JOURNEY BACK TO OZ (1972) TV Special Hosted by Milton Berle (1980) with Retro Oz Commercials

[@buggo2005]

Liza even sounds like her mom here too and her singing was so exactly like Judy...it likely made Maggie and Mickey emotional.

[@poetmiester]

Thank you for this trip down memory lane. I remember watching this years ago on a Sunday afternoon, after coming home from church. Loved this animation. In 1980, I was about 9 years old . ♥✨🌈

[@calypzo69]

That voice. Amazing. Just close your eyes. It's an amazing experience. RIP Legends.

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

Actually, the original 1980 airing (on a Sunday) was sponsored by Texize, which offered a free recording of the songs if you sent five or six Texize product UPC codes to the special address. My Mother just happened to use those products, so all she had to do was send the codes, which she did, and I received the record, which I still own.

[@kevingossett8881]

That's cool 😎!!

[@autumnmoon5014]

Its probably a collectors item now , good on mom!

[@thespiritofoz]

That is awesome! I believe the original copy we found must have been a later airing, as it had a Texize ad but no mention of the album promotion. We also have a copy of the vinyl record in our collection.

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

@@autumnmoon5014 Thank you. I remember that day very well.

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

@@kevingossett8881 Thank you.

[@samantharutledge6427]

I didn't even know this existed. I thought return to oz was a live action movie first, not a tv special! Thank you Internet for expanding my knowledge and enlightening my nostalgia!

[@thespiritofoz]

Journey Back to Oz and Return to Oz are both loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, which accounts for the similarities. Return to Oz also utilized elements from the third novel, Ozma of Oz. Fun fact: Almost a decade before this film was first released, there was an animated TV special also titled Return to Oz, which was not based on any of the original books and bears no resemblance to Disney's Return to Oz or Journey Back to Oz.

[@buggo2005]

Maggie probably loved Liza as much as her mom.

[@ultragor]

How coincidental that the first commercial featured Margaret Hamilton, the original wicked witch!

[@thespiritofoz]

No coincidence at all! The special came to us without the original ads, so we curated a selection of Oz and Oz-adjacent commercials from the 1970s to make feel accurate to the time period and exceedingly Ozzy. Margaret Hamilton also appears in this special as the voice of Aunt Em!

[@Eddie-g2w]

@@thespiritofoz What were they thinking having Margaret Hamilton do the voice sent the aunt and not the iconic wicked witch on the west, which she created. Would have really made this show a lot better with her playing the witch. I will get you my pretty and your little dog too.

[@thespiritofoz]

@@Eddie-g2w this film was a follow up to original Wizard of Oz story, so the Wicked Witch of the West was dead. The Witch in this film is Mombi, who is said to be the Witch of the East and West's cousin in this version of the lore. In that regard, I can see why they didn't want to have her as the villain in this version, as it would be easy to mistake her as a back-from-the-dead Witch of the West. Though, I do feel like such a small role for her was a bit of a waste.

[@slytheringingerwitch]

Maybe they asked her and she wanted to do Aunty Em instead. Its possible she wanted to get away from witches.

[@ShanaReviews]

@@Eddie-g2w for one thing the witch in this one is Mombi who is the cousin of the wicked witch from the first movie, Mombi is also based on another witch from the Oz books who coincidentally was one of the characters used to create the antagonist of the live action sequel to Oz. another reason if Hamilton didn't play the witch it might be, of all things, rights issues, the Oz movie was and still is owned by MGM so other studios like Filmation can't use any characters or make any characters look like how they were in the MGM film (this is actually the reason why Return to Oz used new characters and why this film addresses the Wicked with of the West as simply "The Witch of the West"

[@capitancorrea1]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful movie. I never saw this movie before.I love it!

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

GREAT presentation in every way. Thank you so much. I saw it in the first airing.

[@buggo2005]

Maggie probably even told Liza that she sounded just like Judy. 😊😊

[@denisemagnuson8366]

I don't remember this but,do remember some of the commercials! 😮 Amazing!❤

[@buggo2005]

Judy would have been so proud of Liza and she would have probably been on set to watch her and to see Maggie who would have been so glad to see her. 😊😊

[@m.a.packer5450]

Animated movies from the 70s still had such a wholesome quality to them. Never noticed it as a child, but the 80s truly tarnished all the virtue found in children's entertainment by pushing hyper-sexualized characters and action/violence

[@MichaelWilshusen-w4d]

Rip legend

[@dreamguardian8320]

I read in a book that Don Bluth helped work on this movie, but he could see that it was a failure.

[@البتراء-ي6ت]

Thank you 🌠😄🌷👋👍🎩

[@LittleJoeTheMoonlightCat]

9:25 Woodenfead/Gump, Margret Hamilton from Miss Elmira Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West - Aunt Em. Mombi was the Witch in Return To Oz (1985) Green Elephants/Wheelers.

[@Dustbiter2003]

Cool

[@wmbrown6]

The pre-emption notice V/O was by WNEW-TV staff announcer Ed Ladd.

[@troygaspard6732]

This has to be later than 72, since they have ads for The Wiz, which would be a few years later.

[@thespiritofoz]

@@troygaspard6732 the film itself from 1972; however, TV airings began in 1976 and, as noted in the description, we curated commercials from across the decade.

[@thespiritofoz]

@@eugenenickseugenespopmadness the film version of The Wiz was 1978. The Broadway version, promoted in these commercials, opened in 1974.

[@slytheringingerwitch]

It does say that they picked appropriate adverts for the film.

[@garybryant9097]

Better Milton Berle than Captain Quaaludes.

[@thespiritofoz]

We had considered recreating the 1976 version of the special to post around Christmas, as it has the added Christmas subplot; however, we ultimately decided to go with the less problematic host.

[@sirchi8731]

Milton Berle...they don't make them like they used too😢

[@stephenr3910]

Cora for Maxwell House is the Wicked Witch herself.

[@danielchadwick8513]

The film 🎥 actually begins at 3:10

[@Epic11705]

3:10

[@danielchadwick8513]

@@Epic11705 Thank you

[@andersmarklund4211]

Pre-empted?

[@thespiritofoz]

As was common at the time, any regularly scheduled TV program was bumped from its normal time slot to make way for the special. The networks would resume the regular schedule the following week.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

​@@thespiritofozYes, this was normal. We really don't have this anymore.

[@gabrielkendrot3770]

Signpost almost like George jetsons

[@SayleeHon-r2f]

Gay trees in a non-disney special,😲😂😂😂

[@MichaelTouchstone]

I hate to say yhis ,but the tin woodsman and the lion were totally useless in this story.

[@pagliacci2942]

What an unfortunate first song...

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

No, all the songs are well written and very enjoyable.

[@thespiritofoz]

I would say that the score of this film is probably one of its strongest elements!

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

@@thespiritofoz I agree. Great songs.

[@pagliacci2942]

@@thetreasurehouse1742 Even the signpost song?

[@pagliacci2942]

@@thespiritofoz The signpost song?

[@mcg6866]

Milton Berle is creepy.

[@sirchi8731]

No slander 😤

[@mcg6866]

@@sirchi8731 Sorry uncle Milty.