10 Surprisingly Dark Children's Movies From The 80s

Released in 1985, Return to Oz – written and directed by Walter Murch, and starring Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson and Jean Marsh – was a commercial failure upon initial release, but has since cultivated a substantial following.

Based on the novels by L. Frank Baum, the film is set sixth months after the events of the original. In the film, a young girl – Dorothy – must return to Oz, and dethrone a villainous king responsible for numerous atrocities.

Despite borrowing substantially from the original, the film manages to introduce a whole host of new characters – including Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-Tok and Gump, a flying moose-like creature. With that being said, the film departs significantly in terms of tone, coming across more like a surrealist fever-dream than a light-hearted fantasy adventure.

In particular, the scene featuring the Wicked Witch of the North is especially unnerving, the sequence involving multiple interchangeable heads mounted in glass displays, watching Dorothy with lifeless abandonment.