Return to Oz facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Return to Oz
Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by	Walter Murch
Produced by	Paul Maslansky
Screenplay by	Walter Murch Gill Dennis
Starring	Nicol Williamson Jean Marsh Piper Laurie Fairuza Balk
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	David Watkin Freddie Francis (uncredited)
Editing by	Leslie Hodgson
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures Silver Screen Partners
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s)	June 21, 1985 (1985-06-21) (United States)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$28 million
Money made	$11.1 million (USA)

Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, directed and written by Walter Murch, co-written by Gill Dennis and produced by Paul Maslansky. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an unofficial sequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz, and it is based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz novels, mainly The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) and Ozma of Oz (1907). In the plot, Dorothy returns to the Land of Oz to find it has been conquered by the Nome King; she must restore it with her new friends Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Gump, and Princess Ozma.

In 1954, Walt Disney Productions bought the film rights to Baum's remaining Oz books to use in the television series Disneyland; this led to the live-action film Rainbow Road to Oz, which was never completed. Murch suggested making another Oz film in 1980. Disney approved the project as they were due to lose the film rights to the series. Though MGM was not involved in the production, Disney had to pay a large fee to use the ruby slippers created for the 1939 film. Return to Oz fell behind schedule during production, and, following a change of Disney management, Murch was briefly fired.

Return to Oz was released in theaters on June 21, 1985. It performed poorly at the box office, grossing $11.1 million in the United States on a $28 million budget, and received mixed reviews. The critics praised the effects and performances but criticized the dark content and twisted visuals deeming it inferior to the original film. However, it performed well outside the US, and has since acquired a cult following from fans of the Oz books for being more faithful to L. Frank Baum's works and those who saw the film at a young age. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Plot

In autumn of 1899, Dorothy Gale's obsession with the Land of Oz troubles her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, who believe she is delusional. They take her to the sanitarium of Dr. Worley who, assisted by Nurse Wilson, plans to administer electrotherapy before lightning causes a power failure. Dorothy is freed by a mysterious girl who tells her that Worley's machines damage patients. Nurse Wilson chases the girls into a river, where Dorothy climbs aboard a floating chicken coop but is unable to save the other girl and floats away down stream.

Dorothy wakes up in Oz with her chicken Billina, who can now talk. They follow a damaged Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, now in ruins and its citizens turned to stone. They are attacked by the Wheelers, people with wheels instead of hands and feet, but are saved by Tik-Tok, a mechanical man who was told by Scarecrow, the king of Oz, to wait for Dorothy's return. With the expectation of learning more about the Emerald City's demise, Dorothy, Billina and Tik-Tok travel to Princess Mombi's castle.

Mombi, who has a collection of different heads she "wears", reveals that Scarecrow is being held by the Nome King, the one responsible for the devastation, at his mountain. Intending to take Dorothy's head for her collection, Mombi imprisons the group in a tower with Jack Pumpkinhead, who explains he was brought to life by Mombi's Powder of Life. The four construct a flying creature out of furniture with the head of the Gump, a moose-like animal, and Dorothy steals the powder from Mombi to bring it to life. The Gump flies them across the Deadly Desert to the Nome King's mountain, Mombi has the Wheelers take her in pursuit of Dorothy.

The Gump crashes on the Nome King's mountain, where Dorothy is briefly reunited with Scarecrow before he is turned into an ornament by the Nome King. He gives each of the group three attempts to identify which ornament in his large collection is Scarecrow; the Gump, Jack and Tik-Tok all fail and are turned into ornaments themselves. Before Dorothy begins her turn, The Nome King reveals to her he has her lost ruby slippers, which he had used to conquer Oz, and offers to use them to send her home instead. Dorothy refuses and goes to find her companions while Mombi arrives at the mountain.

With her last guess, Dorothy turns a green gem into Scarecrow and realizes people from Oz turn into green objects. She proceeds to find and restore Jack and the Gump, enraging the Nome King who imprisons Mombi in a cage for allowing Dorothy's escape. He then grows to a gigantic size and prepares to eat Jack when Billina, hiding in Jack's head, lays an egg that falls into the Nome King's mouth, fatally poisoning him. Dorothy retrieves the ruby slippers and hurriedly puts them on as the ornament room and all of the subterranean Nome kingdom collapses. She wishes for the group to be returned to a restored Emerald City, where they find a green medal on Gump's antler that Dorothy restores into Tik-Tok.

The people of Oz ask Dorothy to be their Queen, but she expresses her desire to return home. Princess Ozma - the girl from the sanitarium and rightful ruler of Oz - is freed from the mirror Mombi imprisoned her in and ascends the throne. Ozma receives the ruby slippers from Dorothy and uses them to send Dorothy home, promising she can return if she ever wishes it, while Billina chooses to stay in Oz. Dorothy is found by her family on a riverbank in Kansas and Aunt Em tells her the clinic was struck by lightning and burned down; everyone survived except Worley, who died trying to save his machines. Dorothy returns home and sees Billina and Ozma through her bedroom mirror; she calls out for Aunt Em, but they signal for her to keep Oz a secret.

Cast

Live action

Voice cast

Puppeteers

Release

Theatrical

Return to Oz had its world premiere in the United States on June 21, 1985, opening in 1,300 theaters including the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Disney spent approximately $6 million on printing and advertising to promote the film, as well as adding a scene on a Return to Oz float, including characters from the film which appeared as part of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade. The film was released in London theatres on July 11, 1985.

Home media

The film has been released to VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, and Blu-ray over the years. The initial release, to VHS, Laserdisc, and Beta, occurred in December 1985 shortly after the theatrical release, with the VHS initially priced with a list price of $79.95. Disney reissued it in 1992 with alternate cover art. In 1999, Anchor Bay Entertainment, who had obtained the home video rights to several titles from Disney's live-action catalogue, issued the film on full-screen and letterbox VHS, as well as a DVD release featuring both versions. All three releases featured an intro by Fairuza Balk before the film and an interview featurette with her after it. All three versions went out of print shortly after their release.

In 2004, Disney released their own DVD, which dropped the Anchor Bay disc's fullscreen version and added anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 TVs for the widescreen version, upgraded the audio to 5.1 surround, retained the Anchor Bay disc's extras, and added four TV spots and a theatrical trailer. In 2015, Disney released a 30th Anniversary Edition of the film on Blu-ray exclusively through the Disney Movie Club, featuring a newly remastered and cleaned up transfer and DTS Master Audio 5.1 sound, but none of the bonus features from the 2004 DVD.

It is featured in the "From the Vault" Film section of Disney's streaming platform, Disney+.

See also

In Spanish: Return to Oz para niños