Much has been made of the darker vision of the Land of Oz seen in Disney's Return to Oz (1985). So as the film celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, it only seems appropriate to incorporate all the spookiness and scariness of this often-overlooked Disney film into our 2020 Countdown to Halloween. A vintage article from the employee newsletter Disney Newsreel details some of the work of Creature Design Supervisor Lyle Conway (who had worked with Jim Henson on The Dark Crystal, among other projects), including electronically controlled figures of Billina, a talking hen who accompanies Dorothy on her new trek though Oz. A glimpse at one of the Little Golden Books retelling of the film's story gives us an indication of Billina's devotion to Dorothy when she is confronted by the evil Mombi. Will these Ozian wicked witches ever learn? Don't mess with Dorothy—or her Plymouth Rock Buff laying hen.
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