Visiting Oz

No, I'm not going to New Zealand.

Sci-Fi channel is airing their new 6 hour movie re-imagination of the Wizard of Oz, called Tin Man. As you might guess, it is a science fiction version where Dorothy Gale (D.G.) instead of being transported to a fairyland is taken to a whole new dimension.

To get in the mood for this occasion, tonight I watched the movie sequel to The Wizard of Oz, called Return to Oz. This movie was made in 1985 by Disney, and is based on the next two books of the series by L. Frank Baum.

As a boy, I was a great fan of the books. I own two of them and their battered covers show how much I liked to read and re-read them over the years. I nearly dropped a hundred bucks on acquiring the complete set at the flea market last year, but I decided to pass on the opportunity at the last second. I have regrets for that.

Anyway, Return to Oz is much truer to the books than it is to the MGM movie, though it does match up well with what was seen in the original. The ruby slippers are still ruby slippers, rather than the silver shoes from the books, for example. However, the tone is a bit darker, Dorothy is the correct age (9 years old rather than 16), and the backstory of Oz that Dorothy learns in the book version but not in the movie version is restored and discussed on-screen.

I was stunned and overjoyed to see that the set design and character design in Return to Oz was taken exactly from the illustrations in the books, which are iconic. The tin man has a tin head, skinny metal arms, etc. The scarecrow's head is a sack of bran. The designs for Jack Pumpkinhead and Tik-Tok are perfect.

The story is quite well done, and the actress who plays Dorothy (Fairuza Balk - have you heard of her? She was in The Craft) was fantastic. She even mimicked a lot of the speech mannerisms that Judy Garland used. She really owned the role. The special effects were ahead of their time for 1985. Mostly claymation, but the Nome King's animation was just incredible.

Unfortunately, this movie didn't do well when it was released, and most people don't even know of its existence. Critics panned it because of its darker tone, which is appropriate to the tone of the books, as MGM took some liberties with Oz in their screen version, making it much more of a fairyland, while Baum made sure his readers knew that Oz was a dangerous place with dangerous people and creatures in it (even though no one dies in Oz). Return to Oz is not a musical, and it had a PG rating.

I really liked this movie (especially as a fan of the books) and it's a shame that more people haven't seen it.

Here's some pics:

Look closely at the design of the scarecrow, tin woodsman, and cowardly lion.









Compare with this illustration










Jack Pumpkinhead










Tik Tok






Fairuza Balk as Dorothy - don't recognize her?









Try this one. Recognize her now? The goth witch from The Craft.