Review of Return to Oz (1985) by Jason G — 15 Jan 2011

The period between 1979 and 1985 was a quirky, daring and exceptionally unique one for Walt Disney Studios.

These 6 years saw Disney's "Live Action" production department take some of it's greatest risks to date in order to produce some of the most offbeat and uncharacteristic films the studio has ever made.

Films like THE BLACK HOLE, TRON, THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES were all very unconventional projects for a "family" company like Disney. These films were all made in a decidedly darker vein than what we had come to expect from "The House that Mickey built".

RETURN TO OZ was another one of the films from this rarely mentioned Disney era and as much as I love them all... OZ is quite possibly the most solid of the bunch.

If you've never seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

Firstly, you get a storywith some very strong, adult-themed undertones. RETURN TO OZ deals with some very mature issues and visuals and makes no effort to even try and sugarcoat them. Perhaps it's unfair to draw comparisons between the original 1939 - WIZARD OF OZ and this revisitation from some 56 years later but there is far more at stake in RETURN TO OZ. Mature actions are demanded of Dorothy in this film and those actions result in mature results. Fairuza Balk is very good as Dorothy.

Secondly... The special effects are also quite incredible. The film has aged a bit in the 25 years since it's release but even now you can see where every single last cent of budget was spent. This was a 25million dollar film that didn't even come close to making it's budget back. It raised quite a bit of negative controversy amongst parents upon it's release and since parents were the audience most likely to buy tickets for their children... audiences stayed away in droves.

Shortly after it's failure at the box office, Disney decided to change direction in the "Live Action" department and start making "safer" films. RETURN TO OZ was quite possibly the last, creatively daring film they made for at least another full decade.

Dorthy makes a whole new pack of friends on this visit to Oz including Gump, Jack Pumpkinhead and TikTok the clockwork man. Each of these characters is handled beautifully, realistically and with such attention to detail that they make 1939's Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man look like.... well, - make them look like people dressed like a Scarecrow a Tin Man and a Lion.

The sets are mindblowing. OZ is ornate and intricate and real in every sense of the word... Scenes shot in the witchs' castle are beautifully staged and perfectly lit. The production values in RETURN TO OZ are held to unbelievably high standards.

The Land of Oz, is threatened by an evil witch who teams up with the Nome King to effect their dastardly plan. Along the way, prepare yourself for scenes that are brilliantly staged, breathlessly exciting and surrealistically frightening. Extremely effective in equal parts, due to their realism and perhaps, your own surprise at seeing such vivid menace in a family film from Disney.

That might be RETURN TO OZ's biggest failing. It's a "family film" that might be a bit too "adult" for the small kids that will want to see it the most... while being a little too "fantastic" to appeal to most adults.

RETURN TO OZ is a masterful fantasy film that will always languish in relative obscurity because it will never really find it's audience.

A shame...

If you liked THE NEVERENDING STORY or even LABYRINTH, you will love RETURN TO OZ.