Oz Goes to the Movies (Yet Again)

[vovat]

bethje and I watched the Muppets' take on The Wizard of Oz last night. I'll give it ample credit for effort, but I don't know that it was that great overall. The decision to have Ashanti play Dorothy, and make her want to be a superstar singer, was rather bizarre. Not to mention that a significant amount of the movie had already passed before we saw a single Muppet. The poppy field being a club and the Winged Monkeys a biker gang struck me as awfully reminiscent of The Wiz. And while there were a fair number of jokes that worked, some of them were just wrong, like the one about Gonzo's nipples. Still, I'll give it some credit for being an Oz adaptation that sticks more to the book more than the MGM movie (although there were a few references to the 1939 picture; it's pretty much unavoidable nowadays, really). It even included Kalidahs, the Wizard appearing in different forms, and the Good Witch of the North being named Tattypoo (a name actually introduced by Ruth Plumly Thompson).

Speaking of Oz adaptations, there are some scenes from a currently-in-production computer-animated version of The Tin Woodman of Oz up on YouTube:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

There are also a few scattered scenes up there, including this one of Mrs. Yoop, who looks kind of like a combination of the Queen of Hearts from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and the female gremlin from Gremlins 2. I have somewhat mixed feelings toward what's up so far. The backgrounds are pretty good, but the animation is rather spotty and awkward. Maybe that will be fixed for the final version, but overall it looks more like a video game than an animated feature. I know it's probably quite low-budget, but I think they could make it look a bit smoother. The voices could also use some work, although some of them are pretty good, like the castle guard and King Bal. I could go on, but I won't, unless someone really wants me to.

On a few different occasions, one of the Oz e-mail lists I'm on will revive the subject of what actors people would like to see in a new Oz movie. I find the discussion interesting, but I'm honestly not so good at that kind of speculation myself. Someone on the Oz Club Forums recently mentioned that he'd like to see Nicole Kidman as Glinda, and I can picture that. Really, I think I'd mostly want to see unknowns in an Oz adaptation, although I guess it could be kind of like Harry Potter, with newcomers in the major roles and veteran actors in the supporting cast. Just so long as Dakota Fanning doesn't come anywhere near the project.

One weird Oz-related film that I recall being discussed as a possibility a few years back was an MGM sequel with Drew Barrymore as a grown Dorothy, living in New York and fleeing from a somehow still living Wicked Witch of the West. Come on, if Drew wants to play an Oz-related role, I could see her as Handy Mandy.



Granted, she's probably too old now, and the time when she WAS the age I imagine Mandy as being was when she was busy with her drug addiction. But then, maybe you'd HAVE to be on drugs to take a role as a seven-armed girl. {g} Also, in the discussion of the book on Nonestica, there was some speculation that John R. Neill based his drawings of the villain on John Barrymore, who was, of course, Drew's grandfather. Not that I think anyone would come out and say, "Hey, let's do a Hollywood production of the thirty-first Oz book!" anyway, mind you. But while we're on the subject of somewhat obscure Oz girls and modern celebrities, Jenny Jump and Jenny Lewis are both redheads with the same first name, who share an obsession with fashion. I'm just saying, is all.

Anyway, I'd like to open up the floor, and ask if anyone reading this has any ideas as to who should start in a new Oz movie, and what roles they should play.

Comments

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

I can't venture to cast roles, but thanks for posting those clips. I actually really like the animation and production design of them. I love the bright colors that they chose. The sound is another matter all together. The voices are unremarkable. Perhaps they're place holders?

The songs serve no purpose and are mediocre. In fact, they stretch the movie along and slow the plot down. If you're going to put songs in a movie, they need to be good, and they can't make the whole thing come crashing to a stop just for a song. It's sad, because the visuals show a lot of promise, but the sound doesn't match up to the quality of the visuals. They could probably also use a tighter script.

But there's a lot there that's admirable. Good for them.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It kind of sounds like there are only one or two people doing the voices anyway, so it would make sense for them to be placeholders. I guess we won't know until the whole thing is finished.

I actually liked the adaptation of the Scarecrow's song, which is actually in the book, although I have to wonder who those backup singers are. The original ones were pretty forgettable, though.

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's very Filmation He-Man and She-Ra with only a couple people doing all the voices.

[yosef.livejournal.com]

Mrs. Yoop sure does love rubbing people on her breasts. And her song is kind of creepy... maybe it's the lines about being lonely and wanting to play. Those Part 1, 2 and 3 links you put up don't work now, because the YouTube user took them down, but he/she put 2 and 3 back as "HD" uploads (I don't know if you can really have HD quality on a YouTube video though). Visually I think it looks pretty cool, but I agree about the awkwardness in different aspects. Still, when I read your post, I was expecting something a lot more static with minimal camera and character movement, so it was nice that that wasn't true.

My ultimate hope is still for a live-action adaptation of a later Oz book. Animation is nice, but seeing fantasy things "in real life" is much more exciting than in illustrations to me. I think that's why I like Return to Oz so much. As for any casting stuff... I'm not so good at that either.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the song was pretty creepy, as was Mrs. Yoop herself. I mean, the book simply makes her a giantess, not a busty gremlin.

I guess I'm not really a big fan of computer-animated movies in general, although I can see their appeal for someone who doesn't have a lot of money to put into actual sets or hand-drawn animation. I think the challenge with live-action Oz (aside from the cost and the inevitable comparisons with the MGM movie) might be not to make the unusual characters too cheesy-looking, but they have made some advances in this respect recently.

[(Anonymous)]

(It's Jared Davis here, for some reason, OpenID and Blogger aren't being nice to each other right now, so...)

Well, you follow my blog, and we're both big posters on the IWOC boards, so I think you know my opinions about a new Oz movie... (Actually, I was working on a blog about my take on it last night, but then decided I was really tired, and might want to see if Sam Milazzo would be okay with the blog, but his e-mail's gone screwy on him, damn POP...)

I will comment on "The Tin Woodman of Oz," although I was the one who brought it up on IWOC. But there, I was being a little more reserved.

I hate their Mrs. Yoop. Big, fat, bimbo with orange skin, a tail, and pointy teeth... and her breasts... UGH!!! The good Oz book I'll treat myself to after "A Lion Among Men" might be "Tin Woodman" so I can get Neill's Mrs. Yoop back into my head. She's one of Baum's best female villains ("villainess" isn't a word? It should be!), and totally defies MGM's "only bad witches are ugly" garbage. (Yes, I called something in MGM garbage. So is their Glinda...)

From what it sounds like, this is the final version, which is really sad. Notice how luminescent some of the (excuse me, some old lady just wandered into my apartment...) character's teeth are? That's really distracting! And what's up with Woot's hair? How much hair spray did he use for it to look that shiny? I can see why he's a kid instead of a teen or youth or young man in the book, but I prefer the way Baum had him.

Oh, and don't expect the Swynes, Captain Fyter, or Polychrome... Part 4 which was briefly on YouTube today shows the three reaching Ku-Klip's shop where they speak to a disagreeable TIN head... (In fact, you can read the whole screenplay on their website.)

It's okay, I guess, for something that didn't cost me any money to see, but it makes me wish for a better adaptation!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Oh, and don't expect the Swynes, Captain Fyter, or Polychrome... Part 4 which was briefly on YouTube today shows the three reaching Ku-Klip's shop where they speak to a disagreeable TIN head...

Aren't there some scenes of the three transformed into animals, though? Or are they still animals when they get to Ku-Klip's?

And according to dictionary.com, "villainess" is a perfectly acceptable word.

[(Anonymous)]

They totally moved the scene with Ku-Klip much earlier in the story. They haven't met Mrs. Yoop yet, and it looks like they might meet Nimee Aimee before her, too...

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

Who was the girl made of tin in a later clip? I thought it might be Polychrome being enchanted into a tin girl by Mrs. Yoop. But who knows, it's probably Nimmie Aimee, and they end the movie with the two of them getting married. (Puke! Puke!)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I noticed they changed the story so that the Tin Woodman actually still loved Nimmie Amee, rather than simply feeling he had a duty to perform. And if they somehow edit out Captain Fyter and Chopfyt, then it's possible that they'll go for that ending. I certainly hope not, though.

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

Nah, it's a new character named "Tin Girl." As I'm typing this, there's part 5 up (how long it's going to be up is up in the air), and they've already met Nimmee Aimee and Chopfyte.