The Return to Oz 

Summary

The Return of OZ is a movie my dad rented for me when I was little girl because he knew how much I loved The Wizard of OZ. I don't think he knew how much the movies differed. The Return of OZ is dark and twisted in comparison to The Wizard of OZ, but I really enjoyed the movie. So much so that when my dad lost the tape he bought me, he had to record it one evening when he found it on television to pacify me. The Return of OZ became more than just a movie I liked; it became a movie we watched together. We watched the movie for what seems like a million times and ate, talked, and just hung out. It was by far my favorite time with my dad because usually we played softball or drove long distances to see family. Time on the softball field and time in the car wasn't my favorite. Below is a picture of the actual tape that my dad and I have popped into the VCR many times. Notice, the title is The Return TO OZ, not The Return OF OZ. I was always in such a hurry to start the Movie. Did I ever read the title? Click on the picture below of my actual tape to see copies of the movie once sold in stores.

My recollection of The Return of Oz:

Dorothy is a young girl who constantly dreams about a far away place called OZ. Her step mother considers the dreams a sickness, and takes her to a doctor. Both the step mother and the doctor look incredibly evil. The hospital is dark, and instead of being kept in a room it seems as though she’s locked away. Dorothy is strapped down to her hospital bed even though she doesn't resist and follows all of the doctor's directions. The doctor plans to use a weird machine on Dorothy to, "cure her dreams." The machine has newly been invented by the doctor and has never been tried on a patient. Right before the machine was going to be used on Dorothy a rain storm causes the electricity in the hospital to go out. Dorothy escapes the hospital and runs away with a young girl who looks clear and ghostly. The rain begins to cause flooding. Dorothy and her new friends jump into a crate to float and escape the water. Dorothy falls asleep and wakes up the next morning in foreign place with a desert climate. She's in OZ. She meets a talking chicken, Belina, and they embark across this new land together. Here lunch pales grow on trees, rocks talk, and anything that touches the ground turns to stone. Dorothy leaps from rock to rock holding Belina to prevent them from becoming stone. She comes across a city completely turned to stone. Here she is faced with the wheelers. The wheelers are scary, freighting creatures that try to get Dorothy. Maybe they want to turn her to stone. The wheelers cruise on all fours; each of their limbs end in a wheel. Their bodies are scraps of metal with human heads. Dorothy runs from the wheelers and locks herself in a closet escape. In the closet she finds Tic Toc, a bronzed man. Tic Toc is a wind up tin man. She winds him up and wait for him to come to. When Tic Toc becomes conscience he too journeys with Dorothy. I know the Knob King rules over OZ and all the rocks that talk tell the Knob King everything Dorothy and her new friends have embarked on. The Knob King wears a long rob, and has an evil accomplice. Oddly, the evil accomplice looks exactly like Dorothy's mother. I think it's the same actress. At this point the plot my memory fails me. I can't remember details and plot specifics concerning what happens next. I know somehow the evil woman/accomplice locks up Dorothy. The woman has cabinets and cabinets full of various heads. She can basically change her head as a normal person would change their clothes. She has this special power that she sprinkles on the head she wants to wear to bring it to life. Dorothy is trying to escape so she steals the powder. She puts together a contraption with wings. It's made of furniture and a moose head. She sprinkles the power and brings it life so she can fly away to safety. She also sprinkles some of the powder on a pumpkin, Jack, and brings him to life to fly the contraption. Jack, the moose head, Tic Toc, and Belina all fly away to safety, and somehow Dorothy becomes the Hero of OZ. Her heroic efforts have somehow brought the city back to life from Stone. When she awakens she has a sweet mother who knows nothing of taking her to a doctor for any type of dreams. I still not sure if OZ is suppose to real in the movie or just a dream.

Now that I have re-watched The Return To OZ I see that my memory definitely shaped the movie differently than it actually is. The evil accomplice is actually the evil queen. And she is the same actress as another character in the movie, it's just not Dorothy's step mother. It is the nurse in hospital her real mom originally sends her to. There is no step mother. Also, the movie truly isn't dark or twisted. It's different, but it's hopeful with a happy ending. The gap in my memory is the main turning point in the entire movie. It is how Dorothy saves OZ. Dorothy goes to the evil Knob King who has the ruby slippers. There is an earthquake during which the Knob King looses the slippers and Dorothy finds them. She uses the slippers to wish/send her and all of her friends back to OZ. She also wishes to bring the city of OZ back from stone. With the power of the ruby slippers it works. Here is a quick clip of this that I seemed to have forgotten.

The rest of my memory concerning the story plot seems to be pretty accurate. There are a few additional minor details I left out, but nothing imperative.