Return to Oz is a 1964 American/Canadian animated musical fantasy film produced by Crawley Films, Videocraft International and DW Pictures in association with General Electric. TBD
The film was originally pitched as a television special for The General Electric Fantasy Hour block on NBC, but got rejected, resulted it to be delayed until six months later where Dora Wilson picked up the rights to the film and released it as a theatrical film. It was directed by F. R. Crawley, Thomas Glynn and Larry Roemer from a screenplay by Romeo Muller, who later wrote Dorothy in the Land of Oz. This was the first feature film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions (the soon-to-be renamed Videocraft International).
Crawley Films also produced the earlier 1961 animated series Tales of the Wizard of Oz and brought similar artistic character renditions to the film. There is also a 1985 live-action Disney film of the same name.
Return to Oz was initially released on August 27, 1964, the same date as Walt Disney's Mary Poppins. Due to that, Return to Oz was a box-office failure with a total of $42 million internationally, and received mixed critical reviews.
In 1986, the film was released under the title The World of Oz with the characters' voices being redubbed by actors such as Cree Summer, John Candy, TBD, and TBD while two characters TBD and TBD remain the same, and had grossed $78 million and received mixed reviews. Return to Oz was aired on television syndication in 1965 and on Disney Channel in 1995.
In 2019, DreamWorks Animation Television and WildBrain produced a 40-episode animated television series based on the film, Dorothy's Adventures in Oz, for Universal Kids.