Review of Return to Oz (1985) by Chad J — 23 Jan 2008
What a friggin great movie! The original Wizard of Oz was my first favorite movie of all time, so I had been really curious to check this out for a while. It is almost as good as the original, but for completely different reasons.
Even though it is addressed as a sequel, it really isn't. Dorothy is played completely different and no one looks like their counterparts from the original. Everything here is based pretty closely off the design from the books...which is a really cool thing to see, especially if you are familiar with the original artwork.
The puppetry in this movie is fantastic. Pumpkinhead Jack and Tik-Tok are amazing. Thinking about how they would be CGI if this was made today just makes them even better. CGI can't look as real and tangible as these guys did.
Villain wise, the Nome King was pretty lame-ish. He was way cooler when he was claymation, the person version looked silly, especially how he was wearing the ruby slippers. Princess Mombi was friggin scary as shit. Why is there a princess who removes and interchanges her head with random captive heads in this movie? Isn't it for kids? CRAZY.
Definitely see it. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is pretty ahead of it's time special effects wise. Everything still looks great today.
This review of Return to Oz (1985) was written by Chad J on 23 Jan 2008.
Return to Oz has generally received positive reviews.
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