Return to OZ (1985)
Dorothy must return to Oz to free her friends that have been turned to stone by the Nome King.
Genre
Characters/Groups
Dr. Worley and Nome King - Nicol Williamson
Nurse Wilson and Mombi - Jean Marsh
Tik Tok - Michael Sundin and Tim Rose
Voice of Tik Tok - Sean Barrett
Voice of Billina - Denise Bryer
Jack Pumpkinhead - Brian Henson and Stewart Larange
Voice of Jack Pumpkinhead - Brian Henson
Gump - Lyle Conway and Steve Norrington
Voice of Gump - Lyle Conway
Mombi II - Sophie Ward
Mombi III - Fiona Victory
Lead Wheeler and Nome Messenger - Pons Maar
Wheelers - John Alexander, Rachel Ashton, Robbie Barnett, Ailsa Berk, Peter Elliot, Roger Ennals, Michele Hine, Mark Hopkins, Colin Skeaping, Ken Stevens, Philip Tan, Robert Thirtle
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
Six months after the tornado hit their farm, Dorothy is lying awake in bed with Toto when Aunt Em walks into her room. Uncle Henry walks into the living room and reads a newspaper clipping advertising an electroshock healing treatment by Dr. Worley. He tells Aunt Em he doesn't think they should spend the money to get Dorothy treatment. Aunt Em then mentions how all Dorothy talks about is OZ. Dorothy sees a shooting star outside her window and lays back down. The next morning, Toto chases the chickens and after chastising him, Dorothy picks up Billina and carries her into the barn. After not finding any eggs, Dorothy warns her that Aunt Em has threatened to cook her if she doesn't start laying eggs again. While pecking the ground, Billina finds a key which Dorothy picks up and shows to Toto. She cleans it up and then shows Aunt Em the key and tells her it is from her friends in OZ. Aunt Em takes Dorothy in a wagon to Dr. Worley's sanitarium. Toto breaks out of the house, but Dorothy tells him to go home. Dorothy tells Dr. Worley about OZ and afterwards he shows her the machine he is going to use to treat her. Dorothy asks if the machine will hurt and Dr. Worley assures her it will not. He then goes on to explain the machine to Aunt Em. As Dorothy is looking at the machine she sees a reflection, when she turns around she sees a girl, Ozma, staring at her. Before leaving, Aunt Em gives Dorothy a lunch pail and then leaves Dorothy with Nurse Wilson.
Nurse Wilson takes Dorothy to her room and leaves. Ozma appears in her room and gives her a pumpkin and then leaves. Nurse Wilson returns with two men and a stretcher and they place Dorothy on it and strap her down. She is brought into a room and Nurse Wilson puts some headphones on her head while Dr. Worley tests his machine. Suddenly the power goes out due to a violent storm and Dr. Worley leaves to check the generator while Nurse Wilson also leaves. Ozma frees Dorothy and they escape out of the sanitarium. Nurse Wilson chases after them and Dorothy and Ozma run towards the river. Ozma falls into the river and as Nurse Wilson is about to grab Dorothy, she jumps into the river and floats away. Dorothy wakes up in a crate to the sound of Billina clucking. The water drains away and Dorothy recognizes they are in the Deadly Desert of OZ after she notices Billina can talk now. She picks up Billina and then hops across rocks to get out of the Deadly Desert. As Dorothy is traveling she is watched by the Nome Messenger. Dorothy stops to pick a lunch pail from a Lunch Pail Tree and the Nome Messenger tells the Nome King that Dorothy has returned to OZ, and has brought a chicken with her. As they are traveling, Dorothy comes across her old house and tells Billina how it fell on the Wicked Witch of the East. She sees the yellow brick road in disrepair and she runs towards the Emerald City. They arrive at the Emerald City and find everyone turned to stone and graffiti warning to beware the Wheelers.
They come across a group of statues missing their heads and then the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. A Wheeler rides up to Dorothy and she and Billina run away. Dorothy is seemingly trapped in a tunnel when she uses the key she found after the shooting star hit to unlock a hidden door. She goes inside of the door and finds a room with Tik Tok inside of it. Dorothy reads the instructions written on the back of Tik Tok and winds him up. Tik Tok wakes up and introduces himself after he asks who Dorothy is. He then explains that he was left by the Scarecrow to help her. They leave out of the room and when the Wheeler's attack again, Tik Tok fights them off and grabs the Lead Wheeler. Dorothy questions the Lead Wheeler and he tells her the Nome King conquered the Emerald City and took all of the Emeralds and turned everyone to stone. He then tells her only Mombi knows where the scarecrow is. The Lead Wheeler takes them to Mombi's castle and then wheels away. They enter a throne room and meet Mombi who tells them she is going to put on something more appropriate and exchanges heads with from a gallery of heads she has. When Mombi finds out who Dorothy is, she tells her she is going to keep her until her head grows up. Dorothy calls out to Billina and Tik Tok for help, but Mombi grabs Billina and Tik Tok's action runs down. Mombi then throws Dorothy and Billina into a tower room.
Dorothy looks out the window and sees the Nome Kingdom's mountain. She hears a voice call out Mom and meets Jack Pumpkinhead who was created by Mombi with the Powder of Life and then discarded. Dorothy fixes Jack's arms and legs and then tells her how Mombi got all of her heads. Dorothy comes up with a plan and she and Jack exit the tower. She winds up Tik Tok and he and Jack go back up to the tower while Dorothy sneaks towards Mombi and steals her ruby key. Billina, Tik Tok and Jack start building a sled with the head of a Gump in the front. Dorothy sneaks into the head room and steals the Powder of Life and runs away as Mombi wakes up and chases her. Dorothy pours the Powder of Life on the creation they made and the head of the Gump wakes up when Dorothy says the magic words. They then fly away in the Gump sled. The Gump tells them the last thing he remembers was walking through the forest and hearing a loud noise. In her castle, Mombi tells Ozma that no one will help her. The Wheelers chase after the Gump sled, but stop when they get to the Deadly Desert and a few of them dissolve in the sand. Dorothy wakes up to the ropes breaking on the Gump sled. They eventually crash outside of the Nome King's mountain.
The Nome Messenger tells the Nome King Dorothy is at his mountain with a small army. The Nome King appears in the mountain and asks why she is here. When Dorothy tells him she has an army, he laughs at her and the ground falls out under everyone. As Dorothy falls the Nome King tells her all the precious stones are made in his mountain and the emeralds from the Emerald City belonged to him. She falls and slides into the Scarecrow, before he is zapped away by the Nome King who tells Dorothy he transformed the Scarecrow into an ornament. Dorothy starts to cry and the Nome King makes her friends appear. The Nome King makes an offer to Dorothy and her friends. If they guess correctly what ornament is the Scarecrow and say OZ then they can leave. The Gump goes first but fails and the Nome King tells Dorothy that those who fail are turned into ornaments. Jack goes next and also fails. Tik Tok goes next. The Nome King asks why Dorothy came back, and then reveals he has the Ruby Slippers which allowed him to conquer the Emerald City. Tik Tok stops moving and the Nome King tells her to wind him up and then take her guess. The Nome King then offers to use the Ruby Slippers to send her back to Kansas where she will never think of OZ again, but she declines his offer. Dorothy finds Tik Tok who tells her he has a plan. His plan is for Dorothy to watch and see what he is changed into which may give her a clue on what to pick and Tik Tok sheds a fluid drop. Tik Tok makes his final guess and disappears and Dorothy walks over to where Tik Tok was but he is gone. Mombi arrives in her Wheeler chariot and tells the Nome King, who is slowly looking more human as the others change into ornaments, Dorothy is coming, and he tells her she is already there.
Dorothy spins around and is about to take her last guess when she touches an emerald and says OZ and the Scarecrow appears. Dorothy tells the Scarecrow the people from OZ must turn into green ornaments. The Scarecrow finds a green ornament and takes it to Dorothy and it turns out to be the Gump. The Scarecrow finds another ornament and Dorothy changes it back to Jack. The Nome King becomes enraged and picks up the Gump couch as Dorothy, Jack and the Scarecrow pull on the Gump Head, and he eats the couch. He grabs Jack and is about to eat him when Billina, who was hiding in Jack's head, lays an egg. It falls into the Nome King's mouth and he disintegrates from poisoning. Dorothy sees the Ruby Slippers and takes them and puts them on. She then wishes for her and her friends to return to the Emerald City and for it and its people to be restored. Billina notices a medal on the Gump's head and changes Tik Tok back. Everyone gathers for a celebration, including the Wheelers, Frogman, Patchwork Girl and Munchkins, and Mombi is carried in a cage. The people ask Dorothy to be the queen of OZ, but she tells them she has to return to Kansas. She says she wishes she could be in OZ and Kansas at the same time and the Ruby Slippers light up. Ozma appears in a mirror and Dorothy frees her by helping her step through the glass. The crowd is told that the Nome King gave Ozma to Mombi to watch in exchange for her multiple heads, and Ozma forgives Mombi. Billina decides to stay in OZ. Dorothy is able to quickly say bye before she returns to Kansas. Toto runs to her and then Uncle Henry and finally Aunt Em. Aunt Em tells Dorothy that the clinic was hit by lightening and burned to the ground and everyone escaped except Dr. Worley who died trying to save his machines. Dorothy watches Nurse Wilson being taken away in a police wagon by Policeman. Uncle Henry finishes the new house and Ozma appears in her mirror with Billina and then disappears when Aunt Em comes into the room. Dorothy and Toto then run outside and play.