Return to Oz (1985) Walter Murch

Production Budget: $25+ million Worldwide Gross: $11 million

Return to Oz is holds the record for being a sequel made the longest from when the original was released.  That might be so (and why it was not made by the original’s company MGM) because in the 80’s the books were no longer copyrighted and were public domain.  Many may not know that there are about 14 books in the Oz series.

Return to Oz is a semi-sequel, by that I mean the director really wasn’t trying to copy The Wizard of Oz and trying to go out on his own creatively speaking.  The movie is kind of a mash up of The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.  The story takes place six months after Dorothy returns to Kansas.  The family is having financial troubles due to the farm being destroyed by the tornado.  Dorothy is also having trouble sleeping due to the events in Oz.  Auntie Em thinks she has psychological problems and sends her to a new form of therapy called electro shock.  Dorothy and another girl escape from the hospital during a violent rain storm where they both fall in the river and Dorothy awakens back in Oz.  Dorothy returns to the Emerald City to find it in ruins and the inhabitants turned to stone.

The production budget was originally slated as 25 million but they went over budget.  Murch called in George Lucas who acted as consultant in an uncredited role.  Return to Oz got generally favorable reviews (and was even nominated for a Visual Effects Oscar) however the mainstream audience ignored it.  The main issues were that it was blasphemy to create a sequel to one of the most beloved children’s movies of all time.  Also many parents felt the movie was too scary and too dark as little Dorothy (Fairuza Balk was 9 where Judy Garland was 16) was being terrorized by nightmare images.  Since then, the Return to Oz has a kind of cult following and is a little more popular due to DVD release.

Is it any good?  Yeah, I actually think its great.  I should be pissed off they are making a sequel to a classic.  I guess it would be like today a sequel to Casablanca getting made.  I think the difference here is the original and the sequel are so radically different in terms of style that I really believe Murch was doing his own thing instead of making a quick cash in.  Its kind of like an alternate story much like Red Son is a Superman story although its not Superman.  I dunno, I’m rambling.

Return to Oz is not a musical.  If I were to compare it to something, I would liken it to Jim Henson productions like Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, or more recently Mirrormask.  It is dark, but I definitely think it is something children can handle.  Fairuza Balk is actually very good as Dorothy, and while we don’t have characters from the original (Toto, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion), we do get nice additions like Tic Toc and Jack Pumpkinhead.  I think if you go in just expecting a good fantasy movie instead of the sequel to the Wizard of Oz you will get an exciting and imaginative little movie.  It dealt with too high of expectations with that title.  But I do recommend this movie, it is very good.