Return to Oz (1985)

[DisneyBoy]

Is anyone else a big fan of this fantastic 80s film that brilliantly updates the contents of two Oz books to create a completely satisfying if decidedly darker take on the world Judy Garland left behind?

I know Princess Mombi and her Hall of Heads inspired quite a few nightmares, but I still somehow always loved the way this film didn't talk down to kids about always trusting adults. Practically all of the adults in this movie are completely wrong or flat-out dangerous and yet young Dorothy is able to survive them. You go girl!

[piccadilly83]

Omg.  My dad used to rent this movie all of the time for me when I was like four or five years old.  It totally freaked me out and I loved it at the same time.  I don't even like horror films, but this movie was so good.  I can't believe somebody else remembers this.  I had Mombi in my nightmares many a time.  Her and the Wheelers.  It's been so long since I've seen it, so I don't remember everything, but I do remember the look of it was very stylized to a pre World War II era. Tick Tock, the insane assylum, Dorothy's clothes.  I wonder if it would hold up if I saw it again today.

[DisneyBoy]

It definitely would. It probably won't terrify you in the same way, but it holds up as a wonderful fantasy film.

I'm assuming your father rented it at your request, though, right? Not because he wanted to terrify you....

[bmoore4026]

Wheelers, Mombi, and The Nome King traumatized me for life.  My mother thought that this movie was the start for my fear of thunderstorms, but it wasn't.  I was scared of them before this movie.

Oh, and one more thing:  Doooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooottttttttttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[DisneyBoy]

....and then she BITES at her!

 

Genius.

[Notwisconsin]

The only thing they wimped out on was the Ozma trannie thing. This film was when Disney was dying before Eisner and Katzenburg took over.

[DisneyBoy]

Yeah the gender-bending probably wouldn't have flown comma even in the 80s. I could only imagine the outrage if a film like this was released today nevermind with a gender-swapping lead character!

[darkestboy]

I love this movie so much. 

It's one of the best I've ever seen and I actually think it's better than The Wizard of Oz (which I also like).

It's just amazing.

[Constant Viewer]

I remember seeing this in theaters when it came out, but wasn't really that bothered by it and had no nightmares. The bit where she almost gets electroshock therapy went over my head at the time. What bothered me was wondering why the chicken was able to talk in Oz, but Toto wasn't.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Constant Viewer

[DisneyBoy]

Ha! Wow - I never thought of that. What a sophisticated kid you were :)

[kokapetl]

On 04/04/2017 at 11:06 PM, bmoore4026 said:

Wheelers, Mombi, and The Nome King traumatized me for life.  My mother thought that this movie was the start for my fear of thunderstorms, but it wasn't.  I was scared of them before this movie.

Oh, and one more thing:  Doooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooottttttttttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

All the heads waking up and wailing along with her is the worst part for me. 

[Mabinogia]

That is what nightmares are made of.

[Fostersmom]

This one scarred me and my sister for life. I have NO idea what my mom thought it was going to be like, but we are 39 and 40 now and still talk about how bad a choice it was for a kids movie. Probably didn't help our grandmother was really sick at the time, was actually in a psychiatric hospital and did receive shock therapy about that time, so there was that. It was the heads that really freaked me the hell out though. My sister is a HUGE horror movie fan, but flat out refuses to even entertain the idea of seeing this again. 

[piccadilly83]

On 4/4/2017 at 6:30 AM, DisneyBoy said:

It definitely would. It probably won't terrify you in the same way, but it holds up as a wonderful fantasy film.

I'm assuming your father rented it at your request, though, right? Not because he wanted to terrify you....

Honestly, the first time I think he just the name Dorothy and ‘Oz’ and figured it was a sequel to The Wizard is Oz so it would be ok. All of the subsequent times I can’t explain. The truth is, I did enjoy the movie, so I probably was requesting it a lot, but I mean, man, know your kid. If I had asked for Halloween would he showed me that too? Lol. 

[JAYJAY1979]

Way better than Wizard of Oz

[paramitch]

Okay, so, I don't love this movie exactly, but it did affect me deeply at the time, not least because it was a mishmash of my favorite Oz novel, OZMA OF OZ. 

To see the queen's love of beheading for her own gain, it freaked me out. She was just as freaky in the fricking book!

On 4/3/2017 at 10:58 AM, DisneyBoy said:

I still somehow always loved the way this film didn't talk down to kids about always trusting adults. Practically all of the adults in this movie are completely wrong or flat-out dangerous and yet young Dorothy is able to survive them. You go girl!

So true, and I loved it.

On 5/24/2017 at 11:29 PM, DisneyBoy said:

Yeah the gender-bending probably wouldn't have flown comma even in the 80s. I could only imagine the outrage if a film like this was released today nevermind with a gender-swapping lead character!

I still love it and am sure somewhere, someday, someone will cover Ozma as transgender. It would be amazing.

[Scout Finch]

I saw it in the theater when it came out because it's one of my favorite Oz books. It was a small audience, which is why I still remember the young man in a military uniform who was there by himself (as was I). He seemed so incongruous but perhaps he loved the books as much as I did when he was growing up!