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.
Dorothy Gale has recently come home to Kansas from the Land of Oz and 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.Written by
Nichola McDougall
The Gump's head comes from an animal from the Ozian forest, therefore it is a forest Gump. See more »
Goofs
The melting point of silver is 961.78°C, or 1763.2°F. Its boiling point is 2162°C, or 3924°F. Therefore, Dorothy would not have been able to drink "hot liquid silver", or even hold the cup for that matter. However, this scene takes place in a fantasy world where chemistry is different than in ours, e.g. tin can rust. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Aunt Em:
Can't you sleep?
[Dorothy shakes her head]
Aunt Em:
It's past 1:00 in the morning, Dorothy.
See more »
Alternate Versions
A bootleg of a longer "Work-In-Progress" version has circulated among fans. The difference between this and the released theatrical cut as follows: -There is no musical score, except during the climactic scene in the Ornament Room.
-Aunt Em's role is slightly longer and more sympathetic. When telling Dorothy it's past one in the morning, she gently pretends to "paint Dorothy's face." Later she comments that Uncle Henry's leg is really mended but his spirit is broken.
-Uncle Henry and the newspaper clipping of Dr. Worley do not appear at the beginning. Instead we see an alternate scene with a different clipping about Dorothy surviving the tornado.
-When Dorothy and Aunt Em arrive at the clinic, they are greeted by Nurse Wilson and Dr. Worley, who mistakenly calls her "Dottie."
-Ozma's voice is different, revealing she was dubbed in the finished film.
-Ozma and Dorothy run through the house a bit more before being seen by Nurse Wilson.
-When Dorothy and Billina first come to Oz, several times a blue screen and sound stage can be seen in the background, as visual effects had not yet been completed. Also Billina, Tik Tok, and The Gump all have different voices, but Jack Pumpkinhead's remains the same.
-There are NO visual effects for the scene when the Nome Messenger first alerts the Nome King of Dorothy's return; it is simply a shot of Pons Maar making faces as he reads the line, and Nicol William's offscreen (and unaltered) voice responding. Strangely enough, for the second scene, when the Nome Messenger says she's on her way to the Emerald City, the claymation HAS been finished, but Williamson's voice is still unaltered.
-Ozma's ghostly figure in Mombi's house does not appear, so when Mombi says: "There's no one left who even remembers who you are" she is talking to no one.
-The scene of our heroes landing on the Nome King's mountain is extended. Jack, unaware that his head's on upside down, continues to comment about how the sky is beneath the land. As Dorothy goes to fix him, Billina remembers how the Nome King seems to hate chickens, and Dorothy wonders what to do with her. This explains why it is that Billina is hiding inside Jack's head in the next scene.
-The following scene of the Nome Messenger and the Nome King again features no claymation of any kind, and Williamson's voice is unaltered, which continues in the next scene when the claymation face appears on the outside of the mountain.
-When the Wheelers return to Mombi's palace, there is a longer scene of her realizing that Dorothy has gone to the Nome King's mountain, and then of her beating the Wheelers and leading them to her underground tunnel, which we later see her traveling in.
-The scene of Dorothy eating the rock cakes is extended, and she pretends to offer some to Jack, but is really feeding Billina inside his head.
-When Tik Tok is restored, he greets the Scarecrow "Your Majesty" before telling Dorothy his thinking must have run down.
-The most notable extended scene is the celebration in the Emerald City. The victory march is extended and more characters can be seen. Just as Dorothy is about to re-crown the Scarecrow, he comments that being king is too difficult for him, and instead the characters rally Dorothy to be their queen (the Tin Man actually speaks during this scene). Dorothy explains she could never leave her family in Kansas, and comments that Toto always believed her story. Ozma then appears (music plays over this scene which is different from the finished film, and the mirror effect is not completed).
-After being reunited with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, the Constable (played by Bruce Boaw) on horse buggy rides by and is happy that Dorothy's been found, but asks about "the other one" (presumably Ozma). Uncle Henry and Aunt Em comment she hasn't been found and so the search will continue upriver. As the buggy drives off is when Dorothy sees Nurse Wilson incarcerated in the back.
-There are no credits, so the final shot of Dorothy playing with Toto on the farm goes on for about a minute. See more »
I first saw this film back when I was a kid and I was not all that wild about it. I guess my mind could not grasp the idea of an Oz movie that was faithful to the book and was confusing because it did not seem like it was part of the original film's world. Now that I am an adult, I really dig this one more than the original 1939 film as it is darker to the point of being almost a horror/fantasy film and there are not a bunch of chirpy songs coming from nowhere. Honestly, the original was essentially a Broadway stage play that was filmed. This one, however, was more like the Oz portrayed in the books.
The story has poor Dorthy suffering from sleepless nights due to her adventures in Oz. Her aunt's solution? Why, take her to a doctor that using electroshock therapy of course! Well, Dorthy ends up in a creepy asylum and is about to be zapped when the power goes off, another girl frees Dorthy and both she and the other girl end up falling into a river just outside the asylum during a very violent storm. The other girl seemingly drowns as the river somehow transports Dorthy back to Oz; however, it is now run down and full of strange beings known as Wheelers who promptly give chase. Dorthy manages to find her way into a room and enlists the aid of Tic-toc, a wind up soldier. She will also find help from Jack Pumpkinhead and meet her old friend Scarecrow too. However, a strange demented Princess named Mombi and the Nome King will do everything in their power to stop Dorthy from returning Oz to its former glory!
Watching this film, one gets more of a sense of what Oz is all about, it is a mirror world where there are people from our world living within it. I get the feeling Stephen King and Peter Straub used the Oz series as inspiration for their collaboration, The Talisman as it too features a parallel world. While I found this one good as an adult I also found at times the outside world of Oz too mundane, though the interiors do look fantastical. It is a shame this bombed at the box office, because this Oz is so much more delightful and frightful than the 1939 version.
So, in the eyes of an adult, this movie actually improved for me. Usually, you watch stuff as a kid and later as an adult and like the film less, but not here. It is a strange world that is put together by Disney, who were going through bit of a dark phase during this time. They were also going through a rather rough time as there just were not too many hits during this era in their history. Not that the films were not good, just not what people expected from a Disney film at the time. This one is one such case, really good, but people expected lighter fare and something more in the line with the 1939 film.
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I first saw this film back when I was a kid and I was not all that wild about it. I guess my mind could not grasp the idea of an Oz movie that was faithful to the book and was confusing because it did not seem like it was part of the original film's world. Now that I am an adult, I really dig this one more than the original 1939 film as it is darker to the point of being almost a horror/fantasy film and there are not a bunch of chirpy songs coming from nowhere. Honestly, the original was essentially a Broadway stage play that was filmed. This one, however, was more like the Oz portrayed in the books.
The story has poor Dorthy suffering from sleepless nights due to her adventures in Oz. Her aunt's solution? Why, take her to a doctor that using electroshock therapy of course! Well, Dorthy ends up in a creepy asylum and is about to be zapped when the power goes off, another girl frees Dorthy and both she and the other girl end up falling into a river just outside the asylum during a very violent storm. The other girl seemingly drowns as the river somehow transports Dorthy back to Oz; however, it is now run down and full of strange beings known as Wheelers who promptly give chase. Dorthy manages to find her way into a room and enlists the aid of Tic-toc, a wind up soldier. She will also find help from Jack Pumpkinhead and meet her old friend Scarecrow too. However, a strange demented Princess named Mombi and the Nome King will do everything in their power to stop Dorthy from returning Oz to its former glory!
Watching this film, one gets more of a sense of what Oz is all about, it is a mirror world where there are people from our world living within it. I get the feeling Stephen King and Peter Straub used the Oz series as inspiration for their collaboration, The Talisman as it too features a parallel world. While I found this one good as an adult I also found at times the outside world of Oz too mundane, though the interiors do look fantastical. It is a shame this bombed at the box office, because this Oz is so much more delightful and frightful than the 1939 version.
So, in the eyes of an adult, this movie actually improved for me. Usually, you watch stuff as a kid and later as an adult and like the film less, but not here. It is a strange world that is put together by Disney, who were going through bit of a dark phase during this time. They were also going through a rather rough time as there just were not too many hits during this era in their history. Not that the films were not good, just not what people expected from a Disney film at the time. This one is one such case, really good, but people expected lighter fare and something more in the line with the 1939 film.