<p>In 1985, Disney released a sequel to 1939’s <em>The Wizard of Oz</em>, with production involvement from legends of cinema George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola. It was directed by Oscar winner Walter Murch and starred a 9-year-old Fairuza Balk (who later went on to star in <em>The Craft</em>) as Dorothy. With that pedigree, you’d think an ‘Oz’ sequel would be a slam dunk, but this film did not have the celebrated reaction we later saw with <em>‘Wicked’</em>. When the movie was released, parents stormed out of cinemas with their kids, saying it was more like a horror movie than something for children. It bombed at the time, but has since become a cult classic, this is just the gist of the 1985 sequel to <em>The Wizard of Oz</em> that Disney considers a complete disaster they would rather forget - <em>Return To Oz</em>. </p><br><p>We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the<a href="https://www.patreon.com/justthegist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Just The Gist Patreon</a> or Apple Premium Subscriptions.</p><br><p>Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> </p><p>Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket</p><br><p>…</p><br><p><em>Return To Oz</em> trailer:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBPKgAXA-28" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBPKgAXA-28</a> </p><br><p>Guardian article <em>‘Hear Me Out: Why Return To Oz Isn’t A Bad Movie’</em> (2021): <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/11/hear-me-out-why-return-to-oz-isnt-a-bad-movie" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/11/hear-me-out-why-return-to-oz-isnt-a-bad-movie</a></p><br><p>The Hollywood Reporter article: <em>How George Lucas Saved Return To Oz</em> (2024): <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/how-george-lucas-saved-return-to-oz-1235866485/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/how-george-lucas-saved-return-to-oz-1235866485/</a> </p><br><p>BBB article <em>‘How Return To Oz became one of the darkest children’s films ever made’</em> (2025)</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250616-the-darkest-childrens-film-ever-made" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250616-the-darkest-childrens-film-ever-made</a></p><br><p>Interview with Walter Murch on the <em>‘It Happened In Hollywood’</em> podcast (2024): <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walter-murch-return-to-oz/id1437795866?i=1000651291941" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walter-murch-return-to-oz/id1437795866?i=1000651291941</a> </p><br><p><em>‘Remembering Return To Oz’</em> documentary (2021): </p><p><a href="https://www.rememberingreturntooz.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.rememberingreturntooz.com/</a> </p><br><p>The Siskel and Ebert review (1985):</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24kiDP1WRr4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24kiDP1WRr4</a></p><br><p>Return To Oz wikipedia: </p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Oz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Oz</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
