Oz - a fantastic world

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Movie
German title Oz - a fantastic world
Original title Return to Oz
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1985
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Walter Murch
script Gill Dennis , Walter Murch
production Paul Maslansky
music David Shire
camera David Watkin
cut Leslie Hodgson
occupation

Oz - Eine fantastische Welt (Original title: Return to Oz ) is an American fantasy film from 1985, the story of which takes place in the fall of 1899. The film from Walt Disney Pictures is based on the two novels In the Realm of the Wizard Oz and Ozma von Oz by Lyman Frank Baum and continues the plot of the MGM musical film The Wizard of Oz . In 2013 the prequel The Fantastic World of Oz was released .

action

Six months ago, a tornado carried nine-year-old Dorothy Gale to a magical land called Oz . Since returning home, she has only talked about Oz and her friends there. She cannot sleep at night with longing at the thought of her. When she claims to have discovered the mark of Oz on a key she found, her uncle and aunt, with whom she lives, are very worried and eventually send her to a clinic where she is being attended by Dr. . Worley and the fearsome sister Wilson are said to be cured by electricity.

With the help of a mysterious girl, Dorothy manages to escape, but the two fall into a raging river and the strange girl goes under. The next morning Dorothy wakes up in Oz. Together with Billina, a talking farm chicken, she crosses the deadly desert and makes her way to the Emerald City, the center of Oz. But when the two arrive there, they find nothing but rubble, the Emeralds have disappeared and all living things have turned to stone. In all the chaos, they encounter the scooter riders, crazy creatures with wheels instead of hands and feet. The scooters chase Dorothy and Billina into a cul-de-sac, from which they can escape through a secret door with the help of the found key. In the room beyond, you will find Tik Tok, a friendly robot that has not been turned to stone because it is not a living being.

With his help, Dorothy faces the scooter riders, and the two manage to capture one of the scooter riders. Through him they learn that the dwarf king and the evil princess Mombi destroyed the emerald city with the help of the ruby ​​slippers, brought Oz under control and kidnapped the rightful king, the scarecrow. So the friends go to see Mombi, a witch who takes turns wearing the heads of beautiful women. She promptly also wants Dorothy's head and locks her in a tower, from which the girl, however, can escape with the help of her new acquaintance, Jack Pumpkin Head and a flying sofa called simpleton. She brought this flying sofa with the head of an elk (simpleton) to life with the help of the life powder stolen by Princess Mombi. Mombi sends the scooters after them to stop them, but Dorothy and her companions are able to shake off the pursuers in the deadly desert.

Dorothy and her friends fly to the Dwarf King to force him to give up the Emerald City and the Scarecrow. But he merely declares that it was his emeralds and that he was right to act, and promptly turns the scarecrow into an ornament. It is only when Dorothy begins to cry that the king is sorry to see her so sad, and he suggests a game for her. Each of them can guess three times in the ornament room which ornament the scarecrow is. If you guess correctly, you can leave and the Emerald City will be restored. If you guess wrong, you will be transformed yourself.

Meanwhile, Mombi races in a wagon, pulled by the scooter riders, to the dwarf king to warn him. Suddenly one of the stone dwarves appears to tell the king that Tik Tok has stopped guessing. He allows Dorothy to go in to raise Tik Tok. But this was just one of his plans so that Dorothy might see what he was transforming into, in case he too guessed wrong. Unfortunately, they all got it wrong and were turned into ornaments. The dwarf king enjoys every failure, becoming a little more human-like after every transformation. Only when Dorothy has already reached the third attempt does she guess correctly: By recognizing that all the ornaments from Oz are green, she can gradually free all the others, while the dwarf king turns back to stone piece by piece. Finally he attacks her and wants to eat the friends. But before that happens, Billina lays an egg in shock, which he swallows. After the exclamation, whether they don't know that eggs are poisonous for dwarfs, the king dies and falls apart, and with him the entire dwarf kingdom goes under. Dorothy finds the ruby ​​slippers, puts them on and wishes that everyone should return safely to the emerald city, which is to be restored. There she also transforms Tik Tok, whom she did not find in the underground palace of the dwarf king: He was a green medal on the antlers of the simpleton. All of Oz's living beings are now coming back to life.

After all, there is a big festival in the emerald city. The dwarf king is dead, Mombi trapped and everything is fine again. During the ceremony, Dorothy discovers in a mirror the girl who helped her escape from the clinic. She sets it free, and it turns out to be Ozma, the rightful Queen of Oz, who was held captive by Mombi. After her coronation, Dorothy explains that she has to go home, says goodbye briefly and is brought home by Ozma, where they were already very worried.

The mental hospital burned down, Dr. Worley died trying to save his machine. Scary sister Wilson is taken away in a prison carriage.

A few days later, Dorothy was at home in front of her mirror when Ozma appeared in it. Dorothy smiles because she can soon return to Oz whenever she wants.

Characters

  • The nine-year-old Dorothy Gale keeps talking about Oz. After all, her relatives don't know what to do other than to admit them to a mental institution. Dorothy feels abandoned there and flees to Oz again during a storm. The adventures that she experiences strengthen her development. In the end, she realizes that she can survive in Kansas too, but can withdraw to Oz at any time if necessary. It is not 100 percent clarified whether Oz is just a world in Dorothy's fantasy or really exists.
  • Dr. Worley / Dwarf King
  • Sister Wilson / Princess Mombi
  • Tik Tok , the "Army of Oz". A kind of robot that works mechanically and was supposed to defend Oz in the event of an attack. He is reactivated by Dorothy. However, since there are three different mechanisms for the ability to speak, think and move, they have to be re-drawn independently of each other. In the course of the film, Tik Tok sometimes runs into problems, e.g. B. his movement mechanism or thinking mechanism has expired and only his speech mechanism works.
  • The yellow chicken Billina lives in Kansas as Dorothy's favorite chicken . When Dorothy was washed up by the river to Oz on her escape from the clinic, Billina suddenly sat next to her the next morning; how she got there remains open. She accompanies Dorothy on her adventures, but then decides to stay in Oz instead of going back to the "stupid, everyday" Kansas.
  • Jack Pumpkin Head was built by Princess Ozma before Ozma was enchanted in the mirror. Jack's strange appearance should frighten Mombi, which worked at first, but then the witch got terribly angry. At first she wanted to destroy Jack, but instead she tested the life powder she possessed so that Jack actually came to life. Ozma told him that she had built it; so he called her from now on "Mama". When Ozma suddenly disappeared, Jack kept asking Mombi where his mom was. Completely exasperated, Mombi then threw him into a room of “her” palace, but forgot him there. There Jack meets Dorothy, whom he sees as a kind of substitute for his mom, and with whom he experiences fantastic adventures.
  • Princess Ozma , the rightful ruler of Oz, was sold to Mombi as a little girl by her father in exchange for a potion for eternal life. When the dwarf king took power and Mombi promised thirty beautiful heads if she would hide Ozma, she banished the princess in a mirror. Ozma can only be freed when Dorothy has defeated Mombi and the Dwarf King. In Kansas, Ozma appears to be the blonde girl who helps Dorothy escape the clinic and then disappears forever.
  • To help them escape before Mombi which is simpleton of Dorothy with the help of life powder of a collection of sofas, palm fronds and a broom created. His real life, however, is in his head, which resembles a green elk. During the fight against the dwarf king, he devours his clumsy body (to the delight of the simpleton), so that only a speaking head remains.
  • The scooters lived like everyone else in Oz until one day the Dwarf King and Mombi suddenly seized power. In contrast to the other residents, the scooters were not turned to stone, but, because they could not defend themselves, given by the dwarf king under Mombi's control to serve as their slaves. Since the scooters, as it turns out in the end, are actually good and on Dorothy's side, it's not entirely clear why they chased the girl and pretended to be terrible.
  • The scarecrow , Dorothy's friend and ruler of Oz, when Dorothy leaves this after her first adventure, is kidnapped by the dwarf king and held prisoner. In response to a cry for help, he sends Dorothy the key to the chamber in which Tik Tok is with a shooting star. After Dorothy's adventure, the scarecrow renounces to remain king.

Remarks

In Germany, the book about the film (by Joan D. Vinge ) and the comic about the film were published on the occasion of the cinema release on September 26, 1985 . The DVD was released on February 3, 2004. Fairuza Balk did without a stunt double and shot all the stunt scenes herself. She was 9 years old at the time the film was made, 7 years younger than Judy Garland, who played Dorothy in the previous film The Magician played by Oz .

Nominations and Awards

In 1986 the film was nominated for an Oscar in the category " Best Visual Effects ". In the same year he also received three nominations at the Saturn Awards , including the nomination for "Best Fantasy Film", "Best Performance by a Younger Actress" for Fairuza Balk and "Best Costumes" for Raymond Hughes . In addition, he was nominated twice for the Young Artist Award in 1986 in the categories “Best Starring Performance by a Young Actress - Motion Picture” for Fairuza Balk and “Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress - Motion Picture” for Emma Ridley .

Reviews

The lexicon of the international film judges: An elaborate fantasy fairy tale in which the usual trick technique dominates, but the appealing play with different levels of perception and the emphasis on vital fantasy still comes into play. Too terrifying for smaller children in some scenes. Scott Weinberg said in his review on eFilmCritic.com that he understands that Judy Garland fans don't like this remake, but he doesn't think it's bad. Fredy and Mary Ann Brusat, on the other hand, commented on Spirituality and Practice that, in their opinion, the director Walter Murch wanted to turn the film into a kind of Star Wars saga, but the end result was disappointing. James Sandord criticizes in the Kalamazo Gazette that the film is too scary for children.

DVD release

  • Oz - a fantastic world . Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2004

Soundtrack

  • David Shire : Return to Oz. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Bay Cities / Sonic Atmospheres, Culver City 1985. Record No. BCD-3001. Original recording of the film music by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the composer

literature

Web links

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  1. ^ Trivia of the IMDb
  2. Awards of the IMDb
  3. Oz - A Fantastic World. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 8, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ Return to Oz Reviews. In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 8, 2017 .