Ritorno a Oz

...and Ethel Merman buffs, too, will love her loud, bossy vocals as the wicked witch Mombi, but this cartoon sequel to "The Wizard Of Oz" is bereft of real imagination, substituting fantasy and excitement with noisy action (and cheaply repeating its footage like a bad music video). Little Dorothy is whisked back to Oz, which has gone to ruin, and meets old and new friends. The inelegant animation is stuck somewhere between the weakest Walt Disney and the less-inspired shows from Hanna-Barbera, however many of the songs are good, particularly Dorothy's sweet lament "It's a Far Away Land", superbly performed by Liza Minnelli. You can count on Minnelli for energy, which is why the movie perks up whenever Dorothy is around. Much of it is unmemorable, and I'm not even sure baby-boomers will get a charge from it since it has been out of circulation for so long. As a curiosity item, just fair. ** from ****

I don't think it is quite as good as the 1939 classic, which was and still is my childhood favourite, but it is an enjoyable underrated film, that is nowhere near as bad as some people say it is. The animation while simple, is colourful and adds to the charm of the film. The songs, while not as fabulous as the 1939 film, are still very nice and quite charming, even "Carousel". Liza Minelli does an excellent job as Dorothy, and I think her singing voice here was beautiful, and here she sounds like her mother, the wonderful Judy Garland. I loved the characters Pumpkinhead, Glinda (voiced by beautiful opera singer Rise Steevens) and the Horse, but the biggest surprise was Ethel Merman as the witch Mombi. This is still the same person who has the big, brassy voice from films like Call Me Madam, yet she does this film, and manages to do a truly excellent voice over, that is both sinister and fun. Even Margaret Hamilton, the wicked Witch in the 1939 film, voices Aunt Em here The story is like the animation, cute and charming, not the best story line in the world, but stays fairly true to the film it obviously drew its inspiration from. All in all, an enjoyable, charming film. It's not perfect, but I've honestly seen worse. 8/10 Bethany Cox.

There is a HUGE problem with any film based on "The Wizard of Oz" books by Frank Baum. The 1939 film version is such a classic, so iconic, that no follow-up film could satisfy audiences. This is a huge problem with this cartoon sequel...you cannot help but compare it and it always comes up short. Now this isn't to say it's terrible...it just is a film that couldn't have been a success and I'm surprised the Filmation folks didn't consider this more.

As for Filmation and the production of the picture, it' was a VERY difficult project as the tiny studio barely had any money. As a result, it took about a decade to actually finish the movie and release it! Because of this, the voice of Dorothy provided by Liza Minelli actually sounds young because she was a teen when she voiced the character.

So is the picture any good? Well, animation-wise it's not very good. After all, Filmation was not exactly Disney or Looney Tunes! The frame-rate for the picture is low, the quality of the art is fair at best and it didn't look much better than any of their TV work, such as "Bill Cosby and the Cosby Kids".

As for the story and voice acting, it's okay...but really suffers when compared to the famous MGM film. Much of it is because adults and kids alike can enjoy "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) but this sequel is strictly kids stuff...and for very undemanding kids.

This movie is excellent! Liza sounds just like her mother when she did the film that it gives me chills every time! I love the new songs and the wonderful plotline which is mesh of "The Marvelous Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". A fantastic sequel =)

I first saw this film when I was about 5 or 6, and to this day I've always loved it! Just the story, the voices the songs, the animation was really cute and simple, the gorgeous backgrounds- Liza Minnelli is in the lead as the voice of 'Dorothy', the rest of the cast include, Mickey Rooney (Scarecrow), Ethel Merman (Mombi-the wicked witch of the west's cousin) Paul Lynde (Pumpkin head), and the original 'wicked witch of ther west' from the 1939 MGM classic, does a cameo as Dorothy's Aunt Em! The plot is a mesh of "Ozma Of Oz" and "The Land Of OZ" (The wizard of oz's author's, other book sequels) I've always loved this movie, it is a little cheesy mind you, (and some of the songs would be severly critisced by film critics)and are waaaay too long, but the story is a good sequel, it fits in better to the mgm version everyone knows, better than the 1985 film "return To Oz" (which i also love mind you) because it has, the same cheery backdrops, songs, and voices. This film is very rare and hardly known by anyone. In 1964, apparently Liza Minnelli PROUDLY recorded the voice for Dorothy, but then regretted doing it later on, and was embarrassed, seing as it was was designed as a crude exploit of her mother's (Judy Garland's) work!.... "It was easy" quotes Liza, "All I had to do was mimick my momma's voice!" Anyway it's an excellent film, (it should keep most children entertained--all the one i've showed it to have been anyway)so if you are a die-hard Oz-fan you should see, it (it's on video) I personally have "Journey Back To Oz" in my video collection, and it is a favourite for little cousins e.t.c!

P.S I LOVE the soundtrack score for the 'tornado' scene! It's so dramatic and awesome! you've never heard anything like it! it's really cool with heaps of differant instruments!