"OZ the Great and Powerful"
So, once again, I see a movie that justifies this-
Why? There are a LOT of mind-blowing spoilers. I knew the writers of the film said about 60% of it was from the books, though they manage to even tie in something from the MGM film that make a LOT of sense...
The story starts out in 1905, though I'm surprised it wasn't set earlier as "Return to OZ" is set in 1899, but it is 34 years before the events of the MGM film, so I guess it makes a lot of sense...plus, his admiration of Thomas Edison and Harry Houdini...
And of course, the references start soon after. He is a magician with the Baum Brothers Circus and his only friend is named Frank. Eh heh heh... So we see him macking on his new assistant (I think she was going to be named Miss Hamilton originally...) and feeding her the story of how he had a grandmother that was the Czarnina of Kreplach (Which sounds DELICIOUS, BTW) that died in the great battle no one's heard of. Of course, he tells all the girls that, along with the gift of a music box. (Gee, you don't think this will horribly backfire on him at some point?)
So he goes to perform his show (With Frank providing sound effects and his assistant being so dumb she doesn't even remember her cue) and after disproving two hecklers, a sickly girl in a wheelchair is so impressed she asks for him to help her walk, but that's sadly not possible. (Though you might know where this is heading...) Unfortunately, this leads to even more heckling from an angry crowd.
He retreats to his caravan where he's visited by Annie, the only girl he's ever loved. But it's not possible for them to be together. She's accepted a marriage proposal from a farmer named...John Gale. So, she's marrying a guy named Gale and she has a fondness for gingham...you don't suppose she later gives birth to Dorothy?! That gives a huge bond to the MGM film. If much of who Dorothy meets in OZ resemble people from her everyday life, wouldn't the mother figure of Glinda bear a resemblance to her own dearly departed mother? It was all a dream, though this film clearly isn't.
Anyway, the circus strongman is after Oscar because he pulled the music box thing on his wife, and this couldn't happen at a worse time as a tornado is coming! And he tries to escape in a hot air balloon, which is then swallowed by the tornado. Seriously, this and Alice falling down the rabbit hole in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" has been the best 3D that was produced by Disney. :)
Now, summarizing the entire film will get very long, so I'll just go on with a lot of other things I've noticed and/or found amusing.
The witches all have their own element. Theodora's is fire, so when her heart breaks, she's crying and it's literally scarring her. This is probably not the first OZ movie to do so, see "The Witches of OZ". That also goes for her turning full on evil and Evanora saying that she can make it so she can go back to her old appearance (Which she of course rejects)...of course, in the other movie, she goes back and forth to that... Plus, how DOES Evanora know how to keep a beautiful appearance despite being evil? That's something you'll have to see for yourself.
In this one, we meet the China Girl of OZ (She's also played by Joey "Ramona" King, the sickly girl in the wheelchair from the real world and he sorta does fulfill the promise as the poor thing had her legs broken in an attack and he puts her together) but in the books, they say the denizens of the China Country can't leave or else they'll be statues if they leave the city limits. Of course, just like how in the "Pokemon" games, Spoink would die if it stops bouncing on his springy tail yet in the anime, that doesn't happen. Then again, how many times have movies/tv shows been faithful to the source material?
This is also the first time we see the Quadlings, the earnest farmers Glinda rules over. Of course, Oscar enlists them and the Munchkins to run the evil witches out of town in perhaps the biggest con ever. :) (That's perhaps why I like to think Oscar's older self is the one depicted in "The Witches of OZ". :D )
The scene with Tony Cox smacking Bruce Campbell on the head has to be one of his best scenes since this-
So I highly recommend the film...even if one part was too much like Mr. Raimi reminding everyone he directed the first "Spider-Man" movie...
Why? There are a LOT of mind-blowing spoilers. I knew the writers of the film said about 60% of it was from the books, though they manage to even tie in something from the MGM film that make a LOT of sense...
The story starts out in 1905, though I'm surprised it wasn't set earlier as "Return to OZ" is set in 1899, but it is 34 years before the events of the MGM film, so I guess it makes a lot of sense...plus, his admiration of Thomas Edison and Harry Houdini...
And of course, the references start soon after. He is a magician with the Baum Brothers Circus and his only friend is named Frank. Eh heh heh... So we see him macking on his new assistant (I think she was going to be named Miss Hamilton originally...) and feeding her the story of how he had a grandmother that was the Czarnina of Kreplach (Which sounds DELICIOUS, BTW) that died in the great battle no one's heard of. Of course, he tells all the girls that, along with the gift of a music box. (Gee, you don't think this will horribly backfire on him at some point?)
Click to viewSo he goes to perform his show (With Frank providing sound effects and his assistant being so dumb she doesn't even remember her cue) and after disproving two hecklers, a sickly girl in a wheelchair is so impressed she asks for him to help her walk, but that's sadly not possible. (Though you might know where this is heading...) Unfortunately, this leads to even more heckling from an angry crowd.
He retreats to his caravan where he's visited by Annie, the only girl he's ever loved. But it's not possible for them to be together. She's accepted a marriage proposal from a farmer named...John Gale. So, she's marrying a guy named Gale and she has a fondness for gingham...you don't suppose she later gives birth to Dorothy?! That gives a huge bond to the MGM film. If much of who Dorothy meets in OZ resemble people from her everyday life, wouldn't the mother figure of Glinda bear a resemblance to her own dearly departed mother? It was all a dream, though this film clearly isn't.
Anyway, the circus strongman is after Oscar because he pulled the music box thing on his wife, and this couldn't happen at a worse time as a tornado is coming! And he tries to escape in a hot air balloon, which is then swallowed by the tornado. Seriously, this and Alice falling down the rabbit hole in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" has been the best 3D that was produced by Disney. :)
Now, summarizing the entire film will get very long, so I'll just go on with a lot of other things I've noticed and/or found amusing.
The witches all have their own element. Theodora's is fire, so when her heart breaks, she's crying and it's literally scarring her. This is probably not the first OZ movie to do so, see "The Witches of OZ". That also goes for her turning full on evil and Evanora saying that she can make it so she can go back to her old appearance (Which she of course rejects)...of course, in the other movie, she goes back and forth to that... Plus, how DOES Evanora know how to keep a beautiful appearance despite being evil? That's something you'll have to see for yourself.
In this one, we meet the China Girl of OZ (She's also played by Joey "Ramona" King, the sickly girl in the wheelchair from the real world and he sorta does fulfill the promise as the poor thing had her legs broken in an attack and he puts her together) but in the books, they say the denizens of the China Country can't leave or else they'll be statues if they leave the city limits. Of course, just like how in the "Pokemon" games, Spoink would die if it stops bouncing on his springy tail yet in the anime, that doesn't happen. Then again, how many times have movies/tv shows been faithful to the source material?
This is also the first time we see the Quadlings, the earnest farmers Glinda rules over. Of course, Oscar enlists them and the Munchkins to run the evil witches out of town in perhaps the biggest con ever. :) (That's perhaps why I like to think Oscar's older self is the one depicted in "The Witches of OZ". :D )
The scene with Tony Cox smacking Bruce Campbell on the head has to be one of his best scenes since this-
So I highly recommend the film...even if one part was too much like Mr. Raimi reminding everyone he directed the first "Spider-Man" movie...