via IMDB
"Dorothy, you don't have to go down there. I can use the ruby slippers and send you home. And when you get back, you will never think of Oz again."
"What about my friends?"
"Forget about them. You can't help them now. ... There's no place like home."
Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) having poison dripped into her ear by the Nome King (Nicol Williamson) ... the terrifying sight of Princess Mombi (Jean Marsh) and her collection of severed heads ... three brand new friends, only one of whom was foreshadowed ... almost no Toto ... no songs at all ... no one can say Return to Oz didn't attempt to stand on its own from the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.
Directed by Walter Murch, who co-wrote with Gill Dennis, Return to Oz is a movie that seems to revel in its upending of nearly 50 years of accepted ideas. We're asked to reconsider everything from what color dress is worn by Dorothy to how long it takes to travel from Munchkinland to the Emerald City. I'm sure the creative staff would prefer audience members to completely forget about Judy Garland and company and think more about L. Frank Baum's books while watching their movie, but on the whole, it just doesn't work that way.
Six months after the tornado, Dorothy's everyday behavior concerns Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark). Eh, it's really not much different than exhibiting an imagination and being too young to know when to be quiet about it, but, hey, I'm in 2020. Anyway, Em decides to place Dorothy in the care of quack Dr. Worley (Williamson again) and his stylish but bedside manner-deficient nurse (Marsh again). A storm occurs, Dorothy is freed by an apparent fellow patient (Emma Ridley) and she ends up floating away to Oz.
"If this is Oz, Dorothy, I'd rather take my chances back in Kansas."
We go from Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion to ... Billina, an often crotchety chicken (voice of Denise Bryer; I began imagining Mary Wickes in the role); Tik-Tok, the Theodore Roosevelt-esque mechanical man (voice of Sean Barrett); Jack Pumpkinhead, who's so soft-spoken, you'd swear the powers that be were giving a coded salute to the "Friends of Dorothy" (voice and partial puppetry by Brian Henson); and the Gump, whose trophy head is secured to furniture, all of which is sprinkled with "Powder of Life" to create a flying creature (voice and partial puppetry by Lyle Conway). Of the four, I liked Tik-Tok best, but that's not saying much.
With some teamwork, both the Nome King and by extension, Princess Mombi, are defeated. The true princess, Ozma (Ridley again) takes her throne. Not only that, but Dorothy regains the ruby slippers! It did seem a little odd that she lost them traveling from Oz to Kansas, but apparently that's in the actual book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Considering the type of movie Return to Oz is, I guess we should be grateful that the slippers didn't now contain, say, a lava insole to scar Dorothy's feet.
Looking back, I think Return to Oz was the first gritty reboot I've ever seen. If I haven't made it clear, it's a movie that's not for everybody. But at the same time, it earns my respect. Murch, Dennis and Will Vinton's claymation team made the movie they wanted to, rather than the movie expected of them. The eccentricity and idiosyncrasy is genuine, rather than forced.
That said, I'm not surprised Return didn't catch on with audiences. Primitive electrotherapy, creepy looking men with wheels for limbs and all those screaming heads are not elements of what's normally considered fun for the whole family.
"If his brain's ran down, how can he talk?" "It happens to people all the time, Jack."
Directed by Walter Murch, who co-wrote with Gill Dennis, Return to Oz is a movie that seems to revel in its upending of nearly 50 years of accepted ideas. We're asked to reconsider everything from what color dress is worn by Dorothy to how long it takes to travel from Munchkinland to the Emerald City. I'm sure the creative staff would prefer audience members to completely forget about Judy Garland and company and think more about L. Frank Baum's books while watching their movie, but on the whole, it just doesn't work that way.
Six months after the tornado, Dorothy's everyday behavior concerns Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark). Eh, it's really not much different than exhibiting an imagination and being too young to know when to be quiet about it, but, hey, I'm in 2020. Anyway, Em decides to place Dorothy in the care of quack Dr. Worley (Williamson again) and his stylish but bedside manner-deficient nurse (Marsh again). A storm occurs, Dorothy is freed by an apparent fellow patient (Emma Ridley) and she ends up floating away to Oz.
"If this is Oz, Dorothy, I'd rather take my chances back in Kansas."
We go from Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion to ... Billina, an often crotchety chicken (voice of Denise Bryer; I began imagining Mary Wickes in the role); Tik-Tok, the Theodore Roosevelt-esque mechanical man (voice of Sean Barrett); Jack Pumpkinhead, who's so soft-spoken, you'd swear the powers that be were giving a coded salute to the "Friends of Dorothy" (voice and partial puppetry by Brian Henson); and the Gump, whose trophy head is secured to furniture, all of which is sprinkled with "Powder of Life" to create a flying creature (voice and partial puppetry by Lyle Conway). Of the four, I liked Tik-Tok best, but that's not saying much.
With some teamwork, both the Nome King and by extension, Princess Mombi, are defeated. The true princess, Ozma (Ridley again) takes her throne. Not only that, but Dorothy regains the ruby slippers! It did seem a little odd that she lost them traveling from Oz to Kansas, but apparently that's in the actual book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Considering the type of movie Return to Oz is, I guess we should be grateful that the slippers didn't now contain, say, a lava insole to scar Dorothy's feet.
Looking back, I think Return to Oz was the first gritty reboot I've ever seen. If I haven't made it clear, it's a movie that's not for everybody. But at the same time, it earns my respect. Murch, Dennis and Will Vinton's claymation team made the movie they wanted to, rather than the movie expected of them. The eccentricity and idiosyncrasy is genuine, rather than forced.
That said, I'm not surprised Return didn't catch on with audiences. Primitive electrotherapy, creepy looking men with wheels for limbs and all those screaming heads are not elements of what's normally considered fun for the whole family.
"If his brain's ran down, how can he talk?" "It happens to people all the time, Jack."
Recommended with reservations.
Thoughts:
-- Box Office: Grossing $11.1 million on a reported $16-$28 million budget, this opened outside the top five of its weekend and came in at No. 74 for 1985. Among the theaters where Return was booked was Radio City Music Hall. It was followed soon after by The Black Cauldron.
-- Critic's Corner: "Any movie in which a Midwestern prairie actually looks more attractive and more interesting than the enchanted land over the rainbow is in big trouble," Richard Schickel wrote in Time. The movie was "the work of ingenious technicians who seem either not to know what gave the original film its magic, or not to care," according to Janet Maslin. Variety: "Astonishingly somber, melancholy and, sadly, unengaging." "Return to Oz has a reputation for being exceedingly dark but I still found its uncompromising creepiness bracing," Nathan Rabin wrote in 2007. Nevertheless, Paul Attanasio called Return "one of the better kids movies in a year full of them."
-- Awards Watch: An Oscar nominee for its visual effects, Return lost to Cocoon. It also went zero for three at the Saturn Awards, losing Best Fantasy Film and Best Costume Design to Ladyhawke and Best Performance by a Younger Actor, for Balk, to Barret Oliver in D.A.R.Y.L. Balk and Ridley were nominated in separate categories, for "Starring" and "Exceptional" performances, at the Young Artist Awards. Each lost, Balk to Meredith Salenger for The Journey of Natty Gann and Ridley to Sydney Penny for Pale Rider. Something I missed when I covered The Goonies: while Martha Plimpton was recognized for exceptional work as Stef, Kerri Green was nominated for the same in Summer Rental.
-- Useless trivia: Thanks to this movie, we know Dorothy's first journey took place in April 1899.
-- Somewhere down the line, I'll finally read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz. There's a few more things in Return that may confuse fans of The Wizard of Oz. If the old farmhouse is still in Munchkinland, then where did Dorothy wake up? When did she get informed about the Deadly Desert and the lunch pail trees? And what happened to Hunk, Zeke and Hickory?
-- Hey, It's 1985!: I find it interesting that Return to Oz ends with Dorothy deciding to keep her new adventures a secret from Aunt Em. She's even encouraged to do so by Ozma. A few months after Return's release, Sesame Street would famously have everyone be able to see Snuffleupagus. The TV show realized implying to kids that adults wouldn't believe them, especially with increased awareness of physical and sexual abuse of minors, was a bad approach to take.
-- Piper Laurie's a fine actress, but I didn't feel much love between Dorothy and Aunt Em. On the other hand, I'm a bit more sympathetic toward Nurse Wilson. Aside from taking Dorothy's lunch and the whole malpractice thing (which I place more at Worley and/or society's feet), she's not so bad.
-- "You may have a nap if you wish." I couldn't help but think of Steve Martin in The Muppet Movie. "Oh, may I?" I also got a good laugh out of Worley trying too hard to make his machine seem friendly and Dorothy cutting the bull. "Why, it's his tongue! Isn't it?" "Will it hurt?"
-- Useless trivia: Thanks to this movie, we know Dorothy's first journey took place in April 1899.
-- Somewhere down the line, I'll finally read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz. There's a few more things in Return that may confuse fans of The Wizard of Oz. If the old farmhouse is still in Munchkinland, then where did Dorothy wake up? When did she get informed about the Deadly Desert and the lunch pail trees? And what happened to Hunk, Zeke and Hickory?
-- Hey, It's 1985!: I find it interesting that Return to Oz ends with Dorothy deciding to keep her new adventures a secret from Aunt Em. She's even encouraged to do so by Ozma. A few months after Return's release, Sesame Street would famously have everyone be able to see Snuffleupagus. The TV show realized implying to kids that adults wouldn't believe them, especially with increased awareness of physical and sexual abuse of minors, was a bad approach to take.
-- Piper Laurie's a fine actress, but I didn't feel much love between Dorothy and Aunt Em. On the other hand, I'm a bit more sympathetic toward Nurse Wilson. Aside from taking Dorothy's lunch and the whole malpractice thing (which I place more at Worley and/or society's feet), she's not so bad.
-- "You may have a nap if you wish." I couldn't help but think of Steve Martin in The Muppet Movie. "Oh, may I?" I also got a good laugh out of Worley trying too hard to make his machine seem friendly and Dorothy cutting the bull. "Why, it's his tongue! Isn't it?" "Will it hurt?"
-- I'm probably overthinking this, but it's perfect that the Nome King was fatally poisoned by Billina's egg. An egg represents life, something a rock doesn't have. It's the same principle as a little brat like Dorothy destroying the Wicked Witch of the West's beautiful wickedness.
-- "I forgive Mombi. Dorothy has punished her by removing her magical powers, and a witch with no magic is a miserable creature indeed." "And that's a fact."
-- "I forgive Mombi. Dorothy has punished her by removing her magical powers, and a witch with no magic is a miserable creature indeed." "And that's a fact."
-- Next Weekend: St. Elmo's Fire, Pale Rider. On deck: Back to the Future. Coming soon: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
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