The saying, “That movie was like a fever dream,” gets thrown around a bit too much these days. That said, have you ever watched 1985’s Return to Oz? Because while I know I just said that phrase has grown hackneyed as of late, I still have to say it: Watching Return to Oz is like experiencing a fever dream.
And, I kind of love it for that reason. I know I already mentioned this film when I talked about 6 Oz-related movies before the release of Wicked. But, with Wicked: For Good coming out later this month, I thought I should talk about Return to Oz more extensively now, since it’s seriously the weirdest Oz-related film I’ve ever seen.
As the title of this article suggests, the film actually starts off in a mental institution. And, it only gets weirder from there. Care to listen? There will be some spoilers!
It Blends Elements From Multiple Oz Books
Listen, I love the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. In fact, even though I mostly watched movies that I hadn't seen when I took my 26-hour flight to and from Japan last year, two movies that I had to watch over again were Jaws and The Wizard of Oz, because they just bring me so much comfort.
Well, as somebody who reads a lot, I've actually read books 1-10 in the L. Frank Baum Oz series, and I can tell you that the 1939 movie took a lot of creative liberties from that first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And, 1985's Return to Oz takes creative liberties as well (like the mental asylum part where Dorothy is given shock therapy!). That said, while the 1939 movie covers the first novel, Return to Oz actually pulls from multiple Oz books, most notably The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Ozma of Oz.
Which makes sense once you see the movie, since it feels so different from The Wizard of Oz. There’s a talking chicken (which I'll get into soon), the Emerald City is in ruins and overrun by nightmarish hooligans called Wheelers, and there’s a Princess named Mombi (Whom I will DEFINITELY get into later).
All of this is to say that the later Oz books are really weird, so it makes sense that even though 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is bizarre by most accounts, Return to Oz is even more bizarre, as the source material just gets stranger and stranger as it goes along.
There Are New Characters, And They're All Really Weird
Okay, so let's get back to that talking chicken again, because she's just in a series of weird new characters for fans of the 1939 film. The chicken's name is Billina, and she comes from Dorothy's farm. Once Billina gets to Oz, she can talk, and she even saves the day in the end, which I would say is weird, but…well, again, this whole movie is weird.
You also have the already mentioned Wheelers, which are another aspect of this film that scared the crap out of us ‘80s babies. They’re villainous. Inversely, you have new heroes in a giant walking pumpkin named Jack Pumpkinhead, a creature called The Gump, which is like a flying elk creature, and a rotund robot named Tik-Tok (And I said Tik-Tok with a hyphen, not TikTok, like the platform where people go viral).
All of these characters go on an adventure with Dorothy, who, might I add, is a lot younger in this story than Judy Garland was in the 1939 film. In fact, Dorothy’s actor, Fairuza Balk, was only around 9 or 10 during the making of Return to Oz, which aligns with the age of Dorothy in the books.
In fact, Return to Oz actually feels a lot more like the Oz book series than 1939’s film. Yes, the book The Marvelous Land of Oz is actually about a boy named Tip rather than Dorothy (Ozma of Oz actually brings Dorothy back into the story), but Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-Tok, Billina, and The Gump are all book characters, so if you don’t like them here, then you likely wouldn’t enjoy the books, either. Just saying.
There Are Also Returning Characters From The First Movie...And They're Also Weird!
Now, if you haven’t seen Return to Oz, you might be wondering if the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man are in this movie, and yes! Yes, they are! But, oh, dear God, what is wrong with them, as they look NOTHING like they did in the 1939 film. But, here’s the thing. Just like I mentioned how the aforementioned Jack Pumpkinhead, The Gump, Billina, and Tik-Tok are in the books, so are the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man.
However, they were illustrated in a very specific way in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel, and they look like that in Return to Oz. That said, they really don’t feature prominently in the story (Well, besides the Scarecrow, who does play a role). These familiar characters are here, but they don’t factor too much into the plot, which kind of makes them feel unimportant. Even so, it’s cool that the old characters are still here, and that they actually look book-accurate this time around. It’s the little things, you know?
The New Villain Is So Much Scarier Than The Wicked Witch Of The West
Finally, even though Wicked does some retconning of The Wicked Witch of the West, the 1939 version, played by Margaret Hamilton, was actually quite creepy for such a whimsical movie. I don’t know if it was the make-up, the crackly voice, or her command of flying monkeys, but TWWotW was nobody to be messed with.
Well, back to the book, as she IS somebody to be messed with, as she’s literally killed about halfway through the novel when Dorothy throws water on her. And, it’s not even seen as some great deed since Dorothy is actually pretty surprised, like, wow, that actually worked? So, yeah. It was a much bigger deal in the movie.
However, Return to Oz has TWO terrifying villains in Princess Mombi, who can actually swap heads (Nightmare fuel!), and the Nome King, who is a really creepy rock creature. Both of these characters are literally terrifying (especially for a child, which is when I unfortunately saw this movie-Even though my older sister warned me about it).
And, that’s why even though I suggest that you watch this movie if you’ve never seen it before, I would also suggest that you don’t show it to your young children, even though it's currently on Disney+ and you can watch it with them RIGHT NOW. I personally wouldn't (and I haven't shown my own children), since it scared me as a kid, and it might scare them as well! I mean, the scenes with Dorothy in the sanatorium alone are pretty harrowing. And don't even get me started on the screaming heads scene.
But, what do you think? Have you watched Return to Oz? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
