By Austin Spafford
Along with the original movie The Wizard Of Oz, there are many other movies dealing with that same imaginary universe. The most popular movies based on the Oz setting and storyline are the musical The Wiz and the Muppets’ Wizard of Oz. Following in this “yellow brick road tradition” is a new Disney movie coming out soon called Oz: The Great and Powerful which is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.
Oz: The Great and Powerful is about when the wizard, Oz, first arrives in the Land of Oz. In the movie he meets three witches. One of them is the familar Glinda the Good Witch. The movie explains how Oz rises to the role of the Great Wizard of Oz. The role of Oz is played by James Franco.
CHS students are excited for the film’s release, but they are a bit worried about this remake of a classic.
“I liked James Franco in the 90’s, but I don’t think they should him the remake a classic,” said senior Juhi Hegde.
The casting has been one of the big topics of discussion. Other well-known stars are set to play key roles. The witches, for example, are being played by Mila Kunis (Theodora), Michelle Williams (Glinda), and Rachel Weisz (Evanora).
There is a continuing fascination with the Oz setting, characters, and story. One of the best-known is the musical Wicked. Most of these spinoffs contain the same characters like Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion, the Wizard and The Wicked Witch of the West. There are even loosely related shows connected to Oz such as the HBO prison drama Oz which even has an area inside called Emerald City. There’s also the recent show Tin Man, which is a modern take on the Wizard of Oz, featuring Zooey Deschanel as Dorothy.
It seems to be a popular thing to make a spinoff of the Wizard of Oz the past few years. Why this is? Well, the Wizard Of Oz is one of the most popular movies of childhoold, which might be a factor. The story of the Wizard of Oz is also open-ended about the histories and fates of some of its beloved characters. For example: What happened before Dorothy came along and what happened after she left? How did Glinda become who she was? How did the Wicked Witch of West become so evil?
According to Roger Ebert, one of the most iconic parts of the movie is the switch from black and white to color when Dorothy travels from Kansas to Oz. What made it iconic back then was that movies were still primarily being made in black and white, and in “the Wizard of Oz” they switched to color during the movie.
One thing that is enthralling for kids is Dorothy’s dog Toto. Many people own pets and have sentimental feelings to animals so the fact that Dorothy has Toto with her in Oz connects with people. Especially children.
Some people have mixed feelings on these spinoffs because of their attachments to the original story.
Freshman Anna Self said she didn’t think they were necessary because “the spin offs damage the original story.”
Hegde said that she thinks that they “want to keep it up to date, and have the children know about the classics, but I don’t think they’re doing a great job.”
Among CHS students, the Oz storyline is a draw. Recently, in Baltimore City, the Hippodrome Theatre has put on the production of the Tony award-winning musical Wicked, by Stephen Schwartz. Wicked, which debuted on Broadway in 2003, has broken box office records around the world.
Everyone rushed to see this relatively new musical based on the more recent book by Gregory Maguire and the movie The Wizard of Oz. The musical is about the Wicked Witch and Glinda the Good Witch before Dorothy came along.
Wicked offer great insights into the story of the Wicked Witch.
“[I] liked the story. Growing up reading about the Wizard of Oz, I didn’t know much about the Wicked Witch,” sophomore Ted Green explained.
If you have ever seen Wicked, then you’d realize that the plots of Wicked and Oz: The Great and Powerful clash. In Wicked, Glinda meets Oz for the first time as a young girl with her friend Elphaba. But in Oz: The Great and Powerful, Glinda and Oz meet when Oz first arrives in the land of Oz.
After the original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by W.W. Wenslow, a whole series of stories were written, branching off the original book. Some books are serious in tone and others are more whimsical. The book Wicked is about the harsh politics of Oz and the series by John R. Neill is lighter and more whimsical than Wicked.
A song that everyone knows is from The Wizard Of Oz. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was written specifically for the movie and sung by Judy Garland, who plays Dorothy. “Over The Rainbow” was listed as the number one cinema song by theAmerican Film Institute. Nearly every artist has covered or recorded this song at least once.
It would seem that the Wizard of Oz is a franchise that has expanded and altered to the time and has shaped many generations.
Source:
http://www.chscomet.org/2012/12/06/release-of-disneys-oz-continues-wizard-of-oz-popularity/