Posterized: The Land of Oz
Friday, March 8, 2013 at 12:00PM With Oz: The Great and Powerful hitting movie theaters today and having just remembered one of the all time greats The Wizard of Oz with the season premiere of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" I thought we'd honor the land of Oz, the now 113 year old creation of L Frank Baum with this week's edition of Posterized.
The Wizard of Oz (1939), Journey Back to Oz (1974), The Wiz (1978)
Under the Rainbow (1981), Return to Oz (1985), Wild at Heart (1990)
Wicked (stage musical, 2004), The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005), Tin Man (miniseries, 2011)
I'm sure I'm missing some titles that spin heavily from the Oz myth but I came up with nine entertainments, preceding Oz: The Great and Powerful so let's discuss. (If you can think of more like Wild at Heart or Under the Rainbow that trade heavily on Oz imagery or history, without being 'Land of Oz' films, do share.)
How many have you seen?
I can't say that I've seen that many of these as I tend to avoid anything I fear might shamelessly rip off one of the greatest films of all time and thereby tarnish its memory. There will most certainly be more grave robbers coming now that Oz has beenin the public domain for awhile. But, my reservations about all new Oz product aside, I'm still dying to see a film version of "Wicked. I couldn't stop thinking of it all through the new picture. (It was like when they made that Les Miz movie in the 90s and it wasn't the musical. Why?)
Reader Comments (14)
"The Wiz" came out in 1978, not 1981.
The Wicked poster is just gorgeous. So 70's. I wish this run would end so a revival could be mounted with more allusions to that visual theme.
6 out of the 9 I've seen. I don't know the Muppet one, and I don't think I've seen the 70's cartoon (although I was 7 in 1974, so might have been taken to see it.) I tried watching "Tin Man" but got bored. Under the Rainbow" was one of those movie overoveroverplayed in the early 80's HBO, but it was crude and unfunny. (Munchkins lke sex! Surprise!) I just saw "Wicked" this past weekend in Orange County. Loved it, but the music isn't that melodic. Still bought the soundtrack, though. Will definitely see the new one sometime this weekend. I have hope.
Nathan, let's just hope and pray that Tim Burton isn't lurking around the corner...!
(It was like when they made that Les Miz movie in the 90s and it wasn't the musical. Why?)
At a minimum, because they didn't have the rights, one imagines.
If they do Wicked I pray it be the book version and not the musical.
I remember the John Ritter tv film 'The Dreamer of Oz' about the creator
As I mentioned, I guess in a rough way you could say A Matter of Life and Death is an "Oz critique", specifically in how the original film could be read as a movie that fetisizes and idealizes the state of death and near death experiences to an insane degree and, in response, the Archers made a movie that uses Oz's same techniques of fetishization (especially Technicolour) to affirm the value of life.
Miyazaki's HOWLS MOVING CASTLE has got to be one of my favorite Oz "reincarnations"
I've only seen 4. Love that you included Wild at Heart. So accurate!
I love Wild at Heart so much. I remember watching it at Christmas at one point and being so entranced. Diane Ladd and Laura Dern are among my goddesses.
There was a story of those weird pre-1939 Wizard of Oz adaptations that are incredibly out there. One from 1910 and another from 1902.
And then of course you have the unauthorized ones in synch to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
There was that episode of Scrubs (one of their top tier ones). In fact, there are probably other episodes of TV paying homage to Wizard of Oz.
kin -- i remember "Fame" did a Wizard of Oz episode. christ, i'm old! (I figured a million tv shows had done wiz of oz episodes but how to know which?
I remember loving Return to Oz as a kid, and watching it again a few years ago. Geez that movie did not age well. Still not a bad story though.