History Film / ReturnToOz

* AndStarring: FairuzaBalk (!) as Dorothy.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Inversion. The Ruby Slippers fell off Dorothy's feet when she went home . . . into the hands of the Nome King, making it possible for him to take over the Emerald City. Inverted because she didn't know any of this until she came back and met the Nome King.

Though the film was decried by critics for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids being too scary for children]] and did poorly at the box office, ''Return to Oz'' has gained a cult following.. It also tends to be popular with fans of the original Oz books by Creator/LFrankBaum; much of the plot is loosely adapted from his first two sequels to ''The Wizard of Oz'', and the visual look and tone of the film is modeled closely on the original in-book illustrations. It is important to note that the original ''OZ'' series really could get this strange, and the famous [=MGM=] film is much LighterAndSofter.

* AffablyEvil: The Nome King is quite courteous, even giving Dorothy and co. [[AlienLunch limestone pie and melted silver to eat]].
** When the Nome King is about to die he gently puts down Jack and Billina without any further trouble, when a common response would be to [[TakingYouWithMe take his enemies down with him]].
* AndStarring: FairuzaBalk (!) as Dorothy

* BatmanGambit: The Nome King challenges Dorothy and her friends to find the Scarecrow. [[spoiler: if they fail, they become ornaments, and the Nome King becomes human.]]
** While attempting the challenge [[spoiler: Tik Tok pretends to "wind down" in order to get Dorothy in the room with him; his plan is to make a random guess, that way Dorothy can see what he turns into, hoping it would give her a clue as to what the others were transformed into. It works.]]
* BattleButler: Tik-Tok.
** He even calls himself Oz's "army". This looks patently ridiculous at first glance, with him appearing to be a clumsy copper boiler with a head, two spindly arms and thick legs that make him slower than a glacier... and then you see him single-handedly wipe the floor with a LARGE pack of wheelers who are pure terror until this point in the story. Then as the rest of the wheelers flee, he grabs one in a chokehold and mercilessly interrogates him.

* BeneathTheEarth

* {{Claymation}}: The rock nomes are animated using claymation effects.

* CompositeCharacter: Specifically, Princess Mombi combines Old Mombi from the second Oz book with the multiple head wearing Princess Langwidere of Ev in book three.

** In the 1939 film, minus her aunt and uncle, most characters Dorothy meets in Oz are counterparts of people she knows in Kansas. Here, Mombi and the Nome King are Ozian counterparts of Nurse Wilson and Dr. Worley. Further, the mysterious girl resembles Ozma, the tiny jack-o'-lantern the girl gives Dorothy (obviously) resembles Jack Pumpkinhead, the shock-machine could stand for Tik-Tok, and the orderlies are all Wheelers.
** The Nome King quotes "There's no place like home", tempting Dorothy into letting him send her home, abandoning her friends, instead of playing his guessing game.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster seen above shows Dorothy's old companions (the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man) along with her and her and the other main characters. The Lion and the Tin Man spend most of the film as [[TakenForGranite statues]] and the Scarecrow is the only one of the three to have any lines.
** Some of the earlier drafts of the story had more involvement from the other two. The Lion was even going to turn up as an ornament in the climax. But it was not to be.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Much, ''much'' more than the 1939 movie. To be fair, this is a bad case of AdaptationDisplacement: more people are familiar with the musical film, and are unaware that it is actually LighterAndSofter than the original book series; ''Return'' is much closer to the books in tone.

* TheDragon: Princess Mombi.
** Also, Nurse Wilson in the real world.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Played straight with Ozma, [[SwissArmyAppendage averted]] with Mombi.

* GottaCatchThemAll: All the ornaments [[spoiler: that the Scarecrow, the Gump, Jack, Billina, and Tik-Tok been turned into.]]
* GrotesqueGallery: The Wheelers, definitely. To a lesser extent, Jack [=PumpkinHead=].
** Possibly the hall of disembodied heads.

** Princess Mombi and her hall of [[spoiler: heads, that can be installed and removed as desired]]. When she retires for the night, she retires [[spoiler: headless]].

** Likewise for the Wheelers. The same actors play the orderlies at the hospital, and the carts and gurneys they push make the same squeaking noise the Wheelers' wheels mae.

* MixAndMatchCritters: The Gump again.

* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: The scene where Dorothy has to rescue her friends (who've been turned into ornaments) by finding the ornament versions of themselves-- in a large room ''filled'' with various ornaments.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Ruby Slippers fell off Dorothy's feet when she went home . . . into the hands of the Nome King, making it possible for him to take over the Emerald City.

** Again, this is an inversion. She didn't know any of this until she came back and met the Nome King.

* OrWasItADream: [[spoiler:During the coda, back in Kansas Dorothy touches her bedroom mirror and is surprised to see a vision of Ozma and Billina. Refreshingly, this is done in a way so that book purists who prefer Oz to be real and movie fans who prefer Oz to be a dream reflection can both interpret it how they wish.]]

* PimpedOutDress: [[spoiler:Princess Ozma]], And Mombi.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Various aspects of books 2 and 3 of the ''Oz'' series were changed, condensed or otherwise modified to work for this film.

** Also the Munchkins from the destroyed Munchkin village could count as well. Seriously, ''what happened to them?''
*** The climactic parade features people dressed as characters from all 14 of Baum's Oz books, including some Munchkin characters. One can assume the others are somewhere there in the crowd.

----

* TearsFromAStone

* [[RightfulKingReturns Rightful Princess Returns]]
* PragmaticAdaptation
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits

* TakenForGranite: The citizens of the Emerald City.

* ShoutOut: Princess Mombi gets one as a ''{{Castlevania}}'' boss.
** Probably an unintentional one, but the scarecrow outfit [[TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Jack Skellington]] wears at the beginning of his film looks like an evil version of Jack Pumpkinhead. Come to think of it, [[{{Expy}} Jack Skellington looks pretty similar to Jack Pumpkinhead]] . . .
*** Not a coincidence. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Selick Henry Selick]] was a storyboard artist on Return to Oz before he directed [[TheNightmareBeforeChristmas The Nightmare Before Christmas]].
** The band Scissor Sisters [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaTGNIsEXGY made a song called "Return To Oz"]] based on this film.

* ParentalSubstitute: {{Inverted|Trope}}, as Jack calls Dorothy "Mom" though she is a child herself.

* OneManArmy: Tik-Tok, literally

* PardonMyKlingon: The Nome King fumes "Hippikaloric!" when he realizes that the ornament puzzle has been solved.
** It must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.

* MeaningfulEcho: Nurse Wilson says things that Princess Mombi later echoes. [[spoiler: And Mombi's eventual fate is repeated in Kansas by Nurse Wilson.]]

*** Likewise for the Wheelers. The same actors play the orderlies at the hospital, and the carts and gurneys they push make the same squeaking noise the Wheelers' wheels mae.
** Also, the Nome King invokes one of the MGM film's most famous lines...and twists it in an attempt to emotionally manipulate Dorothy.

* {{Mooks}}
* MythologyGag

* OhCrap

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: "They just fell out of the sky one day. You were so anxious to get home. They're very powerful. They made it possible for me to conquer The Emerald City. Thank you."
** This is actually an inversion. Earlier, Dorothy mentions that the ruby slippers fell off on the way back. It was likely beyond her control.

* CuckooNest

** The 2004 DVD case shows Dorothy, Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack, the Gump, and the [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Tin Man]] traveling down a [[ComicallyMissingThePoint neatly paved yellow brick road surrounded by lush, green trees and grass]].

** In the 1939 film, minus her aunt and uncle, most characters Dorothy meets in Oz are counterparts of people she knows in Kansas. Here, Mombi and the Nome King are Ozian counterparts of Nurse Wilson and Dr. Worley. Further, the mysterious girl resembles Ozma, the tiny jack-o'-lantern the girl gives Dorothy (obviously) resembles Jack Pumpkinhead, and the shock-machine could stand for Tik-Tok.
*** Also the orderlies are all Wheelers.

* {{Claymation}}
* {{Clock Punk}}: Tik-Tok.

* BedlamHouse: At first, it looks like the mental hospital where Dorothy goes will subvert this, as it looks nice, clean, and respectable, and the Dr. Worley seems awfully friendly and helpful. [[spoiler: And then you hear the wailing, which is later revealed to be patients who have been "damaged" and locked in the cellar.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Much, ''much'' more than the 1939 movie. To be fair, this is a bad case of AdaptationDisplacement: more people are familiar with the musical film, and are unaware that it is actually LighterAndSofter than the original book series; ''Return'' is actually much closer to the books in tone.

* AdaptationBadass: The Nome King is far more intelligent and competent than his counterpart in the book.

* TheNthDoctor: Princess Mombi, whenever she switches heads.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Mombi asks the Nome King why he doesn't turn our heroes into ornaments. The Nome King's response? "[[EvilIsStylish It's more fun this way!]]"

* AdaptationDistillation

* FateWorseThanDeath: What Mombi did to this beautiful princesses; [[AndIMustScream they are still alive and conscious and are kept by her]]. Mombi's final fate is also arguably this. As Ozma stated:

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: "They just fell out of sky one day. You were so anxious to get home. They're very powerful. They made it possible for me to conquer The Emerald City. Thank you."

*** [[spoiler:Remember those patients the mysterious girl mentioned? The ones that were locked in the cellar because they were "damaged". It's entirely possible that the authorities found them during the fire. Since the doctor is no longer around to persecute, they arrested Nurse Wilson and possibly the other staff members, who were probably in on it too.]]

* GrotesqueGallery: The Wheelers, definitely. To a lesser extent, Jack [=PumpkinHead=], though YourMileageMayVary.

** While attempting the challenge [[spoiler: Tik Tok pretends to "wind down" in order to get Dorothy in the room with him; his plan is to make a random guess, that way Dorothy can see what he turns into, hoping it would give her a clue as to what the others were transformed into]].

Though the film was decried by critics for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids being too scary for children]] and did poorly at the box office, ''Return to Oz'' has gained a cult following.. It also tends to be popular with fans of the original Oz books by LFrankBaum; much of the plot is loosely adapted from his first two sequels to ''The Wizard of Oz'', and the visual look and tone of the film is modeled closely on the original in-book illustrations. It is important to note that the original ''OZ'' series really could get this strange, and the famous [=MGM=] film is much LighterAndSofter.

* ChekhovsLecture: [[spoiler:A Wheeler yells at Dorothy "that chickens are not allowed anywhere in Oz," and never explains why. Later, when Dorothy and the others reach the Nome Kingdom, Billina is inside Jack's head and unintentionally stays in there, leaving the Nome King to think the chicken vanished. After Dorothy solves the King's game, he goes berserk and attempts to eat Dorothy and her friends one by one. When he is about to eat Jack, Jack's pumpkin lid falls off and ...]]