Return To Oz

Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film from Disney and is a half sequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and an adaptation of the second and third Oz books. Although receiving mixed to negative reviews upon its release, the film has now become something of a cult movie. The film featured a cast of largely unknown actors. The films is considered by its fans and by fans of the books to be a much more faithful adaptation of the novels than the MGM film. Part of the success of this film is in its refusal to sink so low as to attempt to replicate what made the 1939 film so iconic, this film has been compared in recent years to Oz The Great And Powerful, however what makes this film so much better than 'Oz' is the fact that it is much less reductive and less referential, the film is in full color, the opening included (unlike Oz the Great and Powerful). The film actually makes more use of intellectual property created for the 1939 film, such as the ruby slippers, however is actually much less derivative.

The film is much darker than its predecessor, the film begins with Dorothy in Kansas, unable to sleep and having hallucinations about Oz, her mother sends her to an institution, where she escapes on a stormy night, in a chicken coop, and finally washes up on the shores of Oz, where she discovers a world torn apart, and destroyed by the Nome King. The yellow brick road has been destroyed, and munchkinland is in ruins and the world is observed by the rocks, who relay information back to the Nome King. All of the citizens of Oz have been turned to stone, including the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Dorothy makes two friends in Oz who are essentially horrific industrial versions of her previous friends, she encounters a man named Tic-Toc, an industrial tin man who has to be constantly wound up in order to move and think, and who is not alive, and who has no soul. Her other friend is Jack Pumpkinhead, a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head, who was created in order to scare off the wheelers, and who was brought to life using Mombi's powder of life. The trio use the powder of life to bring to life a flying sofa they have patched together. The trio travel to the Nome Kings cavern where they discover that he has the emerald slippers, and that he destroyed Oz and turned the scarecrow into an ornament, the group must reclaim the slippers, and save the wonderful land of Oz.

The film makes fantastic use of practical effects, at a time when Star Wars and 2001 A Space Odessey had already been released, and huge advancements were being made in the field of CGI and computer animation, this film uses claymation to animate the Nome King and his minions. Billina is animated using audio animatronics, a technique sadly rarely used on film anymore, being really only used on theme park rides, and a technique for which the Walt Disney Company is known. (Animatronics were also used in The Chronicles of Narnia, also a disney movie) The tone of this film is rather dark, scenes involving the destruction of Oz, may be actually traumatic for some viewers! The film is well acted, and Fairuza Balk does a fine job as Dorothy Gale, holding up the entire movie, and she really is a good actor for a child star. For the record the film is not perfect, it does have some issues, there are occasional tonal inconsistencies, the film suffers from poor pacing and at times seems to lack story and substances, and seems to not have quite enough to fill a feature length film which is longer than the prerequisite one hour thirty.

Overall I really liked Return to Oz, the film is dark and brooding, nicely low budget and organic, and actually adds something to the source material rather than trying to replicate the success of the MGM film, the film feels much less reductive than other Oz movies, and has a nice mature tone and dazzling visual style, and despite some tonal inconsistencies and pacing problems, I can see why this has become a cult film.
Rating: B+

Dorothy: Because I can't sleep, and I talk about a place that I've been to, but nobody believes that it exists.