I had a feeling this would happen. I started seeing trailers for a brand new Disney film called “Escape to Witch Mountain” starring none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. So I knew… I just knew… that Disney was going dig into its vaults and cough up new DVD releases of the 1970’s classics, “Escape to Witch Mountain” and “Return from Witch Mountain.” Even odder and slightly more ironic, just weeks before the first trailers hit, I was searching for something to watch with my 5 year old daughter. Something she hadn’t seen. I remembered that I owned older DVD releases of both films and we watched the first one together. I had loved them as a kid, but boy I had to admit that they did not age well. Not at all. (Fortunately my daughter is not all special effects savvy, and she still really enjoyed it.) This is not to say they were bad… but the pacing was a lot slower than I remembered as a kid.

And the special effects… well… I had to remind myself that they had been created in 1975 and 1978 respectively, so they weren’t up to the standards we’re used to today. This I could forgive, after all I still enjoy older movies… in some cases especially loving the simpler effects.

“Escape to Witch Mountain” introduces us to two precocious siblings, Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia (Kim Richards), living in an orphanage. We very quickly learn that these two adorable kids are a little unusual. Telepathy and telekinesis seem as natural to them as walking. Of course, they do their best to hide their powers. Neither can remember where they came from, but Tia experiences a series of flashbacks that eventually fill in the blanks.

One day, their powers are noticed by businessman Lucas Deranian (Donald Pleasance), who in turn tells millionaire Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland). Bolt has Deranian pose as their uncle in order to get them into his mansion. Once the already suspicious children figure out that Bolt’s not as benevolent as he pretended to be, they make their escape. Meeting up with aging retiree Jason (Eddie Albert), the rest of the film makes up the chase.

“Return from Witch Mountain” catches up with the now much older Tony and Tia as they visit the city. When Tony saves man from falling, he is kidnapped by the evil Dr. Victor Gannon (Christopher Lee) and his henchwoman Letha (Bette Davis). Tia teams up with a group of kids to save the day.

Suffice to say I still enjoyed the films, despite the fact that they really didn’t hold up. I loved them as a kid, so I at least still liked them as an adult. If you’ve never seen them, you may not get that much out of a viewing. Your kids, on the other hand… if they are really savvy about special effects and the like or need everything fast paced and in their face, they will be bored. If they are younger and grew up watching older films as well as newer ones, they will still appreciate them. The latter was the case with my daughter, she liked… but did not love.

For those of you revisiting your childhood, I will say that you cannot go wrong with these new releases. The new transfers look and sound much better than the earlier releases. They are also special features heavy. Both DVDs have ‘Making of…’ featurettes, where you learn quite a bit about the behind the scenes goings on for each movie. The featurettes include up-to-date interviews with the cast and crew, which is especially nice as you get to see the kids all grown up.

They also both feature ‘Studio Albums’, one from 1975 and the other from 1978. These montages show clips from all things Disney for those years. Very nice little feature for the Disneyphile in you. Then each has an audio commentary by director John Hough, Eisenmann and Richards, as well as a pop-up trivia feature.

On “Escape to Witch Mountain” you will find an additional interview with John Hough, a short montage of scenes from Disney Sci-fi movies, a featurette on the special effects from different Disney movies, and a Pluto cartoon (“Pluto’s Dream House”).

“The DVD for “Return from Witch Mountain” adds a reunion of three of the child actors who were in the movie, an old interview with Christopher Lee, a montage of clips of Disney Kids with powers, and a cartoon feature (“The Eyes Have It”).

I still hesitantly recommend these films, only because I have such an attachment to them. Whether or not you will like them depends on your tolerance to 1970’s Disney ‘cheese.’ I’ll take a slice any day.

Escape to Witch Mountain
Directed by: Thomas Hough
Starring: Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards, Donald Pleasance, Ray Milland, Eddie Albert
Extras: All New Pop-up Fun Facts, Making the Escape, Conversations with John Hough, Disney Sci-fi, “Pluto’s Dream House”, Disney Effects – Something Special, 1975 Disney Studio Album, Audio Commentary

Return from Witch Mountain
Directed by: Thomas Hough
Starring: Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards, Christopher Lee, Bette Davis
Extras: All New Pop-up Fun Facts, Making the Return Trip, The Gang’s Back in Town, Disney Kids with Powers, “The Eyes Have It”, Lost Treasure: Christopher Lee – The Lost Interview, 1978 Disney Studio Album, Audio Commentary

Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Widescreen (1.75:1) – Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 3/10/2009
MPAA Rating: G

We'll give both Escape to Witch Mountain and Return fromWitch Mountain a B-.