Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back to Oz | |
---|---|
Directed by | Hal Sutherland |
Written by | Fred Ladd Norm Prescott Bernard Evslin |
Based on | The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman by L. Frank Baum |
Produced by | Preston Blair Fred Ladd Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer |
Starring | Milton Berle Herschel Bernardi Paul Ford Margaret Hamilton Jack E. Leonard Paul Lynde Ethel Merman Liza Minnelli Mickey Rooney Risë Stevens Danny Thomas Mel Blanc Dallas McKennon Larry Storch |
Edited by | Joseph Simon |
Music by | Walter Scharf |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Seymour Borde |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Journey Back To Oz is a 1972 American animated adventure musical fantasy film produced by Filmation. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), although Baum received no screen credit.[1]
The film was not a hit in theaters, but did well on television, premiering on
The first version featured Bill Cosby. Filmation only contracted with Cosby for two airings, so when the film aired in syndication later, the company reshot the live segments with Milton Berle. The Cosby-hosted version would eventually air in syndication.[3]
Plot
After a tornado in Kansas causes a loose gate to knock Dorothy unconscious, she re-appears in the Land of Oz with Toto, and encounters a talking Signpost (voiced by Jack E. Leonard), whose three signs point in different directions, all marked "Emerald City". They later meet Pumpkinhead (voiced by Paul Lynde), the unwilling servant of antagonist Mombi – cousin of the deceased Wicked Witches of the East and West. Toto chases a cat to a small cottage where Dorothy is captured by Mombi's pet crow (voiced by Mel Blanc) and Mombi (voiced by Ethel Merman) herself. Pumpkinhead sneaks into the house in Mombi's absence, and discovers her creation of green elephants, to use as her army to conquer the Emerald City. Pumpkinhead frees Dorothy, and they flee. After finding Dorothy gone, Mombi threatens that their warning the Scarecrow will not help when her green elephants "come crashing through the gate".
Dorothy and Pumpkinhead acquire Woodenhead Stallion III (voiced by
Mombi, having seen their progress in her crystal ball, brings the nearby trees to life; whereupon Glinda sends a golden hatchet to Pumpkinhead. One of the trees snatches it from him, but changes its fellows and itself into gold and turns them from bad to good. Woodenhead carries Dorothy and Pumpkinhead back to the Emerald City, where Mombi's elephants surprise them. When Dorothy opens Glinda's box, mice emerge, scaring the elephants. Mombi brews a potion to shrink Toto to mouse-size so she can feed him to her cat; but when startled, miniaturizes her crow and cat instead. Thereafter Mombi disguises herself as a rose with poisonous thorns, but Toto goads the elephants into fatally trampling over her, causing them to disappear, to which the Scarecrow explains that Mombi's death has caused all her magic to die with her. Unfortunately, Pumpkinhead, another product of Mombi, also dies; however, he is revived by one of Dorothy's tears.
The Scarecrow makes Woodenhead the head of the Oz cavalry and knights Pumpkinhead; and Dorothy and Toto leave Oz by another tornado (created by Pumpkinhead and Glinda), promising to return.
Cast
- Liza Minnelli as Dorothy Gale
- Mickey Rooney as the Scarecrow
- Danny Thomas as the Tin Woodman
- Milton Berle as the Cowardly Lion
- Paul Lynde as Jack Pumpkinhead
- Herschel Bernardi as Charelsworth Pinto "Woodenhead" Stallion III
- Ethel Merman as Mombi, the Wicked Witch
- Don Messick as Toto
- Glinda the Good Witch
- Margaret Hamilton as Aunt Em
- Uncle Henry
- Jack E. Leonard as the Signpost
- Larry Storch as Amos, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmworker
- Dallas McKennon as Omby Amby
- Mel Blanc as Mombi's crow
Animation Cast:
- Bob Bransford
- Bob Carlson
- James Davis (Credited as Jim Davis)
- Otto Feuer
- Ed Friedman
- Fred Grable
- Laverne Harding
- Lou Kachivas
- Les Kaluza
- Anatole Kirsanoff
- George Kreisl
- Paul Krukowski
- Michael Lah
- Bill Nunes
- Jack Ozark
- Manuel Perez (Credited as Manny Perez)
- Virgil Raddatz
- Bill Reed
- Virgil Ross
- George Rowley
- Ed Solomon
- Ralph Somerville
- Reuben Timmins
- Jack Zander
- Lou Zukor
- Hal Ambro (Uncredited)
- Preston Blair (Uncredited)
- Marc Davis (Uncredited)
- Art Elliot (Uncredited)
- Alex Ignatiev (Uncredited)
- Bill Justice (Uncredited)
- Hicks Lokey (Uncredited)
- Don Lusk (Uncredited)
- Milt Neil (Uncredited)
- Ken O'Brien (Uncredited)
- Claude Smith (Uncredited)
- Howard Swift (Uncredited)
Production history
Production of Journey Back to Oz began in 1962, but Filmation ran out of money and the unfinished film was shelved for nearly eight years. It was only after the
For the film's U.S. release, Filmation partnered with a company called Seymour Borde and distributed it through a process called
Music
The film contains twelve original songs by
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "A Faraway Land" | Liza Minnelli | |
2. | "Signpost Song" | Jack E. Leonard | |
3. | "Keep a Happy Thought" | Liza Minnelli | |
4. | "The Horse on the Carousel" | Herschel Bernardi | |
5. | "B-R-A-N-E" | Mickey Rooney | |
6. | "An Elephant Never Forgets" | Ethel Merman | |
7. | "H-E-A-R-T" | Danny Thomas | |
8. | "N-E-R-V-E" | Milton Berle | |
9. | "You Have Only You" | Risë Stevens | |
10. | "If You're Gonna Be a Witch - Be a Witch" | Ethel Merman | |
11. | "Return to the Land of Oz March" | Liza Minnelli | |
12. | "That Feeling for Home" | Liza Minnelli |
However, a majority of the film contains
Television version
While Journey Back to Oz was a financial failure in its original theatrical release, the film eventually found an audience through repeated showings on television. Filmation sold the TV broadcast rights to
Home media
A special edition DVD was released on October 24, 2006. This DVD features a feature-length audio commentary, interviews with creators Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Fred Ladd, behind the scenes photo gallery, image galleries featuring poster art and animation cels, a sing-a-long feature, most of the Bill Cosby interstitials used in the TV version (presented separately from the original theatrical version contained on the disc and sourced from an incomplete PAL transfer of the TV version, as a complete version of the latter cut was unavailable), the first draft script and storyboards, and a photo gallery (mostly containing behind-the-scenes photos of the Cosby and Berle live-action interstitials used in syndicated broadcasts).
The theatrical version is known only to exist as a PAL digital transfer (sped up 4% from its original film speed) as the original film elements were apparently discarded and purposely destroyed by the previous owner of the film,
See also
References
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9781605490441.
- ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
External links
- Journey Back to Oz at IMDb
- Journey Back to Oz at the TCM Movie Database