Summary
Six months after the tornado took Dorothy to Oz, she must return to help lift the curse that a witch and the Nome king have placed across the land.
My Thoughts
This film is rather notorious for being a movie that scars children. Having not seen the film before, and being in my later twenties, I found myself drawn to this movie specifically for that reason. Intrigued by the reputation it had garnered, I sat down, half expecting some horrid half-baked fantasy story with slightly spooky imagery, but I was wrong. This movie certainly earns its reputation; there are things in here that would’ve terrified me to tears if I would’ve saw this as a five year old, but this film doesn’t not get nearly enough credit. While it does have trouble finding a real target audience, it’s one of the most imaginative sequels I’ve seen, and it has some of the most original characters and interesting effects I’ve seen in an eighties fantasy film. While this film is not for young children, it is a movie that has an undeserved reputation; it may be frightening, but I’d call this film darn near a masterpiece.
"But where are all the munchkins?"
The above title is both a line from the film, and, I’m guessing, what many of the children asked their parents after walking out of the theatre in the summer of ’85. So let’s get right into it; why this film is not for young children, but why, I believe, this might be one of the better fantasy films I’ve seen, and for me personally, this might become one of my all time favorite films. Right away, we can tell that Dorothy is not the same sweet, singing girl we knew in “The Wizard of Oz”. In this movie, Dorothy is frightened, and has trouble sleeping ever since the tornado hit six months ago. Her parents, concerned for her health, decide to commit her to an asylum, where she’ll be given electroshock therapy (yeah, this was advertised as a kid’s film). Once there, she receives a message from a strange girl, who beckons her return to Oz. Dorothy escapes from the hospital and nearly drowns in a river, but she climbs aboard a floating crib and floats out to sea, when suddenly she’s back in Oz. But it’s not the candy-colored, sing-songy version of Oz we’re used to; the first glimpse of Oz we get is of a desert, where touching the sand will turn one into sand. The world of Oz has changed; it’s become darker, more mature.
While the overall storylines to both films have many similarities, the events that happen along the way are different enough to keep things interesting. In both films an animal she brought with and three companions accompany Dorothy on her quest. In the original, she had Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. In this movie she is accompanied by a talking chicken, a pumpkin headed scarecrow, a tin war machine, and a moose head that they put on the front of two tied-together couches (the moose is one of the most creative characters I’ve ever seen in a fantasy film- children’s movie or otherwise). The wicked witch of the west in the first movie pursues Dorothy, but in this one, the Nome king pursues her along with a witch named Mombi. While the Wicked Witch of the West certainly had some creepier moments, she’s nothing compared to Mombi- a witch with two dozen interchangeable heads. While many of the characters and beats are similar, the overall tone for this movie is infinitely darker. There’s a scene in this film where Dorothy tries to steal something from Mombi, and is subsequently chased by Mombi’s headless body- that scene was enough to give me chills- I couldn’t imagine what that would do to a child. Instead of flying monkeys, Mombi employees ‘Wheelers;’ long-armed, long-legged creatures that roll around on their limbs and shriek like banshees; these things are also probably nightmare inducing for younger children. Again, a lot of the actual beats and characters feel incredibly similar, but it’s the tone of the film that sets it apart.
The production design is probably the best element of this film; everything looks absolutely incredible. Murch wasn’t happy with just rehashing the old designs of the characters from the ’39 movie; he created entirely new designs for creatures and places entirely. The character designs are most impressive- in my opinion the pumpkin-headed scarecrow is a fascinating design, and more than likely was a huge influence on the design of Jack Skellington from “Nightmare Before Christmas”. The puppets and animatronics had many articulated parts and move flawlessly, totally bringing me into the film even more. The sets were elaborate and dark and wonderful; I loved Mombi’s palace, but I also loved the Nome king’s palace. Everything in this movie looked top notch as far as fantasy films- it’s comparable in design to things like “Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth”.
Fairuza Balk (“Almost Famous”) did a wonderful job as Dorothy. For the majority of the film, Dorothy was the only human character on screen, and honestly that puts a lot of pressure on a young actress to carry the film. She never once falters; she moves from scene to scene with just the right amount of tension- we never really loose sight of the fact that she’s being chased, but at the same time, the tension is never so much that we can’t enjoy the jokes or humor. Jean Marsh (Willow) as Mombi is absolutely terrifying, but it works so well for this film.
Verdict
I loved this movie, but I saw it at a perfect age and perfect time. This movie totally deserves its reputation for being a scarring film, because for kids, it could be nightmare-fuel. For me, this was a wonderfully creative reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s worlds, and I honestly wish there were more films like this out there. While I wouldn’t recommend this movie to young children, the right audience will really enjoy this. Wonderful production design, a darker storyline, and a magical execution make for a movie I wont forget anytime soon.
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