# Return from Witch Mountain
**Return from Witch Mountain** is a 1978 American live-action science fiction family film from Walt Disney Productions, the sequel to *Escape to Witch Mountain* (1975), in which the extraterrestrial siblings Tony and Tia return to Earth for a Los Angeles vacation and are targeted by a scientist who wants to harness their psychic powers.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) It was directed by John Hough, written by Malcolm Marmorstein, and stars [Bette Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/bette-davis) and [Christopher Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-lee) as the villains, with [Kim Richards](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-richards) and Ike Eisenmann reprising their roles as Tia and Tony.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | March 10, 1978 (Disney and general listings); AFI records a release date of 17 March 1978, with the Los Angeles opening on 17 March and the New York opening the week of 14 July[2](https://movies.disney.com/return-from-witch-mountain) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) |
| Director / writer | John Hough; screenplay by Malcolm Marmorstein, from characters created by Alexander Key[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) |
| Lead cast | Bette Davis (Letha Wedge), Christopher Lee (Dr. Victor Gannon), Kim Richards (Tia), Ike Eisenmann (Tony), Jack Soo (Mr. Yokomoto), Anthony James (Sickle), Denver Pyle (Uncle Bene)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/24411) |
| Runtime / rating | 94 minutes (some listings give 95); MPAA rating G[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/witch-mountain-2) |
| Key crew | Producers Ron Miller and Jerome Courtland; cinematographer Frank Phillips; music by Lalo Schifrin[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) |
| Box office | $6,393,000[5](https://ezcritic.com/movies/return-from-witch-mountain) |
| Reception | Metascore 51 (mixed or average); Rotten Tomatoes 55% Tomatometer from 11 reviews and 39% from more than 10,000 audience ratings[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/return-from-witch-mountain/critic-reviews/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/return_from_witch_mountain) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
Accompanied by their Uncle Bene ([Denver Pyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/denver-pyle)), Tia and Tony Malone, a pair of young extraterrestrial siblings endowed with supernatural abilities, ride aboard a spaceship. After the craft lands at the Rose Bowl stadium in [Pasadena, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-california), Bene sends the children off in a taxicab for a vacation in Los Angeles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN)
Elsewhere, the scientist Dr. Victor Gannon (Christopher Lee) and his partner and sponsor Letha Wedge (Bette Davis) test a mind-control device on Letha's nephew Sickle (Anthony James). When the device fails and Sickle falls from a building roof, Tony saves him with his abilities, bringing the siblings to the villains' attention. Gannon kidnaps Tony and uses an implanted device to control his thoughts, including his power of controlling molecules.[3](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/24411) • [8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/return-from-witch-mountain)
As Tia searches for her brother with the aid of a group of kids called the Earthquake Gang, Letha uses Tony to steal gold bars from a museum. Using telepathy, Tia finds Gannon's subterranean lab and is also kidnapped. Gannon's master plan is, with Tony's help, to seize a plutonium processing plant and threaten to destroy it unless $5 million is brought to him. Tia thwarts the scheme with the Earthquake Gang's help, but not before a contest of psychic strength with the brain-controlled Tony. After Gannon's machine for controlling minds is wrecked, the evildoers are defeated, leaving Tony and Tia at liberty to go back to Witch Mountain.[9](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/)
## Production
The film was based on characters created by Alexander Key, whose 1968 young adult novel *Escape from Witch Mountain* had inspired the first film. Key also wrote a novelization of the sequel, also titled *Return from Witch Mountain*, based on Marmorstein's screenplay; the book was released by Westminster Press in 1978 to coincide with the film's theatrical release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078158/faq/)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) took place in Los Angeles, with on-location work downtown; in the [Hollywood Hills](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-hills) at "Wolf House," a 1920s house used as Dr. Gannon's mansion; in a dilapidated Victorian mansion near Union Station, built in 1887, used as the Earthquake Gang's hideout; and at the Museum of Natural History in Exposition Park, where the gold heist was filmed. To represent the nuclear processing plant, filmmakers joined footage of two sites: a facility for testing rocket missiles in the [San Fernando Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-fernando-valley) and a steam-generating station in Wilmington.[9](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/) The Rose Bowl in Pasadena also appears.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN)
For Bette Davis, the role of Letha was her Disney film debut and her 83rd picture.[9](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/) According to a [Turner Classic Movies](https://www.edgepedia.org/turner-classic-movies) retrospective, Davis and Lee got along famously during production, with Davis regaling Lee with stories of her family and her studio-era career.[11](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212737/return-from-witch-mountain) The film marked the final feature film appearance of [Jack Soo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-soo), whose death was announced in a 12 January 1979 Los Angeles Times obituary.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN)
## Release and reception
The film opened in Los Angeles on 17 March 1978 and in New York the week of 14 July 1978, with general listings dating the release to March 10, 1978.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [2](https://movies.disney.com/return-from-witch-mountain) A 2 September 1978 Los Angeles Times news item announced that it would be reissued, along with *Escape to Witch Mountain*, on 22 November 1978. It was released on video in 1986.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [9](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/)
Critical reception was generally favorable at the time. The 17 March 1978 Los Angeles Times and 15 March 1978 Variety reviews praised the special effects; Variety scored it 80 on Metacritic, calling it "loaded with the kind of visual hijinks juve audiences love." Janet Maslin, reviewing for The New York Times, described the twins' spaceship as a "flying pith helmet" and the rest of the effects as "equally tinny," but judged the film a success despite John Hough's "ungainly" direction.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/return-from-witch-mountain/critic-reviews/) The Washington Post ran both a positive notice from Gary Arnold and a negative one from Judith Martin, who criticized the film's theme that scientific knowledge is the opposite of unspoiled childhood goodness.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/return-from-witch-mountain/critic-reviews/) Later assessments have been mixed: the Decent Films review found it "better structured and faster-moving than its predecessor" but regretted that Tony spends almost the whole film separated from Tia in a trance-like state, and IGN's Eric Goldman called the plotline generic and underwritten.[12](https://decentfilms.com/reviews/returnfromwitchmountain) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/return-from-witch-mountain/critic-reviews/)
## Legacy and availability
No third theatrical sequel followed, though the franchise was later revived with the 2009 film *Race to Witch Mountain*, which Disney described as a "reimagining" of the 1970s films.[13](https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_4845.pdf) The film was released on video in 1986 and is currently available to stream on Disney+ in 31 countries, with digital purchase and rental on Amazon Video, the Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home.[9](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/) • [14](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/return-from-witch-mountain-1978-14822)
## References
1. [Return from Witch Mountain (1978), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56988-RETURN-FROM-WITCH-MOUNTAIN)
2. [Return from Witch Mountain, Disney Movies](https://movies.disney.com/return-from-witch-mountain)
3. [Return from Witch Mountain, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/24411)
4. [Return from Witch Mountain streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/witch-mountain-2)
5. [Return from Witch Mountain (1978), EZ Critic](https://ezcritic.com/movies/return-from-witch-mountain)
6. [Return from Witch Mountain critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/return-from-witch-mountain/critic-reviews/)
7. [Return From Witch Mountain, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/return_from_witch_mountain)
8. [Parents' Guide to Return from Witch Mountain, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/return-from-witch-mountain)
9. [Return from Witch Mountain (film), D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/return-from-witch-mountain-film/)
10. [Return from Witch Mountain (1978) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078158/faq/)
11. [Return from Witch Mountain, TCM article](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212737/return-from-witch-mountain)
12. [Return From Witch Mountain (1978), Decent Films](https://decentfilms.com/reviews/returnfromwitchmountain)
13. [Witch Mountain fails to inspire, BYU publication](https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_4845.pdf)
14. [Where to watch Return from Witch Mountain, FlickFinder](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/return-from-witch-mountain-1978-14822)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Animated and family franchise film entries › Science fiction and action entries*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license