Return to Oz Review

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    Well tonight I head back to rehearsal for The Wizard of Oz for the first time in a little over a week, but without anything new to talk about regarding the show yet (except for an updated cast list at the bottom with pretty much all the remaining parts filled), it's time to take a look at a film that is a great not really-sequel and a great film overall: the 1986 Disney film Return to Oz.  The only film ever directed by longtime film editor and sound designer Walter Murch, whose work ranges from America Graffiti to Apocalypse Now to all the Godfather films and so on, this is a very strange film, which is par for the course regarding Wizard of Oz, but is also very different from the 1939 film which is the most well known adaptation of the original novel by L. Frank Baum.  By the time the film was released in 1986, the Oz books which the original film was based on were now public domain, so there was no need to approval from Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (or MGM), while the subsequent books (like the ones used for this film) had been optioned to Disney several years earlier.  

    Let's start with a little summary of the film.  It takes place 6 months after the tornado. A 9 or 10 year old Dorothy appears to feel very isolated because Aunt Em and Uncle Henry don't believe her about Oz at all.  But unlike the original film where they just laugh it off and insist she's a little dazed and confused from the bump on her head, they're very worried that Dorothy may be delusional or mentally ill.  5 minutes in already gives a very different tone and feel to the film (even the playful line about how her chicken Billina should be laying eggs is kind of dark). 

    Since the family barely has any more money, having lost a lot since the cyclone and apparently not longer having any working farmhands, Aunt Em gets a loan from her sister to get Dorothy some help.  That comes in the form of Dr. Worley, who has an affinity for his new age machines which will supposedly make Dorothy forget all about Oz and be normal again.  These machines by the way, are the late 1800s equivalent of shock therapy...yikes, that's dark.  Thankfully, she escapes with the help of a sudden power outage and a girl who she saw in a mirror earlier, and manages to get away from Dr. Worley's clinic and to safety...inside a small wooden box rolling down rapids in the pouring rain while the other girl gets swept away...man, this is dark, and I'm not even up to Oz yet.

    Anyway, from here Dorothy makes it to Oz, (with her chicken Billina, who suddenly appears with her and can talk now) but it's a lot different than she remembers.  The Emerald City is mostly deserted, with the exception of a 4 foot tall metal wind-up soldier known as Tik-Tok, the one man royal army of Oz, who helps Dorothy escape the town's other inhabitants, really disturbing looking creatures called the Wheelers, who pursue Dorothy since the new ruler of Oz, The Nome King, has forbidden chickens to be in the land of Oz.  Dorothy goes with Tik-Tok to the castle in the Emerald City which is now occupied by the Nome King's most powerful servant, Princess Mombi, a vain witch who has 31 different heads which she likes to switch every now and then, intending to keep Dorothy imprisoned until her own head is mature enough for her to take.  While imprisoned there, Dorothy comes across Jack Pumpkinhead (must...resist...obvious Nightmare Before Christmas joke-wait, didn't this movie come out first?), and with the help of Mombi's powder of life, she gains another friend called the Gump, who is made up of the head of a Gump, the body of a sofa, and wings...ok, that's weird even by Oz standards.  Dorothy escapes Mombi and eventually comes across the Nome King...I'd go into more but I spoiled enough already, let's review the story a little bit.
When it comes to movies like this, there's two sides to every coin. There's positives and negatives about the story, and to be fair, not all of them are the film's fault.  Apparently the film was at times marketed as a straight up sequel to the 1939 film, but if you've seen even just a little of this film, it's pretty easy to tell that it's not the case.  Apart from a few winks and nods to the original film, such as the Ruby Slippers from the 1939 film replacing the silver shoes from the original book (which cost the filmmakers quite a pretty penny), or a really creepy call back to one of the 1939 film's most famous lines (if you watch the movie you'll know what I mean), this is more based on the books than the movies.  Don't get me wrong, there are some liberties taken with it, such as some characters being combined (like Witch Mombi from the second book and Princess Langwidere from the third book being Princess Mombi), but nothing is distractingly bad in it.  The pacing is for the most part solid, and it gives its own fresh interpretation of Oz while still staying true to the source material. 

    The film does have its flaws, I'll admit.  There's a bit of circumstance at times such as the powder of life that Mombi has, which is really only there to help the characters escape from Mombi's castle, as it's only mentioned once, right before they get it.  The Ozma storyline is a little rushed too.  The character only is mentioned a few times before the end of the film, and her importance isn't really revealed until the very end of the film (though it is admittedly less confusing than the Ozma storyline in the book).  Also, Billina's role in the story is a bit tacked on.  When they first go to Oz, although she doesn't contribute much, she's consistently there and talking.  About halfway through the film she decides to hide inside of Jack and doesn't come back out til the one time that she's needed, and by then, we've nearly forgotten that she was there (also, whenever the Nome King and his followers mention the chicken, it sounds silly...we find out the reason for their concern later but whenever they mention the chicken, they start talking like William Shatner for some reason).  Honestly though, most of the problems I mentioned are just papercuts on a nice and well thought out story.
Very few of the characters from the original film are present besides Dorothy.  Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have about as much time as they do in the original film, though with their little time, show quite a bit of character.  Henry has just two scenes but you feel the weight of everything he's going through in his scenes because of his performance, courtesy of longtime western actor Matt Clark.  The Scarecrow only shows up for the last few minutes of Oz and only has a few lines, while the Lion and Tin Man don't speak at all, so it doesn't feel fair to critique them compared to their iconic characters of the original.  I mentioned that Ozma isn't in the film much, even counting her real world equivalent in the clinic (or is it actually her?  Dorothy seems to think so but she doesn't give an answer...that's kind of clever), though I find it interesting that her actress was apparently dubbed over by another actress because her real voice sounded "too British", even though her dubbed voice sounds quite a bit British itself (also, too British? They have some of the most awesome accents out there man!  You can't be too British...is that the direction they gave Carrie Fisher in Star Wars? Not too British and only kind of British?).

    The Wheelers and the Nomes are interesting.  The designs for the former are really creepy and would frankly terrify kids in real life, but they're also portrayed kind of like the hyenas in The Lion King, threatening, but not too intelligent.  The Nomes don't show up too often, only occasionally popping up to spy on Dorothy while reporting to the Nome King, and impede Dorothy's progress in the climax, not contributing much overall.  Dorothy's new friends are another story.  Billina admittedly does not contribute much but she's got a few funny lines, and she does help out a lot at the end.  Tik-Tok is very loyal to Dorothy immediately and is also incredibly tough, if a bit surly and unintentionally blunt, perhaps due to him being a machine (and in his perspective, not truly alive...not that he minds).  Jack is kind of like the Scarecrow in that he's not the most intelligent, but is also basically a big kid, wanting to help Dorothy out, but not really being brave or being able to help.  He does help out a bit at the end, albeit unintentionally.  The Gump...well...he does help them get away from Mombi, but he's not in the film for too long and doesn't do much but lament having the body of a sofa for most of it (Not that I would care much for having a sofa body, mind you).  Dorothy's new friends aren't bad characters by any means, but apart from Tik-Tok, they don't really get time to contribute or develop character.

    The real meat of this category is for Dorothy and the two villains.  Dorothy is not the same character she was in the original film.  For one, she's, as I mentioned earlier, only about 9 or 10.  She's also more familiar with some sections of Oz, so she doesn't have quite the sense of awe as you'd expect since she's more familiar with it.  However, in the scenes where she's frightened (which considering how dark this film is, consists of a lot), she feels a lot more vulnerable since she's just a small kid.  However, she's still brave, even attempting to stand up to both Mombi and the Nome King, while still retaining a sense of politeness for the most part.  She has to be sad, scared, upset, hopeful, happy, polite, and a whole mix of other conflicting emotions, but she does it beautifully, and a lot of that is due to her actress, a young Fairuza Balk.  You can say it's because she's just a kid, but you can't even tell it's her.  It's so bizarre to see her in this role, especially if you know her from the 90s film The Craft, where she (ironically) played a psychotic witch.  But you know what? It really works. 

    Princess Mombi is also a really cool villain, but considering her level of sadism (taking people's heads and all that), she seems like she'd be better as a main villain of another story rather than the servant of the Nome King in this one.  We see her played by three different actresses in the film due to switching between two stolen heads and eventually her original one.  The first one is only there for about 2 minutes before she switches heads and the second one only for about another two, though they do still give a decent performance. Her original head is played wonderfully by Jean Marsh.  She's given a good buildup and the idea of taking people's heads is terrifying.  However, once they escape from Mombi, all she really gets to do is mope, scream in frustration, and get belittled by the far stronger Nome King.  Mombi is still a cool villain, but it seems like she could've been used better.

    Now we come to the Nome King, and honestly...this guy's so much cooler than he should have the right to be.  Being portrayed by the late Nicol Williamson, a man with one of the coolest voices in the world, certainly helps in that regard, but there's more to the Nome King than just a cool voice.  At this point I should probably give a nod to the old Oz technique of double casting, as Nicol Williamson also portrays the man in charge of the clinic in the beginning Dr. Worley.  A similar setup occurs with Mombi and Nurse Wilson, as well as the Head Wheeler and one of the assistants at the clinic.  In the beginning of the film, Dr. Worley is rather affable, always appearing chipper and never raising his voice, trying to reassure Dorothy that there was nothing to be afraid of, despite supposedly actually being far less innocent and locking "damaged patients" in the cellar (But are they actually or is this potentially one of many delusions Dorothy has in the clinic?  No one knows for sure).  So it's fitting that when Dorothy first confronts the Nome King, he is very calm and kind towards Dorothy, offering her a snack and a chance to free the Scarecrow.  Even while messing around with them initially, he never loses his cool, though he does take pleasure in toying around with them...a bit too much.  The Nome King's greatest weakness is his overall cockiness, he has plenty of power, even moreso that he holds the Ruby Slippers, which made it possible for him to conquer the Emerald City.  He acknowledges during his conversation with Mombi that he could've easily turned Dorothy and all her friends into ornaments, but it's more fun to leave it to chance with his guessing game, believing himself to be in total control, and that Dorothy and her friends have no chance.  He only loses his cool when he starts losing, first blaming Mombi and then finally letting loose and going after Dorothy in full power.  Even though his ultimate defeat could've been handled a liiiittle bit better leading up to that moment (apart from every so often having a conversation with a Nome mentioning "A CHICKEN?!!!!!"), he's still an awesome villain.  Once again, it's up to you to decide whether he truly believes himself to be in the right or if he's just guilt-tripping everyone while knowing full well that he's evil.  The choice is up to you.

    The sets are for the most part fine in Kansas and at the clinic, though the shock therapy machine does kind of look a little like an old time radio (did they look like that in the 19th century? Someone tell me, I'm interested to know either way).  When we get to Oz however, it leaps more into wow territory.  It's true that Oz for the most part is nowhere near as colorful as the 1939 film, but it fits with the darker overall tone.  Mombi's castle and the Nome King's lair both look phenomenal, and the land of Oz is still designed nicely.  A lot of the costume are nicely designed too.  You've probably grown tired of me praising these two at this point, but Mombi and the Nome King's costumes both are designed great (when the latter isn't stop motion anyway).  Jack certainly has a look that stands out even if he doesn't get much time.  The Gump...well...the puppet head is done quite nicely at least (His body's a couch, I can't comment much more about that...looks like a nice couch though).  The Wheelers, once again, have a really creepy design which does a good job at showing who scary and demented they can be.  Even at the very end at the Emerald City, there's a ton of people who come back in flamboyant colorful costumes and they all look spectactular.  The one I have to draw attention to this time is Tik-Tok.  First off, he's got a nice design that makes him stand out, second off is his suit actor, acrobat Michael Sundin.  How he would give Tik-Tok his unique was, to quote director Walter Murch "he would put his legs down into Tik-Tok's legs, and then he would bend over looking through his legs, through his thighs, and then he would cross his arms [across his chest] to operate Tik-Tok's arms." He would then use an LCD feed inside the costume to keep track of where he was going.  Due to the strain of contorting his body in this position, as well as how hot it is being inside a small metal machine, Sundin's time limit inside Tik-Tok would be about two and a half minutes per session.  In addition, Tim Rose would operate the head, which moved sseparately when compared to the rest of the body.  So...yeah, a lot of work was put into that.

    Some of the effects in this film still really hold up, while others...not so much.  As terrifying as it is, the head effects in Mombi's castle seem pretty flawless, even when she's switching between different heads.  There's also a point where one of the Wheelers is thrown into the Deadly Desert and instantly turns to sand, and the transition seems really good.  Some of the stop motion in this film is also really good.  I mentioned that the Nomes don't contribute too much, but the way they're animated is pretty smooth.  The Nome King several times at the end of the film goes from stop motion to costume and then back to different shades of stop motion in the climax, and it seems pretty seamless.  Then when he shows his final true monstrous form, it looks nothing like he did initially, but it still looks really cool and is animated pretty nicely throughout.  Jack also switches to stop motion at one point but unless you know it's coming, you might not even be able to tell because it's pretty seamless.

    Again, not every effect holds up.  There's a few too many instances where the green screen is too obvious around Dorothy, particularly when she first gets to Oz.  Also, while the Nome King for the most part seems good, at times he goes a bit off-model and his voice morpher gets in the way at times the less human he becomes.  At one point he shouts "STOP!", but the voice technology is so garbled that it sounds for a moment like he's shouting "S'UP!".  Speaking of voice technology, there's a weird effect that happens to Mombi's voice toward the end of the film.  When Dorothy escapes from Mombi's castle, she puts back on her original head and chases after them, then has a few more scenes before she makes her way to the Nome King's castle.  But when she finally arrives there, her voice appears to been digitally altered in post to be deeper.  You could say she just changed her direction to sound more monstrous, but it's particularly noticeable that it's been dubbed, since there now appears to be an audio filter whenever she speaks.  Again, you could say they want her to sound more monstrous by adding to the filter, but if that's the case, why not give her the filter in the first couple of scenes when she had her original head on?  Even the one line of her's at the end has the noticeable filter.  I know it sounds like I'm complaining about mostly nothing but it's only because there's so few things I could find wrong with the film.

    I wanted to talk a bit about the music, but there's not too much to say.  There's nothing inherently bad about the compositions, they're just not that memorable.  Some of them do feel a bit out of place, but again, nothing horrible. 

    In conclusion, Return to Oz is a really awesome film.  Do I recommend you see it?  Well...depends on what you're looking for.  If you've read the books and are looking for something faithful to them, you'll sometimes be happy and sometimes a bit disappointed.  If you want to see an alternate slightly more mature take on Oz, then you'll enjoy it.  If you want a straight up sequel to the original 1939 film, then you're gonna be disappointed (and blame the marketing for that one).  If you're just looking for a dark kid's film...you'll enjoy it.  The best way to find out is to watch the film yourself.  It's easy enough to find online, going at about 10 bucks on Amazon.  Give it a watch and you won't be disappointed!

CAST

NOTE: Jillian Fehrenbacher, Amanda Lemza, and Nicholas Lemza have withdrawn from the production.  We wish them the best in all of their future endeavors.

Dorothy Gale: Bella Donneruno (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Meaghan Maher (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Scarecrow: Justin Autz (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Sam Schoeps (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Tin Man: Barri Feuer (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Tess Robinson (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Cowardly Lion: John Walsh (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Lawrence Palevsky (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Almira Gulch: Stephanie Sultana (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Casey Savin (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Wizard of Oz: Rich Lau

Glinda: Kim Sultana (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Avery Infranco (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Emerald City Guard: John Morale (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Justin Murphy (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Aunty Em: Teresa Morale (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Barbara Schulman (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Uncle Henry: Joel Ackerman (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Joe Centamore (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Hickory: James Roche

Hunk: Gerald Quigley

Zeke: Justin Murphy

Crows: Taryn Feuer, Quincy Jackson, and Suzie Walsh (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Dana Schoeps, Jake Kalinowski, and Amelia Lau (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Trees: Judy Avena, Elise Autz (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13), and Patsy VanDyke (5/5, 5/7, and 5/14)/Noel Dillon, Cynthia Piacentini (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14), and Kathy Lau (5/6, 5/12, and 5/13)

Winkie General: Gerald Quigley (5/5, 5/12, and 5/14)/Kathy Lau (5/6 and 5/13)/Vinny Dillon (5/7)

Toto: Ella Smith (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Michael Deaner (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)

Mayor of Munchkin City: Luke Frisoli (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Luca Bergin (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
 
Coroner: Luca Bergin (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Luke Frisoli (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
 
Barrister: Andrew Geres
 
City Fathers: Anthony Shah and Nathan Zarko
 
Teachers: Carlie Rees and Alexandra Curatolo (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Annabelle Deaner and Lacey Zaharis (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
 
Lullaby League: Amelia Eisenberg, Lily Rankin, and Cami Rees (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Goldie Centamore, Emma Morale, Ayla-Schulman Hughes, and Vivian Sultana (Unsure if all shows or "B" Days)
 
Lollipop Guild: Carter Eisenberg (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Kieran Brown (5/7, 5/13, and 5/14), Ryan Brown, Ryan Dean, and Jacob Karp (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)/Jude Centamore (All Shows)

Ozians: Joel Ackerman, Elise Autz, Judy Avena, Joe Centamore, Michelle Centamore, Noel Dillon, Vinny Dillon, Barri Feuer, Jillian Graci, Honey Hecht, Kimberly Lapidus, Patricia McCarthy, John Morale, Theresa Morale, Justin Murphy, Lawrence Palevsky, Cynthia Piacentini, Mia Femia Pizzo, Gerald Quigley, Kellsey Roy, Casey Savin, Barbara Schulman, Shira Schweitzer, Kim Sultana, Stephanie Sultana, Angie Tomala, Patsy VanDyke, John Walsh, and Corrie Ann Young

Jitterbugs: Justin Autz, Sarah Caulfield, Bella Donneruno, Taryn Feuer, Avery Infranco, Quincy Jackson, Arianna Keating, Grace Keating, Meaghan Maher, Sarah Meade, Tess Robinson, James Roche, Maggie Saum, Liana Scala, Dana Schoeps, Samantha Schoeps, and Celia Spero

Middle School Chorus: Julie Barbier, Luca Bergin, Juliette Bonchonsky, Bridget Caulfield, Natalie Ceonzo, Kailin Donnelly, Luke Frisoli, Riley Gayer, Andrew Geres, Jennifer Golder, Alyssa Infranco, Amelia Lau, Ava Mackey, Samantha Madden, Kyra Perles, Caitlin Rees, Nikki Scala, Nina Scala, Amelia Semple, Leeva Slevin, Emily Starin, Clare Vogt, and Suzie Walsh

"A" Flying Monkeys (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13): Sydney Aguirri, Kylie Balezos, Gabrielle Blum, Isabell Colaccio, Michael Donatelli, Lily Eagen, Julia Eisenberg, Markus Fehrenbacher, Rayna Feuer, Maggie Fitzmaurice, Ava Olsen, Elliote Salisbury, Olivia Scannapieco, Grace Sewell, Tara Weiss, Gabrielle Weissman, and Fallon Young
 
"B" Flying Monkeys (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14): Sienna Boden, Lily Brown, Maya Burget, Mairead Camas, Elizabeth Ceonzo, Katie Conway, Julia Dean, Rayna Feuer, Lindsay Grabowski, Ethan Hoerning, Sofia Kabacinski, Katie Karp, Liam McLaughlin, Lily Majewski, Kelly Ricciardi, and Luc Wagner
 
"A" Poppies (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13): Alexandra Colacicco, Quinn Fehrenbacher, Juliet Morale, Joey Pizzo, Reilly Salisbury, and Juliet Scannapieco
 
"B" Poppies (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14): Juliette Bergin, Casey Bernson, Liam Caulfield, Hannah Feinstein, Chloe Gucciardo, Brody Mackey, Trixie Moran, Cate Ricciardi, Ella Smith, and Chloe Wagner
 
Munchkin Wranglers: Jillian Graci and Mia Femia Pizzo