There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Return to Oz reference in Wicked that’ll re-traumatise 80s kids

If you were one of many who joined the hordes of hardcore Wicked fans hitting cinemas for its opening weekend, you might have noticed a reference to a “Professor Mombi” early on in the film.

As they list the professors at Shiz University during ‘Ozrientation’ as Elphaba is entering, they mention a Professor Mombi being head of biology, a name guaranteed to send chills down the spine of 80s kids.

This is because a Princess Mombi is one of the main antagonists of cult classic 1985 Disney movie Return to Oz, which really lent into the whole baffling trend of making children’s movies deeply terrifying at that time.

Violent, emotionally devastating rabbit snuff movie Watership Down was regularly televised every Easter back then. Spooky 1982 puppet flick The Dark Crystal freaked Jim Henson out so much he had to make Labyrinth in 1986 to lighten the mood – a film about an adult man stealing a baby to win the heart of a 15 year old girl.

Oh and let’s not even talk about 1984 movie The NeverEnding Story‘s tragic horse death scene, where a pony literally dies of depression and sinks into a pit of mud. Thanks for the memories, Warner Bros.

However, Disney then said: “Hold my beer” and made Return to Oz, a film that actually starts with Dorothy Gale – yes the famous child heroine with the ruby slippers – receiving electroshock therapy at an asylum.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that, surely, that must be the most disturbing part of the movie. You’d be wrong: and we don’t even have time to get into all of the weirdness. The Wheelers, for example, which are post apocalyptic, Mad Max-esque vehicle-human hybrids with wheels instead of hands and feet. No thank you.

In the plot, Dorothy returns to the Land of Oz (hence the name) to find it has been conquered by the wicked Nome King and his accomplice Princess Mombi, who, to put it mildly, is bloody terrifying.

Mombi captures Dorothy, and in one memorable-for-all-the-wrong-reasons scene, she leads her through a corridor lined with a selection of wearable, disembodied heads – Mombi is able to swap heads at will, for some reason. Possibly tax evasion. Oh, and did we mention that Mombi plans to decapitate Dorothy? But of course.

@phantomwise_ I have a thing for ethereal women with sinister undertones #princessmombi #mombi #returntooz #wizardofoz #thewizardofoz #lfrankbaum #edit #foryoupage #fyp #fypシ ♬ son original – Phantomwise

Even though the reference to Mombi in Wicked is incredibly fleeting, it’ll definitely make anyone over 40 in the audience immediately sit bolt upright and go “argh.” That’s the impact this diva had on us.

One person took to Threads to write: “When they name drop Professor Mombi in Wicked, I swear my soul left my body flashing back to watching Return to Oz as a child.”

Return to Oz is based on a mash-up of some of L. Frank Baum’s earlier novels, and to be fair to Disney, his novels were all incredibly weird and creepy, so you can’t say Return to Oz isn’t authentic.

Mombi is the most significant antagonist in the second Oz book The Marvelous Land of Oz, published in 1904. She enchants Princess Ozma, who is actually the rightful ruler of the land (rather than the asshole Wizard) but is defeated by Glinda, who forces her to drink a potion that strips Mombi of her magical powers. Typical.

Was Mombi, like Elphaba, also misunderstood? Perhaps Wicked 2 should follow her story and unearth the real reason she was hoarding heads. Maybe she was going to donate them to charity or something.