Fantasy movies are supposed to be strange. That’s kind of the point. But there’s a difference between sending somebody on a magical adventure and making them wonder what on earth the filmmakers were thinking. Hollywood has given us plenty of talking animals and enchanted kingdoms. Every so often, though, a movie comes along with imagery so bizarre that you wonder how anybody expected children to sit through it without having a few questions afterward.
The five movies on this list took some pretty wild chances. There’s a return to Oz that feels more like a nightmare than a trip down the Yellow Brick Road, a French fantasy full of stolen children, and a movie that turns a young girl’s imagination into something beautiful and deeply unsettling. Not all of them disappeared completely, of course. Some have picked up devoted followings.
5) Return to Oz (1985)
Remember Dorothy’s trip to Oz? The singing, the dancing, the bright yellow road? Well, Disney’s Return to Oz apparently decided that wasn’t nearly unpleasant enough. Dorothy goes back to the magical kingdom and finds the place in ruins. The Emerald City is practically deserted, and one of the new residents has a rather unusual hobby. Princess Mombi collects women’s heads and swaps them whenever she feels like a change. Then the Wheelers turn up, cackling as they chase Dorothy through the streets. I don’t know who thought these creatures would make good childhood memories, but they certainly got the job done.
Fairuza Balk plays Dorothy in a film that feels almost hostile toward the idea of a cozy family adventure. The production was expensive, the box office was disappointing, and Disney didn’t get the hit it wanted. Time has been much kinder to it. Plenty of viewers who grew up with the movie remember Mombi and the Wheelers more vividly than they remember half the villains in modern horror films. And honestly, can you blame them? There’s something wonderfully bizarre about a studio following up one of the most beloved fantasy movies ever made with a sequel that looks like it escaped from somebody’s nightmares. You probably wouldn’t mistake it for the 1939 Wizard of Oz, anyway.
4) The City of Lost Children (1995)
A scientist who steals children’s dreams because he can’t dream himself. That’s a pretty miserable way to make a living, but Krank doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the ethics of the arrangement. In The City of Lost Children, he lives on an offshore platform surrounded by bizarre inventions and even stranger companions. When children start disappearing from the nearby city, a strongman named One sets out to find his kidnapped brother. Ron Perlman plays One. This casting choice makes a lot of sense once you see the enormous, soft-hearted fellow wandering through this peculiar world.
The film was made by French directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. And it’s obvious that they weren’t interested in making something that looked like every other fantasy adventure. They made things rusty, cramped, and a little unpleasant to touch. The City of Lost Children never became a mainstream Hollywood phenomenon. But it did find an audience among fans who like their fantasy with a generous helping of weirdness. If you enjoy fairy tales where the adults are considerably more frightening than the children, this one deserves a look.
3) Legend (1985)
Tom Cruise plays a young hero in Legend, but let’s be honest about the main attraction here. Tim Curry is a giant demon with enormous horns, scary enough to give most kids nightmares just by his appearance. His character is aptly named Darkness and wants to plunge the world into eternal night, obviously. This is bad news for the unicorns and the humans who need a little sunshine in their lives every once in a while. It’s a fairly traditional good-versus-evil setup and it’s perfect.
Ridley Scott directed the film after making Alien and Blade Runner. His world-building was on point. The forests are gorgeous, the creatures are convincing, and the whole production has an almost storybook quality. Unfortunately, Legend struggled commercially when it first arrived, and its different versions have given fans plenty to argue about. There was the original theatrical cut and the longer director’s cut. Each has its own supporters. Personally, I think any fantasy movie that commits this hard to its visual world deserves credit.
2) The Fall (2006)
Lee Pace plays an injured stuntman in The Fall, and he’s got a rather questionable way of passing the time in hospital. He tells a young girl named Alexandria an elaborate adventure about masked heroes, exotic kingdoms, and a villain who needs to be stopped. At first, the story seems like a welcome distraction for both of them. But Roy has his own problems, and his reasons for telling the tale aren’t exactly innocent. Alexandria doesn’t know the full story behind his words. That makes her reactions to the fantasy all the more interesting.
The really extraordinary thing about The Fall is where it takes you. Director Tarsem Singh filmed across numerous countries and used real locations to create a fantasy world that looks unlike anything you’d find in a typical studio production. There are palaces, deserts, and landscapes that almost seem too strange to be real. The movie never became a big commercial success, which is a shame considering how much work went into it. But it has developed a devoted following among viewers who appreciate ambitious filmmaking. There’s also a lovely tension between the grand adventure Roy describes and the much smaller story unfolding in the hospital. The two aren’t always telling the same story, and that’s where the movie gets its emotional punch.
1) Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
This animated film is definitely a worthy classic. Surprisingly, it’s also one of the earliest anime to reach mainstream American audiences. It’s about a little boy who gets invited to a magical kingdom where he can eat sweets, meet strange creatures, and have amazing adventures. Seems perfect, right? But Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland has other plans. Nemo’s invitation comes from the King of Slumberland, and there’s an ominous warning attached to his new life in the dream world. Naturally, the boy eventually breaks the forbidden rules. What follows is a descent into nightmare territory that feels surprisingly intense for an animated movie aimed at children.
The film was inspired by Winsor McCay’s groundbreaking comic strip, and its production involved artists from both Japan and the United States. Hayao Miyazaki was among the people involved in its early development before leaving the project. Sadly, he had creative differences with the main producer and walked away—later calling it the worst experience in his professional career. The finished movie took years to reach theaters and didn’t become the major hit its creators might have hoped for. Still, the animation has a strange beauty that holds up, especially when Nemo’s dreams start turning against him. There’s a reason people remember the nightmare sequences long after the movie ends. If you grew up watching animated fantasy in the 1980s, this is one of those movies that might make you wonder what the adults who made it were thinking.
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