Let me start by saying, if you have not yet seen this, I recommend you do so! Yes, there has been some criticism, and I tend to agree with some of it (which I will get to later), but overall, the movie is worth seeing for at least 2 reasons: The Art Work/Cinematography, and the whimsy.
Let's start with the basic story: This is supposed to be a prequel of The Wizard of Oz. It's purpose is to explain how the Wizard ended up at Oz, and why he is only seen behind a screen. We have known from the Broadway musical WICKED that the wizard is actually a carnival/circus con-man who loves the ladies. This movie shows us more of that.
The black & white opening of the movie takes us to the circus where our would-be wizard is a side-show magician.
Note, the name of the circus is "Baum Brothers" - Obviously a tribute to L. Frank Baum who wrote the original Oz works starting in 1900. I didn't notice this circus name until I found this photo, but I love it when little inside things like that are worked into a production!
James Franco as Oscar Diggs, the "Wizard"
As we learn about the life of Oscar Diggs, carny magician, we see him in action as a shyster on the side-show stage. Shortly into the movie, he climbs on board a hot air balloon and launches himself into the sky to escape the circus strong man who is after him for conning the man's girlfriend This launching just happens to coincide with the arrival of the infamous Kansas tornado which we know takes Dorothy and Toto to Oz as well!
Side note: I find it interesting that the vicious tornado safely deposits Dorothy, Toto and Magician Oscar, but doesn't drop any of the other Kansas debris that it must be carrying into either movie lot! ...but I digress...
As Oscar arrives in Oz, suddenly, and predictably, the world is now in spectacular technicolor. The process then begins of everyone being introduced to the magical land of Oz and all the characters, both good and evil, who inhabit it, much as Dorothy experienced.
Oscar's first "friend" is Theodora, played by Mila Kunis. She begins as her stunningly gorgeous model-self in a fabulous red outfit. Of course, Oscar is quite taken with her.
As the movie progresses, she is transformed - by eating a green apple, of course - into The Evil Wicked Witch of the West - aka The Green Witch:
Another side-note: In Wicked, Elphaba is born green because her mother was given a green potion to drink by the con-man/wizard when they had a brief dalliance. Later in the show he realizes he is her father.
Interestingly, when Theodora cries, her tears make gullies on her cheeks, foreshadowing the effect that water will eventually have on her.
Then there is the beautiful, blonde good witch, Glinda, who travels her universe in a bubble:
Michelle Williams plays Glinda as well as a "normal" Kansas girl at the circus - evidently someone who had been a girlfriend of Oscar's at one time.
Glinda and Oscar become very close as she helps him navigate the world where evil witches want domination. She WANTS him to be "The Wizard" even though she understands he's really a con man because the citizens of Oz "believe" in him. He reminds her that he's really not a "wizard" and she assures him that's ok because "THEY don't know that"! So, we come to understand that in The Wizard of Oz, his true identity remains hidden from all of his citizens and not just from visitors to the magical land. Did Glinda know the truth in the original classic movie? Hmmm.... we wonder.....
This whole concept of "if you just believe" is a very Disney thing - comes up over and over in their movies.
Side-Note #3: I find it interesting that the good witch is named Glinda in the classic Wizard of Oz, in WICKED, and in this movie, but the names of the other witches are all different. I wonder why..... do you know?
..... ok, back to our story.
Oscar, as well as the good citizens of Oz, are plagued by 2 wicked sisters who are plotting to take over the empire. We learn in this movie that Glinda's father had been the King until he died, and now the evil sisters have infiltrated the palace and are trying to maintain control.
The first sister we meet is Theodora (as referenced above) and then comes Evanora. At first, we are told that Evanora is "the" evil witch, but then we see her transform her sister Theodora into the "green" witch by giving her the green apple. Theodora then becomes the worst of the two.
Evanora is played by Rachel Weisz - here we see her at the right.
Now we come to the 2 other characters that I found most interesting. First is Finlay, the flying monkey:
Early in the movie, Oscar saves Finlay and so Finlay swears his allegiance for life to Oscar. This character was absolutely adorable! His facial expressions were amazingly well done. Whatever technology they used to move his face was very realistic. In watching the "Bloopers" on my DVD and looking at pictures online, I learned that Finlay was a hand puppet operated by Zach Braff - seen here:
Zach was actually also a character in the opening Baum Bros. Circus part of the movie - he was Oscar's helper with the magic show - he did special effects backstage and generally was his lacky.
My next favorite character was China Doll:
As Oscar and Finlay begin to wander along the yellow-brick road, they come upon China Town which has been smashed by the Wicked Witch's nasty flying baboons (Disney didn't get the rights to MGM's "flying monkeys"). They hear someone crying, and it is this China Doll, but she has two broken legs. Oscar uses his "magic" glue to fix them for her and she is able to walk again. She then insists on coming with them on their journey even though Oscar really doesn't want her to, but he gives in. She definitely adds a different dimension to the story which I appreciated. As with the monkey, the special effects used to animate her were excellent!
Overall, I think the special effects and artwork are what made the movie fun for me. There are 2 small complaints I have, however. Having been a high school theatre director for about 20 years, I like to think I know a little something about acting. If I were directing this cast, I would have a very specific directing note for James Franco. I think there needs to be a more clear difference in the 2 sides of his character. When he is the Shyster/Magician/ConMan, he needs to be more "on" - kind of like Jim Carrey - more physically animated. Then when he is just normal-guy-Oscar he can be more laid back. I also think that when there are times when he is clearly in over his head, he needs to make that more obvious by showing fear, apprehension, etc... As it was, his performance was very flat and one-note. He was just himself. All the time. Not good acting in my opinion.
My other acting note would be for Witch #3, Rachel Weisz. She also could have been more animated with more sinister facial expressions and hand/arm gestures. She seemed too "normal" and didn't show enough "fantasy evil".
I'm not going to spoil any more of the movie for you with more plot summary, except I will tell you that I really liked the big climax, and thought it was well-done. Oscar turns out to be a reluctant hero by using his knowledge of magic in helpful ways.
I will also add that one of my favorite lines was something like, 'is there a pothole in your yellow brick road?' I just love the idea of potholes and speedbumps in the yellow brick road. Funny Stuff! (Gosh, those terms just might end up in my classroom this year!)
You need to see this movie if you haven't already. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well!
As always, thanks for reading, and come back again soon!
:) Amy
P.S. From the Bonus Features on my DVD, I learned that Walt Disney considered the Oz story to be "The 1st Great American Fairy Tale" and not borrowed from Eurpean Fairy Tales. He just missed getting the rights to the story before MGM did in the '30s. However, I think I have to disagree. The whole wicked-witch thing is very European-Fairy-Tale. I think the Kansas Tornado is the unique American element.
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