Return To Oz (1985)

Return To Oz is an American dark fantasy movie, and an unofficial sequel to the MGM movie The Wizard Of Oz and unlike the original movie, this sequel was distributed by Disney. It was directed by Walter Murch (the only movie he ever directed) and it is based on the 2nd and 3rd Oz Books The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of OZ. Although it did receive mixed reviews from critics and bombed at the box office, it did manage to get a strong cult following.

Plot
Dorothy returns to Oz and must save Oz and the scarecrow, with the help of her new friends.

Why Dorothy Returns to Oz

 * 1) Despite not being a official sequel it does a nice job following the original. As it stays faithful to the original and expands on the story with new characters and plot points.
 * 2) Great acting, unlike the MGM movie Fairuza Balk was age appropiate role for Dorothy, as she was 10 years old unlike Judy Garland in the MGM movie who was 16 when she played the role.
 * 3) Great claymation effects, especially for the nome King. The blend of claymation and live-action used in the scene featuring him was truly no short of impressive, along with the sheer amount of effort and dedication it must've taken to make the claymation effects themselves (since claymation is an insanely difficult form of animation to complete, let alone claymation that happens to be included in an otherwise live-action film like how CGI is incorporated into many other films of the latter medium).
 * 4) The plot is a very interesting one about Dorothy getting whisked back to Oz and discovering that Emerald City is now in ruins and being ruled by the villainous Princess Mombi. And her now having to team up with a new team of friends in order to save the land of Oz.
 * 5) The animatronic for the Gump looks pretty good. The lip syncing is great and the design looks very convincing.
 * 6) The Nome king (while not as entertaining as the Wicked Witch from the West or Princess Mombi) is still a interesting villain with an absolutly terrifying yet creative design and a truly intimidating presence. Not to mention how much he serves as a major threat towards the heroes, especially when he tries to devour Jack Pumpkinhead alive.
 * 7) It faithfully follows both the Ozma of Oz as well as the Marvelous Land of Oz.
 * 8) Great puppetry for the new characters. Particularly the aforementioned Gump.
 * 9) The ending is very heartwarming, as Dorothy decides to stay in Kansas, and Ozma tells her that she can visit Oz whenever she wants. With the final scene of the movie having Dorothy, in the rebuilt farmhouse, seeing an image of Billina and Ozma in Oz through her bedroom mirror, before going outside to play with Toto.
 * 10) Great costume design. Especially (and particularly) for the ones used for Princess Mombi, the Wheelers, Tik Tok, and Jack Pumpkinhead.
 * 11) Princes's Mombi's effects (like the ones used for the her when she's removing her head and replacing it with one of the ones from her collection of the heads of woman she decapitated after believing them to be more beautiful than her) are very good.
 * 12) The film's transition to a dark fantasy genre means that there's a huge amount of tension during most of the film. One particular example of this is the scene in the ornament room. A room where the characters are sent to in an attempt to find the scarecrow, where they must touch an ornament and say "Oz" while having their hand on it and see if it's him. They have three chances to do this, the third and final one of which will have whoever is doing so turn into an ornament themselves if they guess the wrong one. And Jack, Billina, and Tik Tok all end up failing the test and turning into ornaments before Dorothy guesses correctly and saves the Scarecrow, along with the others who were turned into ornaments. It also greatly adds to how much of a legitimate threat the Nome King serves as to the main cast (as previosuly mention in WDRTO# 6).
 * 13) The new characters are likable. Like Billina (a sharp-tongued hen from Dorothy's family's farm in Kansas who serves as the film's "Toto"), Tik Tok (the Royal Army of Oz who serves as the "Tin Man" for a majority of the film), Jack Pumpkinhead (a pumpkin-headed man and Ozma's "son" as well as the film's "Scarecrow" for a majority of it's runtime), and the Gump (an elk-like creature who was revived in the form of a flying machine who is possibly meant to serve as this film's "cowardly lion").

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Unlike the original which was a colorful charming musical, this one was reduced to almost a dark horror movie.
 * 2) Some scary moments for a kids film, like Dorothy strapped on a bed for an electroshock therapy, the wheelers (which are similar to the flying monkeys in the original), Princess Mombi can switch her heads and the gnome king's demonic form. Not to mention the Gnome King's death... shudders
 * 3) While not bad the puppet's don't move they're lips when they talk.
 * 4) The poster is a little misleading. As the Scarecrow, Tinman and The Cowardly Lion only appear in the end.
 * 5) Not as great or any better than the as original classic but it's still a enjoyable film and way better than the tv special of the same name.
 * 6) Glinda and the Munchkins never make appearances, and it is never explained why.

Reception
Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, with the film holding a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes in addition to being a box office bomb, the audience score is 71% and is still considered a decent film. The film also got a cult following.

Trivia

 * This was the only movie to be directed by Walter Murch.
 * Disney originally was going to make Rainbow Road to OZ but it never happened until this.
 * It was the first Disney to use the iconic Disney font, which had already been in use for other properties since 1964.