Alone and Unobserved

As I recall, I watched Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain for the first time
when I was four or so. It was either a ward Primary production or a viewing at the local library, because we watched it in a big room with a portable projector and screen, while we sat on blankets and munched homemade popcorn. In any case, I loved it, and remembered it five or so years later when I stumbled across the book it’s based on, by Alexander Key. Again, I loved it, and read it over and over again. Then I found what I thought was a sequel to the book, Return from Witch Mountain, also by Key. When I discovered that it was merely a novelization of Disney’s sequel to the first movie, I understood why it was so inferior to the first book.

Well, I finally watched the movie that book was based on, and was actually pleasantly surprised. The action that seemed so wooden on the page came to life to a certain extent on the screen, and the adult stars are an old Bette Davis and a young Christopher Lee! The movie is not recommended–in my opinion it is a shameless attempt to capitalize on the success of the first movie, which wasn’t very good to begin with–but your kids might enjoy it, and it won’t hurt them. I mean, hey, it’s Disney.

Alexander Key (1904-1979) is highly recommended as a children’s/YA fiction author. I especially enjoyed

• Escape to Witch Mountain
• The Forgotten Door

and

• The Magic Meadow

All right, I admit that I haven’t read any more of his books, and Magic Meadow is not as good as the first two. But I intend to read everything he’s written and publish a better, more complete review in the future.