Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch.
It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role.
In the plot, an insomniac Dorothy returns to the Land of Oz to find it has been conquered by the wicked Nome King and his accomplice Princess Mombi.
Return to Oz fell behind schedule during production, and, following a change of Disney management, Murch was briefly fired.
However, it performed well outside the US, and has since acquired a cult following from fans of the Oz books who regard it as more faithful to L. Frank Baum's works.
Six months after the tornado strike, Dorothy Gale's Aunt Em and Uncle Henry take her to the sanatorium of Dr. Worley, concerned that her continued obsession with the Land of Oz is a sign of delusion.
They follow a damaged yellow brick road to the Emerald City, which is in ruins and its citizens, including the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, turned to stone.
The Wheelers - people with wheels instead of hands and feet - seize them but they are saved by a mechanical man, Tik-Tok, who explains he was told by Scarecrow, the king of Oz, to await Dorothy's return.
After revealing that Scarecrow is being held prisoner by the Nome King, who is also responsible for the devastation of Oz, she imprisons the group, intending to take Dorothy's head for her collection.
The Gump eventually crashes on the mountain, where Dorothy is briefly reunited with Scarecrow, before the Nome King turns him into an ornament.
Enraged, the Nome King imprisons Mombi as punishment for Dorothy’s escape, then grows to gigantic size and attempts to eat the group until Billina lays an egg in his mouth, poisoning him.
Princess Ozma - the girl from the sanitarium and rightful ruler of Oz, who was imprisoned in a mirror by Mombi - is then freed and ascends the throne.
Dorothy is found by her family on a riverbank in Kansas, where Aunt Em tells her that the clinic burned down, with everyone except Worley surviving.
Returning home, Dorothy sees Billina and Ozma through her bedroom mirror and calls for Aunt Em, but they signal for her to keep Oz a secret.
Unbeknownst to Murch, Disney owned the rights to the Oz series and wanted to make a new film as the copyright was soon to expire.
[5] Murch co-wrote the screenplay with Gill Dennis, intentionally writing a film that was unlike the original to avoid accusations of blasphemy.
Between the development period and actual shooting, there was a change of leadership at the Walt Disney studios (with Wilhite replaced by Richard Berger), and the film's budget increased.
"[11] In casting the relatively unknown Balk, who was the second youngest auditionee from around 1,000 children auditioned across eight cities,[12] Murch said he "wanted to find somebody who might be Judy Garland's cousin once removed.
[14] Ridley described how she tried to make her Kansas character "very calm, very studious", opting to wear little makeup and perform barefoot,[15] while wanting a complete difference for Ozma, who was shown with a transformed appearance and attire.
Kansas scenes were filmed at Salisbury Plain, which was described as a "natural choice" by Maslansky due to it being flat and within close proximity to London.
Balk, who was in around 98% of all scenes, was permitted to work no more than three-and-a-half hours each day,[8] restricted to between 9:30am to 4:30pm which included breaks and private educational tuition.
The scenes were re-shot with the actress wearing a white and green dress,[17] described by Ridley as being "very itchy and very uncomfortable", as she had grown by the time filming took place.
[20] This was the first film to use the Walt Disney Pictures logo from 1985 to 2006, which would later receive a fanfare, based on "When You Wish Upon a Star", composed by John Debney, with The Black Cauldron.
In 1999, Anchor Bay Entertainment, who had obtained the home video rights to several titles from Disney's live-action catalogue, issued the film on full-screen and letterbox VHS, as well as a DVD release featuring both versions.
In 2004, Disney released their own DVD, which dropped the Anchor Bay disc's fullscreen version and added anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 TVs for the widescreen version, upgraded the audio to 5.1 surround, retained the Anchor Bay disc's extras, and added four TV spots and a theatrical trailer.
"[32] Those who were familiar with the Oz books praised its faithfulness to the source material of L. Frank Baum such as author and critic Harlan Ellison who said, "It ain't Judy Garland.
"[35] Canadian film critic Jay Scott felt the protagonists were too creepy and weird for viewers to relate or sympathize with: "Dorothy's friends are as weird as her enemies, which is faithful to the original Oz books but turns out not to be a virtue on film, where the eerie has a tendency to remain eerie no matter how often we're told it's not.
Club frequently refers to its dark nature as unsuitable for its intended audience of young children[38] although it had been one of her favorite movies growing up.
It received two Saturn Award nominations for Best Fantasy Film (losing to Ladyhawke) and Best Younger Actor for Fairuza Balk (who lost to Barret Oliver for D.A.R.Y.L.).