Overview
A young girl returns to a fantastical land filled with adventure and danger, where her imagination comes to life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- somber
- eerie
- dreamlike
- family movie night
- dark fantasy marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the adaptation faithful and visually imaginative, but judged its bleak, frightening tone uneven and often unsuitable for young children.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dorothy encounters electroshock treatment, a bleak Oz, sinister transformations, and threatening creatures within a family adventure.
The yellow brick road is destroyed and the Emerald City is depicted as a ruined, desolate environment.
Aunt Em and Dr. Worley interpret Dorothy’s fixation on Oz as delusion and attempt to erase it through institutional treatment.
Critics repeatedly described the film as bleak, creepy, and frightening despite its children’s-film framing and PG rating.
Films like Return to Oz, and why
Pan’s Labyrinth
dark children’s fantasy, psychologically unsettling imagery, and a young protagonist navigating a dangerous alternate world
The Dark Crystal
family-oriented fantasy adventure with eerie creatures, imaginative world-building, and a child confronting frightening forces
The NeverEnding Story
visionary fantasy quest, eccentric companions, and a darker storybook atmosphere beneath a children’s adventure surface
Movie Details
- Director
- Walter Murch
- Release Date
- 1985-06-21
- Runtime
- 109 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (1096)
Cast
- Fairuza Balk
- Nicol Williamson
- Jean Marsh
- Piper Laurie
- Matt Clark
- Michael Sundin
- Tim Rose
- Sean Barrett
- Mak Wilson
- Denise Bryer
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Disney Plus
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Return to Oz about?
- A traumatized Kansas girl returns to a ravaged Oz where mechanical allies and eerie enemies turn a childhood fantasy into a perilous nightmare quest.
- What is Return to Oz like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Return to Oz as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Return to Oz violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Return to Oz as mild.
- What did critics think of Return to Oz?
- Critics broadly found the adaptation faithful and visually imaginative, but judged its bleak, frightening tone uneven and often unsuitable for young children.
- Which films are like Return to Oz?
- Films with a similar feel include Pan’s Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and The NeverEnding Story.
- How long is Return to Oz?
- Return to Oz runs 109 minutes.
- Where can I watch Return to Oz?
- In United States, Return to Oz streams on Disney Plus.
