After the original films came out, former child star Kim Richards knew that she would revisit the magical, cinematic world of "Witch Mountain" someday -- it was only a question of when. (And that doesn't include the 2002 mock-documentary spoof, "The Blair Witch Mountain Project.")

About 34 years after the original movie made its debut, Richards' when is Friday with "Race to Witch Mountain," a re-imagined follow-up to "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Return from Witch Mountain." Released in 1975 and 1978, respectively, the movies starred a then 10-year-old Richards and 12-year-old Ike Eisenmann as Tia and Tony Malone, a pair of orphaned siblings with paranormal powers.

"They actually did a television remake and they asked me to participate in that one, but I chose not to. I was retired at the time to have my family and raise my children, and I just really wasn't ready to do anything at that point," Richards, 44, said in a recent @ The Movies interview. "But I had a feeling all along that a 'Witch Mountain' project of this scale would be done someday. The original films hit too big and so many people loved Tia and Tony in it."

Timed in conjunction with this week's re-release of "Escape" and "Return" on DVD, "Race to Witch Mountain" stars Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino, and features AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig as Sara and Seth -- who like the original films, are a pair of paranormal siblings on the run.

"Race to Witch Mountain" was directed by Johnson's "Game Plan" director Andy Fickman, who insisted that Richards and Eisenmann be in the movie.

"Andy called me when the project was first getting off the ground and told me, 'This is your film and I want you to know I wouldn't go ahead without you on this,'" Richards recalled. "He wanted to know what my thoughts were and said, 'Let's have lunch and I'll show you the script I have.' He let me know from the get-go that this was something that he wouldn't think about doing without myself or Ike, which was really awesome."

Among Fickman's first thoughts, Richards said, was to feature her and Eisenmann as Sara and Seth's parents, but she reminded the filmmaker immediately that that wouldn't work because their characters were siblings in the original films. He also batted around the idea of the two hovering around in a spaceship the whole film, Richards said, but eventually, the pair devised something else.

"We came up with a nice little sequence with Ike and me at the center," Richards said. "I'm leaving it up to the imaginations of the audience members when they see it as to who we really are. Are we Tony and Tia? Are we other people? I know that when they see the movie, they will know who we are."

Recalling 'Witch Mountain'

Having starred in her first commercial when she was 4 months old, Richards -- who really has acted since she was in diapers -- was a seasoned veteran by the time she and Eisenmann joined Eddie Albert, Donald Pleasance and Ray Milland on "Escape to Witch Mountain."

Having television movies and such shows as "The Nanny and the Professor" and assorted "Disneyland" roles under her belt, "Escape to Witch Mountain" at the time was just another in a long string of jobs for Richards -- and she had no idea that the movie would become a big hit with moviegoers.

One thing she did know for certain: This particular job was a blast.

"I had more fun filming 'Escape to Witch Mountain' than I did any other movie I had ever done in my life, right down to working with real orphans at the orphanage, and working with the animals," she said.

But Richards said the impact of the movie didn't hit her until the premiere, when she and her mother encountered a mob of enthusiastic fans.

"My mom told me a story recalling how we were sitting in the back of a limousine at the premiere as fans were screaming and pounding on the windows," Richards said. "My mom said to me, 'Kimmy, what do you think they are pounding on the windows for and what do you think they want?' She recalled that I grabbed onto my jacket and said, 'I think they want my coat.' I never really got how famous I was, which was the beauty. I was not spoiled or into myself. But I did know that the film was a hit immediately."

Richards said that "Return from Witch Mountain," the sequel that also starred Bette Davis and Christopher Lee, only solidified her thoughts as to why the original films resonate with younger moviegoers to this day.

"I feel like every child wants to have powers -- they want to fly, levitate things and talk without moving their mouths," Richards said. "Every child in the world -- then, today and tomorrow -- has that dream. They want to have a spaceship to fly around and do magical things that only a magic person or alien can do."