Tin Type

[vovat]

I finally watched Tin Man, last year's Sci-Fi channel miniseries loosely based on The Wizard of Oz. therealtavie had warned me that it wasn't very good, and...well, it really wasn't, but I thought I should see it anyway. It stars Zooey Deschanel (presumably chosen on the basis of the first two letters of her name being "Oz" spelled backwards; her first name can also be rearranged to spell "oyez," but with an E left over) as D.G. Seriously, that's all anyone ever calls her; I guess her parents forgot to make her initials stand for something. Actually, there's a hint late in the final part that she might share a name with her ancestor Dorothy Gale (yeah, Dorothy apparently had children and died, unlike in the books), but it's not entirely clear. She turns out to be a Princess of the Outer Zone (or "O.Z."), and armed soldiers try to stop her from gaining her birthright. Now, where have I seen THAT before? Oh, right. In the 1925 silent film version of Wizard. Thanks for reminding me of THAT train wreck! Anyway, after escaping from the soldiers and the Munchkins (who, in this version of Oz, are suspicious little guys in body paint who live in treehouses presumably stolen from the Ewoks), she starts her journey to the Central City with the local equivalents of the Big Three. The Scarecrow is a former adviser to the Queen whose brain was removed (well, half of it, anyway), the Tin Man an ex-cop who threatens people with his gun to get out of pretty much any possible situation, and the Lion a psychic healer with a rubber-banded beard (I suppose he must have taken fashion tips from Captain Lou Albano). In the city, they seek out the Mystic Man, played by Richard Dreyfuss, to tell him how much Mr. Holland's Opus sucked. No, that's probably what they SHOULD have done, but they actually end up being sent on a mission to find D.G.'s parents and the Emerald of the Eclipse, which the Wicked Witch wants to block out the O.Z.'s two suns. Unlike Mr. Burns, she doesn't appear to have any real motivation for this, other than just being nasty. As it turns out, the Witch Azkadellia is D.G.'s sister, who was possessed by the spirit of an ancient witch, and cursed with the inability to deliver her lines convincingly. The winged monkeys are tattoos on her breasts that come to life when she wants them to. D.G.'s search leads to a shape-shifter playing the role of Toto, and to her father Ahamo (I wonder if "Tunrettub" was their second choice), who arrived in the O.Z. from Nebraska in a hot-air balloon. Wait, I thought Dreyfuss' character was the Wizard. Oh, well. It's probably not too important by this point. D.G. stops Azkadellia by reaching her human side. I've seen that trope a bunch of times, but it rarely seems all that convincing. This witch's spirit can make Azkadellia go on ruthless killing sprees, imprison her own parents, and rule the country with an iron fist, but can't withstand sisterly love? I don't know; it's not that I can never buy the Love Conquers All message, but I think it's usually applied WAY too conveniently.

In a way, I guess I'm biased, due to my love of the original Oz books. People are constantly reinterpreting the first story, and while that's good in a way, they always ignore the later ones. We've seen so many different versions of the Wicked Witch of the West, but few of the Nome King, and none of Ugu the Shoemaker (at least as far as I know). Even more than that, though, I'm not sure I understand what they were going for with this particular reworking. It was on the Sci Fi Channel, which suggests that it's supposed to be a science fiction retelling, but there were very few elements of sci-fi in it. Sure, there were robots and holographic projectors, but those thing were in the original books, even if they weren't called by those names. In fact, there was probably MORE sci-fi in L. Frank Baum's books than in this miniseries. I also saw a reference to Tin Man as "steampunk," but I can't recall any retro-futurism in it. Really, I think it might have worked best if they hadn't played up the Oz connection so much. Why not just come up with an unrelated fantasy series with some Oz references? That way, they might have come across as more clever and less "oh boy, another remake."

Comments

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

they seek out the Mystic Man, played by Richard Dreyfuss, to tell him how much Mr. Holland's Opus sucked

Yuss.

I don't know, this may have ended my pledge that I will watch Alan Cumming do anything, ANYTHING! The coolest thing about it was Azkedelia's name, and her flying monkey tattoos. Oy.

[newwwoz.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I guess I liked it better than you did, then. I do agree on several of your views, though. They did need to steer away from referring directly to Oz mythos so much. The "Grey Gale" scene was a little sad, because it's telling us that Dorothy died, unlike what Baum intended.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

So I guess D.G. was supposed to have been descended from Dorothy through her mother? I wonder if the whole line was matrilineal. Really, I think the idea of there having been an earlier Dorothy was somewhat out of place. If it was supposed to be an indication that the original Wizard of Oz (regardless of whether it was the Baum or MGM version) was historical fact in the O.Z., then what happened to the country to change it so much in what must have been less than a century? And if it wasn't, then what WAS the point?

[newwwoz.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I'm wondering why these post-modern wannabe versions of Oz have the passing of time so skewed. Apparently in "Tin Man", though it's only been 100 years since Dorothy's famous trip to Oz on Earth, two or three centuries at the least have passed in the Land of Oz. That "Lost in Oz" TV pilot hinted at that, too. It sounds like someone ripped an idea off of Narnia...

(And yes, I just now got back to this.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

In fact, if we're going by the movie's continuity rather than the book's, it's only been about seventy years. The idea of time running differently in a fantasy land isn't exclusive to Narnia, as it shows up in a lot of stories about mortals visiting fairylands, but it's never been part of the Oz series. Baum didn't deal much with years, but it seemed like just as much time passed in the United States as in Oz when Dorothy made her trips from one to the other, and Thompson was rather attached to the idea that each of her books takes place about a year after the last one (although she's never particularly careful with her math).

[yosef.livejournal.com]

I still want to watch this, although I have a feeling my reaction will be similar to yours. I also agree there should be more versions of the later Oz books... if I ever make millions of dollars, I'll finance a film

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, you should judge it for yourself. While I didn't think it was that good, I don't regret watching it, although some parts of it were kind of boring. I think it could have easily been shortened into a two-hour movie, without all the padding required to make it a miniseries.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I suppose there are two possibilities: That the original script was written by an Oz lover as a reimagining of what he liked so much as a kid; or that they had a script unrelated to Oz, but threw in Oz elements in an attempt to attract viewers. I lean toward number 2.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Most of the Oz references were so blatant that I'm inclined to think the former was more likely. Although it might not have been done by a fan, but simply by someone who wanted to cash in on a popular franchise.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I don't know, I liked it a little better than you did, and I think it's possible some of the people involved did care about the original pruduct and thought of this as a "tribute" or "reimagining". (Although a reimagining of the movie, not the book.) But it's the entertainment industry, and nothing like this gets made without someone involved wanting to cash in, whether the product is good or bad.

One reason I can get through these things without going nuts is that I've trained myself to think of them as not the "real" Oz. That was easy, in this case -- clearly this universe is not the Oz traditionalists know and love, so it's quite simply not MY Oz! That thinking makes it easier for me to handle them, whether they're well made or not.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Although a reimagining of the movie, not the book.

Yeah, while the opening claimed that Tin Man was based on Baum's books, I don't recall any elements in it that appeared in the book and not the MGM movie. A possible exception is that Glitch's real name, Ambrose, is one of the Wizard's middle names, but that's a bit of a stretch.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Seems like the makers feel honor bound to claim they're basing their stories on the books -- maybe legally bound, too. But no, this is a movie based reimagining, not book based.

[onib.livejournal.com]

We actually watched this when it played on TV originally. I didn't find it terrible, but I felt like the Oz references were really shoehorned in rather than feeling like a natural part of the story. Actually, one of my biggest gripes was with how abrupt the ending was. I felt like after watching hours and hours of this stuff, they should at least give me a proper ending. As it was, I kept staring at the TV set saying "Wait, was that it?"

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's weird how much they rushed the ending, after drawing out the story so much longer than it needed to be. Maybe it's an indication that they're hoping to make a sequel, though.

[onib.livejournal.com]

*shudder* Perish the thought.