TMR 047 – Return to Oz

This week on Total Movie Recall, we acknowledge that The Wizard of Oz is, yes, a classic. However, it’s missing a certain je ne sais quoi, and we try to put our fingers on exactly what it needed. We conclude that classic, whimsical children’s film needed more childhood lobotomy, forced imprisonment, Queens pulling their own heads off, and Veruca Salt. Or Fairuza Balk? Potato potato.

Return to Oz (1985)

d. Walter Murch
Based on books by L. Frank Baum

Starring:
Fairuza Balk as Dorothy
Nicol Williamson as the Nome King
Jean Marsh as Mombi
Piper Laurie as Aunt Em
Brian Henson as Jack Pumpkinhead 

Dorothy discovers she is back in the land of Oz, and finds the yellow brick road is now a pile of rubble, and the Emerald City is in ruins. Discovering that the magical land is now under the control of an evil empire, she sets off to rescue the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion with the help of her new friends.

Things discussed in the show:

Electroshock Therapy / Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

The Willies - Labyrinth - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Tik-Tok of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Ozma of Oz

PEN15 (Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman)

Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, Emily Hal