Trailer relased for the new Oz film from Disney

I've been an Oz book fan for fifty years, and this looks pretty faithful to the books, up to and including the Wizard's name (Oscar). The quick glimpse of the China Princess really gives me hope.

(In the books, the Wizard's name was Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. His initials were OZPINHEAD, so he dropped the Pinhead and became Oz.)

I'm pretty fond of James Franco, too.
 
I notice how much the scenery looks like the MGM movie, which I also love.

In the books, the Witch of the West used the Winged Monkeys to drive the Wizard out of the Winkie country (this was in the backstory, but definitely there).

It wasn't until the fourth viewing that I realized that the houses in the China Country were teapots. That wasn't in the book, but the China Country was, and I love the teapots!

One thing that doesn't match the books is having the Emerald City already built when he arrives. In the books he built the city, or as he put it "I only bossed the job, as we say in Omaha." In the books he was a young man when he arrived, so that matches. He had OZ painted on his balloon (on account of his initials) so that's why the people thought he was a Wizard and accepted him as a ruler.

I think I'm more excited about this than I am about The Hobbit.
 
One of our favorites is the Patchwork Girl of Oz. There's a scene in there that's startlingly like the Old Man Willow scene in FotR. Ojo the Munchkin boy is caught by a man-eating plant and wrapped up in a giant leaf. The Shaggy Man, who has a bushy beard and a pointed hat with a brim, rescues him by whistling; music makes the plant let go. When I first read FotR, I immediately thought of that scene.

There are other things in the Oz books that I later was reminded of. For example, the Lion kills a giant spider in the Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy does get swept up a lot, but she seems to enjoy it. She eventually moves to Oz and brings Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to live there with her. :-)

There are two other Baum Oz books that I know of, and many, many by other authors. The two are the Little Wizard Stories, a book of short stories set in Oz, and Visitors from Oz, in which some of the Oz characters come on a visit to America and hilarity ensues.
 
Last edited:
And except for the suggestion of romance between the Oz and whoever that sexy little number was (the books were written for six year olds), this certainly looks Oz-like enough.

Could be pretty cool.
 
although I have read the book many years ago, and often listened to a favourite audio adaptation as a child. The colours in this film look beautiful. Will definitely be going to see this!
 
Dorothy does get pretty snippy sometimes. But I can forgive her because of this line:

The Princess looked at her more closely.

"Tell me," she resumed, "are you of royal blood?"

"Better than that, ma'am," said Dorothy. "I came from Kansas."
 
that the sexy little number was one of the Wicked Witches.

There is some romance in the Oz books, (Pon and Gloria), but certainly nothing about the Wizard being involved in one. But there's a huge gap in his life history, so it doesn't bother me that they filled it in a bit.

I'm guessing that "Wicked" had some influence on this. I hope not too much.
 
Last edited:
I've always thought Baum's intro to his first Oz book was pretty funny, considering some of the blood-curdling things that happened in the books.

His publishers pulled the plug on one of his ideas: a "garden of meats" in which vegetable people grew human heads to eat.
 
is that it did not present a world I would want to visit. I found it a wierd, creepy place as a kid and the tornado - great early special effects by the way - imprinted my small mind like Jaws did for sharks. Middle Earth was instantly attractive, despite its dangers, and everyone here would love to explore it in detail. Oz is more similar to Alice in Wonderland, a trippy place.
 
I had no idea what it was, I read only one book, the Dorothy´s one and I really don´t know which of all those book is. I have seen the Judy Garland film, so I was wondering what this new film is about, there´s no Dorothy there.

Wow, there are definitely more books, I see.

It´s just great films to bring back all thos unknown books.
More fantasy!!
This is a wonder era for films!!! Yeah I say so,
 
I just get irritated at Dorothy sometimes, like when she was so rude at the little man who was always making musical sounds. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help it. But she pulled the snob act on him and ran away so that they wouldn't have to take him with them to Ozma birthday party.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top