Return to Oz (1985)

Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, is somehow called back to Oz when a vain witch and the Nome King destroy everything that makes the magical land beautiful.

Director:

Walter Murch

Writers:

Walter Murch (screenplay), Gill Dennis (screenplay)

Stars:

Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fairuza Balk	...	Dorothy
Nicol Williamson	...	Dr. Worley / Nome King
Jean Marsh	...	Nurse Wilson / Mombi
Piper Laurie	...	Aunt Em
Matt Clark	...	Uncle Henry
Michael Sundin	...	Tik-Tok
Tim Rose	...	Tik-Tok
Sean Barrett	...	Tik-Tok (voice)
Mak Wilson	...	Billina
Denise Bryer	...	Billina (voice)
Brian Henson	...	Jack Pumpkinhead (voice)
Stewart Harvey-Wilson	...	Jack Pumpkinhead (as Stewart Larange)
Lyle Conway	...	Gump (voice)
Stephen Norrington	...	Gump (as Steve Norrington)
Justin Case	...	Scarecrow

Storyline

Dorothy Gale has recently come home to Kansas from the Land of Oz is now almost back to perfect health since the incident of the tornado, only she cannot get that wonderful place out of her head. She frequently talks about it and cannot get any sleep at night. Aunt Em worries about her health/well-being. Thinking that she is suffering delusional depression and acute insomnia, she decides to take her to see a special doctor in another town. While he tries to treat her with electro-shock treatment and take those nasty dreams away from her head, she is rescued by a mysterious girl who leads her back to Oz for a new adventure.

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Plot Keywords:

mechanical man | good versus evil | villain | villainess | evil woman | 

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Taglines:

It's an all-new live-action fantasy - filled with Disney adventure and magic.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Oz

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$11,137,801, 31 December 1985

Company Credits

Production Co:

BMI (No. 9) Ltd.,Oz Productions Ltd.,Silver Screen Partners II

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 110 min (uncut) 109 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Murch had scouted a number of filming locations to double as Oz in the film. Last-minute budget cuts forced the production to shoot almost entirely on soundstages and backlots.

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Goofs

When Dorothy first meets Tick Tock, he tells her that he will be her humble servant, takes off his hat and bows before her. When he's bowing if you look closely you can see the "puppeteer" crouched behind him.

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Quotes

Dr. J.B. Worley: And how did you come back from... Oz?
Dorothy: With my ruby slippers.
Dr. J.B. Worley: How did they work?
Dorothy: You put them on and you click your heels three times, and you say "There's no place like home".
Dr. J.B. Worley: Dorothy, where are those slippers now?
Dorothy: I lost them. They fell off on the way back.

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Alternate Versions

When it was aired on the Disney channel, the following were cut: When "Ozma girl" unties Dorothy from the bed in the doctor's room, the line where she tells Dorothy that the screaming patients are locked in the cellar is cut. When Dorothy first visits Mombi, much is cut. A lot of shots of the heads behind the glass are cut, and so is a lot of footage when Mombi puts on her head. Because of this, a line is cut where she asks Dorothy how she looks, and Dorothy tells her she looks beautiful. In the TV version, it cuts straight to the line, "And just who might you be?" When Mombi wakes up, many shots of the screaming heads and EVERY shot of the headless Mombi trying to get Dorothy is cut. A few seconds of footage of the Nome King's death are cut, including when his eye turns to stone, and some of the "poison" shots.

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: the Wizard of Oz (1982 Anime) (2014)

User Reviews

An undeservedly maligned fantasy treasure

To truly understand and appreciate "Return to OZ", you've got to know two things.

First off, this is NOT a follow-up to the classic MGM movie. This can't be emphasized enough. It is actually a synthesis of the first five or so sequels to the BOOK. (This isn't a dig at the movie, mind you. If you don't like it on some level or other, you can't be human. It's just that the movie was based on the book in the respect that the characters in the movie had the same names as the characters in the book.)

Secondly, L. Frank Baum's original, printed-page OZ is, quite possibly, the most messed up imaginary universe ever created. There's a land of beings who throw their own heads at you as weapons. There's a land of sentient vegetables who raise *people* in their gardens (think "Motel Hell" and you've got the idea). To top it all off, it turns out that Dorothy's buddies are really good at killing things; in particular the dear, heartless Tin Man who bloodies up his hatchet with unsettling apathy.

What I'm trying to get at here is that "Return to OZ" is an OZ movie that is much more faithful to the books. Much more "THIS is how long you have to be alive!" than "We represent the Lullaby League". I think it goes without saying that you'd be legally insane to show it to little kids, but fantasy fans, OZ enthusiasts, and fans of cult movies should hunt it down as soon as possible.

By the way, please note that the old-school herky-jerky puppets and claymation monsters in this movie are scary as all get out. Compare this to the awful remake of "the Haunting" with it's stupid cartoonish CGI creatures (and this isn't a dig at computer animation, but since the technique is inheritely realist, it's not scary). There is a lesson here.