Disney must have been on some strange
substances in the mid eighties - and I believe that Return to Oz is
physical proof of that. Return to Oz is a film that I have been looking
for for about fifteen years, although I had no idea that it was Return
to Oz that I was looking for. When someone mentions "The Wizard of Oz",
not being familiar with the books, I think happy songs, big smiles, Judy
Garland and ruby slippers. Somehow, electroshock therapy, a young girl
in a strange and dangerous land and a witch with interchangeable heads
seemed more likely to be a odd incarnation of Alice in Wonderland.
Little did I know that the Oz books are actually quite dark - and Return
to Oz is a little more faithful to the original material than its
musical predecessor.
This film is set many months after Dorothy's return from Oz, and her
aunt and uncle are still struggling to recover from the devastating
effects of the storm that whisked Dorothy away to Oz. Dorothy has been
unable to sleep at night since she returned, and her Aunt and Uncle see
her talk of Oz as nonsense and a side effect of the lack of sleep. They
decide to take her off to a quack doctor who claims his "Electric
Therapy" will clear Dorothy's troubles and she will forget all about Oz.
As she is strapped to the table she can hear the screams of all the
patients locked in the basement who have been damaged by the doctors
dangerous experiments, but as luck would have it a freak storm shorts
out the electricity and a strange young girl Dorothy met in the hospital
helps her escape. Strangely enough, she wakes up in Oz with a talking
chicken named Billina.
But Oz is very different from her last visit, the yellow brick road is
in pieces and the Emerald City is falling apart. The Tin Man, Cowardly
Lion and all the other inhabitants of Oz have been turned to stone. The
Scarecrow King is nowhere to be found. All of a sudden, Dorothy and her
chicken friend are attacked by a group of monstrous creatures known as
the Wheelers. Chased into a dead end, Dorothy escapes into a small room
with a key that Scarecrow sent her via a shooting star. In there she
finds Tik Tok - the Royal Army of Oz. When Dorothy winds him up her
tells her that the Scarecrow left him there for her, but other than
that, he has no idea what has happened to Oz. With the help of Tik Tok,
Dorothy and Billina manage to corner a wheeler into revealing that
Princess Mombi would have more information about what has happened to
Oz, and more particularly the whereabouts of its King.
Dorothy doesn't remember any Princess Mombi, but heads to the castle
anyway to ask for her help. It turns out Princess Mombi is actually an
evil witch who has stolen the heads of all of the most beautiful women
in Oz, and keeps them locked in cabinets - so that she can change them
like outfits. Mombi tells Dorothy that the Nome King has taken Scarecrow
prisoner and believes that she will have a pretty head in a few years
and locks her in a room upstairs. In there she meets Jack Pumpkinhead -
who bears a striking resemblance to Jack Skellington, a scarecrow-esque
creature brought to life by a magic powder belonging to his "mother". He
was defeated by Mombi, locked up and never saw his mother again. Dorothy
and her companions devise a plan to build a flying couch from bits and
pieces in the junk room they are locked in and to bring it to life with
the magic powder Jack spoke of. In order to get the powder, Dorothy must
steal a key from the sleeping Mombi and sneak past her heads to get the
powder from a locked cabinet.
Although successful in obtaining the powder, Dorothy awakens Mombi so
she and her friends must flee the castle as quickly as possible. Mombi
realises that they are heading to the Nome Kings Mountain and sends the
Wheelers after them. When they arrive, the Nome King offers them a
chance to get the Scarecrow back with a guessing game, but if they are
wrong, they too will be turned to stone. Dorothy and her friends have a
hard task ahead of them - but why is the Nome King so deathly afraid of
chickens?
Watching this movie as an adult I have developed a certain fondness for
it, even though it terrified me as a kid. Sadly, this movie was never
given a serious run by Disney. It went far over budget and Disney
decided to use it as a tax write off, limiting its theatrical release to
a week, with little or no advertising. It's a shame - I feel this movie
is up there with The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal and could have done
very well for Disney. I'm glad to see it on DVD and I hope that my kids
one day find it as enthralling as I once did.
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Year: 1985
