How deviously American the film seems to have stumbled upon a subtext about craven parent figures manipulating their children’s talents for profit, as if Disney is undermining its entire ethos. On the badguy side of the equation is moody capitalist Ray Milland ready to exploit their marvellous talents. Still, they could be from another planet, so who are we to judge? Tia Mallone and Ike Eisenmann (whose freckly face became the imprimatur of all child actors of the era) give them a chatty, attractive exuberance, if not much in the way of emotional vulnerability. Then they happen upon a map to the Witch Mountain of the title, and the race is on. That and their cerebrally fired abilities: the classic ‘70s staples of telekinesis, levitation, manipulation of locks nothing too tricky for the effects department to manage. We are told they were somehow shipwrecked with only a “star case” and a picture with two suns at the top to hint at some form of alien status.

The main thrust of the plot involves the mystery of these kids’ origin. Magical kids are all the rage these days, and this charming, perilous tale of telepathic sprogs on the run carries a similar haunted strain to the Harry Potters - the search for family. Peculiar because, at the time, the mid-seventies, Disney was preoccupied with making Herbie movies and letting its animation department go to ruin, and hatching onto Alexander Key’s exciting novel showed a rare flash of forward thinking. What a peculiar but effective children’s adventure movie this is.

Escape to witch mountain novel