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Description |
Music composed and
conducted by David Shire, London Symphony Orchestra.
The liner notes feature three separate essays: "David
Shire on Return to Oz," "David Shire," and "In Defense
of Oz." |
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Contents |
1 Dorothy Remembers/Home/The Ride to Dr. Worley's
2 Ozma/The Flight in the Storm
3 Oz/ The Ruined House
4 The Deserted City/The Wheelers/Tik Tok
5 Mombi's Hall of Heads
6 Jack Pumpkinhead
7 The Flight of the Gump
8 Dorothy and the Nome King/The Ornament Room
9 The Defeat of the Nome King/The Restoration
10 The Mirror
11 Finale and End Credits ( Theme from "Return to Oz")
12 The "Return to Oz" Rag March In
Defense of Oz
Return To Oz was one of the most
critically lambasted movies in recent memory. In
addition, audiences stayed away in droves. If one
queried people at the time, the answer was usually that
they thought the movie too dark and scary for children.
Of course, these same people were plunking down their
tykes to watch faces implode and bloodily melt away in
Raiders Of The Lost Ark and its sequel. Even now when
you ask people about Return To Oz they invariably say
"Oh, that awful movie!" or some such phrase, but the
fact is they usually say that without actually having
seen the movie. This is all very unfortunate as Return
To Oz is a mostly wonderful picture - well directed
(Walter Murch, with an uncredited assist from Coppola
and Lucas)-beautifully photographed (David Watkins) and
unforgettably scored (David Shire). The one thing it is
not, however, is The Wizard of Oz.
Given the unbelievable
popularity of The Wizard it was probably a no-win
situation for Disney...They were damned no matter what
approach they took. No matter that Return to Oz is a lot
closer in spirit to the books of L. Frank Baum...People
expected to see a movie that would transport them back
to the halcyon days of MGM, 3-strip Technicolor, little
Judy and the Munchkins and instead they got something a
little darker and more subdued. And certainly the film
does lack humor. But it is very entertaining, filled
with vivid performances of Fairuza Balk as Dorothy, Jean
Marsh as Mombi (and various heads) Nicol Williamson as
Doctor Worley and the Nome King and Piper Laurie as Aunt
Em. There is a haunting quality to much of the film, and
some of the images, especially the opening shot of
Dorothy lying in bed unable to sleep, stay with you long
after the end credits.
Hopefully someday
people will discover the movie, and enjoy it for the
fine film it is.
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