Beyond Witch Mountain
| "Beyond Witch Mountain" | |
|---|---|
| Walt Disney episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. |
Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Robert Day |
| Written by |
Robert Malcolm Young B.W. Sandefur Hal Kanter |
| Story by | Robert Malcolm Young |
| Produced by | Jan Williams |
| Featured music | George Duning |
| Cinematography by | Jack A. Whitman, Jr. |
| Editing by | Gordon D. Brenner |
| Original air date | February 20, 1982 |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Eddie Albert, Tracey Gold, Andy Freeman, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. | |
Beyond Witch Mountain is a 1982 American science fiction-fantasy film and a sequel to Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Return from Witch Mountain (1978). 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 in age to Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards when they first played the parts. Tracey Gold from Growing Pains played Tia, and Andy Freeman played Tony. The parts of Aristotle Bolt, Lucas Deranian and Uncle Bené were also recast.
Beyond Witch Mountain was broadcast on CBS as an episode of Walt Disney on February 20, 1982. It was originally intended to be the pilot for a television series, but no networks thought that viewers would take the show seriously, and so a second episode was never made.
The film also contradicts the 1978 sequel Return from Witch Mountain, because in that film, Tia and Tony are of teenage years, because Uncle Bené is still alive, and because in both of the original movies, Tony had to answer Tia verbally—he did not have the power to talk through his mind. In Beyond Witch Mountain, Tia and Tony are around the same age from the first movie, Uncle Bené dies early in the film, and as previously mentioned, Tony can talk to Tia mentally.
Plot
Tia and Tony follow their Uncle Bene to Earth in his attempts to find his long-lost-grandson. Bolt discovers that Tia and Tony have returned and he sends out Deranian to catch Jason O' Day so he can lead Bolt and Deranian to Tia and Tony. Uncle Bene is telling the kids that they must go back to their planet while he searches for his grandson. His grandson was on a nature walk with his class when a bridge broke and Gregory, Uncle Bene's grandson, moved a big log over to his class with his powers so they could grasp it and they could climb up to safety. Tia and Tony refuse to leave and Uncle Bene dies because of his old age and he lets them search for his grandson. Tia and Tony go to Jason O' Day who agrees to help them find Gregory. When they stop to buy Tia and Tony some clothes, Jason goes back to his car and he is kidnapped by Deranian and Bolt. They give him a drink that makes him drunk and Jason tells them where the kids are. The kids come to Bolt's mansion to rescue Jason and they run away to a hospital where Gregory is. They tell Gregory all about himself and while they are taking him back home, Tia and Tony decide to stay and, with Jason, find all the survivors and send them back home.
Cast
- Eddie Albert as Jason O'Day
- Tracey Gold as Tia
- Andy Freeman as Tony
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Bolt
- J.D. Cannon as Deranian
- Noah Beery Jr. as Uncle Bene
- Stephanie Blackmore as Dr. Adrian Molina
- Peter Hobbs as Dr. Peter Morton