Return to Oz

For other uses, including the 1964 film of the same name, see Return to Oz (disambiguation).

Return to Oz
Theatrical poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by	Walter Murch
Written by	L. Frank Baum (novels) Gill Dennis Walter Murch
Produced by	Paul Maslansky
Starring	Fairuza Balk Nicol Williamson Jean Marsh Piper Laurie Matt Clark
Cinematography	David Watkin Freddie Francis
Edited by	Leslie Hodgson
Music by	David Shire
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Silver Screen Partners II
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	United States June 21, 1985 United Kingdom July 10, 1985
Running time	113 min.
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Box office	$11,137,801

Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is the unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. It was made by Walt Disney Pictures without the involvement of MGM, the studio that made the 1939 film. No approval was necessary, because by 1985, the Oz books on which the film was based were in the public domain. A large fee was paid, however, to use the ruby slippers, which were still the intellectual property of MGM at the time (the rights to the 1939 film and all elements now rest with Time Warner). Although the film was directed by Walter Murch, a respected editor and sound designer, it did not fare well at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics but now has gained a loyal following.

Synopsis

The movie's plot is a combination of L. Frank Baum's novels The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz and Tik Tok of Oz, sequels to the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Six months after returning from the Land of Oz, Dorothy Gale has become a melancholic child who cannot stop dreaming of the people she met in the magical land, concerning Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, who are skeptical of the place's existence. The two decide to take her to see Doctor Worley, known for his electrotherapy treatments. Before going, Dorothy (thanks to her chicken, Billina) finds a key she believes her friends from Oz sent to her on a shooting star. Aunt Em leaves Dorothy at Dr. Worley's laboratory under the care of Nurse Wilson. As she is taken to have treatment, the lab has a blackout, and Dorothy is saved by a mysterious blonde girl who reveals that some patients have been driven insane by Worley's treatment and are hidden in the basement. The two escape with Nurse Wilson in pursuit, but they fall into a river. The blonde girl vanishes underwater, but Dorothy survives by clambering onboard a chicken coop.

Upon awakening, Dorothy finds herself back in Oz with a now talking Billina for company. The two discover the ruined Yellow Brick Road, which leads them to the Emerald City, now in ruins, missing its emeralds, and all of its citizens including the Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion turned to stone. Pursued by the Wheelers, who have wheels for hands and feet, Dorothy and Billina hide in a secret room using the key, and meet a clockwork man named Tik-Tok, the Royal Army of Oz. Taking charge, Tik-Tok explains that the king Scarecrow is missing; the Nome King, they later learn, has captured him. When the three go to visit a head exchanging witch named Mombi for more information, they end up imprisoned, and meet Jack Pumpkinhead, a man made of tree limbs with a pumpkin for a head. Jack refers to Dorothy as his mother, having forgotten his own creator, and reveals he was brought to life via Mombi's Powder of Life. They all then formulate a plan to escape to the Nome King's mountain; Dorothy steals the Powder of Life and uses it to vivify The Gump, a moose-like animal whose body is made from a winged sofa. They escape and fly across the Deadly Desert, Mombi and the Wheelers pursuing underground.

The Gump's body falls apart while airborne and the group lands on the Nome King's mountain. The Nome King meets Dorothy and accuses the Scarecrow of stealing the emeralds from his kingdom, and then turns him into an ornament. The Nome King challenges Dorothy's group to locate the Scarecrow in his large ornament collection, but three guesses wrong, and they will be turned to ornaments as well. All meet this fate, until it is Dorothy's turn. Before she enters the ornament room, The Nome King reveals to her that he conquered the Emerald City courtesy of her discarded Ruby Slippers. He offers to use them to send her back home, but she refuses and goes to find her friends.

On her last guess, she manages to locate the Scarecrow and the two begin restoring the others, who are all green ornaments. Upon learning this, the enraged Nome King traps Mombi in a cage and then confronts Dorothy and company in a gigantic, monstrous form. Intent on killing each one of them, he has his minions block off any possible escape route. He then tries to eat them, but Billina, who had been hiding in Jack's hollow head, lays an egg in fright and it falls into the Nome King's mouth. The Nome King drops Jack and he, his minions, and his kingdom begin crumbling to pieces, as eggs are poisonous to Nomes. As the palace crumbles Dorothy finds the Ruby Slippers, she quickly takes off her black shoes and uses the slippers to wish the Emerald City back to normal and for her and her friends to escape, which they do. At the Emerald City, during a victory celebration, Dorothy spots the girl who had helped her escape the hospital in Kansas, Princess Ozma, Jack's long-lost creator and the rightful ruler of Oz who had been enchanted into a mirror by Mombi. Taking her place on the throne, Dorothy hands over the Ruby Slippers. Ozma then invites Dorothy to visit Oz any time she likes before sending her home.

Back in Kansas, Dorothy is located on a riverbank by her family. Aunt Em reveals that Worley's hospital burned down and Worley was killed in the fire. Nurse Wilson is arrested and carried away in a prison cart. Upon returning to the farmhouse, Dorothy sees Billina and Ozma peering at her through her bedroom mirror, implying her adventures in Oz are not yet over.

Cast

• Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale
• Nicol Williamson as Dr. Worley/The Nome King
• Jean Marsh as Head Nurse Wilson/Mombi
• Piper Laurie as Aunt Em
• Matt Clark as Uncle Henry
• Michael Sundin & Tim Rose as Tik-Tok (puppeteers)
• Sean Barrett as Tik-Tok (voice)
• Mak Wilson as Billina (puppeteer)
• Denise Bryer as Billina (voice)
• Brian Henson as Jack Pumpkinhead (voice)
• Stewart Larange as Jack Pumpkinhead (puppeteer)
• Lyle Conway as The Gump (voice)
• Steve Norrington as The Gump (puppeteer)
• Pons Maar as Lead Wheeler/Nome Messenger
• Emma Ridley as Ozma
• Justin Case as The Scarecrow
• Various Actors as The Wheelers
• John Alexander as The Lion/Wheeler
• Deep Roy as The Tin Man
• Bruce Boa as Policeman
• Tansy as Toto

Production

Murch began development on the film in 1980, during a brainstorming session with Walt Disney Pictures production chief Tom Wilhite, “it was just a fishing expedition on both of our parts," recalls Murch. "But one of the questions he asked was, ‘What are you interested in that you think we might also be interested in?’, and I said, ‘Another Oz story.’ … And Tom sort of straightened up in his chair because it turned out, unbeknownst to me, that Disney owned the rights to all of the Oz stories. And they were particularly interested in doing something with them because the copyright was going to run out in the next five years.”

Murch took a decidedly darker take on Baum's source material than the 1939 original, which he knew starting out would be a gamble.

We knew going in that it was going to be risky, but it had been 45 years since the original film came out, and I thought enough time had passed for a different sensibility to have a chance--to present a somewhat more realistic view about Dorothy and her life on the farm, and have the film not be a musical. Plus there were now whole new ways of doing special effects and creatures that I thought could be used to make something that looked and felt more like the books themselves, rather than the stagy, vaudevillian approach that had been taken in 1939. I definitely felt that if we had tried to really do a sequel, which is to say, do something in the style of an MGM musical, we would have been in even greater trouble, because there's just no way you can reinvent that particular combination of people, technology, and attitude, which really reached a peak in the late 1930s and never recovered after the war.

Walt Disney Pictures was so unhappy with the project's slow progress that after five weeks they fired Murch from the film. George Lucas stuck up for Murch and convinced the studio to keep the director on.

Lucas, who's a friend, heard about what happened and flew to England from Japan, where he was at the time. He met with me and looked at what I had shot, then met with the Disney executives and said "No, this is going to be great, you guys just have to be more patient with this process, let's see what can be done to facilitate it." And he guaranteed the rest of the production--he said that if something else happened, he would step in and take control. That was enough to make the executives at Disney feel more confident about what was going on, and I was back directing again after a few days. It was a fantastic act of generosity and commitment on his part.

Reception

The movie received mixed reviews from critics. Critics criticized the film's content as too dark and intense for children. "Children are sure to be startled by the film's bleakness," said The New York Times's Janet Maslin. "It's bleak, creepy, and occasionally terrifying," added Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader. Siskel and Ebert gave the film a highly negative review, they even included it on their "Worst of 1985" list.

The film earned $2,844,895 in its opening weekend, finishing in seventh place. The film ultimately grossed $11,137,801 in North America. However, in recent years it has gained a cult following and has become popular among some fans of the Oz franchise. For example, The Nostalgia Critic rated the film at #4 on his list of the Top 11 Underrated Nostalgia Classics.

Awards

The film received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Visual Effects". Fairuza Balk and Emma Ridley were nominated for Young Artist Awards. The film received two Saturn Award nominations for Best Fantasy Film and Best Younger Actor (Fairuza Balk).

Cultural influence

• In 2005, American pop band Scissor Sisters, fans of the film, included a song on their eponymous debut album, called "Return To Oz". Although the song actually pertains to the effects of methamphetamine (crystal meth), it contains many of the images and themes covered in the film.

• The film’s interpretation of Oz is featured in the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction at Disneyland Resort Paris.

• Amelie Gillette of the AV Club frequently refers to the film's dark nature as unsuitable for its intended audience of young children despite it being one of her favorite movies growing up.

• The film inspired a fan-made documentary titled Return To Oz: The Joy That Got Away, made especially for the Internet.

External links

• Return To Oz at IMDb
• Return to Oz at AllMovie
• Return to Oz - Unofficial site
• Returning To Oz/Ozcast Talk Show
• Public Domain Documentary About the Making of the Film