Hey_Sweden

A follow-up to the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz", incorporating elements from L. Frank Baums' next two books in the series (The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz), "Return to Oz" is good fun for fantasy lovers. Granted, it is definitely darker & more disturbing than its predecessor (a case in point: the nature of the evil Princess Mombi), but it shows its audience a pretty good time. I was prepared for the film to actually be even darker than it was (certainly it's an interesting effort from this particular Disney era), but it still has potent aspects to it.

For example? Out of the best of intentions, Auntie Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark) send Dorothy (an adorable young Fairuza Balk, in her film debut) to a patently horrible sanitarium when the little girl won't be quiet about her previous fantastic adventure. Dorothy escapes, and during the escape is magically transported back to Oz, which is now in ruins thanks to the machinations of an evil Nome King.

The new characters are quite colorful and endearing, with my personal favorite being mechanical man Tik-Tok. (It's hilarious watching him "walk".) I can see how some people would find talking chicken Billina annoying, but making up for that are the truly spooky villains, the aforementioned Princess Mombi and Nome King. The creature designs are creative, but the best effects tend to be the "Claymation" by Will Vintons' studio that make rocks & stones grow faces.

The human cast is great, especially Nicol Williamson and Jean Marsh who both pull double duty (he plays the Nome King and the sinister Dr. Worley, and she plays Mombi and Nurse Wilson).

Overall, *I* think this was a creditable directing debut for Walter Murch (also one of the screenwriters), who'd made his name as a renowned editor & sound technician on films ranging from "The Godfather" II and III to "The English Patient", although he would only direct one more thing since, mostly sticking to what he does best.

Seven out of 10.