Return to Oz (1985)
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An insomniac Dorothy must journey through a ruined Land of Oz to reclaim its magic from a cruel tyrant.
The story
Set six months after the events of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale is deemed delusional by her family and sent to a sanatorium. During a storm, she escapes and finds herself in the Land of Oz. She discovers the realm has been devastated and conquered by the cruel Nome King and his accomplice, Princess Mombi. Accompanied by her talking chicken, Billina, and a group of new friends including the mechanical man Tik-Tok, Dorothy must navigate the ruined landscape and the dangers of the Nome King's domain to restore the land and find her way home.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After escaping a sanatorium during a storm, Dorothy arrives in a ruined Oz. She meets Tik-Tok, a mechanical man, and eventually encounters Princess Mombi, who holds the realm's inhabitants captive. To escape Mombi's castle, the group uses a flying creature made of furniture and the head of a Gump. They travel across the Deadly Desert to the Nome King's mountain. In a high-stakes game of identification, Dorothy faces the Nome King, who holds her ruby slippers. She successfully identifies Scarecrow and rescues her friends from being turned into ornaments. After defeating the Nome King—who grows to a giant size—Dorothy retrieves her slippers. She is eventually joined by the true ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma, who uses the slippers to send Dorothy home to Kansas. Dorothy awakens by a river in Kansas, where she can still see Ozma and Billina through her bedroom mirror.
- First release year
- 1985
- Runtime (minutes)
- 110
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Walter Murch
- Writers
- Walter Murch · screenplay; Gill Dennis · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Nicol Williamson · Nome King/Dr. J. B. Worley; Jean Marsh · Mombi; Piper Laurie · unknown; Fairuza Balk · Dorothy Gale; Emma Ridley · Ozma
- Genres
- dark fantasy; adventure
- Themes
- bravery; friendship; fantasy
- Tone and mood
- dark; eerie
- Premise and plot tags
- unofficial sequel; fantasy adventure; dark fantasy
- Source material / true-story basis
- L. Frank Baum's Oz novels, specifically The Land of Oz (1904) and Ozma of Oz (1907).
- Franchise connections
- The Oz series
- Content notes
- scary imagery
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising its visual style and faithfulness to the books while criticizing its dark and scary imagery. It gained a cult following among fans of the Oz books.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 59% · scale: percentage · review count: 111
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Visual Effects · nomination; Saturn Award · Best Fantasy Film · nomination; Saturn Award · Best Younger Actor · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film used approximately 40 real chickens during production.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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