9/23/2023 0 Comments Return to ozIn the latter category, although the honor was usually misattributed for half a century (mainly by theater snobs) to Rogers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, The Wizard of Oz was the first “integrated musical.” Practically all of the songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Make no mistake MGM’s The Wizard of Oz was a remarkable achievement, albeit one that’s gotten too much credit for what it isn’t and not enough credit for what it is. Still, the day may yet come when Disney has the last laugh after all because Return to Oz has built up a loyal following in the almost three decades since its release and has been increasingly acknowledged as the screen’s most faithful adaptation of Baum’s work. (It wasn’t until The Wizard of Oz started being broadcast on television that the film finally went into the black.) Eventually, it seemed as though MGM had the ultimate laugh at Disney’s expense in that The Wizard of Oz became a much bigger cultural icon among subsequent generations (beginning with the baby boomers) than Snow White, and also that Disney’s attempt at doing their own Oz movie, Return to Oz, was a major financial flop in 1985, particularly due to critics and audiences’ unfavorable comparisons with the MGM film. The Wizard of Oz did respectable business at the box office, but because of its gargantuan budget (it was Hollywood’s most expensive film at the time), it needed to be a megahit to make a profit. Of course, Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise.) Ironically, MGM was inspired to make The Wizard of Oz when Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), became the highest-grossing movie to date. Frank Baum’s classic fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was one of two films that stuck in the craws of the suits running Walt Disney Pictures as a movie “we should’ve made.” (The original 1977 Star Wars was the other one. Released in movie theaters 38 years ago this week, the film is now streaming on Disney Plus.“The Best Movies You’ve Never Heard Of” is a series of articles devoted to little-known movies of exceptional quality that dedicated film buffs may be aware of, but have somehow fallen through the cracks of the general public’s awareness.įor decades, The Wizard of Oz, MGM’s 1939 adaptation of L. It's just a shame it doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. Regardless, this film is a nostalgia ride into a blissful time of innocence and care-free wonder. Seeing how Jack Pumpkinhead and Tik-Tok are made practically, it's easy to watch a real-life object in motion rather than an artificial CG facsimile of what it was originally trying to imitate in the first place. The practical effects and claymation have aged pretty well with some incredible ingenuity and attention to detail. Balk proves to be a bold actress in the movie and never shies away from any problem that arises in the story. The look of Oz is very dreary and depressing when compared to the 1939 film, but it certainly makes up for it with its sense of adventure and fun. Frank Baum, and even some of Lewis Carroll's work, to create its somewhat bland yet interesting landscape of Oz. Directed by Walter Murch, an Academy Award-winning sound designer and editor making his feature directorial debut, the film has a darker approach to it that utilizes more of the novels by L. Nostalgia that makes people wonder why it wasn't appreciated to its fullest when it came out. The film may not get any points for its use of color but it has a lovely and unique sense of Things go awry when she finds her friends turned to When Dorothy escapes from the sanatorium, she falls into a stream and floats to the magical land of Oz, picking up where she goes to see her old friends Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion. Making her film debut, Fairuza Balk, just 10 years old during filming, stars as the curious Kansas girl Dorothy, who is sent to a sanatorium to help her get rid of her dreams of Oz that have haunted her ever since she returned from the land. The story works as a spiritual sequel to the original The Wizard of Oz (1939). If you are a millennial and you grew up in the 80s, you should know about this movie, despite the fact that it bombed hard at the box office. Something that has been largely forgotten in the Walt Disney Pictures library is 1985's Return to Oz.
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