[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqTeDkNYxYs]
A somewhat truer adaption of Baum's classic books than its predecessor, Return to Oz introduces us to the character of the Gump, the living, mounted head of a moose-like animal attached to a couch with palm leaves attached for flight. Yes, you can read that again, but it'll still be the same nonsense. Just based on that you can see the film was a bit more fantastical than The Wizard of Oz was, and that's saying something. Riding the couch-beast, Dorothy and her friends, Tik-Tok (my favorite character), Jack Pumpkinhead, and Billina the chicken, all escape from peril. Yup!
I recently revisited the land of Oz, watching the original 1939 film. I was never all the much of a fan of the movie, but I had just finished reading the original Baum story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Comparing the two, Hollywood definitely took liberties in the telling of the story. Some of them made complete sense. For example, Dorothy's slippers in the book aren't ruby, they're silver. Ruby looked a lot better on the screen, though. On the other hand, I would've much rather seen a truer adaptation of the book. The family friend film that got produced was a far safer bet for the mass audience, though.
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