Pros: It Still Held On To The Foundation Of The Classic Oz, A Petite Sized Fairuza Balk, Cute Characters, And Interesting Menacing Characters.
Cons: The Characters In The Classic Were More Lovable, And Their Costumes Were Better. No Good Witch, No Witches From Any Direction (North, East, West, South). I Don't Recall There Being Any Munchkins Either, Or The Wizard For That Matter. There Wasn't Much of A
We're not in Kansas any more. Oz will never be the same. Return To Oz is the sequel to the movie that we all hold dear to our hearts, The Wizard Of Oz. Return To Oz is a darker, more sinister take on Oz.
It's a twisted tale that's almost morbid, when compared to The Wizard Of Oz, which was released in 1939. Return To Oz was released in 1985. The times have changed and the story isn't the same, but even with these changes, it is strange that Return To Oz more closely resembles the classic children's books of Frank L. Baum, which inspired the movies.
Return To Oz was directed by Walter Murch and the assistant to the director was Francis Ford Coppola. This movie is approximately 109 minutes long and stars a very young Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale.
You may remember a much taller Fairuza Balk starring opposite Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell in The Craft. I never knew that Fairuza was a child actress, so this was news to me.
I had watched this movie when I was kid and didn't know who played Dorothy. I later became more interested in film and the actors in film. Even though I recognize Fairuza in her movies today, it wasn't until this year that I finally tied her in with the movie Return To Oz. Not to mention, I was a kid when I first watched this movie and the details of it were a bit fuzzy until I watched it again on television, where it then became clear.
I always find it interesting to see a well known adult actor in a movie as a child. I believe Fairuza was only eleven years old when she was given the role as Dorothy. I was still wetting the bed when I watched this movie. Not that this is saying much, seeing as I probably didn't stop wetting the bed until I was in second grade. LOL!
As for The Wizard Of Oz my mother wasn't even a twinkle in her mother's eye when it was released. Even so, The Wizard Of Oz was the first oz movie I ever saw. Maybe that's why I am a little partial to it. Someone who watched Return to Oz first may prefer that one. It always seems to be the way. Whatever you see first is your favorite and then it's difficult not to be sentimental. I know for me, it is hard to imagine anyone other than Judy Garland being perfect for the role of Dorothy Gale I am going to try to separate my feelings and just judge the movies by their story.
I must say though, that The Wizard Of Oz was more of a heartfelt, heart warming story. Then again, I don't think the story behind Return To Oz was suppose to be that way. I think they were going for a different feel and intentionally made the story dark.
There were a few things that bugged me about Return To Oz. I thought that Dorothy should have been older, seeing as it was a sequel and all. Instead, Dorothy seemed a whole hell of a lot younger than even in the first one. As a child I didn't see this though. I remembered Dorothy as being older, but I suppose that was because I was younger and Dorothy would have seemed older to me, since the actual actress playing the role was older than me. When I watched this movie again on television, I couldn't help but think, "wow, she looks so young. Even younger than the original Dorothy". I think they should have either chosen an older actress or made Fairuza up to look older. How could it be that the adventure continued, and time had moved on, yet Dorothy appeared to be growing younger? I think an innocent teenager, pure of heart, would have made an ideal Dorothy. I confess, it's a minor complaint, but it still bugged me.
The other things that bugged me were how the characters from the original movie were cut out for the most part. The Wizard was gone and there was little explanation for it. Glinda, the Munchkins, the Lollypop Kids were no more, and they offered no explanation for it. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, but for someone who has watched the original, you need to offer up something to keep them involved. It's suppose to be a sequel, right? Not a remake of the original?
They did manage to keep some of the other characters though. Toto was part of the sequel, but had a very small part. Toto was not present during Dorothy's"Oz" adventure. Toto took a back seat because they had a talking chicken in his place. The chicken's name was Bilina. Mak Wilson did the voice for the chicken.
The Tin Man played by Deep Roy, the Scarecrow played by Justin Case, and the Cowardly Lion (who I don't think was played by anyone, because I don't think he even spoke), had such minimal parts. The Scarecrow had the largest part out of all of them. The two others spent most of their time in stone and like I said, I don't think the Lion even spoke during the whole movie. The Lion and the Tin Man weren't even living until the very end of the movie. Not only did they have parts not worth mentioning, but their costumes were awful. I thought the original Scarecrow had the best look, and the Tin Man had no substance to him physically or as a character. The Lion lost his humanlike quality when they showed him on all fours. He was no longer a character to me, but just an animal. The costumes from the first movie might have been old, but I thought they were better, more artistic.
Another thing this movie did away with was all the singing and dancing. There is absolutely nothing musical about this movie whatsoever. In a way that's a plus because I was never too fond of musicals anyway. But on the other hand it takes something away from the film. I think they should have at least had one or two scenes where they dance and sing.
One thing that I kind of get a kick out of, is how this movie had an Academy Award Nomination for Best Visual Effects. The effects in this movie were decent for 1985, but they were nothing spectacular.
The original movie was nominated for several things and won a few Academy Awards, along with a few other awards. This was rightly so. The original was mostly in technicolor, and this was when technicolor was a new thing. The fact that the movie starts in black and white and then opened up into a magical world of color really made it a phenomenal movie for the time. The sequel didn't do anything too outstanding for its time.
There is one thing that this movie has in it's favor and that's the story. The story is nothing like the original. It is a far cry from it. You will be entertained by that alone. You might not like it, but you will watch it carefully to see how much of your beloved Oz, the way you remembered it, is there.
They do cling on to the foundation of the original movie by using the characters in Kansas, in Oz as well. Such as, Dr. Worley is also the Gnome King, just as Miss Gulch was also the Wicked With Of The West. The other thing is that Oz, the Emerald City, and the Yellow Brick Road still exist, but not quite as you remember them.
The story itself, as I said is a bit grim, and may not be suitable to young children. You find Dorothy retelling her story of Oz to a Dr. Worley, played by Nicol Williamson. Aunt Em played by Piper Laurie has brought Dorothy to a sanitarium, where Dorothy will hopefully clear her head of all this Oz stuff. After Dorothy explains her story to the doctor, the doctor then kindly explains what he is going to do to her. In other words, he kindly explains shock therapy and shows her the machine he will use. He shows her the front of the machine and tells her that certain parts of it are like a face. That this part is its mouth and this is its eyes. As though to make the machine look friendly.
When Dorothy's Aunt leaves the mental-institution, Dorothy is shown to her room by Nurse Wilson (who is also the wicked Princess Mombi in Oz), played by Jean Marsh.
Dorothy is left there to wait until they are ready for her. While she waits she hears screams. A girl appears out of nowhere and gives her a jack-'o-lantern. The girl is played by Emma Ridley who is also Ozma in Oz.
The nurse eventually comes to fetch Dorothy and she asks about the screaming. The nurse said their was no screaming. The nurse then asks Dorothy if she would like to go for a ride. Dorothy agrees and climbs on to the hospital bed. The nurse then asks her to lay down. Dorothy refused at first, but the nurse reminded her that her Aunt told her to listen to her. Dorothy obeys the nurse and does what she says.
The nurse and an assistant strap her down to the bed and explain that it's so she doesn't fall out of the bed. Dorothy then tells them that she rode all the way there in a wagon from Kansas and didn't fall off. The nurse glared at her, and Dorothy kept silent for a while.
They bring her to a room where the doctor is waiting. There also seems to be a storm brewing outside. As they prepare to perform the shock therapy (something I should have had done years ago, LOL) on her, right in the nick of time, the power goes out. The nurse and doctor leave to check the generator.
The girl that gave her the jack-'o-lantern then reappears, gets the straps open, takes off the headphone like things that were over Dorothy's ears, and helps her escape.
The girl and Dorothy flee the institution, with the nurse in pursuit after them. The girls take a tumble and land themselves right straight into a river. Dorothy manages to climb into a wooden box, but her friend is no where to be found.
Dorothy wakes up after the storm has passed, only to find herself in Oz once again, with her chicken Bilina, who can now talk.
Dorothy starts her journey with her chicken, but is later joined by a cute robot named Tik Toc, who prides himself for not being real, but later shows emotion.
They go up against these horrible creatures called the Wheeler's, which are Princess Mombi's faithful servants. The Wheeler's are fast, and vicious. They wear these masks on top of their heads, as they swiftly skate on these metal wheels, with their heads lowered. When they lift up their heads you see a human face with strange paint on it.
Dorothy later battles Princess Mombi, who guards a secret, which she protects for someone, in return for her precious heads and magic powder. She uses heads from the women that are now turned to stone, which were dancing in the Emerald City. She uses these heads as her own, and puts them on her neck and changes them like you would a pair of underwear.
Dorothy is held captive by the princess, because the princess plans on keeping her until Dorothy, or should I say "Dorothy's Head", has matured, so she can take her head.
While Dorothy is held captive she also befriends a jack-'o-lantern headed scarecrow, by the name of Jack Pumpkinhead. He had been put in that room a while back, but the princess hasn't worn the head she had on when she did that, so it seems as though she has forgotten him.
All her new friends then help her create a new friend with the magic powder. Her new friend's name is Gump. He was constructed out of antique furniture and a moose head.
They need to escape from Princess Mombi, only to hopefully defeat the evil Gnome King that has taken over Oz. Can Dorothy defeat the evil Gnome King with a little help from her friends? Does she have a secret weapon? And what secret is the vain Princess Mombi hiding? Will Dorothy ever see Kansas again? I never give away the ending. So I guess you'll just have to check your television listings, or rent the movie.
Conclusion-
Overall this wasn't a bad movie. The kids will certainly be entertained, and the adults that watch it won't be bored out of their skull either. It's just not the same as the original. There were a few scenes that dragged a little, but there was also a lot of creative scenes. Either way, it still can't hold a candle to The Wizard Of Oz in my opinion, and i'm sure a lot of you will agree with me. I don't think you'll find this movie to be a disappointment, it just won't touch you like the first one did. There was truly something magical about the first one and nothing can compare to it.
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