Customer Reviews

Journey Back to Oz [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

JOURNEY BACK TO OZ is a thoroughly delightful animated musical-sequel to THE WIZARD OF OZ, the big highlight being that Liza Minnelli voices the role of Dorothy (the role that catapulted her mother Judy Garland into the annals of film history).

Of course, no animated film could ever replicate the magic and scope of the 1939 masterpiece, but let's not carp. For what it sets out to achieve, JOURNEY BACK TO OZ delivers handsomely.

Dorothy (Liza Minnelli) gets swept back to Oz via another cyclone, and quickly sets about finding her old friends the Scarecrow (Mickey Rooney), Tin Man (Danny Thomas) and Cowardly Lion (Milton Berle). Instead, Dorothy discovers to her horror that an evil witch called Mombi (Ethel Merman) is plotting to invade the Emerald City with a hoard of enchanted green elephants.

With new friends; Jack Pumpkinhead (Paul Lynde) and Woodenhead the carousel horse (Herschel Bernardi), and some guidance from Glinda (Rise Stevens); Dorothy sets out to thwart Mombi and save her old friends from destruction.

The score by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy van Heusen contains some gems; Liza Minnelli sings "There's a Faraway Land" and "That Feeling for Home", whilst Ethel Merman camps it up with "Be a Witch" and Rise Stevens delivers Glinda's "You Have Only You" to perfection.

Another cute twist is Margaret Hamilton (who played the Wicked Witch and Miss Gulch in the original Judy Garland classic) voicing the role of Aunt Em!

Originally made and recorded by the Filmation Company in 1962, it was curiously kept out of cinemas until 1974. This new Special Edition from Brentwood marks the movie's DVD debut.

As everyone knows, Judy Garland first played the role of Dorothy in the 1939 masterpiece "The Wizard of Oz". In Journey Back To Oz the torch has been passed to her daughter Liza Minnelli. Even though Liza only does the voice work for Dorothy I think she did a great job with the character, and It's a treat that Margaret Hamilton returned to do another Oz film even though it was to portray Auntie Em. I remember that this film was broadcast on T.V. several times years ago and I was always there to enjoy it as a child. If you are an Oz fan I believe you'll love this movie and already have it as a part of your Oz collection. For those who are not Oz fans, but animation fans I'd recommend renting it first to see what you think of it. This film didn't do so well at the box office, but I feel that it has a cult following.

This brings back happy memories! Journey Back to Oz was a wonderful part of my childhood. I loved watching it on TV as a kid. It's a great sequel with wonderful songs and a fantastic cast. I'm very happy that Journey Back to Oz is available on DVD.

This brings back memories, from over 10 years ago, from my happy "WIZARD OF OZ" filled child-hood. This is a wonderful, funny and cool cartoon. *SPOILER ALET* Dorothy is singing about how she misses OZ in a meadow when the storm her aunt and uncle were getting ready for, turns into a roaring black twister, and Dorothy is knocked unconscious by a swinging padock gate. the twister carries her body away (with TOTO) and they get spat out into munchkinland. Dorothy meets a cool signpost, when she decides to go visit the scarecrow who is king of the emerald city. She trips down into a little glen, and meets a pumpkinheaded man, hiding from his witch mistress "MOMBI". Dorothy meets Mombi and hears of her plan to conquer the Emerald City and throw the Scarecrow off his throne, by using a herd of giant magical green elephants...all new songs, all new characters (the old ones are there too) and AMAZING BACKDROPS) it's a little cheezey <it was the 1970's! what do you expect???> but it's a fantastic wonderful little show! it's hard to get...but see it! it tops ''RETURN TO OZ'' and definetly tops ''THE WIZ"

this movie is all that and more
I saw this as a boy with my grandmother in the theater and later on TV.
I have always been a huge Ethel Merman fan and her Mombi is right on
the best song to me is an elephant never forgets.
this is a must see for any fan of the old classic cartoons

A wonderful childhood memory with a unique collaboration of classic performers.

Story could have been better.

Beating out Disney's Return To Oz by over a decade, this fully-animated "sequal" to the original 1939 Wizard Of Oz movie was headed up by Filmation, the same studio that did dozens of Saturday morning cartoons from the 60s-80s. Their main claims to fame were the original DC Super Heroes cartoons, the Star Trek animated series, Fat Albert, and He-Man. The film was headed up by Fredd Ladd, who pioneered alot of the original anime TV shows that were first shown in America, including Astro Boy. During the 60s when he was producing an original movie called Pinocchio In Outer Space, Ladd tried to get an animated followup to WOZ, however it wasn't until 1974 that it was finally released in theatres.

The story takes place sometime after the original movie with Dorothy and Toto being taken to Oz via tornado(again?!), and then head out to the Emerald City. Along the way, she meets Pumpkinhead(not Jack)who is a slave of the evil witch Mombi that "claims" to be the cousin of both the deceased Wicked Witches. Mombi plots to kick Scarecrow off the throne with an army of conjured-up green elephants. Dorothy and Pumpkinhead go to warn Scarecrow, and run into an abandonned merry-go-round horse named Woodenhead who is this movie's version of the Sawhorse. They ride their new friend to the Emerald City and alert Scarecrow of the threat. But Mombi and her elephants show up and take over, imprisioning Scarecrow and Toto. Dorothy and the others try to get help from Tin Man and then Lion, both of whom uncharacteristically chicken out. Glinda finally arrives, but says she can't assist Dorothy directly(how convenient!)but gives her a magic box filled with an infinite number of mice to scare the elephants away. Facing defeat, Mombi disguises herself as a flower, only to get trampled on by the panicked packyderms. So Scarecrow is made king of Oz again, Pumpkinhead and Woodenhead get swanky new jobs, and Dorothy and Toto get sent back home thanks to Glinda's magic(so much for magic slippers).

This movie was basically yet another take on the second book, Land Of Oz, although once again Dorothy is added to it when she was never even in the original story at all. There were alot of famous actors who provided voices for it, including Liza Minnelli(Judy Garland's daughter)as Dorothy, Mickey Rooney as Scarecrow, Paul Lynde as Pumpkinhead, Danny Thomas as Tin Man, Milton Berle as Lion, and Ethel Merman as Mombi. The animation was signifigantly better than most Filmation productions, mainly because they hired some additional outside animators from studios like Disney, including Don Bluth. It makes for a pretty enjoyable kids movie, although there's a whole load of mostly unnecessary music numbers thrown in, which if they were left out would've made the movie about thirty minutes shorter. Fans of the Land Of Oz might not like the primary characters of Trot, Jinjur, or Wogglebug being left out, but will probably appreciate the effort made to homage the original book. It was as of recently put on DVD by the now defucnt Ink & Paint, but is still available from most retailers.

This is old fashioned hand crafted animation at it's best. Sure it was made on a lower budget than Disney(most Filmation Animation was)but it is still lovingly crafted and charming. It also features a fifteen year old Liza Minnelli picking up where her mother left off. A must for Oz fans. Wonderful.
Review submitted by James"alice fan"

If you buy this, you won't need to buy last year's release of "Journey Back to Oz" special edition. This collection gives you the ....Oz special edition dvd, with all the same extras, and two other Filmation Animated Features: Snow White Happily Ever After (with extras) and "A Snow White Christmas."
It's great value for money, and your children will enjoy these classic cartoons done in Filmation's distinctive style of animation.
The Journey Back to OZ DVD includes a feature commentary with Lou Scheimer and other production staff.
Buy and enjoy.
Amazon's price is great too!

Journey Back to Oz is Filmation's first project, shelved in the 60s, completed in the 70s.

The first half of it is a classy production. The animation is fluid and very traditional, if unspectacular, but is has a certain charm and some terrific looking artwork. I like in particular the way Jack Pumpkinhead (voiced by Paul Lynde) and Toto are animated. The story is loosely based on L.Frank Baum's The Land of Oz, and centers on Mombi the Witch trying to take capture the Emerald City using magical green elephants. Along the way we meet some cool new characters, Woodenhead Stallion (the Third, if I remember correctly), (the aformentioned) Jack Pumpkinhead, and a living signpost.

About halfway through the film, Mombi conquers the Emerald City with her elepahnts. Up til this point, the movie moves at a good, brisk pace. Sadly it really spirals downward from there. The problem: TOO MANY songs and that is ultimately its downfall from a wonderful voice cast. The cast is star-studded (especially for the 60s/70s) and EVERYONE has a song. The Lion and Tinman each make pretty much token appearances, and both have pointless songs. The same with Glinda the good witch, and on and on... The end result is a film that drags, rather than moves along crisply.

Hard to mention this movie without mentioning that Liza's voiced version of Dorothy is a near perfect mimic of her mothers in the original.

I like this movie, but it's just too long with too many songs. Still the ending is nice and it is a good first effort from Filmation.

The menu with the signpost guy is really cool (who better to point you in the right direction?) and the extras are great! Look for the live-action wraparounds with Bill Cosby for when it aired on TV in the 70s and interviews with Filmation founders Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland.

Overall, first half 3 stars, second half 1.5 stars. Worth a look, especially if you like Filmation.