{"id":40190,"date":"2018-02-18T16:59:12","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T23:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40190"},"modified":"2021-01-23T20:51:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T03:51:10","slug":"escape-to-witch-mountain-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40190","title":{"rendered":"Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;We don&#8217;t know why we do all these things&#8230; We don&#8217;t know how it all started.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-to-Witch-Mountain.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-to-Witch-Mountain-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-to-Witch-Mountain-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-to-Witch-Mountain-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-to-Witch-Mountain.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo orphans (Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann) with psychic powers and vague memories of surviving a watery crash are discovered by a man (Donald Pleasance) working for a greedy tycoon (Ray Milland) eager to exploit the kids&#8217; powers to earn more money. When the siblings learn they&#8217;re trapped in Milland&#8217;s house, they engineer an escape to a mysterious place shown on the top of Richards&#8217; special box, relying on help from a curmudgeonly trucker (Eddie Albert).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Donald Pleasance Films<\/li>\n<li>Eddie Albert Films<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Orphans<\/li>\n<li>Psychic Powers<\/li>\n<li>Ray Milland Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis live-action Disney filmed received a not-so-resounding review from Vincent Canby of the New York Times, who noted that &#8220;<em>Escape to Witch Mountain<\/em> is a Walt Disney production for children who will watch absolutely anything that moves.&#8221; Forty-three years later, the film doesn&#8217;t really hold up well as sci-fi\/fantasy (the <em>Harry Potter<\/em> franchise has outdone it by a long stretch), but it possesses a charm that&#8217;s of-its-era &#8212; and it&#8217;s easy to see why it appealed to young audiences at the time. Richards and Eisenmann are plucky, resourceful, insightful kids who find ways to survive in a world with questionably motivated adults around every corner. Richards&#8217; flashbacks to an event she can&#8217;t quite piece together but knows has something to do with their origins are nicely interspersed throughout the screenplay, with images literally gaining more clarity as more is revealed. None of this is to say that <em>Escape to Witch Mountain<\/em> will hold much interest to adults; it likely won&#8217;t. But it&#8217;s reasonably effectively made (for its time), and film fanatics may enjoy seeing Albert in a critical role as the kids&#8217; eventual accomplice. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some effective direction and cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction-1024x586.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"366\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-40193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction-1024x586.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Direction.png 1258w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography-1024x586.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"366\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-40194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography-1024x586.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Escape-Witch-Mountain-Cinematography.png 1258w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An appropriately eerie score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; feel free to skip this one unless it brings you fond memories. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0072951\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/?s=escape+to+witch+mountain\">Fantastic Movie Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1975\/07\/03\/archives\/screenwitch-mountaindisney-fantasy-shares-bill-with-cinderella.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/74207\/escape-to-witch-mountain#articles-reviews?articleId=212736\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdizzy.com\/escapetowitchmountain.html\">DVDizzy Review<\/a>\t<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/sciencefiction\/escape-to-witch-mountain-1975.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=9278&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t know why we do all these things&#8230; We don&#8217;t know how it all started.&#8221; Synopsis: Two orphans (Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann) with psychic powers and vague memories of surviving a watery crash are discovered by a man (Donald Pleasance) working for a greedy tycoon (Ray Milland) eager to exploit the kids&#8217; powers to earn more money. When the siblings learn they&#8217;re trapped in Milland&#8217;s house, they engineer an escape to a mysterious place shown on the top&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40190\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40190"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65441,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40190\/revisions\/65441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}