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Return to Oz
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Walter Murch
Produced by	Paul Maslansky
Written by	L. Frank Baum (novels) Gill Dennis Walter Murch
Starring	Fairuza Balk Nicol Williamson Jean Marsh Piper Laurie Matt Clark
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	David Watkin Freddie Francis
Editing by	Leslie Hodgson
Studio	Silver Screen Partners II
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s)	June 21, 1985 July 10, 1985 August 28, 1985 September 6, 1985 March 29, 1986
Running time	113 min.
Country	United Kingdom  United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Gross revenue	$11,137,801
Preceded by	Journey Back to Oz

Oz portal

Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is the semi-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. However, no approval was necessary, because by 1985, all of 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). The film was directed by Walter Murch, did not fare well at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics.

[edit] Plot summary

The movie's plot is a combination of L. Frank Baum's novels Ozma of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz, sequels to the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

It has been six months after the events of The Wizard of Oz and Journey Back to Oz, and Dorothy Gale (Fairuza Balk) cannot stop thinking about the experience and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. One night Dorothy sees a shooting star, and the next morning while checking for eggs from her hen Bellina, Dorothy comes across a key that she thinks was sent from Oz on that shooting star. Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) is concerned over Dorothy's inability to sleep since her return and after talking over their money worries with Uncle Henry (Matt Clark) saying she's got a loan from her sister, she sends Dorothy to stay overnight at Dr. Worley (Nicol Williamson)'s clinic in Cottonwood Falls to "cure" her by electro-shock therapy. When waiting in her assigned room that night, Dorothy is visited by a mysterious blonde girl (Emma Ridley) who later helps Dorothy escape from the clinic when she reveals that patients have been driven insane by Worley's treatment. However, they are pursued by Nurse Wilson (Jean Marsh), and the two girls fall into the nearby river; Dorothy manages to climb aboard a chicken coop, but the other girl presumably drowns.

Dorothy awakens to find herself back in Oz with Bellina, who can now talk (Denise Bryer). The two venture across the Deadly Desert and upon entering the nearby forest, they discover a "Lunchpale tree" which confirms that they are in Oz. Exploring further, the pair find themselves at the site where Dorothy entered Oz the first time. She becomes supicious when the Munchkins fail to appear to welcome her. She discovers that the yellow brick road is destroyed. Worried, Dorothy follows it all the way to the ruins of the Emerald City, which has been deprived of all its emeralds. All its civilians, including the Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion, have also been turned to stone. The Scarecrow, who was King of Oz, is missing. The city is policed with Wheelers, humanoids with wheels instead of hands and feet. They chase Dorothy and Bellina into a alleyway which seems to be a dead end, until Dorothy discovers a lock in one of the walls. Using the key obtained at the beginning of the film, Dorothy and Bellina open the wall and lock themselves into a small room, where they meet the Royal Army of Oz, Tik-Tok, a clockwork robotic man. After hearing his side of the story about what happened, the three come out of the room and make their way to explore, where they're ambushed by Wheelers. Tik-tok takes care of the Wheelers and holds one of them hostage, allowing Dorothy to ask questions to the Wheeler about what happened. The Wheeler eventually leads them to Princess Mombi's castle, who is now the ruler of the city. Mombi, who is a witch and has 31 interchangeable heads, explains that the Nome King was behind the destruction of the Emerald City and the kidnapping of the Scarecrow. She takes a liking to Dorothy's head and plans to lock her in the attic "for a few years until her head is ready". Dorothy snaps at her and refuses, an angered Mombie then takes Dorothy and Bellina to the attic, where they're met with Tik-tok attempting to stop Mombi, but runs down at the wrong time.

When locked in the attic, they meet Jack Pumpkinhead, a friendly stick man with a pumpkin for a head. He explains that his "mom" created him to scare Mombi, he was to be destroyed when Mombi decided to experiment on him with her Powder of Life, which brought him to life. This gives Dorothy an idea to escape. Dorothy and Jack restore a wound-down Tik-Tok, who helps Jack build a flying machine using sofas, head of a Gump, a green moose-like animal and some broad leaves picked off a plant. Dorothy steals the Ruby key off Mombi's torso to cabinet 31, the home of Mombi's "original head" and the Powder of Life, but wakes up both Mombi's head and her torso. Dorothy flees back into the attic, where they find the flying machine unfinished because of lack of communication from Tik-tok, whose brain ran down and started talking absolute gibberish. Dorothy brings the Gump to life and the group escapes on it. Mombi wakes up her army of Wheelers and they chase the group from the ground, only for some of them to stumble into the Deadly Desert and turn into sand. They give up the chase and return to Mombi.

After flying all night, the Gump begins to fall apart. Jack loses his head over the side and they later crash-land on the Nome King's mountain, where they're met with the Nome King himself. Dorothy is brought to the Nome King's lair, slowly falling through the air, witnessing all the precious gems that the Nome King owns. He explains to Dorothy that the Scarecrow "stole" the emeralds of the Emerald City, and he only reacted accordingly.

The Nome King takes pity on Dorothy when she cries, with her defending the scarecrow by saying that the emeralds were already there when he became king, so he offers her a chance to set things right. One by one, Dorothy and her friends venture into the King's ornament room, to search for an ornament that the Scarecrow has been transformed into. They each have three guesses, but if they fail, they themselves become transformed into ornaments, which he failed to mention because "they didn't ask". With each failed attempt, the Nome King increasingly becomes more human from his rock-like state. When it's Tik-tok's turn to guess, Dorothy and the Nome King begin to talk. He reveals that he is the owner of the Ruby Slippers and that it was them that made it possible for him to conquer the Emerald City. Suddenly, their conversation is interrupted by one of the Nome King servants, who says that Tik-tok has become immobile. Dorothy thinks it's because his action's run down. He allows Dorothy to go into the room to wind him up to take her turn as well as his. Before she goes, he leaves some words to tempt her to just leave and she'll never have to think about Oz again (echoing the same mannerisms as Dr. Worley, earlier on in the story). When she walks in, she finds a room full of ornaments. Eventually, she finds Tik-Tok and goes to wind him up, but finds his action is fine. Tik-Tok reveals it was a cunning plan to lure Dorothy into the room by pretending to be immobile, so she can watch him turn into an ornament to give her some sort of a clue what type of ornament everyone is, but the plan fails.

Meanwhile, during the entire duration of the "game", Mombi begins journeying to the Nome King's mountain to inform him that Dorothy Gale has returned and was on her way to the mountain, albeit a bit too late.

Dorothy's last guess frees the Scarecrow from his enchantment, realizing that all the ornaments that contain her friends are colored green, the colour of emeralds. Dorothy's friends are restored one by one, except for Tik-Tok. The Nome King becoming less human with each correct guess and becomes more enraged. His anger eventually leaves him to trap Mombi in a jail cell and to take care of the group himself.

A giant Nome King attacks the group. He tries to eat the Gump, but they manage to save his head. Next, he tries to eat Jack, but Bellina, hidden inside Jack's head, lays an egg which falls down the king's throat, killing him. Before he dies, he explains that eggs are poisonous to Nomes (which explains why every antagonist in the film set Bellina as their first priority). As he dies, the entire building starts to collapse. After reclaiming the Ruby Slippers, Dorothy wishes for all her friends to escape the mountain and to restore the Emerald City and all its citizens.

They then find themselves in a peaceful field in the moonlight, accompanied by a trapped Mombi. Bellina discovers a medal on the Gump's antler. Dorothy releases Tik-tok from the medal, stuck inside the ornament still.

The citizens of Oz celebrate Dorothy's triumph and ask her to become the Queen of Oz, but she declines in favor of returning to Kansas. The blonde girl from the clinic, seemingly drowned earlier in the story, then appears in a mirror behind Dorothy. It is revealed that she is Princess Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz and the mother of Jack, who was sealed away in a mirror by Mombi when the Nome King promised her 30 heads in return for Ozma's imprisonment. Ozma ascends the throne of Oz and Dorothy is returned to her world, where she is found by Toto, Uncle Henry, Aunt Em and a small search party. Aunt Em reveals that Dr. Worley's clinic burned down during the night and he died trying to save his machines. A jail cart travels by, with Nurse Wilson, looking suspiciously like Mombi, imprisoned inside.

The film concludes with Dorothy's new house being finished. Ozma and Bellina appearing in her bedroom mirror, hinting that her adventures in Oz may not be just a dream.

[edit] 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 Bellina (puppeteer)
• Denise Bryer as Bellina (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

[edit] Reception

Despite arriving amid much fanfare—the premiere was held at Radio City Music Hall, and a Return to Oz float along with characters from the film appeared as part of Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade—it earned only $2,844,895 in its opening weekend, finishing in seventh place. The film ultimately grossed $11,137,801 in North America, making it a financial failure. However, in recent years it has gained a cult following and has become popular among fans of the Oz franchise.

[edit] Awards

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).

[edit] 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 (as well as referencing the Skeksis from the Jim Henson film, The Dark Crystal).

• 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^[1] despite it being one of her favorite movies growing up.

• The Nostalgia Critic rated the film at #4 on his list of the Top 11 Underrated Nostalgia Classics.^[2]

[edit] See also

• The Wizard of Oz (adaptations) — other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Return To Oz at the Internet Movie Database
• 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
• Return To Oz Original CD Soundtrack