Return to Oz (Image via Walt Disney Pictures)
9. Return to Oz
Everyone loved the original Wizard of Oz, so it is only a natural progression that someone make a sequel. The original novels by L. Frank Baum certainly expanded on the story of Oz beyond Dorothy Gale’s first adventure. So, everything was set for an actual return to Oz, at least on film. But, it seems that the creators forgot that audiences don’t like having nightmares invade their childhood nostalgia.
Return to Oz (1985) is set shortly after the events of the 1939 Wizard of Oz. It’s six months after Dorothy’s adventure, and she’s seriously depressed. Wouldn’t you be, too, if you had to leave a magical fantasy land to return to your humdrum life on a monochrome Kansas farm? Auntie Em and Uncle Henry have just the thing to bring up Dorothy’s spirits again – electroshock therapy.
However, things soon get really weird when a mysterious girl turns up and manages to transport Dorothy back to the land of Oz. The mysterious girl, by the way, turns out to be Princess Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz.
Ozma really needs help. The Emerald City is a tragic mess and all of its inhabitants have been turned to stone. Even the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion have succumbed. Dorothy doesn’t have much time to contemplate this, as “Wheelers” (humans who have wheels instead of hands or feet, naturally) begin to chase her. Off to a nicely depressing and terrifying start.
Of course, it’s up to Dorothy to save the day. She’s accompanied by a strange new cast of friends, including Jack Pumpkinhead (why, oh why, do people keep harping on the creepy pumpkin for a head thing?), a mechanical man named Tik-Tok, and her talking chicken Billina.
Once everything is put back to rights, they ask Dorothy to be Queen of Oz. She says no, for some terrible unknown reason, and returns to Kansas. There, she sees both Billina and Princess Ozma in her mirror. However, they warn her to keep quiet about Oz, therefore ensuring Dorothy will spend a lifetime questioning her own sanity.