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

In order to include the ruby slippers as part of this film, Disney had to pay royalties to MGM, the studio which had produced The Wizard of Oz (1939). The ruby slippers did not appear in the original novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"; they were invented for the 1939 film to better take advantage of the newly developed Technicolor process. Interestingly enough, in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Dorothy wore a pair of magical silver shoes which were actually destroyed when she used them to return to Kansas. In the subsequent novel "Ozma of Oz," one of the books on which this film is based, Dorothy and her friends meet the Nome King who possesses a magical belt with properties similar to those of the silver shoes. Early drafts of the script for Return to Oz reflect this, with the Nome King possessing a magical ruby belt which had been created from the ruby slippers.

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Goofs

The nurse unexpectedly takes away Dorothy's lunch pail. Yet before she even reaches for it, Dorothy raises it up, as if handing it to her.

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Quotes

Billina: We come all this way to see a bunch a stiffs.

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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 Dick Tracy (1990)

User Reviews

We're off to see the Sequel, the wonderful sequel of Oz…

Cherubic Dorothy Gale is catapulted back to the magical world of Oz in this enchanting, but very atypical Disney Production that got released 46 years after Victor Fleming's original (none of the original cast-members lived long enough to ever see this sequel!). In the story, however, only six months have passed since Dorothy was brought to Oz by a tornado. During some medical tests, performed because she keeps talking about her unbelievable journey, a mysterious girl helps Dorothy escape from the hospital and back to Oz for a new adventure! The screenplay, based on two L. Frank Baum novels at once, introduces a large amount of imaginative new characters that are either Dorothy's loyal friends…or malicious new enemies. It soon becomes clear that she was called back to Oz for a reason, as the evil Nome King has turned everyone to stone and the mad Princess Mombi is after more human heads for her collection. Despite the presence of a talking chicken, this is a frighteningly grim and obscure fantasy tale, perhaps not even suitable for the typical Disney-target groups. The events and characters in "Return to Oz" are often quite macabre (decapitation for a hobby, eerie guys on wheels…) and the tone of the film is heavier since there isn't any singing and dancing going on. Perhaps a little too scary for the smallest children but "Return to Oz" nonetheless is a compelling and spontaneous adventure, highly recommended to those who like their fairy-tales sinister. The special effects are really terrific, with stunning stop-motion animations and some very engaging mechanical machinery (Tic-Tok!). The young Fairuza Balk is an unbelievably convincing follow-up to Judy Garland! The talented Piper Laurie ("Carrie") is regretfully underused, though. This film, along with "The Dark Crystal" and "The Neverending Story", was a huge favorite of mine when I was young and they seemly only got better with years. Good stuff.