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Return from Witch Mountain

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Return from Witch Mountain
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Hough
Written byMalcolm Marmorstein
Based onCharacters created by Alexander Key
Produced byRon Miller
Jerome Courtland
StarringBette Davis
Christopher Lee
Kim Richards
Ike Eisenmann
Jack Soo
Anthony James
CinematographyFrank V. Phillips
Edited byBob Bring
Music byLalo Schifrin
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Distribution
Release date
  • March 10, 1978 (1978-03-10)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$16.3 million (worldwide)

Return from Witch Mountain is a 1978 American science fiction–adventure film and a sequel to Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and the second film in the Witch Mountain franchise. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was written by Malcolm Marmorstein and is based on characters created by Alexander Key, who also wrote the novelization of the film for Disney. 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. It was the final film of actor Jack Soo, who died of cancer in January 1979.

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

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

Plot

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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 and his assistant Letha Wedge witness Tony using his powers to save Letha's nephew Sickle 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 his kidnappers want him to do, including 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.

The Earthquake Gang, a group of would-be tough boys Tia meets, are being chased by a group of rivals; Tia telepathically gets rid of them. The boys accept her into their ranks and help her look for her brother. They let her sleep in their secret hideout, where she has visions of Tony's location. Tia sees Tony at work with gold in a museum; he is controlled by a chip attached to his ear. He unstacks the gold but is followed by Mr. Yokomoto, the truant officer who thinks Tony should go to school, and unsuccessfully chases the doctor, aunt, nephew, and Tony in his minibus. While chasing them, Mr. Yokomoto destroys public property and loses his job.

Using her telepathy to find Tony, Tia discovers his captors' hideout but is caught by Sickle and placed in an anesthesia chamber by Gannon. Unable to move, Tia telepathically asks a goat to find the Earthquake Gang. The gang follows the goat back to the hideout and they free Tia as Tony, Letha, Sickle, and Victor drive to a plant to steal plutonium. Tia traces their location and describes it as a "big round ball". They come across Mr. Yokomoto, who tells them he lost his job and the only thing that works in the minibus is the radio. The news given about the plutonium plant stresses on the term "molecular flow".

Tia then asks Mr. Yokomoto to drive them to the location after she telekinetically repairs the minibus. After Victor and his gang reach the site, he shuts down the plant's cooling system. In exchange for turning it back on, he demands $5 million in cash (equivalent to $23 million in 2023), a jet to escape, and public acknowledgement of his achievements. The people working at the plant make arrangements for the money as soon as possible, but Tia reaches the site in time, where she and Tony battle to turn on the cooling system. Tia manages to turn it on, but Victor commands Tony to kill his sister. Tia realizes he is being controlled and destroys the device. Tony levitates Victor, Sickle and Letha to the ceiling with no way of getting down. Mr. Yokomoto drives the kids to the Rose Bowl Stadium and the Earthquake Gang come along to say goodbye. Tony and Tia bid farewell to the kids after they board the flying saucer and go back to Witch Mountain.

Cast

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Production notes

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Actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann appear in at least four films together: this one; the original Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975); the television film Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978); and a reimagined remake of the original film Race to Witch Mountain (2009), released in March 2009, in which Richards portrays a roadside waitress and Eisenmann portrays a sheriff.[citation needed]

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 film appearance, as he died the following January.[citation needed]

Poindexter "Crusher" Yothers is the real-life brother of singer-actress Tina Yothers, of Family Ties (1982-1989) fame. Their father Bob also appears in this film, as a policeman.[citation needed]

The emergency voice heard over Yokomoto's minibus radio—announcing the problem at the plutonium plant—is that of Gary Owens.[citation needed]

Filming locations

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Filming started on April 11, 1977.[1]

The otherwise vacant lot upon which the children's dilapidated mansion hideout stands was at the Alameda Street railroad yard in California, where the Rochester House (a relic from the 1880s)[2] was waiting for restoration and relocation. The house was never restored and was ultimately demolished in 1979.[citation needed]

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

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

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 minibus is overturned and breaks a fire hydrant was filmed near the Sunset Boulevard bridge and Glendale Boulevard underpass intersection, in the Echo Park district.[citation needed]

Novelization

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Alexander Key wrote a novelization of Return from Witch Mountain, based on Malcolm Marmorstein's screenplay; the book was released by Westminster Press in 1978 to coincide with the film's theatrical release.

Home video

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Return from Witch Mountain was released on VHS in April 1986. It was first released as a Special Edition DVD in Region 1 on September 2, 2003, re-released on DVD in a two-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.

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

Notes

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  1. ^ Kilday, Gregg (1977-04-11). "Paramount signs MTM team". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 158200734.
  2. ^ Bariscale, Floyd B. (2007-04-05). "No. 11 – West Temple Apartments (The Rochester)". Big Orange Landmarks. Retrieved 2016-06-25.
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