The Cinematic World of Oz

The Wizard of Oz has been my favorite fantasy story since infancy, or so I’ve been told. My family owned a small collection of movies on laserdisc in their little apartment, all musicals. The Muppet Movie, Singing in the Rain, and Brigadoon were among them, but The Wizard of Oz was the clear favorite. I knew all the songs and watched it a thousand times.

Dorothy was just a little girl like me. She is sensitive, but brave and kind. She makes friends with everyone she meets along the yellow brick road, never judging them for what they lack. Dorothy is just a poor farm girl, but when it is called for she can speak truth to power. First there’s her neighbor, Mrs. Gulch, a mean old Karen who tries to get Dorothy’s yappy little dog put down by complaining. Then there’s the Wicked Witch of the West, threatening to kill her over a pair of shoes, which she did not technically steal, by the way. The grave robbing was Glinda’s idea.

Nobody intimidates this girl, especially when they mess with her friends! Even the “all powerful” wizard, who is really just a failed con man who uses Dorothy and her friends to get rid of the witch. When he doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain, she lets him know exactly how she feels. Sure she gets scared, even describing herself as “small and meek,” but she doesn't give up easily and comes out a hero. As a kid with burgeoning anxiety disorder, Dorothy was a bit of a role model for me.

Judy Garland’s performance as Dorothy sparkles like the rubies in her slippers. Knowing what her life was like at MGM breaks my heart, but damn, she was talented. And Margaret Hamilton is a treasure. I was scared of her as a child, but whenever she was on screen, I could not look away. When I discovered theater in school, Hamilton’s performance as the witch really appealed to me. Playing evil seemed like so much fun. I tried out for all the villains in the school plays. Also the realization that the actors on the farm were the same as the ones who play her friends blew my little four year old mind! Not to mention the dude who played the mayor, Professor Marvel, the gatekeeper, the cabbie, the security guard, and the wizard himself!

In 1939, MGM studios must have decided the time was right to bring L. Frank Baum’s story to life. Though the book was written at the turn of the century, Baum’s “no place like home” sentiment resonated with people suffering through the great depression for whom travel and adventure were just fantasy. Sound familiar? Of course, none of this occurred to me as a toddler wearing out the laserdisc. I just thought it was neat.

Then in 1985 a challenger appeared, Return to Oz. This was around the time I was starting elementary school. My parents signed me up for after school daycare and the staff sometimes showed a move as a treat and to give themselves a break. Among the titles shown were: The Goonies, The Princess Bride, and The Neverending Story. These are all classics, of course, but the one that really made an impression on me was Return to Oz.

I was thrilled to see more of the Oz I knew and loved. Little did I know, this one was going to be a gothic romp to creepy town. Made by Disney studios, this sequel stayed truer to the books. In doing so, it became much darker and scarier. I’m not sure why a teacher would show it to us little kids, but it was the eighties and I guess it wasn’t an issue. As soon as I got home I asked to rent it from the video store frequently because it was not available for purchase.

This story begins back on the farm and Auntie Em and Uncle Henry don’t believe Dorothy’s stories about Oz. They think she is having delusions and bring her to a ‘modern’ psychiatric hospital that administers shock treatments to children. Everyone at the hospital, the doctor with the rich baritone, the nurse dressed like a Victorian dominatrix, and the orderly strapping Dorothy to a squeaky gurney all make an impression. You’ll see all these lovable scamps later, exactly how they did with the farm hands in the MGM classic, except they are all evil(er).

There is another storm, a thunderstorm which cuts the power and allows her to escape into a stream on a floating crate all the way to Oz. This Oz has everything (*Stefon Voice): A talking chicken, a life-sized mustachioed wind up toy, a gang of scary clowns on wheels, a witch with a cabinet full of severed heads, a pumpkin man, and a sentient flying couch.

The details are so different in this version of Oz, but much of the themes remain the same. Dorothy meets three new companions and has to overcome terrible odds to win her freedom again, although why she’d want to return to such a bleak place that gives shock treatment to children, I can’t understand.

Mombi, the witch in this version is really something else. Dorothy is wiser from her first trip to Oz, so this witch’s threats are much less vague. *Spoiler alert! She literally wants to cut off Dorothy’s head, so she can wear it like an accessory. Did I mention she has a collection of severed heads on rotation? Plus, Mombi is not even the final boss on this adventure. Dorothy has the Gnome King to contend with. I am not sure why he is called the Gnome King when he is made entirely of rocks or rather he can shift his consciousness into any rock surface? The film does not make it clear, but the special effects are like a bad acid trip.

This film is not a musical, but what it lacks in musicality it makes up for in the creature design. The characters are much less humanoid and are a combination of puppets, stunt performers, stop motion, and other practical effects. Fairuza Balk as Dorothy is younger than Judy Garland was for the role. Her sense of childlike wonder and doe-eyed sincerity is pitch perfect.

If you like weird cult films, then I suggest you give this one a try. Although, if you have made it this far I have either spoiled it for you or you have (hopefully) enjoyed the nostalgia of my retelling. Both of these films and the stories that inspired them will always have my heart. The concepts of staying home and adventuring are not mutually exclusive. I think Baum is right, there's no place like home, but “home” is a state of mind and only the mind could take an adventure like this.