Return to Oz

Back in Kansas, Dorothy will not stop talking about Oz and cannot sleep. Her family takes her to Dr Worley, who administers electric shock treatment. There are other children in the basement of his clinic. During a storm she escapes and returns to Oz, but Oz is in ruins, the Emerald City has been turned to stone and creatures called Wheelers roam the streets. Walter Murch directed. Known as an editor and sound designer, this is the only film he directed. It sits far closer to L. Frank Baum's books than to the 1939 musical, which Murch intended; he had loved the books as a child. The critical moment of the production came in the fifth week. When the complicated, technically difficult shoot fell behind and Disney disliked the footage it had seen, Murch was fired. Hearing about it, George Lucas flew from Japan to the London set and persuaded Disney to take him back, offering himself as collateral and saying he would finish the film himself if Murch failed to deliver. Francis Ford Coppola's support came in as well and Murch returned. It flopped on release and disappeared for years, then became a cult film, largely for being too dark for a Disney picture. Who it is for: viewers who like dark fairy tales and eighties practical effects. Who it is not for: anyone watching with small children. The shock clinic and the head-swapping Mombi sequences have frightened generations of them.