The Good
- Franchise Loyalty - Having recently read the first book in the Oz series (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) I can confirm that Return to Oz accurately portrays the essence and the atmosphere of Oz. Dorthy's a 10 year old girl (not a teenager), Oz is dark (not cotton candy covered), and there are many other countless inaccuracies that the musical disregards in about every aspect of the film. The only aspect Return to Oz seems to continue is the ruby slipper lie, in the books they're actually silver.
The Bad
- The Chicken - Not having read the books that actually cover the events of this film I can't say how accurately Return to Oz sticks to this particular story, even though it does an excellent job sticking to the history of Oz and the characters, but I will say the most annoying character in the film is the talking chicken. Substituting Toto for a talking hen was a mistake, unfortunately the chicken plays a major part in the climax of the film so it's something you have to suffer through because it's definitely the corniest aspect of the film.
- Absence of Classic Characters - Classic characters like the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man may be absent from the actual books Return to Oz chronicles, but the limited appearance they make at the film's conclusion makes you wish they'd been in the entire film. They are reproduced exactly the way Frank Baum wrote them and it would have been great to see them used to a further extent.
The Awesome
- Everything Else - As a whole Return to Oz is an excellent honorable representation of the vision author Frank Baum had of Oz. Disney couldn't have done a better job bringing the characters (new and old) to life, and their portrayal of the settings and locations are quite faithful to the books. Plus seeing Oz in it's true darker form as it was originally written is a treat.
8/10
adding this to my netflix queue. thanks! i'll let you know what i think.
ReplyDelete@becks - it's a sorely underrated classic in my book and it doesn't receive the credit it's due mainly because in most people's mind nothing can match the Judy Garland version. I'll be interested to hear what you think, because I would guess you're probably a big fan of the Garland film. There's almost no similarity between the two films, but Return To Oz is about has close as you'll get to the actual books, unless you watch the silent films that Baum had a hand in making in the early 1900's.
ReplyDeletei don't know that i'm a big fan of the garland film, although i do love her first song, and it's the only version i know. i'll keep you posted!
ReplyDeletei hated 'the wiz'...
@becks - I've actually never seen The Wiz, which is a little odd since I'm a big Michael Jackson fan. But in general I don't like musicals.
ReplyDeletemy favorite musical film of them all is 'fiddler on the roof'. for some reason, the music in that film seems entirely suitable and doesn't give me that annoying, schmaltzy 'oh, i can't express how much i love you unless i sing about it' feeling. but after that one, nobody made a good musical.
ReplyDeleteoh, wait - when did they film 'rocky horror'? :)
I actually love both movies in different ways from my childhood. Great review.
ReplyDelete... and i also love 'a chorus line'.
ReplyDeletei promise to stop thinking about musicals now...
@becks - I like films based on musicians where they have musical performances, like Walk The Line (a great but depressing film), but something about people randomly bursting into song makes my stomach turn.
ReplyDeleteagreed! i rarely do that... at least not in public.
ReplyDeleteyou might (or might not) be interested to know that i've just started watching this film. dorothy has just been left off to have her electric shock treatment.
ReplyDeletei'm thrilled that toto is a border terrier in this film - because that's what my dog smudge is, and you don't see them very often.
i'll let you know how i like it. i don't know if i'll finish it tonight (it's already 11:40pm), but so far, i'm intrigued.
@becks - yea unfortunately Toto is only in the beginning and end, they got a really cute dog whose full of personalty. The only thing that would have made the film that much better would have been replacing the chicken with him, but then that would kind of destroy the climax of the story.
ReplyDeleteHad Disney remade the Wizard of Oz story in this film's image it really would have really been something amazing to see, unfortunately you only get a brief glimpse at what those characters would have been like.
okay, i've watched it. while i found it somewhat entertaining, i didn't like any of the characters (not even dorothy), which made it next to impossible to buy into the story.
ReplyDeletei WAS impressed with the animatronics and puppeteering - for 1985, it was pretty amazing. some of it made me wonder if peter gabriel had watched this before he did his 'sledgehammer' video...
@becks - If I said I was surprised I'd be lying, Return to Oz is an underrated classic in my book. Maybe you just had to grow up with the film to really enjoy it. It's safe to say you probably wouldn't enjoy the books then because all the characters in this film have pretty large roles in Baum's 15 book series. It's really unfortunate that the 1939 film set a false standard that makes any film that follows it which actually sticks to the stories extremely unappreciated.
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