high-level impacts, such as getting hit by a van, by changing his molecular structure.
