La production de Return to Oz a été assez chaotique : un tournage difficile qui accumulé les retards et les dépassements de budget, à tel point que Disney a voulu virer le réalisateur Walter Murch au bout de quelques semaines.
George Lucas est alors intervenu pour soutenir son ami et ex-collègue (Murch a été co-scénariste et ingénieur du son sur THX 1138 et également ingénieur du son sur American Graffiti).
"I only got back on board because George Lucas, who's a friend, heard about what happened and flew to England from Japan, where he was at the time. He met with me and looked at what I had shot, then met with the Disney executives and said "No, this is going to be great, you guys just have to be more patient with this process, let's see what can be done to facilitate it." And he guaranteed the rest of the production--he said that if something else happened, he would step in and take control. That was enough to make the executives at Disney feel more confident about what was going on, and I was back directing again after a few days. It was a fantastic act of generosity and commitment on his part."
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Interview de Walter Murch Coppola et Spielberg ont également donné un coup de main pour boucler le film, en dirigeant des équipes secondaires.