Return to Oz / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation:
- The girl who rescues Dorothy at the beginning whom Dorothy sees as Ozma at the end. Is she just Ozma's real-world counterpart like how the other characters are, and if so did she drown? Is she Ozma's soul reaching out to Dorothy, thus making her the same character? Is she Ozma's soul appearing to her as a figment of her imagination, as she gets into closed rooms and the doctors never seem to acknowledge her? If that's the case, can she interact with the real world in a limited capacity, seeing as she untied Dorothy — or was that also imagined, and she just wasn't tied down well? Or is she an aspect of Dorothy herself? She appears in the mirror seemingly in answer to Dorothy's wish, while wearing the ruby slippers, that she could be in both places at once.
- Nurse Wilson has been arrested at the end, which we accept because Dorothy found her scary and, besides, she is the And You Were There counterpart to an evil witch-princess from the Land of Oz. In-universe, though, being a stern hospital matron doesn't constitute a crime in itself - and if it's about the "damaged" patients in the cellar, society in 1899 rural Kansas would probably tend to be pretty forgiving about the attempted treatment of desperate mental patients sometimes resulting in a worst-case scenario. Besides, it's ambiguous whether she was hunting Dorothy and "Ozma" down to harm them, or pursuing and trying to save from drowning two sick little kids who were left in her care. However, it is stated that the clinic was hit by lightning in the storm and burned to the ground. There probably were a number of patients trapped in the cellar locked in their rooms who likely perished in the fire with Dr. Worley, despite what Aunt Em said about everyone surviving.
Awesome Music: David Shire's score goes from eerie to sad to magnificent, and sprouts a wide variety of styles, going from orchestral to silent-era ragtime to creepy mandolin for Mombi to modern techno for the Nome King.
Catharsis Factor:
- Both bad guys, despite their incredibly nightmarish factor, are disposed of in a gratifyingly pitiful way. Princess Mombi, after spending the first two-thirds as either a dissonantly smug or screaming monster that has taken the heads of over a dozen women- with Dorothy being the next one- is cowed by the Nome King and then imprisoned as punishment for "failing" him, while she can only grovel- she then spends the remainder of the movie in a cage and is told by Ozma that she will no longer have powers as an added kicker, which is very pitiful indeed. while the Nome King himself, at the height of his terrifying Villainous Breakdown, accidentally swallows an egg laid by Billina. He lasts a good moment comically frozen in terror as it all happens. After putting the heroes through a cruel game rigged in his favor, gloating to Dorothy that it's her fault, and then trying to eat them out of spite- this is very satisfying.
- Earlier, after frightening Dorothy and threatening to kill her, the Wheelers are traumatizing creatures. Then Tick-Tock manages to beat them all and makes one of them a whimpering mess, which is very satisfying.
Complete Monster:
- The Nome King is the greedy, self-centered ruler of the Nomes who considers all the precious stones in the world to be his. Angered at the people of Oz creating the Emerald City out of his emeralds, the Nome King attacked Oz, turning its population to stone. The Nome King also allowed the tyrannical Princess Mombi to collect the heads of dozens of women to indulge her vanity, with their heads being left alive and fully aware of their situation. When Dorothy Gale returns to save Oz and confronts him, the Nome King challenges her and her friends to a game where the losers are transformed into ornaments for his palace. When Dorothy wins, the Nome King attempts to eat her and all of her friends.
- Princess Mombi is a deranged, tyrannical sorceress who usurped control of the Emerald City by trapping the true ruler inside an enchanted mirror. A narcissist whose looks are fading with age, Mombi collects the heads of beautiful women and swaps her own head for one of theirs every so often. When not in use, the heads are kept alive and conscious. When Dorothy arrives in the Emerald City, Mombi has her imprisoned with the intention of adding her head to her collection once she becomes an adult.
Cult Classic: A failure with audiences and critics alike when it came out, it's now remembered as a worthy semi-sequel to the 1939 movie and a very solid Dark Fantasy film in its own right, and was one of the catalog titles available on Disney+ on its launch day in 2019.
Delusion Conclusion: Since the film actually begins with Dorothy being packed off to a mental hospital for primitive electroshock therapy, it's no surprise that some viewers interpret her adventure across the ruined Land of Oz as being a delusional nightmare kicked off by getting a direct shock to her brain.
Evil Is Cool: As a Darker and Edgier take on the story, its villains are memorably frightening and intimidating.
- The Nome King combines cordial friendless that mask his vile intentions with a disarming calmness in spite of his heinous actions that combined with his unique rock-king design make him a genuinely threatening psychological enemy that rarely uses direct action, until his memorable Villainous Breakdown, turning into a horrific monster. He's deemed by some fans to be the best interpretation of the character.
- Mombi is a head-stealing witch with an awesome ornate dress and her collection of heads and threatening yet dissonant demeanor makes her one of the most memorable characters, providing one of the most terrifying scenes in the movie.
- The Wheelers; they're Laughing Mad, monstrous clown creatures that dress in helmets with warped faces, and they manage to be one of the scariest elements of the film.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The film did well in Japan, possibly because the marketing leaned into its dark side.
Harsher in Hindsight: The Nome King's door opening as a series of hands in the wall to welcome Dorothy in looks like a well-known shock site...
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Before that, the Nome King was serving limestone pie.
- A robotic character named Tik-Tok.
- Fairuza Balk battling Wicked Witches is hilarious if you know of her role as a crazy black magic practitioner in The Craft (Mombi says that she'll keep Dorothy locked up for a few years until her head becomes acceptable to take — just imagine Mombi taking on Nancy!). Not to mention that she owned an occult shop in real life. She also plays the title character in the 1986 version of The Worst Witch.
- This wouldn't be the only Cult Classic 80s fantasy in which Jean Marsh plays a villainous character.
Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Princess Mombi virtually killed women for their heads, planned to do the same to Dorothy, and made Ozma her slave. Given that the Nome King got a Death by Adaptation, not to mention her famous Wicked Witch precursors getting famous death scenes in the first story, some could feel she got off easy just losing her powers.
Moral Event Horizon:
- Mombi crossed it before her introduction by taking the living heads of several women out of vanity and intending to add Dorothy to her collection.
- The Nome King crosses it when he goes back on his agreement and decides to eat Dorothy and her friends out of spite.
- Dr. Worley and Nurse Wilson crossed it a long time ago when they keep their brain-damaged patients in the cellar, intending to do the same to Dorothy after they had administered shock therapy on her.
Narm:
- The Nome telling the Nome King that Dorothy has A CHICKEN!! True, it makes sense given the context, but unless you've read the book Ozma of Oz, that context isn't provided until much later in the movie, but at that moment at time, it's a bit over-the-top.
- The Nome King rises up gigantic and surrounded with flames as the embodiment of satanic evil and the first line that comes out of his mouth sounds like "S'UP!!!" in a deep rumbling voice (he's actually saying "STOP!!!").
- Additionally him revealing that he has the Ruby Slippers. Yep, the Big Bad king revealing he's wearing a pair of glittery red high heels.
- The Wheelers are scary...until they have to speak.
Narm Charm:
- Tik-Tok hugging Dorothy and shedding green oil tears should be ridiculous. It isn't.
- The revelation that the Nome King is wearing the Ruby Slippers, which on its own is silly due to an intimidating villain wearing footwear meant for a little girl, implying he has dainty feet. In the broader context, it's a harrowing moment that is a saddening revelation that Dorothy herself is indirectly responsible for harming her friends and an eerie moment seeing something so iconic being warped for an evil purpose.
Older Than They Think:
- Due to Adaptation Displacement concerning the MGM film, the Truer to the Text elements of this film often get mistaken for creations of the film. Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wheelers, and other scoffed-at elements are from the original Oz books.
- The Darker and Edgier tone came as a massive shock to those more familiar with the 1939 film and was one of the reasons why the film received as much criticism as it did back then. However, as many readers of the books would tell you, the original Oz books were also incredibly dark and twisted in places.
Retroactive Recognition:
- Fairuza Balk is Dorothy.
- At the same time as The Adventures of Mark Twain, Craig Bartlett was involved with animation some of the claymation effects in the film. Specifically various minions of the Nome King.
Signature Scene: Dorothy encounters Mombi's real head in the dark hallway as she's trying to retrieve the formula that brings inanimate objects to life. Suddenly, Mombi's head opens her eyes and shouts: "Dorothy Gale!" and the lights go on in the hallway as all the heads start screaming and Mombi's headless body has risen to come after Dorothy. By far the most memorable scene in the film, due to how creepy it is.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The main theme bears subtle similarities to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Justified as it's meant to be a Call-Back to connect the two stories. However, the main theme also resembles Michael Giacchino's own main theme to John Carter, fitting as both films are each a Disney Live-Action Adaptation of early 20th century literature that both unfortunately ended up a Box Office Bomb at the time of their theatrical releases.
Ugly Cute: Jack Pumpkinhead.
Vindicated by History: The film was originally released to mixed-to-negative reception from both audiences and critics at the time for its darker tone compared to the widely beloved 1939 film and was a massive flop at the box office. However, as the years have passed, the film has gained a large cult following over time and is now regarded to be a Cult Classic that is both a worthy semi-sequel to the 1939 film and an enjoyable Dark Fantasy film in its own right. It has also been praised by Oz fans for being closer to the original novels compared to other adaptations.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The Nome King (pre-human transformation) and his minions were animated by Claymation master Will Vinton; they appear to completely come out of the rocks.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The film is meant to be seen as a kids' adventure film, yet there are the infamous scenes such as shock therapy, the disembodied heads of Mombi, the Wheelers turning to sand and of course, the Nome King.
The Woobie:
- Dorothy must face no one believing her about her adventures in Oz, and her family nearly give her electroshock therapy over it. When she returns to Oz, she sees it partially destroyed and her friends captured.
- Jack was abandoned by his mother who's actually Ozma imprisoned by Mombi and has been alone ever since he was born.

YMMV / Return to Oz

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