Return to Oz opens across the U.S. in 1985. Walter Murch’s dark fantasy starring Fairuza Balk is considered the truest interpretation of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, but the troubled production gets Murch briefly fired. The film is a flop, but it picks up an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects and it has since gathered a cult following.
This Day in Halloween: Director Walter Murch’s dark fantasy of L. Frank Baum’s books "Return to Oz" opens across the U.S. in 1985. / Illustration by Allen Sison