How was helicopter scene filmed in Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)?
In Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), around 1h 19m, there is scene with helicopter (Hughes MD500) in inverted flight which lands upside down and keep spinning. While flight itself is visibly "fake" after landing it looks too real for 40 year old movie, especially with humans running around heli.
Aviation.SE answers can be summarized shortly as: Helicopter rotating upside down will break rather fast and "physics" of scene are not mach with real machine. This lead to common opinion that scene was filmed using some prop/model.
- Are there any information available about this prop?
- Was it made from gutted out real helicopter or fully custom made?
- Are there "behind the scenes" materials available?
Best Answer
The detail is too good for me to think model immediately, although it's a distinct possibility.
My guess is they anchored the rotor deep into the ground (notice how it doesn't move at all during the rotation?) using a helicopter shell and a motor inside designed to spin the helicopter.
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Where was Escape From Witch Mountain filmed?
Based on the book by Alexander Key. The music score was by Johnny Mandel. The film was shot around Monterey and Palo Alto, California, including a Victorian mansion at Menlo Park for the Pine Woods orphanage.Is there an actual Witch Mountain?
The geographical structure which portrayed "Witch Mountain" was a Santa Lucia Mountain in the Santa Lucia Range in Big Sur, Monterey County on the central coast of California. Candidates for a real-life Witch Mountain would be mysterious places like Silbury Hill or Mount Shasta.What was the movie Escape to Witch Mountain about?
FilmsFilmU.S. release dateStory byReturn from Witch MountainMarch 10, 1978Malcolm MarmorsteinBeyond Witch MountainFebruary 20, 1982Robert Malcolm YoungDisney's Escape to Witch MountainApril 29, 1995Robert Malcom YoungRace to Witch MountainMarch 13, 2009Matt Lopez1 more row'Witch Mountain' Cast Loves Their Disney
More answers regarding how was helicopter scene filmed in Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)?
Answer 2
I think it is a toy helicopter, and is shot in a way that it looks like real big one. It is just a wild guess, not confident.
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