Return To Oz (1985)

Return To Oz (1985) Full Recap

In a small neighborhood in Kansas, a girl named Dorothy lies in bed and struggles to sleep because her mind is occupied with thoughts about a magical place called the Land of Oz. Her aunt M eventually enters the room and realizes that Dorothy still can't sleep even though it's already late in the night. M's husband Henry looks bothered and checks a newspaper advert about an electric healing procedure offered by a doctor named Warley. And this must be his mouth.

After M leaves Dorothy's room, Henry tells her that he doesn't think it makes sense for them to pay a huge amount for a doctor. M says that her sister has promised to loan her the money, but Henry still doesn't seem pleased. M then mentions that she's taking Dorothy to see Warley at his clinic to see if she can be helped. She adds that it's been 6 months after they experienced a tornado strike and that Dorothy hasn't been herself since then.

M also complains that Dorothy now talks about a place that doesn't exist, as well as other things like talking tinmen, walking scarecrows, and ruby slippers and turned everyone else to stone. Almost immediately, Dorothy sees a shooting star and wakes her dog Toto to tell him about it because she thinks it might somehow be related to Oz. The next day, Dorothy heads out to check up on her chicken, Bellina. Dorothy looks disappointed to see that Bellina hasn't laid eggs, and she mentions that M has already talked about making a stew with the chicken if she still doesn't produce any.

As they move around a damaged old house, Bellina sees a key on the ground and gives it to Dorothy, who quickly realizes that it's from Oz. Go home, Toto. She then runs to show her aunt the key, but M says it's for the old house. Dorothy believes it's a key from Oz and she says that her friend sent it to her on a shooting star.

M still doesn't believe this and she tells Dorothy not to talk about Oz anymore because it's an imaginary place. M then mentions that she knows Dorothy doesn't want to see a doctor, but it's important because she hasn't slept well since the tornado strike. Shortly after, they get ready to leave the house for Warley's clinic, and Henry tells them to be back before dark. A while later, they arrive at Warley's clinic and he asks Dorothy about Oz while looking at the key.

Excellent. Now, he must dump the head in the front. She then talks about the tin man, the scarecrow, and a cowardly lion as she says that all the animals in Oz can talk. Warley asks how she came back. Dorothy says she used her ruby slippers and Wally asks how it worked. After she explains this, Warley asks where she kept the slippers.

Dorothy says they fell off on her way back, but Warley thinks she's just making things up. After he returns the key to Dorothy, he shows her and M his electrotherapy machine. Now, this fella here has a face. As he talks about how he'll get rid of the useless currents in Dorothy's brain so she can sleep well and stop having strange dreams, Dorothy suddenly sees the reflection of a mysterious girl on the machine.

She then looks back and sees the girl smiling at her from behind the window in Warley's office. Warley and M don't notice the girl because they're still talking about the procedure and Dorothy also gets briefly distracted while listening to them. Almost immediately, Dorothy looks back at the window and notices that the mysterious girl is no longer there to do what you told me, Miss Wilson. Shortly after, the head nurse, Wilson, comes in to take Dorothy to a room because Warley wants to keep her at the clinic for the night so he can run some tests.

M says she hasn't left Dorothy with strangers before, but Warley mentions that she's in good hands. M then tells Dorothy to do everything Warley and Wilson tell her. Dorothy asks if M will bring Toto the next day when she arrives to pick her up and she says she will. Following this, M leaves the building and Wilson takes Dorothy to her room.

After she heads out, Dorothy looks out the window and sees M leaving. As she looks sad, the mysterious girl suddenly shows up in the room and says that she brought a pumpkin for Dorothy because Halloween is near. Dorothy thanks her for this and the girl asks why she came to Warly's clinic. Dorothy says it's because she can't sleep and that she also talks about a place that everyone thinks is imaginary even though she has been there before.

Suddenly, they both hear someone screaming outside the room and the mysterious girl says she has to leave. As she heads out, Dorothy opens the door to look outside the room, but she doesn't see anyone. There must have been some magic words. Shortly after, while Dorothy is sitting quietly, Wilson shows up and says that it's time to leave the room.

As Dorothy leaves the room, she's told to lie down on a gurnie, but she asks if she can just sit. Wilson insists that Dorothy has to lie down, and as she does this, she gets strapped to the gurnie. Dorothy doesn't get this, but Wilson says they don't want her to fall. After this, Dorothy is wheeled into a lab where Warley looks prepared to use his electrotherapy machine on her.

He then welcomes Dorothy to the lab before giving a pair of headphones to Wilson. While he sets the right frequency on his machine, Dorothy looks confused, but Warley says they just want to put the headphones over her ears. He says that the headphones will draw all the unpleasant dreams out of her head and that when she wakes up, they won't bother her again. After he's done setting up the machine, Wilson puts the headphones over Dorothy's ears.

Dorothy looks scared because she doesn't know what they're doing, but she just remains silent. Before Warley can flip on a switch to turn on the machine, the lights in the building go off and he looks disappointed. He and Wilson then leave the room to check what happened and Dorothy starts hearing some people screaming as she wonders what's wrong. The mysterious girl shows up again to take off the headphones.

Dorothy looks shocked by this, but the girl mentions that they need to leave before Worley and Wilson return to the room. Dorothy then asks about the screams, and the girl says they're from the patients who have been damaged and locked in the cellar. Before Dorothy can ask any more questions, the girl unstraps her and insists on running away before they're caught. On the way, Wilson sees them and tries to grab Dorothy, but the girls manage to escape from the building.

As they continue running away, they eventually fall into a river, and Wilson looks terrified. Almost immediately, a wooden chicken coupe appears in the water, and Dorothy quickly climbs onto it so that she won't drown. Interestingly, the mysterious girl no longer happens to be in the water, but Dorothy just takes a nap. Much later, Dorothy wakes up and hears Bellina talking about her inability to lay eggs.

Dorothy looks shocked, but she realizes that Bellina somehow managed to appear inside the coupe. And this is the deadly desert. Suddenly, Dorothy notices that the river has disappeared and the coupe is now in a small pond. As she wonders where all the water went, Bellina also asks why they're no longer in Kansas.

Almost immediately, Dorothy realizes that Bellina can now talk and she asks where her chicken learned to do that. Bellina also sounds confused and Dorothy figures out that they're now in Oz. She also tells Bellina that they're currently on a deadly island that surrounds the magical land. She adds that any living thing that touches the ground or steps on it will turn to sand.

After this, she leaves the coupe while carrying Bellina and she walks on some rocks so she can get to Oz. When they eventually get there, Dorothy tells Bellina that they have to get to a place called Emerald City to meet her friend, the Scarecrow, who is the King of Oz. Interestingly, the rocks on the deadly island have hidden faces, and they see Dorothy walking around Oz. One of the rocks then reports to their leader, the Gnome King, that Dorothy has returned to Oz.

The gnome king doesn't seem bothered about this and he tells his servant to keep an eye on her. His servant then mentions that there's a slight complication because Dorothy came with a chicken. The gnome king looks pissed by this and he shouts at his servant because he doesn't like chickens. Meanwhile, Dorothy continues walking around Oz with Bellina and she sees the old house that the tornado blew away.

After this, she finds the yellow brick road which leads to Emerald City. And as she heads down there, the gnome king's servant sees her. He then reports to the king that Dorothy and Bellina are already heading to Emerald City. The gnome king says it's not a problem, and he tells his servant that he's sure they won't get past a witch named Mambi.

Shortly after, Dorothy and Bellina arrive in Emerald City and see that most parts of it have been destroyed. As they look concerned, they see a warning on the wall to beware of the Wheelers. Bellina asks who the Wheelers are, but Dorothy says she can't remember them. After this, Dorothy notices that everyone in the city, including the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, has been turned to stone.

Dorothy looks disappointed by this and as she wonders what happened, some dangerous creatures called wheelers show up to attack her. Dorothy manages to avoid getting caught, but she ends up running into a dead end. The Wheelers look happy about this, but before they're able to grab her, Belina sees a keyhole on the wall. She then tells Dorothy to try the key they found in Kansas, and as it works, they're able to escape.

One of the Wheelers then laughs and says that Dorothy will eventually have to come outside because there's no other way out of the room. Dorothy doesn't get why they want to attack her, and the Wheeler tells her that she broke one of the gnome king's rules by bringing a chicken to Oz. Dorothy asks who the gnome king is, but the Wheelers just ignore her and walk away. Dorothy seems confused by this, and as Bellina wonders what they'll do next, she sees a robot inside the room.

Dorothy then checks it and sees that it has a badge, which indicates that it's the Royal Army of Oz. She also looks at the back of the robot and sees some instructions on how to wind it up to think, speak, walk, and act. Bellina doesn't think the robot will work because it looks old. Dorothy says she'll still try it.

After this, she winds up the keys on the robot's body to get it to think and speak. The robot then comes on and asks if she's Dorothy. After she confirms this, he says he's pleased to meet her and that he's tick tock the royal army of Oz. He adds that the scarecrow locked him in the room and told him to wait for Dorothy to get to Oz.

Dorothy then asks what happened to Emerald City and if Tik Tok knows where the scarecrow is. Tik Tok says he has no idea about the scarecrow's whereabouts and that everything in Emerald City just began to turn to stone. Belina then asks why he didn't turn to stone and he mentions that he's not a living thing. After this, Dorothy winds up Tik Tok's action and tells him that they have to escape from the Wheelers.

Tik Tok says he's at her service and as he opens the door, they realize that the Wheelers aren't waiting in front of it anymore. However, as they walk around the city again, the Wheelers show up and Tick- Tock tells Dorothy to stay away while he takes them down. After beating them up, he's able to grab one of them before they all escape. Dorothy then asks the Wheeler what happened to Emerald City.

The Wheeler initially refuses to say anything, but as Tick threatens him, he mentions that the gnome king conquered the city and took all the emeralds. Dorothy also asks about the scarecrow, and the Wheeler says that the only person who knows his whereabouts is Princess Mombi. Dorothy says she doesn't know who Mombi is, and Tik Tok tells the Wheeler to take them to Mom's place. When they get there, the Wheeler begs Tick Tock to let him go because he's scared of Mombi.

Now go and get the head, Jack. Hurry. After this, Dorothy realizes that the door to Momy's castle is open, and she heads in with Tik Tok and Bellina. They then walk around for a while before they find a well-decorated room where they see a young lady sitting on a chair. As Dorothy asks if she's Mambi, she confirms this and mentions that she would like to put on something more appropriate.

Dorothy doesn't understand this, but Momi takes her to a changing room where she keeps a lot of heads locked in different numbered cabinets. Dorothy looks shocked by this and she watches as Momi takes off her current head and picks up another one. She then asks who Dorothy is and why she's in the castle. As Dorothy says her name, Mambi looks confused and realizes who she is.

Dorothy then asks about the scarecrow and Mambi mentions that the gnome king took the king of Oz and all his emeralds back to his mountain after he turned everyone else to stone. Suddenly, Mom starts admiring Dorothy, and she says that Dorothy's head will be useful one day. As Dorothy realizes what Mambi wants, it can't be helped. She quickly tries to run away, but the evil witch stops her.

Belina also tries to attack Mombi, but the witch grabs her. Dorothy then tells Tik Tok to help her, but as he's about to do this, he runs out of action. Mom takes Dorothy and Bellina to one of the rooms in her castle, and she locks them there. Dorothy doesn't like this, and as she looks out the window, she sees the gnome king's mountain.

As she says she wishes she could fly like Bellina, they suddenly hear someone calling Dorothy his mom. It then turns out to be a stick man with a pumpkin head named Jack. Dorothy says she's not his mom and Jack mentions that he thought it was her. As he then begs her to help him fix his hands and legs, he talks about how his mom built him to scare Mambi.

He also mentions that even though Mambi initially wanted to destroy him, she eventually decided to test a powder of life that she had just gotten from a magician. Dorothy asks what it does, and Jack says it brings things to life. She then asks if Mambi has more of it, and Jack says it should be in cabinet 31 along with her real head. Over here, Bellina more.

As Dorothy thinks about what to do next, she asks about Jack's mother, and he says that she vanished before Mombi locked him in the room. Just then, Dorothy comes up with an idea and sneaks out with Jack so he can take Tick Tock back to the room while she tries to get the powder of life. After this, she sneaks into mom's room and steals the key to her cabinets. She then heads to the changing room and opens cabinet 31 to retrieve the powder of life.

Unfortunately, she ends up waking Mom's real head, which looks just like Nurse Wilson. As all the heads then start making strange noises, Momi wakes up. Dorothy is still able to escape with the powder of life. But as she struggles to find her way back to the others, a glowing reflection appears on a mirror and shows her where to go.

After this, Dorothy returns to the room and sees that Tik Tok and Jack have put together some things which she plans to bring to life so she can fly away from the building with the others. Dorothy then sprinkles the powder of life on the head of a gump that is attached to the object. After it comes alive, Dorothy and the others quickly climb onto the flying creature and escape before Mombi can grab them. Mom looks pissed by this and she tells the Wheelers to bring them back.

Meanwhile, Dorothy looks happy to have escaped and she tells the Gump that they're heading to the gnome King's Mountain. The Wheelers still continue following them, but as they're unable to cross the deadly island, they head back. Elsewhere, Momi sees someone's reflection in the mirror and calls the person Osma. She then smiles strangely and mentions that no one will be able to find Osma.

Much later, the ropes on the flying creature get loose, and as the passengers fall out of it, they still land on the Gnome King's mountain. The Gnome King then speaks through a large rock and asks Dorothy who she is and what she came for. Dorothy says they want him to return the emeralds he stole from Emerald City, but the gnome king just asks what they'll do if he doesn't return them. Dorothy says she has brought an army to take him down.

And the gnome king finds this funny as he laughs hysterically. He breaks apart of the mountain where Dorothy is standing. She then falls into the hole and the gnome king tells her that all the precious stones in the world are made by his gnomes. He adds that the emeralds in Emerald City were stolen from him and he just went to take them back.

Dorothy then realizes that he has a lot of precious stones and she mentions that he has so many. The gnome king seems pissed by this and he says that the point he's trying to make is that the scarecrow is a thief. Just as Dorothy lands inside the gnome king's castle, she sees the scarecrow, but he eventually disappears. She then asks about the scarecrow and the gnome king says he has turned her friend into an ornament for his palace.

Dorothy looks disappointed and tells the gnome king that the scarecrow didn't steal the emeralds and that they were in the city when he got there. The gnome king doesn't seem to care about this, but as she starts crying, he consoles her. As he then mentions that he has something to cheer her up, he brings Jack, Ticktock, and the Gump into the castle, but Bellina happens to be missing. The gnome king says he wants Dorothy and her friends to play a little game to get back the scarecrow.

He asks if Dorothy wouldn't mind risking anything, and she thinks about this. Meanwhile, the Wheelers return to Momy's castle to tell her that Dorothy escaped and is on her way to the gnome king's mountain. As one of them says that they need to warn the gnome king about the chicken, Mombi tells them to take her to the mountain. Back there, Dorothy agrees to play the game, and the gnome king says that he'll give each of them a chance to inspect his ornament collection.

He adds that each of them will have three attempts to guess which one the scarecrow is. He also mentions that if they touch the right item and say the word oz, the scarecrow will be restored and they'll be allowed to go home. After Dorothy and the others accept the terms, the gnome king tells the gump to go first. A few minutes later, a thunderous sound is heard in the room and the gnome king tells Jack to go inside next.

Dorothy looks confused and asks about the gump and the gnome king says he's now part of the collection because he failed to guess correctly. Dorothy says it wasn't part of the rules. But the gnome king reminds her that she said she was willing to risk anything. After this, Jack gets ready to leave and Dorothy tells him to be careful.

Unfortunately, Jack also fails and joins the collection and Tik Tok is told to go in next. As he leaves, the gnome king asks why Dorothy came back to Oz. Dorothy says she has already told him, but he shows her the ruby slippers and asks if she's sure she didn't come back for them. Dorothy looks shocked and calls them her ruby slippers, but the gnome king says he won't return them because they're very powerful.

He adds that the slippers made it possible for him to conquer Emerald City. Almost immediately, one of the gnomes informs the gnome king that Tik Tok is now standing still in the room. As the gnome king tells Dorothy about this, she says that his action must have run down. The gnome king then allows her to go inside so she can help tick and make her guesses.

Before she leaves, the gnome king also offers to send her home, but he says that she won't remember Oz again. Dorothy doesn't like this offer and she just heads into the room. Dorothy Gale has come back. When she meets Tik Tok, he tells her that he's only pretending because he wants her to be there when he makes his last guess so that she can see what he changes into if he guesses incorrectly.

He says that Dorothy might be able to get a clue on what the scarecrow could be. Dorothy says it's a great idea, but as Tik Tok makes his last guess, the lights in the room go off, and she's unable to see what he changed into. Dorothy looks scared because it's now her turn, and she quickly makes two guesses. Unfortunately, they end up being the wrong ones, and she decides to close her eyes to make her last guess.

Coincidentally, Momi arrives to warn the gnome king about Dorothy, but he says that she's currently playing his game. Mom asks why he didn't just turn her into stone, but the gnome king says it's more fun this way. Mom looks concerned that Dorothy might guess correctly and find Osma, but the gnome king sounds furious when he hears Osma's name. He then asks if Osma has escaped, but Momi says she hasn't.

As he then talks about how he'll soon become a full human when Dorothy turns to stone, she touches a green ornament inside the room. It's green, Dorothy. After she says the word Oz, it turns into the scarecrow, and the gnome king looks shocked. Dorothy then tells the scarecrow that she thinks everyone from Oz turned into something green.

As the gnome king gets pissed, he traps Mombi in a cage and starts destroying the castle. Luckily, Dorothy and the Scarecrow are able to find Jack and the Gump, but the gnome king shows up and says that he's tired of games. Just then, he threatens to eat them one by one, but Dorothy and the others run away. Unfortunately, the gnome king manages to grab Jack, but before he puts the stick man into his mouth, everyone hears Bellina talking from inside the pumpkin on Jack's head.

The gnome king looks shocked, but as Bellina lays an egg, it enters his mouth. The gnome king seems disgusted by this and he mentions that eggs are a poison for gnomes. After this, the gnome king and his gnomes get destroyed. And as the castle also starts collapsing, Dorothy finds her ruby slippers and wears them.

She then wishes for everyone from Oz to return safely. as for the Emerald City and all the people in it and for Emerald City and the people in it to be restored. Following this, Dorothy and the others suddenly disappear from the castle and end up just outside the newly restored Emerald City. Mom also happens to be with them, but she's still in her cage. Almost immediately, Dorothy remembers that they forgot Tik Tok, but Bellina sees a green medal on the Gump's antler.

As Dorothy touches it and says the word Oz, the medal turns into Tik Tok and they all look happy. When they return to Emerald City, they're celebrated for their efforts and a couple of people tell Dorothy to stay and become their queen. Dorothy then says that even though all of them are her friends, she still wants to go home. As she says she wishes there was a way to be in two places at the same time, Osma appears in a mirror and Dorothy recognizes her as the mysterious girl from the clinic.

Return To Oz (1985) Ending Explained

She also mentions that she thought Osma had drowned. Osma just tells Dorothy to help her get out of the mirror. And as she does this, Jack recognizes her as his mom. Dorothy also realizes that Osma is the queen and rightful ruler of Oz. One of the city's servants then mentions that Osma's father was king of Oz before the wizard came and that Osma grew up as Mambi's slave.

The gnome king then promised to give Mombi 30 beautiful heads if she kept Osma a secret and she agreed to do this by enchanting the rightful queen into her mirror. Osma says she has forgiven Mambi and that she believes Dorothy has punished her well by taking away her powers and making her miserable in her cage. After this, Dorothy gives Osma the ruby slippers and tells the queen to wish her back to Kansas. Osma agrees to do this and she says she'll check in on Dorothy from time to time.

She adds that if Dorothy ever wishes to return to Oz, she'll make it possible. Just then, Bellina says goodbye to Dorothy and says that she's going to stay back in Oz. Dorothy doesn't have a problem with this. And after she says goodbye to her friends, she returns to Kansas and sees herself on the ground.

Goodbye, Dorothy. Suddenly, she hears Toto barking, and she calls his name so he can find her. Henry and M also look happy to see her and they mentioned that they thought they'd lost her. As Dorothy asks what happened, M says that the clinic was hit by lightning and it burned to the ground.

She adds that everyone was rescued except Warly because he ran inside to save his machines. Just then, Dorothy sees Wilson being taken away by the cops, and she realizes that everyone now knows the evil things she and Warly were doing at the clinic. Much later, while Dorothy is in her room, she sees a reflection of Osma in her mirror and she quickly calls M to come and take a look. However, Osma says it has to be a secret, and Dorothy turns the mirror toward the ceiling so that M won't see anything.

After M enters the room, she asks why the mirror isn't placed well. And as Dorothy draws it down, she sees that Osma has disappeared. Just then, M tells Osma and Toto to go outside and play, and they look happy as they do this. After Dorothy starts talking about visiting a magical place called the Land of Oz, her aunt seeks the services of a doctor named Warley, who turns out to be evil.

Luckily, Dorothy is rescued before Warley can harm her. And as she tries to escape, she ends up in Oz. She soon realizes that things have changed since her last visit, and the Gnome King has turned everyone to stone. Despite the risk involved, Dorothy gathers a small team of magical creatures and helps put an end to the Gnome King's reign of terror.

In this story, Dorothy and her friends showed that even when the odds are against you, working together and never giving up can lead to success.