These days I don't normally write reviews on products which already have good reviews written on them. However, having watched this film last night I suddenly have the urge to write, as this film brings back memories for me.

Return to 1985

It's 1985 and my friend C and myself are just 4 years old. We're at Brentwood cinema with his mum E. The cinema seems HUGE - in fact it was pretty small (you probably won't be interested to know that Brentwood cinema was closed permanently in the year 2000 due to asbestos). I'm sat on the left, with C on my right, and E on his right. The wheelie men are on the huge screen - they are VERY scary. C has tears streaming down his face, he's close to hysterical. I turn to face him, because he's crying and because I'm also scared I'm crying too. His poor mum doesn't know what to do - this film is a U(niversal) after all - it should be suitable for the likes of us. Actually the DVD is a PG - but it turns out that it was a U when it was first released!

That's my first memory of being in a cinema, whether it was actually my first time in the cinema I'm not sure (it might well be). I'm not sure why my mum wasn't there, perhaps she was in reality. I'm not sure if we stayed for the end of the film or if C's crying got too much. But I remember those scary wheelie men.

Fast forward a couple of years and I remember I had a "Ding…turn the page" Return to Oz storybook and tape which I listened to on my Fisherprice cassette player. I loved it. Over the years I remember being eager to watch this when it was shown on TV, perhaps I even got it out from the video shop too.

Return to Now-ish

I think I bought this as a Christmas present to myself from myself in 2007. I think I paid about £3.99 for it which is very reasonable (current retail price on Amazon is £3.98). It was nice watching the film again in adulthood and finding that it was still as good as ever - not to mention seeing the Gump which is almost certainly a Moose (you see I wasn't obsessed with moose back in '85).

The DVD is shown in the following languages - English, Dutch, Spanish, French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish.

There are no special features unfortunately.

Return to 1939 - The Wizard of Oz

I didn't actually watch "The Wizard of Oz" for the first time until last year - I'd seen bits of it of course, but not the whole way through. Released of course back in 1939 it was WAY ahead of its time with the coloured picture, and starring the amazing Judy Garland as Dorothy, and featuring the song which EVERYONE knows "Somewhere over a rainbow".

Hubby and I watched this again earlier in the week, and then when watching its sequel so soon after (rather than 46 years later as cinema goers had to wait), so it's hard to watch "Return to Oz" without some sort of comparison even though they are completely different films.

Before we Return to Oz

Unsurprisingly Dorothy is no longer Judy Garland (!), she is in fact the lovely little Fairuza Balk (you might know a grown up version of her from "The Craft" and "American History X"). Judy Garland was 16 at the time of The Wizard of Oz. Fairuza was eleven. This is closer to the age which Dorothy was supposed to be (did you know Judy Garland had her boobs squished down for the film to make her look younger? I didn't know until I was researching for this review) in Frank Baum's books.

I don't want to give a great long review about the ins and outs of the Wizard of Oz, the history of it and what have you - all this and more can be found out on Wikipedia and other sites. But I should mention that "Return to Oz" film is a Disney film (directed by Walter Murch), whereas the original was MGM (Disney had to pay to use the ruby slippers, but there was no copyright on using the stuff from Baum's books as they were old). This film is based upon the books "Ozma of Oz" and "The Marvellous Land of Oz" - I can't tell you how closely they are followed as I've never read the books. However, I think I'm going to make a point of reading them.

Return to Oz

It's 6 months after the tornado which saw Dorothy's first visit to Oz. Uncle Henry's busy building them a new house, and Aunt Em is very worried. You see Dorothy hasn't been sleeping. Worse than that she's coming out with tales of a land called Oz, a scarecrow, a tin man and a lion. She doesn't seem to be able to distinguish reality from fiction. The only joy she seems to get is from her dog Toto and her chicken Billina who hasn't laid an egg for ages. To be honest for the duration of the film Dorothy looks a bit ill - perhaps slightly anaemic, but I'm not a doctor. One day while cleaning out the chicken coop Dorothy comes across a key which must be from Oz - it's been sent by the Scarecrow via a shooting star. Aunt Em is not impressed, and that is the final straw really.

Aunt Em takes Dorothy to a private clinic (Toto who has changed breed has to stay at home) to receive electro-shock treatment to sort out her sleep problems. It's the end of the nineteenth century, and this revolutionary treatment can sort out anything. This revolutionary treatment is quite frankly terrifying - in fact the machine looks a little bit like a mechanical man. Aunt Em leaves Dorothy on her own in the company of the evil Dr Worley (Nicol Williamson) and Nurse Wilson (Jean Marsh). Dorothy is put in a scary looking room while she awaits her treatment….meanwhile there is a raging thunderstorm outside (I think perhaps this could be where my childhood fear of thunderstorms came from).

Dorothy is visited by an older pretty girl who presents her with a pumpkin since it's nearly Halloween. But all too soon it's time for Dorothy's treatment. Some scary looking men tie her down on the squeaky creaky wheelie trolley. Nurse Wilson is very rude to Dorothy, poor thing.

Just as the shock treatment is about to go ahead there is a timely power cut when the clinic is struck by lightening. Dorothy is rescued by the older girl and they run out in the pouring rain with the scary woman chasing them. Dorothy ends up floating down the river on a makeshift raft.

We're actually now back in Oz

Not the brightest button in the box, it takes Dorothy a while to realise that she's woken up in Oz. The fact that the chicken Billina is with her and can now talk (Denise Bryer - voice) is what gives it away to her. This is where hubby sees a bit of an inconsistency - why is it that if a chicken can speak in Oz Toto couldn't speak over there? Are chickens more intelligent than dogs after all?

Now that we're back in Oz Dorothy wants to find her friends, but unfortunately terrible things have happened in Oz since Dorothy left 6 months (or 46 years) ago. There's not even any singing anymore (the mid 1980s didn't seem to be the time for musicals). First they must cross the Deadly Desert, then they find that the yellow brick road has been destroyed and the Emerald city's emeralds have been taken. So, off Dorothy and Billina go to find out what's been going on.

Imagine her shock when she finds her good friend the Cowardly Lion and others turned to stone. Imagine her even greater shock when she is chased by evil men on wheels - the Wheelers.

I could talk my way through the whole plot, and while I'd dearly like to I fear I would not be rewarded for doing so….instead I'll talk about some of the people Dorothy meets on her journey.

Tik-Tok (Sean Barrett - voice) - Tik-Tok is a mechanical man - looks suspiciously like the EST machine except not scary. He is part of the army of Oz, and has survived being turned to stone since he was never alive in the first place. In order to make him work he must be oiled in three places - thinking, speaking and movement. Tik-Tok is pretty clever compared to the rest of Dorothy's gang.

Mombi (Jean Marsh)

- Mombi is an evil princess who looks strikingly like the evil Nurse Wilson - the scariest thing is that she has a head for every occasion. Well, except for sleeping - she sleeps naked (well, headless anyway), but still manages to snore without having a nose. The whole head business really scared me as a child. Anyway, Mombi is going to do her best to stop Dorothy from finding her friends.

Jack Pumpkinhead - Jack has a pumpkin for a head. His body is made from twigs (which Dorothy repairs) - he came into existence through the Powder of Life. Jack is tall, but he is only really a baby - but he has lost his mother (the person who brought him to life), so he insist on calling Dorothy 'Mom' which is just plain weird!

The Gump (Lyle Conway - voice) - The Gump was a green coloured moose-type head mounted on the wall. However, when Dorothy and friends want to escape from Princess Mombi they need a vehicle. They attach the head to a sofa with palms as wings. With the Powder of life which they steal they bring the Gump to life - quite honestly he'd have preferred to have been left where he was - on the wall!

The Nome King (Nicol Williamson) - The evil Nome (why isn't it Gnome?) King is made out of rock, and is just plain scary - he looks a lot like a certain doctor. Basically he has control over Oz, and can do whatever he likes. He has eyes everywhere. He is responsible for everything bad which has happened, and he has kidnapped the Scarecrow. Dorothy and friends aren't going to give up without a fight! They have one thing going for them - the Nome King doesn't like chickens!

Ozma (Emma Ridley) - Ozma is a beautiful girl (sounds familiar?!!) who has an important part to play in the restoration of Oz to its former glory. Dorothy is pretty much in awe of the girl who must be several years older than her, and I think I was when I was a child.

Returning to Oz

Like in "The Wizard of Oz" the characters met in Oz are formed from people and things Dorothy has come across back in Kansas. Like in "The Wizard of Oz" it's the ruby slippers which Dorothy needs to get back home. However, that's pretty much where the similarities end. This film is very very dark (I hear that it's much more in fitting with the books), and even now I can see why it scared me at the age of 4. I imagine that it would still have that effect on 4 year olds today - but perhaps not on older children since they see far worse than that on the TV these days.

The Scarecrow does feature in the film, but only as a small role (he does look very strange), and the lion and tin man are small bit parts. However, the theme is similar with Dorothy making some wonderful friends in Oz, and then going back home at the end.

There are quite a lot of special effects throughout the film - the youth of today might not be impressed in these days of CGI, but I think it's pretty good for its time. The acting is all faultless, particularly from the young Fairuza Balk who is amazing.

I suppose that the outcome of the story is that in the end good triumphs over evil, and what goes around comes around. A useful lesson indeed. It also highlights the point that if you start talking about things like a magical world and animals which talk then you will probably be given invasive medical treatment. Another useful lesson, but a scary one when you're only 4 and have an active imagination! I bet I didn't sleep properly for months following this film, not that I'd have told anyone for fear of being given electric shocks.

That said though, although at the time I didn't like it, I smile when I look back on that memory of my friend C crying in the cinema and his poor mum not knowing what to do with us!

Finally

This is a fantastic film, and I don't feel that it's lost its magic today - especially now I'm obsessed with moose and have the joy of watching a green moosehead on a sofa flying with palm leaves! All I hope is that Disney doesn't decide to remake it. But, knowing them, they probably will.

The film lasts 113 minutes. Although rated U in the UK at the time of release, it was given higher ratings elsewhere (and is now a PG in the UK), as high as a 12 in West Germany! Well, I don't feel so bad for crying now!

Finally, for Ciao viewers, I'm going to stick the DVD in the computer and get some screen shots!