Retour au pays d'Oz

Original title: Journey Back to Oz

1972
G
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Adventure Animation Comedy Fantasy Musical

Dorothy returns to Oz, discovers witch Mombi's plan to conquer with monster green elephants. With help from Pumpkinhead and Woodenhead, she tries to stop Mombi's army and warn her friends in... Read allDorothy returns to Oz, discovers witch Mombi's plan to conquer with monster green elephants. With help from Pumpkinhead and Woodenhead, she tries to stop Mombi's army and warn her friends in Emerald City about the threat.Dorothy returns to Oz, discovers witch Mombi's plan to conquer with monster green elephants. With help from Pumpkinhead and Woodenhead, she tries to stop Mombi's army and warn her friends in Emerald City about the threat.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

734

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast16

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Liza Minnelli

Dorothy
(voice)

Milton Berle

The Cowardly Lion
(voice)

Margaret Hamilton

Aunt Em
(voice)

Herschel Bernardi

Woodenhead The Horse
(voice)

Paul Ford

Uncle Henry
(voice)

Jack E. Leonard

The Signpost
(voice)

Paul Lynde

Pumpkinhead
(voice)

Ethel Merman

Mombi, The Bad Witch
(voice)

Mickey Rooney

The Scarecrow
(voice)

Risë Stevens

Glinda, the Good Witch
(voice)

Danny Thomas

The Tinman
(voice)

Mel Blanc

Crow
(voice)

Dal McKennon

Omby Amby
(voice)
(as Dallas McKennon)

Larry Storch

Amos
(voice)
…

Bill Cosby

The Wizard of Oz (TV version)

Don Messick

Toto
(uncredited)

User reviews20

Featured review

4/10

It suffers from comparisons to the 1939 film.

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.

Trivia
According to the book "Creating the Filmation Generation," Danny Thomas voice recording sessions were of such bad quality that they were almost completely unusable, except for his musical number. Larry Storch was brought in to rerecord the Tin Man's dialog, imitating Thomas, who never knew his voice had been replaced.

Goofs
The Lion runs off when Glinda appears. When the shot changes to show the Lion hiding behind a bush, part of the forest background remains the same.

Quotes
The Signpost: Listen, any ordinary signpost can stand at a crossroads, pointing in one direction day in day out, never changing, growing old and dull. Not I, I carry a large assortment of directions. I give people three choices. This way, that way and anyway.

Crazy credits
As with all post-1969 Filmation productions, in the closing credits producers Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott's names rotate in a circle, with Prescott's name on the top half of the circle and Scheimer's on the bottom half. This was done to give both gentlemen equal billing instead of one name above the other.

Alternate versions
There was no Wizard in the theatrical release but the network TV version added new live-action sequences by Bill Cosby, and the sub-plot was to get the children back to Kansas to join Dorothy for Christmas. The TV version runs 96 minutes. These segments were not included in the Syndication rights, for which yet another new segment was filmed featuring Milton Berle.