Dundead Halloween: Return to Oz (40th Anniversary)

Part of Dundead Halloween 2025. Tickets and passes go on sale to Members, Friends and Patrons at 10:00 on Mon 1 September (make sure you're logged in to book) with general sale beginning at 10:00 on Fri 5 September.

Surely one of the most frightening and downright bizarre children’s films ever made (certainly by Disney), 1985’s Return to Oz is a much-belated sequel to the original The Wizard of Oz film, released some 45 years after Judy Garland’s iconic technicolour trip over the rainbow. 

While Return to Oz was met with mixed reviews (and no small amount of general bafflement) when it was released, it soon found a cult audience on VHS and TV reruns. Starring 11-year-old Fairuza Balk as Dorothy (over a decade before her star turn in 90s witchy classic The Craft), this film went back to Frank L Baum’s source novels for material and found some dark and strange corners of Oz to explore. 

In what could conservatively be described as a bold move for a children’s film, Return to Oz begins with Dorothy being prescribed electroshock treatment to cure her of her obsession with the Land of Oz. Luckily (for everyone), she escapes and is soon back in Oz, where she meets friends and enemies old and new including the disturbing Wheelers, and an interesting character called Jack Pumpkinhead – surely an inspiration on Tim Burton’s Jack Skellington.

The film uses a host of fascinating practical effects to bring its fantastical world and characters to life (including puppeteering and voice work by Jim Henson’s son Brian Henson) and the film was awarded an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects for its efforts. 

As the world (including DCA!) gears up for the concluding part of mega blockbuster Wicked, now is the perfect time to revisit this earlier attempt to follow-up one of the most iconic films ever made. One thing is for sure, there has never been another film quite like Return to Oz.