Dr. Victor Gannon (Christopher Lee), with his partner-in-crime and financial backer, Letha (Bette Davis), has developed a device that can control the mind of its subject and they are in the process of testing this on Letha's nephew, Sickle (Anthony James), when the remote control breaks and Sickle walks off the edge of a building. Tony saves him in the nick of time, levitating him, but exposing his talents to the evil duo Victor and Letha. They kidnap Tony, with Victor planning to use him to rule the world, (his ultimate goal) and Letha hoping to recoup some of her investment money.
When Tia goes off looking for Tony, she finds herself in a really bad spot when she happens upon two local warring teen gangs. Tia saves the "Earthquakes" from certain doom and the boys vow to help her find Tony as thanks. Tia keeps getting vibes that Tony is in danger, but since his mind is being controlled by Victor, she can't communicate with him. When she finally hones in on his location, he is being used to wreak havoc at a local museum and to steal millions of dollars in gold that is on display. When this plan backfires, Victor has a much better idea - hijack a local nuclear plant and hold the world for ransom. It's up to Tia and the Earthquakes to get there in time to save Tony and everyone else. They manage to arrive just in time with a little help from truant officer Mr. Yokomoto (Jack Soo), better known Yo-Yo to the Earthquake boys who are always avoiding school.
Overall, I think I enjoyed Return From Witch Mountain even more than Escape To Witch Mountain because it just had a more exciting feel to it. I'm not sure whether it was the over-the-top acting by Christopher Lee and Bette Davis, or the fun vibe of the gang of boys that helped Tia, or maybe it was the percussive-heavy 70's music that was would play whenever the action kicked up, but this movie was just fun - pure 70's Disney fun. Just like the first film, this release includes a bevy of special features, some great, some just okay. You can watch the movie with Pop-up Fun Facts or with audio commentary with Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards and John Hough, the director. There's a retrospective with Ike, Kim and John, a montage of clips of Disney kids with special powers (one of the so-so features), a classic Disney cartoon, a lost interview from the 70's with Christopher Lee, a 1978 Disney Studio Album showcasing everything Disney from that year and finally, the most fun feature, The Gang's Back in Town, which was a gathering of three of the members of the Earthquake gang today. Seeing child actors as they are today is always cool and these guys have remained friends over the years and it was interesting to see where life has taken them. If you are a fan of this classic Disney film, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.
Clips
TelepathyLocating Tony
Separated
The Chase
