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aspoole · Aug 10, 2007, 09:18 AM

This will drive me CRAZY until someone remembers it! I think it was a Disney made for TV movie in the late 80s or early 90s. It was about a girl who befriends a boy. The girl is a witch, and she lives on a lake with her grandmother or mom. There is a scene where she teaches the boy to skip rocks. There's another scene where she helps him across a log bridge by hypnotizing him with her (green?) eyes. In the end she points her two fingers at his eyes and says "I zapped you" and then kisses his cheek. The boy's name in the movie might be Jeremiah, but I could be making that up... They used to play it ALL the time when I was younger. Somebody please tell me you remember this movie!

Purukivel · Aug 10, 2007, 10:43 AM

I've been investigating this for weeks since encountering your query elsewhere and I'm still drawing a blank. Are there any other details? How old are these kids? Do they go to school? Is the crush-boy a jock or nerd? Is there any singing or dancing going on? Does everyone know she's a witch? Does she enjoy being one? What kind of spells does she cast? What's the major conflict here and who are her enemies? Every search I perform keeps coming up with The Worst Witch or Teen Witch or Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch.

aspoole · Aug 12, 2007, 03:32 PM

The kids are young... maybe 13? I'm trying to think of a way to describe it... it isn't like Sabrina the Teenage Witch or The Worst Witch... this movie I am thinking of has more of a true-to-life feel... more of a reality feeling than a bubblegummy type feel... kind of more "Goonies"... does that make sense? Trust me, I've searched and searched, and I've found a few other people wondering about the movie, but NO answers... the boy is mesmorized by the girl, she gives him a sense of adventure... I'm guessing they are both considered outcasts, but I don't remember there being any school involved... that's about all I can remember. Any help is appreciated... you know how things can just drive you crazy until you think of them!

mustangchristy77 · Aug 12, 2007, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by aspoole

This will drive me CRAZY until someone remembers it! I think it was a Disney made for tv movie in the late 80s or early 90s. It was about a girl who befriends a boy. The girl is a witch, and she lives on a lake with her grandmother or mom. There is a scene where she teaches the boy to skip rocks. There's another scene where she helps him across a log bridge by hypnotizing him with her (green?) eyes. In the end she points her two fingers at his eyes and says "I zapped you" and then kisses his cheek. The boy's name in the movie might be Jeremiah, but I could be making that up.... They used to play it ALL the time when I was younger. Somebody please tell me you remember this movie!

Could this be escape to witch mountain?

dias06 · Aug 13, 2007, 09:37 AM

The only disney movie I know with a Jeremiah in it is "so dear to my heart"?

aspoole · Aug 13, 2007, 09:50 AM

Nope it's not Escape from Witch Mountain or So Dear to My Heart... it's still driving me crazy!

Purukivel · Aug 13, 2007, 09:54 AM

You might have to try posting this in a forum run by Disney fanatics. I glanced at a couple last night but I couldn't find a match for your movie. I am beginning to suspect that the "witch" angle is incorrect... maybe she was an alien or mutant or had non-magical powers or something?

aspoole · Aug 13, 2007, 10:51 AM

It might be that she isn't really a witch... in the end she might just be a normal girl that the boy thought was a witch, or maybe he wanted her to be a witch... something like that...

Purukivel · Aug 13, 2007, 09:17 PM

FINALLY. I can sleep in peace now. YOU can sleep in peace. You can also send me a handsome payment in thanks. Your mystery flick is the 1987 TV movie The Witching of Ben Wagner, starring Sam Bottoms, Sylvia Sidney, and Bettina Rae as the "witch". Full details can be found at YouTube, along with a clip that seems to cover at least a few of your plot points. The plot summary: "When Ben Wagner's family moves to a small town, he makes a mysterious new friend, 13-year old Regina. Because Regina dresses differently than the other kids and lives with her grandmother by a lake, local gossip says she's a witch. When Regina tells Ben, "You can do it, Ben." Ben thinks she's put a spell on him and finds courage to do things he never imagined he could do. When Ben stops listening to gossip, he discovers that Regina's real power is her ability to get him to believe in himself. This enchanting story teaches that the real magic in life comes from helping each other believe in ourselves."

aspoole · Aug 14, 2007, 01:43 PM

OH MY GOSH. I feel like I owe you my soul. Thank you! How did you find it? You should be paid for this sort of thing.

Purukivel · Aug 14, 2007, 01:49 PM

I finally mastered on obscure maneuver in Google-Fu (I reduced my search terms to TV movie, witch, grandmother, and lake) that allowed me to blunder across the Mr. Clip site, which gave me the answer as shown here:

The Witching of Ben Wagner --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094333/ girl lives with grandmother witch in a shack/shed, floating log across the river/stream? lake, bayou, pacific northwest? coffin, quicksand dream?

And then I remembered, to my chagrin, that I had actually run across this TWO WEEKS ago and just forgotten.