Return to Oz

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

The movie (based on the second and third Oz books: The Land of Oz and
Ozma of Oz) takes place after Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) has returned to the
Kansas farm of her Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark). The farm
is a mess, having been hit by that darn tornado during which Henry broke his leg
so he can’t fix the house or the barn. Although, as Em points out to Dorothy when
she sympathizes with her uncle’s position, “It’s mended.”

Meanwhile,
Dorothy keeps talking of Oz—a journey her aunt and uncle don’t believe she
ever made—and finds a key in the barn with the letters OZ on it. She thinks
her friends sent it to her because they need her help. Her relatives, worried
about her constant daydreams and nightmares about this strange land, send her
for electroshock therapy (a plot development added in by writer/director Walter
Murch) with scary Dr. J.B. Worley (Nicol Williamson) and creepy Nurse Wilson (Jean
Marsh).

While Dorothy is strapped to a table at the doctor’s office, she
is visited by the beautiful Ozma, who unties her and helps her get to Oz—as
Dorothy is the only one who can help. When Dorothy gets to Oz, she discovers her
friends have been turned to stone, the Yellow Brick Road has been torn up, the
evil Princess Mombi (also played by Marsh) has taken the heads of the former beauties
of Oz so she can get a real “extreme makeover,” and the tyrannical Nome
King (a claymation character voiced by Williamson) is now in charge.

Since
her former friends are no use, she teams up with Billina the talking chicken,
a gump’s head (think of the wall figures from the Country Bear Jamboree), Jack
Pumpkinhead (a sweet throwback to the Scarecrow), and the mechanical Tik-Tok.

Will
Dorothy and her friends thwart the evildoers and prove that she isn’t crazy? Can
a monkey fly?

The Goodies

If you want to
see what Fairuza Balk thinks about the character of Dorothy or how she landed
the role, then you might enjoy “Fairuza Balk Returns to Oz.” The interview
with the actress was from 1999, apparently in honor of the movie’s 15th anniversary.
Balk’s quirky facial expressions and mouth movements, though cute when she was
10, come through as creepy via the strange camera angles used during the interview.
I would have loved an interview with Jean Marsh or Piper Laurie, or even something
from the special effects side since, in spite of the strange plot, some of the
effects are quite creative.

If you miss the mediocre quality of mid-1980s
television, you will probably find something nostalgic about the four TV spots
(some of which are aired as if they came directly from the storyboard). The trailer
is a much better way to see what the finished product looks like if you don’t
have the time or desire to watch the entire thing.

The Video, Audio and
Interface

I watched the movie in my aunt’s family room with surround sound, but it didn’t
sound like it. The background music is crisp, but it tended to drown out the dialogue
here and there throughout the film.

The main menu is the Emerald
City; the bonus features have the ruby slippers in the background, but nothing
special happens when you hit any of the selections. There is no special music
or features. It would have been cute if the heels clicked when you selected something,
but the original Wizard of Oz might have already claimed it.

The Final Evaluation

If you or your teens have never seen this movie
and are real Oz lovers, rent it—don’t buy it. If your younger kids love the
original, have them read the books in the Oz series (or read to them) instead
so their memories of the 1939 classic aren’t tarnished. If you really want to
learn more about the world of Oz, I’d spend the money on the book and CD of Gregory
Maguire’s Wicked. Return to Oz was one Disney movie that should
have stayed in the vault.