Return to Oz

[Prince Adam]

Keeping them ruby was a good idea-the vast majority of people today don't even know there is an original novel, let alone 14 of them. Most only know the story because of the movie.

I know I read a storybook version of the novel when I was little and couldn't understand why it was so different from the "real one" (the movie).

[Isidour]

It´s a novel too? O_O

man, I just have heard before of the game "Alice"--the bloody one-- and I thought that was all.Then I saw the figures.

[rodis]

The queen's ability to switch heads also freaked me out.

Same here! I still have goosebumps just thinking about it. I was so scared of those heads when I was little

[Poppins#1]

I was annoyed when I saw that in both films, Dorothy is given ruby slippers instead of silver ones.

Annoyed? By such a minor thing? Come on everyone, it was an early Technicolor movie. They wanted something that would jump off the screen. And I'm sure the only reason they kept the slippers as ruby in "Return to Oz" was because audiences unfamiliar with the books would be weirded out wondering why they "changed" the slippers to silver.

[oh_bother]

I was annoyed when I saw that in both films, Dorothy is given ruby slippers instead of silver ones.

Annoyed? By such a minor thing? Come on everyone, it was an early Technicolor movie. They wanted something that would jump off the screen. And I'm sure the only reason they kept the slippers as ruby in "Return to Oz" was because audiences unfamiliar with the books would be weirded out wondering why they "changed" the slippers to silver.

Well... yeah, I know all that. But when I was little I wanted a movie to be a direct adaptation of a book, which was why I got annoyed that the silver slippers had been changed to red. I now the reasons and it hasn't annoyed me since I was about 7 years old.

It's just a good thing I never read "The Little Mermaid" until I was older

[pinkrenata]

And by the time the Disney film came around, it was probably a wise decision to to stick with the ruby slippers. . . people are most familiar with the MGM film and using silver shoes probably would have been a distraction.

I agree. I have actually heard people argue that <i>Return to Oz</i> couldn't possibly be a "sequel" to <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> because Dorothy's younger in it.

[Teen Artist]

I like both movies. I loved the musical when I was younger. I saw this one not too long ago, and it's pretty good and very true to the source material. Freaky, too. L. Frank Baum would have been proud.

However I've heard about a play/book(?) called Wicked. I want to see that. Supposedly it's about the original story from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view, and Glinda is really the evil one.

[my chicken is infected]

Wicked is an AMAZING musical loosely based on the book by Gregory Maguire. The book is more about the life of the Wicked Witch Of The West, named Elphaba, while the musical is more about her relationship with her best friend, Glinda. In the musical, Madame Morrible, who I don't really remember who she is, and the Wizard, while not necessarily evil, are more or less the villains, as Morrible makes everyone believe that Elphaba is a wicked witch.

[feedmelinguini]

But Return To Oz is a lot more faithful to The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz, the two books it came from.

It might be useful to mention that though this film is more faithful to the second and third book, it does fundamentally change the elements from the second book, particularly when you consider that Dorothy does not even appear in the second book.

By the way, did you know that L. Frank Baum himself made a few films based on his Oz books? They are tricky to find on video, but came out long before the MGM film. Definitely (comparitively) low budget, but interesting period pieces.

Lon

[Sunset Girl]

By the way, did you know that L. Frank Baum himself made a few films based on his Oz books? They are tricky to find on video, but came out long before the MGM film. Definitely (comparitively) low budget, but interesting period pieces.

Actually, those were pretty big budget for their time, made by a film company owned by Edison if my memory serves me correctly. A bonus feature on the Wizard of Oz DVD mentions this. I happened to find one of those films on DVD at a dollar store once and picked it up. It's from the silent era, of course, but still very interesting.

[Wonderlicious]

If you click on the favourite movie list link in my siggy, you'll see that I love Return to Oz. I still have yet to get the DVD, and I probably will when I get funds, but I agree that this underrated film deserves a special edition. Perhaps Disney could pair this with The Black Cauldron to make a Walt Disney Treasure tin themed to Disney's venture into 1980s style Fantasy...

[Teen Artist]

Wicked is an AMAZING musical loosely based on the book by Gregory Maguire. The book is more about the life of the Wicked Witch Of The West, named Elphaba, while the musical is more about her relationship with her best friend, Glinda. In the musical, Madame Morrible, who I don't really remember who she is, and the Wizard, while not necessarily evil, are more or less the villains, as Morrible makes everyone believe that Elphaba is a wicked witch.

Thanks for the info on Wicked. I think I'm going to read that book.

[my chicken is infected]

I re-watched it again recently. Every time I watch it again, I remember how wonderful it is.

By the way, I read the review, and maybe it's just me, but I'm pretty sure I saw the Fairuza Balk intro on my DVD.

[Isca]

Ah, the movie of a thousand nightmares. I rewatched it recently and still found it freaky. ^_^

[calvin101]

I remember this film used to freak me out, it used to be on British TV quite often (well, a couple of times during my childhood and I probably missed it a few times as well).

I bought the DVD last year and the wheelers are still horrible though to my disappointment somewhat it has aged quite badly, that said it's about as un-Disney as you can get (those that think 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' has an edge, that has nothing on this). The start particularly is very adult dealing with mental illness and such, I never realised exactly how much is implied about Dorothy's state of mind.

I've never read the books but I probably prefer 'Return To Oz' though that's more because it was something I grew up with so I think of it fondly and anyone that says Disney sequels are poor could do much worse than watch this though it's not strictly a sequel for them.

[squeak]

I've never seen Return to Oz. What is it like?

[Escapay]

Click here to read UD's Review of the DVD



EDIT: With the right link now.

Escapay

[Luke]

Click here to read UD's Review of the DVD



Escapay

Don't you mean here?

Hmm, I wonder what that other link that Escapay posted will lead to. Is this what was copied onto Escapay's clipboard or does he have a bad case of spyware?

[Escapay]

Escapay

Don't you mean [url=http://www.ultima ... .html]here?

Hmm, I wonder what that other link that Escapay posted will lead to. Is this what was copied onto Escapay's clipboard or does he have a bad case of spyware?

OMG, what the HELL was that???

This is what I get for not updating my spyware and virus junk in like a year. Anyways, I'm fixing my other post now...

EDIT: Lukester, think you can remove that link from your quote of me now? I don't wanna be associated with that.

Escapay

[reyquila]

This is what we are talking about. Weird, very weird stuff.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f201/ ... rntoOz.jpg