Ok so this movie was so odd!! More like return to ODD if you ask me... Anyways, some really great stuff in here such as the score, practical effects, and even some moments in the film such as the darker themes explored with how people would have actually reacted to Dorothy. Other things in this movie though such as very conflicting tones and messy screenplay dragged it down for me and in the end, I was left feeling very mixed. Thanks for watching! Have a great day! :)
In the final scene where everyone turns out to celebrate their success, the movie included people dressed up as MANY of the strange Baum creations, from the first books and all the way through. This was a loving tribute to the books, even though a detail which almost everyone misses.
The pre-hype for this movie was huge, and I remember a touring shopping-mall exhibit showing off the colorful Oz-character costumes of Emerald citizens, Jellia Jamb, the Shaggy Man, etc. All of whom show up in the don't-blink background for one minute, at the end of the entire slog...SURPRISE!! That's called Bait & Switch. 😠
When I was a little kid the wheelie punks turning to sand really freaked me out. This is actually better as an adult. It's so strange and beautiful. Modern Disney wouldn't let anything this creative slip through.
The very first book I ever read was a 1923 edition of Ozma of Oz, which including the original illustrations. This movie is a clever blend of this and Land of Oz. MGM had purchased the rights to the Wizard, but Disney got the rest. In the books, Oz is a real place, not a dream. So this movie was very clever, I think, in reversing the MGM movie to where everyone but Dorothy thinks it was a dream. And so clever how they reversed the Oz characters having a sort of presence in Kansas. I always loved Dorothy's chicken coop "boat," the lunch pail trees, the wheelers, Tik-tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Gump, and so on. Yes, the books were very dark. At one point in the Wizard, they are attacked by 100 wolves (if I remember correctly) and the Tin Woodsman hacks them all to death. Dark.
According to Wiki: "The original Wizard of Oz book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” is actually very dark and disturbing. Tiger-bear hybrids were killed in a crevasse, the Tin Man decapitated a wildcat and 40 wolves using an ax, and a giant swarm of bumble bees died while trying to sting Dorothy and her friends."
Disney could NOT make a sequel to the MGM movie, since MGM wouldn't give them permission. In the book, the slippers were silver but MGM made them red so they looked better in color. Disney spent a whole lot to MGM to get permission to use ruby slippers. Disney also made Oz, the Great & Powerful and again had to skirt copyright issues against MGM. They had to have lawyers work hard to get a shade of green for the witch was just different enough from Margaret Hamilton's make-up.
YES YES YES!!! This is one of my absolute favorite films of all time. Totally scared the hell out of me when I first saw it around the age of 7 but it’s so beautiful and has such a heart to it. Thanks for reacting to this one too!
So this movie was foisted on my little girl sleepover in the late 80s; expecting something sweet like the 1939 movie,we were NOT expecting a princess who switches heads, a desert that turns you to sand,and electroshock therapy 😭😭😭
If you had read the books, you would KNOW about the desert, the head princess and the Nome King, recognize them from the stories, and know that they weren't so bad after all. The electroshock therapy, however...that's on the director.
This movie came from a very creative period for Disney in the 80's now known as Dark Disney where the company were stepping very much outside of their comfort zone and becoming more experimental in their output. This process began pretty much in 1979 with The Black Hole and produced some fairly imaginative results including the original Tron but their very dark fantasy film Dragonslayer and the two spooky Disney movies The Watcher in the Woods and Something Wicked This Way Comes are definitely worth a look, particularly Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Actually, Walt Disney owned the movie rights to the other Oz books, and wanted to make a more faithful animated version throughout his career: One movie project never happened, but they tried auditioning other stories on Disneyland storybook records in the 60's: Do a search for "Disney Tin Man of Oz" if you want to see what Walt's cartoon Oz would have looked like. In the 80's, however, Disney was in their Black Cauldron malaise, wanted to cash in on the MGM movie, and finally put Walt's memos to rest.
@@ericjanssen394 I forgot about The Black Cauldron. That was their attempt to extend Dark Disney into their animated movies. Although Disney's animated films had always traditionally been a lot darker than their live action films. Did not know that extra information about Disney's history with Oz though.
I just got to say, I love your videos. Thank you for being very intuitive and open-minded. When you watch movies. It makes it much more enjoyable to watch you!
This movie gave me hardcore nightmares as a kid. The scene with the heads sent me screaming from the living room and into my bedroom where I was inconsolable for over an hour.... or so I was told because I was like four years old. I do remember running out the room crying my eyes out cause I was scared. I have never watched this again since then and your video is the most I've seen of it in 36 years.
i just love how nome king trolls mombi when she shows up to warn him by telling her to bow, low, lower, shes flat on her stomach, LOWER!!! then evil laughter. i love this movie so much :P
There were 14 books in the original Oz series. This movie is a combination of the second and third books, "The Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". And remember the 1939 film was pretty dark, too. Most people forget how many times Dorothy and her friends were threatened with death along their journey in that story. I really like this movie; it's really too bad the studio mishandled it so badly that it never had a chance of becoming a series, because as I said, there were a LOT of books that could have been turned into films.
Original wizard of oz book is dark as hell! I read that when I was 8. There's one part where a clan of wolves try to attack Dorothy and tinman cut all.. their.. heads.. off.. so graphic!
@@asarishepard8171 Not to mention the whole story of the Tin Woodman is something out of _Grand Guignol._ In the later book, "The Tin Woodman of Oz," he meets a weird guy who is made of sewn-together body parts, and it turns out they are all _the Tin Woodman's old parts._ It's ghoulish as hell, but also hilarious because Nick realizes the guy's kind of an asshole, and ends up happy with his own fate, as he doesn't relish the idea of still being that guy. :D
This was great, thanks! The music has always captured me. I think you'll appreciate the amazing fact that the composer wrote the music remotely, not having seen the film, as it was still in production, and miraculously, what he'd created and recorded was beautifully cut and arranged to fit the film. Stunning.
In the first book, Emerald City is not really all green. The inhabitants all have to wear green glasses. If you look at the drawing which appeared on the cover of the original book, it shows the cowardly lion, a real lion by the way, wearing glasses. In the sequels, though, Baum made each of the five "capitals" one solid color. I think Munchinland was all blue, for example.
The books were written starting in 1900, while the movie was 1939. MGM made Emerald City very 1930's art deco. Disney made things look c. 1900, Edwardian, Gibson girls, Art Nouveau. Tik-tok had a WWI-type "doughboy" helmet.
Great reaction! Like you said, kind of an uneven flick, but with amazing moments scattered throughout. The Nome King's animation, the room of Mombi's heads, and the Wheeler turning to sand all stay in my brain pretty much always.
8:10 I went to a dentist on May 28, 1998. A Thursday. I was sitting in the dental chair alone. My mouth being numbed and I am sure I was left alone longer than I had to be left alone with a radio station playing cheesy pop songs and a news bulletin announced that Phil Hartman had died, that he'd been shot in the head, that his wife shot him and then shot herself. Nobody was there to tell me if this was real news or a joke and I just sat there waiting for someone to come so I could ask my question. The dentist came in asked how I was doing and stuffed his hand in my mouth so I couldn't answer. I went home and cried. I did not go back to a dentist for 20 years.
The Nome King was animated by Will Vinton. His movie 'The Adventures of Mark Twain' (1985) is one of my favorite dark children's movies and I highly recommend it.
Dorothy did not appear in the second book, Land of Oz. In Ozma, she and uncle Henry are on a ship going to Australia when a big storm come up. She mistakenly goes on deck looking for him, but gets blown off, along with a chicken coop, which as in the movie, she uses as a boat. And Henrietta was the only chicken that stayed with the coop until the storm was over.
keep in mind how awesome the shots in the throne room are. the whole room is surrounded by mirrors and they found a way to hide everyone behind the camera :P just stuff like this is amazing!
Tim Burton had said he drew inspiration from Jack Pumpkin Head, when creating Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King. Both Disney movies so that makes sense.
There is a reason, actually, why the Scarecrow looks strange - he wasn't finished. His features were originally going to move around normally through animatronics, which probably would have looked really cool, but unfortunately, the film's budget got severely slashed midway through production, at which point, there was no way they could afford something that expensive. So they had to go with what they had - which, unfortunately, meant that the Scarecrow was left with basically just a mask for a face that couldn't move at all. I agree, it doesn't look good, but you get used to it - at least the design is pretty true to the books.
This was a big release back in 1985 and got a lot of press coverage for its innovations and being a follow up to such a famous story. As a kid I enjoyed it and we were used to movies for kids being quite dark in places, I think today's movies for kids are much more cautious and don't cover the spectrum of emotions including fear quite so much. The old fairy tales included a dose of terror and death amongst the magic and excitement.
I know this video is 10 months old but Jack pumpkin head is like a pre version of Jack Skeleton and that’s why they are so similar, even both by Disney
Yes, the scarecrow here is also based almost dead-on for how he is drawn in the books, with one eye bigger than the other. And yes, I found him (as drawn in the book), really creepy. The tin-woodsman looked exactly like they had him here, and yes, the cowardly lion was a real lion. In the books, Dorothy was supposed to be about 8. Sixteen year old Judy Garland tried to play her as a 12 yo. They had to tightly strap her chest to make it work.
YES MATE!!!!! No one has ever reacted to this classic as far as I know!!! Thanks for doing so! The box didn't turn to sand on the deadly desert because it is not alive.
I'm not sure if anybody mentioned, but the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were recreated in this movie to look more like the original book illustrations. That's why they look creepier, including the new characters. However I think the Gnome King was actually a gnome, but I could be wrong. The stone effects and costuming were my favorite parts. The wheelers were supposed to be reminiscent of the asylum staff who wheeled the carts. I think the wheelers were much uglier in the books, but had those ornate costumes. Thank you for watching!
Another great reaction! Fun Fact: Mombie is actually based on 2 characters from the OZ books. The first character was Mombie who was a wicked witch that ruled the North until the Good Witch known as Locasta or Tattypoo overthrew her. The second character was Langwidere, a princess who was the niece of King Evoldo who lives in the magical Land of Ev, which happens to neighbor the magical Land of Oz. She is highly narcissistic, spoiled, vain and conceited. She’s the one who can change her heads. If wish for more Oz related films, here the top 2 I recommend: The Wiz a musical film based on the musical of the same name, which stars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The other is Dorothy and the Witches of Oz or simply The Witches of Oz which is a 2 part miniseries which features an adult Dorothy who must remember her adventures in Oz as she faces familiar allies and foes. It’s kind of similar to Spielberg and Robin Williams’ Hook and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. 👧🏼🐔🤖🎃🧙🏻♀️🧟♂️👑
Glad you did this one and got some enjoyment out of it! A couple of thoughts: * The conflicting tone may have been partly a product of the books. Baum's writing was whimsical while his plot points were often dark, so I can imagine trying to adapt that for a 1980s film audience was a huge challenge. * The 1939 Wizard of Oz film was not the "original" Oz adaptation. There were several Oz films adapted from the books dating back to 1908. L. Frank Baum himself was involved with some of the silent film adaptations. The 1939 film is by far the most successful and most-remembered Oz adaptation ever created, and that is unlikely to ever be challenged. * I have always adored the film score. I'm glad you took some time to highlight it. * The Wheelers scared me when I was 3 and 4 years old watching this movie for the first time (at least in my memory). I think it makes sense that they overacted so much. After all, they have no hands, feet, or sharp maws, just squeaky wheels. There's nothing they can *actually* do to hurt anyone. Therefore, they have to rely on being as bullying and intimidating as possible to be considered any kind of a threat. And just like any bully, the moment you take away their power by standing up to them, they become completely pathetic and vulnerable, so it does make sense that the movie's tone shifted at that point. * The design for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion in this film were perfectly faithful to the illustrations found in Baum's original books, as drawn by W. W. Denslow and John R. Neill. They'd definitely be strange to audiences familiar with the 1939 film, but they were not out of place in early 20th Century children's literature.
Oooo!! You did this one! 💚 I loved this as a kid, we bought it on VHS when it was released. So, I was 5 or so. I have a habit of, any time I see something fancy and green, I have to touch it and shout "OZ!" (Within respect of those around me....😂). The electro shock therapy definitely became a ptsd type thing, and the straps for the hospital bed... But still, growing up with movies like this, I find most horror movies boring. 😅
Please consider reacting to Matilda the Musical. It's actually even darker than the 1996 film directed by Danny Devito. It's very British, quite funny, has amazing kids, very catchy and likable songs, fantastic choreography, even crazy parkour performed by kids. I'm not even mentioning the burning woman, hurling through the air, with dynamite in her hair, over sharks and spikey objects waiting to be caught by the man locked in a cage. That's just for starters. Please consider it.
After this, you should watch The Wiz, just to compare. It’s basically an all African American version of the wizard of oz with Michael Jackson as the scarecrow.
I saw this in the theater. There was a couple with a kid sitting in front of me. When Mombi's headless body went after Dorothy, the kid stood up and said "I'm leaving" and went out the exit door. The parent kinda sat there stunned for a moment before going after him. BTW there are 14 Oz books. There were also a number of silent films and stage plays before they made the 1939 film.
Not sure if you caught it but they continued the real-people-have-oz-counterparts thing from the first -- clearly the asylum friend being Osma, but also the Doctor being the Gnome King, the nurse being Mombi, the asylum orderly being the main Wheeler, and the electrical healing machine being Tick Tock.
As somebody who loved and read all of the Oz books over and over again as a kid, I was not all that enthusiastic about the Judy Garland movie. It took a lot of shortcuts and left out important story lines. This was my introduction as a child to the idea that movies are seldom as good as the books. That movie did grow on me over time but I much preferred the story. This movie is a conflation of the 2nd and 3rd books, "The Land of Oz", in which Dorothy doesn't even appear, and "Ozma of Oz". FWIW, Ozma was my favorite book. They follow the books more closely than the 1939 movie but they also leave a lot out and the tone in the movie is definitely darker than that of the books. I can see why the 1939 movie is much more popular but I always liked this one and hope that, before I kick the bucket, somebody will do one of the books right!
Not long ago, I watched a top ten list of "creepiest things in family/children's films" (or words to that effect), and these "Wheelers" popped in one spot. Interesting that you found them somewhat amusing/funny as the film progressed. The friend who introduced me to this movie (he's blind/visually impaired) didn't "get" them as creepy, and guess they're supposed to be the flying monkeys of this "version" of Oz. Good reaction!
I did watch this as a kid of about 8 or 9, and this film DID scare me so much - the psych ward and the electro-therapy, the rollerskating monkeys, the headless witch, the weird flying moose couch, just the general atmosphere of the whole movie...gave me nightmares for ages Looking at it now, I think the director must have been into a dystopian aesthetic, and maybe a bit of steampunk lol. ps.. the chicken's voice was creeping me out and i realised that it's the same voice as the garbage lady in the Labyrinth.
The box (chicken coop) Dorothy arrived in Oz in didn't turn to sand in the Deadly Desert because it wasn't alive. Just like the rocks she stepped on to get from the coop to the grass.
It's so funny because when this movie came out I was 7. I loved it and thought it was really cool but the Wheelers were the scary part for me and my friends.
Even though this one is dark it is the most accurate all the books out of any Oz project in fact the final scene of emerald City every single character you see is from a literary source at some point the attention to detail is f****** amazing and goes un oticed
dude this was a staple of mine and my twins childhood!! also that same year, 1985, gave us Young Sherlock holmes, an early Chris Columbus project. Check that one out! equally creepy.
My aunt rented this for my cousins, sister, and I to watch whenever we had went to visit. I can definitely say that as a kid there were definitely parts that freaked us out while watching the film. I didn’t know there were other Oz books at the time either, but one of my cousins had read several of them and that along with the fact that they live in Kansas was why my aunt had chosen the film. Even my aunt, who was watching it with us, commented that the film wasn’t what she was expecting when she picked it out and said the cover of the VHS case and back description seemed more bright and happy. Honestly I haven’t watched it much since then. I know I watched it in full once with a friend at her house and another time with yet another cousin of mine. Other than that it’s just been when any reactors on TH-cam watch it….which I think you’re like only the second person whose reactions I watch that has watched this movie and I watched the reaction video. I’m not saying I don’t like the film. It’s an okay film to watch. Like I can sit and watch it and be entertained by it. But it’s definitely not on the top of any lists. For the record Tik-Tok is my favorite character in this film, too. I have a friend who has the entire collection of books as published in the early 1900s along with some books published by fans after the original author’s death. I was helping her clean out a bedroom in her mom’s former house when I came across them in a bookcase and she mentioned that they’re books that have been passed down through her family. I will admit to never having read any of the books, though, so I don’t know what parts of this movie are from which books. My one cousin would definitely know since she read all of them. She’s still a big time reader as she belongs to a book club in her hometown and each month they read different books. She often posts mini-reviews of the books she reads, both for the book club and whatever else she’s read. I don’t read nearly as often as I did as a kid, but when I do I can usually finish a book in a weekend. Great reaction!
I absolutely LOVE everything about this movie. I prefer it over the first actually. I love the darker tone. The music is beautifully done. The practical effects are amazing. And the design of everything is exactly as it was drawn in the books. This film holds such a dear place in my heart.
"I am Tik Tok: The Royal Army Of Oz." Everything about Tik Tok is awesome. Fun Fact: Tim Burton has acknowledged Jack Pumpkinhead as an inspiration for the iconic character Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Historical Fact: Tik Tok is "the prototype robot" and is widely considered to be one of the first robots (preceded only by Huge Hunter in The Steam Man Of The Prairies (1868) by Edward S. Ellis) to appear in modern literature, though the term "Robot" was not used until the 1920s. The Royal Army Of Oz Fact: Gymnast Michael Sundin stood upside-down (with legs bent) and backwards inside Tik Tok's body to move the legs. Sean Barrett was the voice. Tim Rose is also credited ad Tik Tok, but I can't find what his role was exactly. I can assume Rose was the up-close puppeteer. Ruby Slippers Fact: Fairuza Balk's ruby slippers were specially handmade with imitation rubies and rotoscoped in post-production to give them a magical look. The rubies were actually glass beads imported from Austria and individually attached to the shoes with a special spray adhesive. This later proved problematic, as the hot stage lights melted the adhesive, and the young actress's fidgety movements would often knock the beads off. Tired of chasing after detached beads, the wardrobe staff finally ordered the shoes to be worn only when visible on camera. Balk confirmed to a fan, via Twitter in September of 2017, that she got to keep one pair of the ruby slippers she wore in the film. In order to include the ruby slippers as part of this film, Disney had to pay royalties to MGM, the studio which had produced The Wizard Of Oz (1939). The ruby slippers did not appear in L. Frank Baum's original novel; they were invented for the 1939 film to better take advantage of the newly developed Technicolor process. In the original novel, Dorothy wore a pair of magical silver shoes which were lost when she used them to return to Kansas and never appeared again.
I don't recall ever being scared of the wheelers. I'm serious. I'm not sounding tough. I think even when I was little, I thought they were more weird than disturbing. This is Oz, where scarecrows sing and dance, lions talk, and monkeys fly (p.s. I was never scared of them either). The hall of screaming heads, Mombi's headless body walking like Frankenstein, and the music for that scene. That on the other hand...
interestingly, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland also have movies that start off with long dark parts that happen before we get to the magic land as well Also Family Movies can be dark.
Even though i was a little kid when this came out, i never saw it. I don't even remember knowing about it as a kid. I saw The Wizard of Oz countless times though. I finally watched "Return" about 5 years ago, and i gotta say...i liked it..sort of. I know it got poor reviews when it was released, but the effects, and particularly the creativity of the imagery was just amazing. It was a visually stunning film. It seemed more appropriate that Dorothy was younger, too.
This one gained a lot of fans on cable, due to a lot of special effects shows that talked about the animatronics and stop motion work in it. I actually saw it in theater, and it was amazing on the big screen... especially when a kid would lose their mind in the audience. (Lot of parents walking their spawn out at various parts.... just like Neverending Story) Dark fantasy was kind of in fashion at the time. Balk is amazing later on in The Craft 1996.
Tik-tok as a fully mechanical man was, in a sense, the first idea of a robot in fiction (in the book). In the movie, the costume had a guy inside, doubled-over, basically kissing his butt. If a scene went on for more than 20 seconds, they had to stop and give him a chance to breath.
Saw Return to Oz when I was 4 at the movie theater with my family. We loved it. It really is, dare I say it, a horse of a different color. I can say it had no ill effect on me when I was a kid. I am also a horror author but that is besides the point.
The biggest contrast to both movies is the original being a feel good musical and the other being a more accurate adaptation of the book series that started everything. Not even a fair viewpoint to start with. The other is the inclusion of the original cast types that don't come even remotely close to the '39 version. The lion, the scarecrow and tin man can't even say words with mouth movements. But the concepts of Dorothy's power to right the wrongs was so dam good! So was the inclusion of the new set of friends that helped along her journey. The best part, though, was the clay mation! Even cgi falls short in this department. I loved this version!!!!
Interesting analysis. I personally love the tone of this movie and don't feel anything clashed. To me it feels like a classic fairy-tale adventure and I wish they made more films like this today. I enjoyed our reaction though.
This movie is a favorite of mine because it really captures a lot of the feelng of Oz. The story is actually based on a few of the Oz books sort of mashed together. I can’t recommend the Oz books enough. They’re a fantastic series. Also, to answer your question about why that box didn’t disintegrate in the deadly desert it only destroys life. Anything not alive does just fine, so theoretically TikTok would be OK as he is a clockwork man who does everything, but live but Jack or the grump would not since they were brought to into the world with the powder of life that’s making them alive.
"The Wiz" (1978) changed a lot of details from the 1974 stage play it was based on. There was a live telecast of a straight performance of "The Wiz" in 2015, but I haven't seen that one. Some other good Oz adaptations include "Tin Man" (2007) and "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz" (2012), which are both radical re-imaginings, and "The Muppets Wizard of Oz" (2005) which is pretty much what you'd expect.
There's also the super-low-budget "The Wonderful Land of Oz" (1969) which is an almost word for word adaptation of the second Oz book, but I only recommend watching the Rifftrax version.
This movie blends elements from the second & third novels in the Oz series. L. Frank Bahm wrote 12 to 14 Oz novels in total! The first novels were published at the end of the 19th Century. This is historically accurate: Victorian era Americans were fascinated by the new power electricity, & quacks make all sorts of ridiculous claims about its healing powers! The Tin Man looks like the illustrations in the books! Ditto Scarecrow & the Lion. The only problem with TikTok is the thick legs -- there's a little person operating the suit! The gnomes are a clever adaptation of the illustrations in the books. In the book, they're actual people, not just faces. Munchkinland = blue. Winkieland = yellow. Quadlingland = red. Glinda is queen of the Quadlings. Gillikanland = purple. Miss Wand is queen of the Gillikans. Jack Pumpkinhead was Kip's companion in book 2, The Land of Oz. Mombi was the witch who imprisoned Kip/Ozma. The head collecting witch was a different witch in the 3rd book, Ozma of Oz.
There was a magazine article years ago by someone whose parents had read him 'Ozma of Oz' as a child. He had found the Wheelers terrifying, and his article told of the time that there was a knock at the front door. His parents' friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, were there, and when Mom answered the door, she called out, "It's the Wheelers!" The poor kid ran to his room and hid under the bed!
I've always liked this quirkier version of Oz much better than the glitz and glam of the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz felt more like Disneyland or something, mostly clean and sparkly. Sure there was the dark woods and the witch's castle, but those are SUPPOSED to be dark and scary to emphasize the whole villain ambiance they're the witch and her minions are supposed to have. And, my goodness, that Glinda. She felt like a middle-aged fairy version of Barbie or something with all that pink and ever-smiling face that I never quite trusted. Possibly the most glittery character in the film, to be sure. That crown of hers could reflect gamma rays! Wow! Now, I had read the books before I saw the 1939 movie, to get me prepared for what I was about to see, kind of like you did here with watching the old film before this one, and just like you it didn't prepare me for the squeaky clean ride I got. There were quite a few things wrong with that one. Dorothy was way too old. I think Judy Garland was sixteen or something when she played Dorothy. Fairuza Balk, who plays Dorothy here, I think was somewhere around ten to twelve age area, which is more to the book. The Wicked Witch of the West was never supposed to be green. I think that was the movie company taking artistic liberty with that one. The Tinman's background story is all wrong. Dorothy tells the correct version of events in Return to Oz to the doctor. However, there is one character I think L. Frank Baum (the author) would have liked in that movie--the Cowardly Lion. He feels more like the one from the books, in my opinion. But, just like the original movie, Return to Oz has that whole thing that musical plays of Peter Pan do, they take characters from the normal world and reskin them for the fantasy one. Like in Peter Pan, they use the same actor for Wendy's father and Captain Hook. I think there's some underlying thing with that, psychologically speaking for Wendy. In Return to Oz, it seems like the characters that get a reskin are all villains from the "hospital": the head nurse turns into Mombi, the lead wheeler was the head orderly pushing the gurney, and the Nome King is obviously the doctor. However, Dorothy's friends in this one, except the chicken Billina, are all made from objects. Pretty interesting stuff. This whole movie just makes me happy, because it feels like a mix between Tim Burton world and Jim Henson puppetry. Freaking cool.
I wish that fans would just let people watch it. If you watch the behind the scenes, it’s a sequel to both the original AND the books using elements from both. They rely on you to have seen the first movie which is why they use the Ruby slippers
The first head that Mumby is wearing is played by Sophie Ward, a lead in Young Sherlock Holmes Please please please review Young Sherlock Holmes,I really think you'd like it! Also, the throne room covered w mirrors is still incredible; where did they hide the camera crew??
Ok so this movie was so odd!! More like return to ODD if you ask me... Anyways, some really great stuff in here such as the score, practical effects, and even some moments in the film such as the darker themes explored with how people would have actually reacted to Dorothy. Other things in this movie though such as very conflicting tones and messy screenplay dragged it down for me and in the end, I was left feeling very mixed.
Thanks for watching! Have a great day! :)
In the final scene where everyone turns out to celebrate their success, the movie included people dressed up as MANY of the strange Baum creations, from the first books and all the way through. This was a loving tribute to the books, even though a detail which almost everyone misses.
The pre-hype for this movie was huge, and I remember a touring shopping-mall exhibit showing off the colorful Oz-character costumes of Emerald citizens, Jellia Jamb, the Shaggy Man, etc. All of whom show up in the don't-blink background for one minute, at the end of the entire slog...SURPRISE!! That's called Bait & Switch. 😠
Fairuza Balk is who plays dorothy in here, she's the same one that plays the iconic role in The Craft.
And in Tim Curry's Worst Witch...
When I was a little kid the wheelie punks turning to sand really freaked me out. This is actually better as an adult. It's so strange and beautiful. Modern Disney wouldn't let anything this creative slip through.
my sister and i screamed!
It's the only thing I remember from this film.
I loved the wheelers as a kid! 😂
Designs of Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were based on the illustrations in the books
woman who played Mombi, Jean Marsh, was also in Willow as the evil queen :P
Queen Bavmorda?!
@GabyGibson yup that was her!!
The very first book I ever read was a 1923 edition of Ozma of Oz, which including the original illustrations. This movie is a clever blend of this and Land of Oz. MGM had purchased the rights to the Wizard, but Disney got the rest.
In the books, Oz is a real place, not a dream. So this movie was very clever, I think, in reversing the MGM movie to where everyone but Dorothy thinks it was a dream. And so clever how they reversed the Oz characters having a sort of presence in Kansas.
I always loved Dorothy's chicken coop "boat," the lunch pail trees, the wheelers, Tik-tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Gump, and so on.
Yes, the books were very dark. At one point in the Wizard, they are attacked by 100 wolves (if I remember correctly) and the Tin Woodsman hacks them all to death. Dark.
According to Wiki: "The original Wizard of Oz book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” is actually very dark and disturbing. Tiger-bear hybrids were killed in a crevasse, the Tin Man decapitated a wildcat and 40 wolves using an ax, and a giant swarm of bumble bees died while trying to sting Dorothy and her friends."
Disney could NOT make a sequel to the MGM movie, since MGM wouldn't give them permission. In the book, the slippers were silver but MGM made them red so they looked better in color. Disney spent a whole lot to MGM to get permission to use ruby slippers.
Disney also made Oz, the Great & Powerful and again had to skirt copyright issues against MGM. They had to have lawyers work hard to get a shade of green for the witch was just different enough from Margaret Hamilton's make-up.
YES YES YES!!! This is one of my absolute favorite films of all time. Totally scared the hell out of me when I first saw it around the age of 7 but it’s so beautiful and has such a heart to it. Thanks for reacting to this one too!
So this movie was foisted on my little girl sleepover in the late 80s; expecting something sweet like the 1939 movie,we were NOT expecting a princess who switches heads, a desert that turns you to sand,and electroshock therapy 😭😭😭
If you had read the books, you would KNOW about the desert, the head princess and the Nome King, recognize them from the stories, and know that they weren't so bad after all.
The electroshock therapy, however...that's on the director.
@@ericjanssen394 cool story,bro
Lol omg you nailed it 😂 😂😂😂
That's no egg, it's a HEN GRENADE!
I love Tick Tock! What an interesting character. Return To Oz is a fun movie.
“I believe you will not” was taken right from the book. ❤
This movie came from a very creative period for Disney in the 80's now known as Dark Disney where the company were stepping very much outside of their comfort zone and becoming more experimental in their output. This process began pretty much in 1979 with The Black Hole and produced some fairly imaginative results including the original Tron but their very dark fantasy film Dragonslayer and the two spooky Disney movies The Watcher in the Woods and Something Wicked This Way Comes are definitely worth a look, particularly Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Actually, Walt Disney owned the movie rights to the other Oz books, and wanted to make a more faithful animated version throughout his career: One movie project never happened, but they tried auditioning other stories on Disneyland storybook records in the 60's: Do a search for "Disney Tin Man of Oz" if you want to see what Walt's cartoon Oz would have looked like. In the 80's, however, Disney was in their Black Cauldron malaise, wanted to cash in on the MGM movie, and finally put Walt's memos to rest.
@@ericjanssen394 I forgot about The Black Cauldron. That was their attempt to extend Dark Disney into their animated movies. Although Disney's animated films had always traditionally been a lot darker than their live action films. Did not know that extra information about Disney's history with Oz though.
Something Wicked...the reason I couldn't sleep with covers for almost 6 months.
The original Tik Tok costume was recently featured on Adam Savage's youtube. It's a pretty cool costume.
I just got to say, I love your videos. Thank you for being very intuitive and open-minded. When you watch movies. It makes it much more enjoyable to watch you!
This movie gave me hardcore nightmares as a kid. The scene with the heads sent me screaming from the living room and into my bedroom where I was inconsolable for over an hour.... or so I was told because I was like four years old. I do remember running out the room crying my eyes out cause I was scared. I have never watched this again since then and your video is the most I've seen of it in 36 years.
i just love how nome king trolls mombi when she shows up to warn him by telling her to bow, low, lower, shes flat on her stomach, LOWER!!! then evil laughter. i love this movie so much :P
My favorite too!
@@krissiep1317 it's so funny because Mombi is trying to warn him and he finally let's her keep talking until he says I already know.
It's hard to believe that just 11 years later Faruza Balk did The Craft. Another great rendition is The Wiz with Michael Jackson. Highly recommended!
Both those are great. Also I liked Balk in 'The Worst Witch' and I still watch that every Halloween
There were 14 books in the original Oz series. This movie is a combination of the second and third books, "The Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". And remember the 1939 film was pretty dark, too. Most people forget how many times Dorothy and her friends were threatened with death along their journey in that story. I really like this movie; it's really too bad the studio mishandled it so badly that it never had a chance of becoming a series, because as I said, there were a LOT of books that could have been turned into films.
Original wizard of oz book is dark as hell! I read that when I was 8. There's one part where a clan of wolves try to attack Dorothy and tinman cut all.. their.. heads.. off.. so graphic!
@@asarishepard8171 Not to mention the whole story of the Tin Woodman is something out of _Grand Guignol._ In the later book, "The Tin Woodman of Oz," he meets a weird guy who is made of sewn-together body parts, and it turns out they are all _the Tin Woodman's old parts._ It's ghoulish as hell, but also hilarious because Nick realizes the guy's kind of an asshole, and ends up happy with his own fate, as he doesn't relish the idea of still being that guy. :D
Jack's head flying through the air wailing 'I'm sorry, moooooom' is a meme I can relate to.
This was great, thanks! The music has always captured me. I think you'll appreciate the amazing fact that the composer wrote the music remotely, not having seen the film, as it was still in production, and miraculously, what he'd created and recorded was beautifully cut and arranged to fit the film. Stunning.
This was one of my favorite movies from my childhood.
In the first book, Emerald City is not really all green. The inhabitants all have to wear green glasses. If you look at the drawing which appeared on the cover of the original book, it shows the cowardly lion, a real lion by the way, wearing glasses.
In the sequels, though, Baum made each of the five "capitals" one solid color. I think Munchinland was all blue, for example.
Holy heck! One of my favorite movies when I was a kid! :D
The Chicken Coop Dorothy & Belina land in , in the deadly desert i think was on rocks. and i think it was elevated on them.
The books were written starting in 1900, while the movie was 1939. MGM made Emerald City very 1930's art deco. Disney made things look c. 1900, Edwardian, Gibson girls, Art Nouveau. Tik-tok had a WWI-type "doughboy" helmet.
Great reaction! Like you said, kind of an uneven flick, but with amazing moments scattered throughout. The Nome King's animation, the room of Mombi's heads, and the Wheeler turning to sand all stay in my brain pretty much always.
8:10 I went to a dentist on May 28, 1998. A Thursday. I was sitting in the dental chair alone. My mouth being numbed and I am sure I was left alone longer than I had to be left alone with a radio station playing cheesy pop songs and a news bulletin announced that Phil Hartman had died, that he'd been shot in the head, that his wife shot him and then shot herself.
Nobody was there to tell me if this was real news or a joke and I just sat there waiting for someone to come so I could ask my question.
The dentist came in asked how I was doing and stuffed his hand in my mouth so I couldn't answer.
I went home and cried.
I did not go back to a dentist for 20 years.
The Nome King was animated by Will Vinton. His movie 'The Adventures of Mark Twain' (1985) is one of my favorite dark children's movies and I highly recommend it.
Awesome,I thought I was the only person who saw The Adventures of Mark Twain 😆
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@@leannerose6181 it's an amazing movie and really unique. Scary children's movies of the 80s is one of my favorite overly specific genres
In the book this is based from, Dorothy and her friends only got ONE guess in the ornament room
Dorothy did not appear in the second book, Land of Oz. In Ozma, she and uncle Henry are on a ship going to Australia when a big storm come up. She mistakenly goes on deck looking for him, but gets blown off, along with a chicken coop, which as in the movie, she uses as a boat. And Henrietta was the only chicken that stayed with the coop until the storm was over.
keep in mind how awesome the shots in the throne room are. the whole room is surrounded by mirrors and they found a way to hide everyone behind the camera :P just stuff like this is amazing!
Tim Burton had said he drew inspiration from Jack Pumpkin Head, when creating Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King.
Both Disney movies so that makes sense.
my fav oz film , no singing , dark , great story , great effects , great main girl
It's a beautiful unsettling movie. One of my favorites
I agree it's my favorite Oz movie too.
There is a reason, actually, why the Scarecrow looks strange - he wasn't finished. His features were originally going to move around normally through animatronics, which probably would have looked really cool, but unfortunately, the film's budget got severely slashed midway through production, at which point, there was no way they could afford something that expensive. So they had to go with what they had - which, unfortunately, meant that the Scarecrow was left with basically just a mask for a face that couldn't move at all. I agree, it doesn't look good, but you get used to it - at least the design is pretty true to the books.
It's good enough for what it was. I was un high school and took my younger sister to watch it at the theater I'm sure we saw it 3 or 4 times.
I wasn’t allowed to watch scary movies when I was a kid. This was one of my go-to’s as an 80s kid who liked scary things!
This was a big release back in 1985 and got a lot of press coverage for its innovations and being a follow up to such a famous story. As a kid I enjoyed it and we were used to movies for kids being quite dark in places, I think today's movies for kids are much more cautious and don't cover the spectrum of emotions including fear quite so much. The old fairy tales included a dose of terror and death amongst the magic and excitement.
I know this video is 10 months old but Jack pumpkin head is like a pre version of Jack Skeleton and that’s why they are so similar, even both by Disney
I LOVE how you commented on and appreciated the score! I geek out on film scores, so it was lovely to hear someone else's thoughts haha.
Yes, the scarecrow here is also based almost dead-on for how he is drawn in the books, with one eye bigger than the other. And yes, I found him (as drawn in the book), really creepy. The tin-woodsman looked exactly like they had him here, and yes, the cowardly lion was a real lion.
In the books, Dorothy was supposed to be about 8. Sixteen year old Judy Garland tried to play her as a 12 yo. They had to tightly strap her chest to make it work.
YES MATE!!!!! No one has ever reacted to this classic as far as I know!!! Thanks for doing so!
The box didn't turn to sand on the deadly desert because it is not alive.
I'm not sure if anybody mentioned, but the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were recreated in this movie to look more like the original book illustrations. That's why they look creepier, including the new characters. However I think the Gnome King was actually a gnome, but I could be wrong. The stone effects and costuming were my favorite parts. The wheelers were supposed to be reminiscent of the asylum staff who wheeled the carts. I think the wheelers were much uglier in the books, but had those ornate costumes. Thank you for watching!
I have never seen this movie before. But, I’ll watch this movie eventually. Because, I remember the actress from the waterboy.
Faruza balk was great in 'The Craft'
Oh man I haven't watched it yet but I am so here for this reaction
Another great reaction! Fun Fact: Mombie is actually based on 2 characters from the OZ books. The first character was Mombie who was a wicked witch that ruled the North until the Good Witch known as Locasta or Tattypoo overthrew her. The second character was Langwidere, a princess who was the niece of King Evoldo who lives in the magical Land of Ev, which happens to neighbor the magical Land of Oz. She is highly narcissistic, spoiled, vain and conceited. She’s the one who can change her heads. If wish for more Oz related films, here the top 2 I recommend: The Wiz a musical film based on the musical of the same name, which stars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The other is Dorothy and the Witches of Oz or simply The Witches of Oz which is a 2 part miniseries which features an adult Dorothy who must remember her adventures in Oz as she faces familiar allies and foes. It’s kind of similar to Spielberg and Robin Williams’ Hook and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.
👧🏼🐔🤖🎃🧙🏻♀️🧟♂️👑
Glad you did this one and got some enjoyment out of it!
A couple of thoughts:
* The conflicting tone may have been partly a product of the books. Baum's writing was whimsical while his plot points were often dark, so I can imagine trying to adapt that for a 1980s film audience was a huge challenge.
* The 1939 Wizard of Oz film was not the "original" Oz adaptation. There were several Oz films adapted from the books dating back to 1908. L. Frank Baum himself was involved with some of the silent film adaptations. The 1939 film is by far the most successful and most-remembered Oz adaptation ever created, and that is unlikely to ever be challenged.
* I have always adored the film score. I'm glad you took some time to highlight it.
* The Wheelers scared me when I was 3 and 4 years old watching this movie for the first time (at least in my memory). I think it makes sense that they overacted so much. After all, they have no hands, feet, or sharp maws, just squeaky wheels. There's nothing they can *actually* do to hurt anyone. Therefore, they have to rely on being as bullying and intimidating as possible to be considered any kind of a threat. And just like any bully, the moment you take away their power by standing up to them, they become completely pathetic and vulnerable, so it does make sense that the movie's tone shifted at that point.
* The design for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion in this film were perfectly faithful to the illustrations found in Baum's original books, as drawn by W. W. Denslow and John R. Neill. They'd definitely be strange to audiences familiar with the 1939 film, but they were not out of place in early 20th Century children's literature.
Oooo!! You did this one! 💚
I loved this as a kid, we bought it on VHS when it was released. So, I was 5 or so.
I have a habit of, any time I see something fancy and green, I have to touch it and shout "OZ!" (Within respect of those around me....😂).
The electro shock therapy definitely became a ptsd type thing, and the straps for the hospital bed...
But still, growing up with movies like this, I find most horror movies boring. 😅
If I remember correctly, some of the Oz book were pretty dark.
I saw this in the theater when it first came out I was like eight, since then it's always been my favorite Wizard of Oz story.
Please consider reacting to Matilda the Musical.
It's actually even darker than the 1996 film directed by Danny Devito.
It's very British, quite funny, has amazing kids, very catchy and likable songs, fantastic choreography, even crazy parkour performed by kids.
I'm not even mentioning the burning woman, hurling through the air, with dynamite in her hair, over sharks and spikey objects waiting to be caught by the man locked in a cage. That's just for starters.
Please consider it.
After this, you should watch The Wiz, just to compare. It’s basically an all African American version of the wizard of oz with Michael Jackson as the scarecrow.
The wiz is a great movie and I watch it almost every Thanksgiving
I really think Baum's wheelers were a spoof on people in a bicycle race - bikes still being new in his time, 1900.
One of my favorite movies. I always wanted a wind up tick tock
I saw this in the theater. There was a couple with a kid sitting in front of me. When Mombi's headless body went after Dorothy, the kid stood up and said "I'm leaving" and went out the exit door. The parent kinda sat there stunned for a moment before going after him.
BTW there are 14 Oz books. There were also a number of silent films and stage plays before they made the 1939 film.
David Shire is one of the most underappreciated composers. His music is so lit!
Not sure if you caught it but they continued the real-people-have-oz-counterparts thing from the first -- clearly the asylum friend being Osma, but also the Doctor being the Gnome King, the nurse being Mombi, the asylum orderly being the main Wheeler, and the electrical healing machine being Tick Tock.
As somebody who loved and read all of the Oz books over and over again as a kid, I was not all that enthusiastic about the Judy Garland movie. It took a lot of shortcuts and left out important story lines. This was my introduction as a child to the idea that movies are seldom as good as the books. That movie did grow on me over time but I much preferred the story. This movie is a conflation of the 2nd and 3rd books, "The Land of Oz", in which Dorothy doesn't even appear, and "Ozma of Oz". FWIW, Ozma was my favorite book. They follow the books more closely than the 1939 movie but they also leave a lot out and the tone in the movie is definitely darker than that of the books. I can see why the 1939 movie is much more popular but I always liked this one and hope that, before I kick the bucket, somebody will do one of the books right!
Not long ago, I watched a top ten list of "creepiest things in family/children's films" (or words to that effect), and these "Wheelers" popped in one spot. Interesting that you found them somewhat amusing/funny as the film progressed. The friend who introduced me to this movie (he's blind/visually impaired) didn't "get" them as creepy, and guess they're supposed to be the flying monkeys of this "version" of Oz. Good reaction!
I did watch this as a kid of about 8 or 9, and this film DID scare me so much - the psych ward and the electro-therapy, the rollerskating monkeys, the headless witch, the weird flying moose couch, just the general atmosphere of the whole movie...gave me nightmares for ages
Looking at it now, I think the director must have been into a dystopian aesthetic, and maybe a bit of steampunk lol. ps.. the chicken's voice was creeping me out and i realised that it's the same voice as the garbage lady in the Labyrinth.
"Is she floating out to sea?" She's in Kansas, a landlocked state! 😂
The box (chicken coop) Dorothy arrived in Oz in didn't turn to sand in the Deadly Desert because it wasn't alive. Just like the rocks she stepped on to get from the coop to the grass.
It's so funny because when this movie came out I was 7. I loved it and thought it was really cool but the Wheelers were the scary part for me and my friends.
Watching this reaction, I literally got chills when the Wheelers appeared.🥶
Even though this one is dark it is the most accurate all the books out of any Oz project in fact the final scene of emerald City every single character you see is from a literary source at some point the attention to detail is f****** amazing and goes un oticed
dude this was a staple of mine and my twins childhood!! also that same year, 1985, gave us Young Sherlock holmes, an early Chris Columbus project. Check that one out! equally creepy.
My aunt rented this for my cousins, sister, and I to watch whenever we had went to visit. I can definitely say that as a kid there were definitely parts that freaked us out while watching the film. I didn’t know there were other Oz books at the time either, but one of my cousins had read several of them and that along with the fact that they live in Kansas was why my aunt had chosen the film. Even my aunt, who was watching it with us, commented that the film wasn’t what she was expecting when she picked it out and said the cover of the VHS case and back description seemed more bright and happy. Honestly I haven’t watched it much since then. I know I watched it in full once with a friend at her house and another time with yet another cousin of mine. Other than that it’s just been when any reactors on TH-cam watch it….which I think you’re like only the second person whose reactions I watch that has watched this movie and I watched the reaction video. I’m not saying I don’t like the film. It’s an okay film to watch. Like I can sit and watch it and be entertained by it. But it’s definitely not on the top of any lists. For the record Tik-Tok is my favorite character in this film, too. I have a friend who has the entire collection of books as published in the early 1900s along with some books published by fans after the original author’s death. I was helping her clean out a bedroom in her mom’s former house when I came across them in a bookcase and she mentioned that they’re books that have been passed down through her family. I will admit to never having read any of the books, though, so I don’t know what parts of this movie are from which books. My one cousin would definitely know since she read all of them. She’s still a big time reader as she belongs to a book club in her hometown and each month they read different books. She often posts mini-reviews of the books she reads, both for the book club and whatever else she’s read. I don’t read nearly as often as I did as a kid, but when I do I can usually finish a book in a weekend.
Great reaction!
I absolutely LOVE everything about this movie. I prefer it over the first actually. I love the darker tone. The music is beautifully done. The practical effects are amazing. And the design of everything is exactly as it was drawn in the books. This film holds such a dear place in my heart.
"I am Tik Tok: The Royal Army Of Oz."
Everything about Tik Tok is awesome.
Fun Fact: Tim Burton has acknowledged Jack Pumpkinhead as an inspiration for the iconic character Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
Historical Fact: Tik Tok is "the prototype robot" and is widely considered to be one of the first robots (preceded only by Huge Hunter in The Steam Man Of The Prairies (1868) by Edward S. Ellis) to appear in modern literature, though the term "Robot" was not used until the 1920s.
The Royal Army Of Oz Fact: Gymnast Michael Sundin stood upside-down (with legs bent) and backwards inside Tik Tok's body to move the legs. Sean Barrett was the voice. Tim Rose is also credited ad Tik Tok, but I can't find what his role was exactly. I can assume Rose was the up-close puppeteer.
Ruby Slippers Fact: Fairuza Balk's ruby slippers were specially handmade with imitation rubies and rotoscoped in post-production to give them a magical look. The rubies were actually glass beads imported from Austria and individually attached to the shoes with a special spray adhesive. This later proved problematic, as the hot stage lights melted the adhesive, and the young actress's fidgety movements would often knock the beads off. Tired of chasing after detached beads, the wardrobe staff finally ordered the shoes to be worn only when visible on camera. Balk confirmed to a fan, via Twitter in September of 2017, that she got to keep one pair of the ruby slippers she wore in the film. In order to include the ruby slippers as part of this film, Disney had to pay royalties to MGM, the studio which had produced The Wizard Of Oz (1939). The ruby slippers did not appear in L. Frank Baum's original novel; they were invented for the 1939 film to better take advantage of the newly developed Technicolor process. In the original novel, Dorothy wore a pair of magical silver shoes which were lost when she used them to return to Kansas and never appeared again.
I don't recall ever being scared of the wheelers. I'm serious. I'm not sounding tough. I think even when I was little, I thought they were more weird than disturbing. This is Oz, where scarecrows sing and dance, lions talk, and monkeys fly (p.s. I was never scared of them either).
The hall of screaming heads, Mombi's headless body walking like Frankenstein, and the music for that scene. That on the other hand...
The wheelers 😮😮😮
That is a good point about being a reactor changing the experience of watching the movie.
interestingly, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland also have movies that start off with long dark parts that happen before we get to the magic land as well
Also Family Movies can be dark.
This was a great film I always love Piper Laurie she played her mother she also played the mother in the Carrie 1976 Horror film.
I had a good time watching TIN MAN , the SciFi mini series . Then again I love anything with Zooey Deschanel 😍
This movie is sooo good! underrated for sure!! great reaction! just subbed!
Thanks! Definitely a movie that should be talked about more!
Kids movies like this are why us 80s kids turned out so weird.
Even though i was a little kid when this came out, i never saw it. I don't even remember knowing about it as a kid. I saw The Wizard of Oz countless times though. I finally watched "Return" about 5 years ago, and i gotta say...i liked it..sort of. I know it got poor reviews when it was released, but the effects, and particularly the creativity of the imagery was just amazing. It was a visually stunning film. It seemed more appropriate that Dorothy was younger, too.
This one gained a lot of fans on cable, due to a lot of special effects shows that talked about the animatronics and stop motion work in it. I actually saw it in theater, and it was amazing on the big screen... especially when a kid would lose their mind in the audience. (Lot of parents walking their spawn out at various parts.... just like Neverending Story) Dark fantasy was kind of in fashion at the time. Balk is amazing later on in The Craft 1996.
Tik-tok as a fully mechanical man was, in a sense, the first idea of a robot in fiction (in the book). In the movie, the costume had a guy inside, doubled-over, basically kissing his butt. If a scene went on for more than 20 seconds, they had to stop and give him a chance to breath.
This one gave me nightmares but made me strong like ox. Adventures of Mark Twain has the most disturbing stop-motion kid's movie scene, though.
Saw Return to Oz when I was 4 at the movie theater with my family. We loved it. It really is, dare I say it, a horse of a different color. I can say it had no ill effect on me when I was a kid. I am also a horror author but that is besides the point.
I saw this in the cinema as a kid. I must have been 7?
The dark tone is true to the second and third OZ books. Also, it was all filmed in England.
The biggest contrast to both movies is the original being a feel good musical and the other being a more accurate adaptation of the book series that started everything. Not even a fair viewpoint to start with.
The other is the inclusion of the original cast types that don't come even remotely close to the '39 version. The lion, the scarecrow and tin man can't even say words with mouth movements. But the concepts of Dorothy's power to right the wrongs was so dam good! So was the inclusion of the new set of friends that helped along her journey. The best part, though, was the clay mation! Even cgi falls short in this department.
I loved this version!!!!
2 films that are like this are The Watcher in the Woods, and Something Wicked this way Comes.
Interesting analysis. I personally love the tone of this movie and don't feel anything clashed. To me it feels like a classic fairy-tale adventure and I wish they made more films like this today. I enjoyed our reaction though.
This movie is a favorite of mine because it really captures a lot of the feelng of Oz. The story is actually based on a few of the Oz books sort of mashed together. I can’t recommend the Oz books enough. They’re a fantastic series. Also, to answer your question about why that box didn’t disintegrate in the deadly desert it only destroys life. Anything not alive does just fine, so theoretically TikTok would be OK as he is a clockwork man who does everything, but live but Jack or the grump would not since they were brought to into the world with the powder of life that’s making them alive.
This movie is wild when you're a kid and have watched the original multiple times.
Return to Oz is the movie I wish there was more of, a dark yet magical dream like experience.
the chicken coop didn't turn to sand because it wasn't alive. Anything living that touches the desert turns to sand.
This one is actually more closer to the books. If you have time I encourage you to read them.
Including the characters look so close to the drawings of them in the original books.
"The Wiz" (1978) changed a lot of details from the 1974 stage play it was based on. There was a live telecast of a straight performance of "The Wiz" in 2015, but I haven't seen that one.
Some other good Oz adaptations include "Tin Man" (2007) and "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz" (2012), which are both radical re-imaginings, and "The Muppets Wizard of Oz" (2005) which is pretty much what you'd expect.
There's also the super-low-budget "The Wonderful Land of Oz" (1969) which is an almost word for word adaptation of the second Oz book, but I only recommend watching the Rifftrax version.
This movie blends elements from the second & third novels in the Oz series. L. Frank Bahm wrote 12 to 14 Oz novels in total!
The first novels were published at the end of the 19th Century. This is historically accurate: Victorian era Americans were fascinated by the new power electricity, & quacks make all sorts of ridiculous claims about its healing powers!
The Tin Man looks like the illustrations in the books! Ditto Scarecrow & the Lion. The only problem with TikTok is the thick legs -- there's a little person operating the suit!
The gnomes are a clever adaptation of the illustrations in the books. In the book, they're actual people, not just faces.
Munchkinland = blue. Winkieland = yellow. Quadlingland = red. Glinda is queen of the Quadlings. Gillikanland = purple. Miss Wand is queen of the Gillikans.
Jack Pumpkinhead was Kip's companion in book 2, The Land of Oz. Mombi was the witch who imprisoned Kip/Ozma. The head collecting witch was a different witch in the 3rd book, Ozma of Oz.
It would be great if all the Oz books could be adapted at some point--maybe for streaming. Ozma's story is particularly interesting.
The wheelers turning to sand was the only thing I remember about this film. I like your reactions please do more star trek tng and Ds9
There was a magazine article years ago by someone whose parents had read him 'Ozma of Oz' as a child. He had found the Wheelers terrifying, and his article told of the time that there was a knock at the front door. His parents' friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, were there, and when Mom answered the door, she called out, "It's the Wheelers!" The poor kid ran to his room and hid under the bed!
I've always liked this quirkier version of Oz much better than the glitz and glam of the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz felt more like Disneyland or something, mostly clean and sparkly. Sure there was the dark woods and the witch's castle, but those are SUPPOSED to be dark and scary to emphasize the whole villain ambiance they're the witch and her minions are supposed to have. And, my goodness, that Glinda. She felt like a middle-aged fairy version of Barbie or something with all that pink and ever-smiling face that I never quite trusted. Possibly the most glittery character in the film, to be sure. That crown of hers could reflect gamma rays! Wow!
Now, I had read the books before I saw the 1939 movie, to get me prepared for what I was about to see, kind of like you did here with watching the old film before this one, and just like you it didn't prepare me for the squeaky clean ride I got. There were quite a few things wrong with that one. Dorothy was way too old. I think Judy Garland was sixteen or something when she played Dorothy. Fairuza Balk, who plays Dorothy here, I think was somewhere around ten to twelve age area, which is more to the book. The Wicked Witch of the West was never supposed to be green. I think that was the movie company taking artistic liberty with that one. The Tinman's background story is all wrong. Dorothy tells the correct version of events in Return to Oz to the doctor. However, there is one character I think L. Frank Baum (the author) would have liked in that movie--the Cowardly Lion. He feels more like the one from the books, in my opinion.
But, just like the original movie, Return to Oz has that whole thing that musical plays of Peter Pan do, they take characters from the normal world and reskin them for the fantasy one. Like in Peter Pan, they use the same actor for Wendy's father and Captain Hook. I think there's some underlying thing with that, psychologically speaking for Wendy. In Return to Oz, it seems like the characters that get a reskin are all villains from the "hospital": the head nurse turns into Mombi, the lead wheeler was the head orderly pushing the gurney, and the Nome King is obviously the doctor. However, Dorothy's friends in this one, except the chicken Billina, are all made from objects. Pretty interesting stuff.
This whole movie just makes me happy, because it feels like a mix between Tim Burton world and Jim Henson puppetry. Freaking cool.
I wish that fans would just let people watch it. If you watch the behind the scenes, it’s a sequel to both the original AND the books using elements from both. They rely on you to have seen the first movie which is why they use the Ruby slippers
The characters look more like the way their counterparts looked in the books.
I always loved the dark fantasies!
The first head that Mumby is wearing is played by Sophie Ward, a lead in Young Sherlock Holmes
Please please please review Young Sherlock Holmes,I really think you'd like it!
Also, the throne room covered w mirrors is still incredible; where did they hide the camera crew??
review "Young sherlock holmes" and "Watcher in the woods" ^_^ trust me!
21:38 It wasn't alive.
Now ask why their clothes turn to sand.
Don't worry about it.