Escape to Witch Mountain

My first exposure to the siblings from Witch Mountain was years ago, in watching the sequel Return from Witch Mountain. I loved the film, and was thrilled to discover an earlier film shortly after, Escape to Witch Mountain, which introduces us to Tony and Tia as young children.
I haven't read the book on which this film is based, nor am I likely to, so my review is completely unbiased.
Tony and Tia are two young children whose foster parents have just died. The film begins with their arrival at an orphanage, and it isn't long before we're shown just how different these two children are.
A run-in with the district bully quickly earns them a reputation for 'being a couple of weirdos', but it is in saving the life of a man who would otherwise have been possibly killed in a car accident that their adventures really start.
Claimed as niece and nephew by the very man they saved, they are taken to live in the fortress home of mega-rich Aristotle Bolt, who has been told of the children's gifts and typically wants to exploit them for his own gain.
It doesn't take Tony and Tia long to figure out Bolt's agenda and, after hearing plans to have them locked away in an island tower, they run away with the help of a rogue stallion that no one else was able to tame.
From there, the children soon come across grumpy nomad Jason O'Day, who reluctantly takes them in after they beg him for help.
The rest of the film is probably fairly predictable, given your average Disney plots, but still enjoyable nonetheless. Of course there's going to be a 'happily ever after' (at least until the next movie) but the fun is in seeing how they get there. There are still a few surprises in store before the finish, including an escapee bear, a sheriff who learns the tango the hard way, and a chopper pilot who gets a flying lesson like never before.
Escape to Witch Mountain is thoroughly enjoyable, as is its sequel, and are even better for having Ike Eisemann and Kim Richards play the main characters of Tony and Tia in both films.
On another, distantly related note, Disney did produce another Witch Mountain vignette style show some time later, called Beyond Witch Mountain. The story involved Tony and Tia leaving the Witch Mountain community to find their Uncle Bene's long lost grandson. Bolt and O'Day were both along for the ride, but this was not a patch on the two proper movies, and really shouldn't have been made. Especially since it was meant to be just recently after Tony and Tia found their way to Witch Mountain in the first place, and it portrayed Uncle Bene as dying. (Anyone who has seen Return from Witch Mountain knows full well that Uncle Bene was alive and well in that film, and Tony and Tia were bordering on teenhood, by then)
At the end of this particular episode, Tony and Tia also decide to stay away from Witch Mountain, and go with O'Day to continue searching for survivors. As anyone who has watched the two movies would know, their 'holiday' in the second film was supposed to be their first trip away from the mountain community since their original rescue from the clutches of Aristotle Bolt.
I'm aware that some people have been searching for this particular installment. My advice is, don't bother. It does not fit in with the sequence of films, and does not even have the benefit of the original child actors.
Stick with the excellent and unsurpassed Escape to Witch Mountain, and Return from Witch Mountain. These are fantastic films, and worth every cent.

This is a great little story about...well I'm not going to tell you, I much rather see you buy it and watch it for yourself. It is a great film, and old disney classic, this is what movie's are all about, it has special effects that were considered impossible back them, but they pulled them off, no fancy computers of CGI and all that stuff, just good ol' fashion moviemaking at it's finest. I treasure this film and it is one of my favorite Disney movies. I miss films like this! Great great family film and very entertaining to watch, kids adore it!

Escape to Witch Mountain rocks, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann are so good in this movie and so is Eddie Albert! Please put this awesome movie on a widescreen DVD!