"The Witches of OZ"
First things first, this was completed way before OUAT. In fact, the company wanted to sell it as a 2 part TV miniseries, but I was lucky to catch it on Encore Family last night. However, it's just so similar...characters from OZ were sent to our world with no memory of who they are (Scarecrow is Allan, Dorothy's best friend and business partner, Lion is Bryan, an employee at the publishing house who is friendly, loves food, but is shy...the Tin Man just happens to be a big surprise...) except for the bad guys. And in this case, the Wicked Witch of the West is a hot publishing agent in this world, and Princess Landerwiere is there, with her many changing heads.
But I hear you all wondering, "Wait, isn't that Mombi?" Well, sorta. In "Return to OZ", the filmmakers decided to combine those characters. They even throw in the Nome King, who in this version, is a hun that battles with the Tin Man in the climax. But still, this film ranked a big WTF.
I'm happy to see the use of cult favorites like Christopher Lloyd (As a very steampunk Wizard of OZ) and Lance Henriksen (As Uncle Henry), but this is perhaps not what I would've followed up the LOTR movies with. (Billy Boyd as her love interest and Sean Astin as a little elf called a 'muckadoo' who pretty much hangs out with his buddy in Dorothy's apartment eating from her fridge and avoiding Toto...uh, yeah.)
But getting back to my point about how it's sorta like OUAT...well, Dorothy didn't have much of her memories from OZ aside from the stories her granddad wrote. (I can't give away any more, but it's explained in Pt. 1.) And when the witch starts talking about all the other realms to conquer...isn't that hinted at in "Hat Trick" with the various doorways? (Again, surprised she never mentioned Middle Earth... :) )
Oh, and speaking of Disney, there's their prequel with James Franco as Oscar Diggs (Just like in this version, he's a magician that traveled with a circus until he was swept up in OZ) and Mila Kunis as Theodora (Who I bet is the Wicked Witch of West, only hot) which we still have yet to see a trailer for... (I'm hoping it'll be attached to "Brave"...) Yeah, this was a pretty good placeholder.
But still, I'm confused with what looked like a kappa in there...any OZ fans want to help me with that?
But I hear you all wondering, "Wait, isn't that Mombi?" Well, sorta. In "Return to OZ", the filmmakers decided to combine those characters. They even throw in the Nome King, who in this version, is a hun that battles with the Tin Man in the climax. But still, this film ranked a big WTF.
Click to viewI'm happy to see the use of cult favorites like Christopher Lloyd (As a very steampunk Wizard of OZ) and Lance Henriksen (As Uncle Henry), but this is perhaps not what I would've followed up the LOTR movies with. (Billy Boyd as her love interest and Sean Astin as a little elf called a 'muckadoo' who pretty much hangs out with his buddy in Dorothy's apartment eating from her fridge and avoiding Toto...uh, yeah.)
But getting back to my point about how it's sorta like OUAT...well, Dorothy didn't have much of her memories from OZ aside from the stories her granddad wrote. (I can't give away any more, but it's explained in Pt. 1.) And when the witch starts talking about all the other realms to conquer...isn't that hinted at in "Hat Trick" with the various doorways? (Again, surprised she never mentioned Middle Earth... :) )
Oh, and speaking of Disney, there's their prequel with James Franco as Oscar Diggs (Just like in this version, he's a magician that traveled with a circus until he was swept up in OZ) and Mila Kunis as Theodora (Who I bet is the Wicked Witch of West, only hot) which we still have yet to see a trailer for... (I'm hoping it'll be attached to "Brave"...) Yeah, this was a pretty good placeholder.
But still, I'm confused with what looked like a kappa in there...any OZ fans want to help me with that?