I've always had a thing for kids films that aren't really appropriate for kids. Willy Wonka always appealed to me like that. When Disney released Return to Oz in 1985, it was pretty quickly savaged by critics and audiences ran the other way. It was something of a sacrilege in most people's minds, especially if they were fans of the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie, of which they assumed "Return" was meant to be a sequel.
I remember seeing this on the bottom shelf or the kids section in the video store for some time and every time I walked by it, I heard this little voice, much like the chicken in the movie, beckoning me to pick it up and rent it. I finally convinced some friends to give it a shot and we went back to the viewing pad and proceeded to get stupidly high before putting it on. No one knew what to expect, but I was nestled up against my oversized pillow on the floor, gooned to the gills and ready for anything. I was not disappointed!
It didn't take long for the eeriness of this film to kick in and I was also immediately struck by the performance of Vancouver native, Fairuza Balk, in her big screen debut. She was only 10 years old at the time, but there was a maturity and wisdom in her performance that took her out of any kind of childishness. She wasn't a "dumb kid" in any sense and that made me love her character right off the bat.
Then the antagonists of the story start to show themselves and they bring this dark brooding quality along with them. There is no singing and dancing in this movie either, but there is a real sense of menace and malevolence. However, this is all balanced by the arrival of Dorothy's traveling companions, none of whom were familiar characters. There is the talking chicken, the mechanical soldier, the pumpkin head and the moose with a sofa body. Each one distinctive and with an appealing nature that makes you care about them.
The film is bursting throughout with wonderful visuals and amazing clay animations of the villainous rock gnomes. The Wheelers, while absurd, are also psychotically terrifying and the maleficent Mombi, with her rotating cabinet of stolen heads, offers one of the most unsettling Disney villains ever.
In all, it's got nothing to do with the beloved classic film and must be considered entirely in its own right as a separate creation with its own merits. It's a film I own on DVD and can (and have) watch over and over and I get goosebumps whenever I see it. If you don't know it and you appreciate "fantasy" that falls between the cracks of what's considered adult vs children's entertainment, you can't go wrong with this classic.
I remember seeing this on the bottom shelf or the kids section in the video store for some time and every time I walked by it, I heard this little voice, much like the chicken in the movie, beckoning me to pick it up and rent it. I finally convinced some friends to give it a shot and we went back to the viewing pad and proceeded to get stupidly high before putting it on. No one knew what to expect, but I was nestled up against my oversized pillow on the floor, gooned to the gills and ready for anything. I was not disappointed!
It didn't take long for the eeriness of this film to kick in and I was also immediately struck by the performance of Vancouver native, Fairuza Balk, in her big screen debut. She was only 10 years old at the time, but there was a maturity and wisdom in her performance that took her out of any kind of childishness. She wasn't a "dumb kid" in any sense and that made me love her character right off the bat.
Then the antagonists of the story start to show themselves and they bring this dark brooding quality along with them. There is no singing and dancing in this movie either, but there is a real sense of menace and malevolence. However, this is all balanced by the arrival of Dorothy's traveling companions, none of whom were familiar characters. There is the talking chicken, the mechanical soldier, the pumpkin head and the moose with a sofa body. Each one distinctive and with an appealing nature that makes you care about them.
The film is bursting throughout with wonderful visuals and amazing clay animations of the villainous rock gnomes. The Wheelers, while absurd, are also psychotically terrifying and the maleficent Mombi, with her rotating cabinet of stolen heads, offers one of the most unsettling Disney villains ever.
In all, it's got nothing to do with the beloved classic film and must be considered entirely in its own right as a separate creation with its own merits. It's a film I own on DVD and can (and have) watch over and over and I get goosebumps whenever I see it. If you don't know it and you appreciate "fantasy" that falls between the cracks of what's considered adult vs children's entertainment, you can't go wrong with this classic.
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