Oz the Great and Powerful

Somebody really needs to look into that trans-dimensional portal in Kansas… Oz the Great and Powerful takes place in 1905 as Oscard Diggs makes his living as a carnival magician. After a short introduction, told in nickelodeon style black and white, he is magically transported to the Land of Oz. He learns he is to be king, should he only defeat the Wicked Witch.

“I’m not too keen on killing a lady.”

“She’s not a lady! She’s a Wicked Witch!”

All well and good, and the film is a fun watch. It’s Disney. They’ve got a pretty good track record, and they certainly don’t need my endorsement. With a budget of $200 million and a name like Oz behind them, there really wasn’t much chance of Disney dropping the ball here, right? The CGI is impeccable; in my opinion the best parts of the film are the China Girl and Finely, a small flying monkey. They both have a life and emotion to them, especially when surrounded by this kaleidoscope environment Disney has created. But then there’s the downside.

The Wicked Witch’s makeup.

I liked the film, I was invested from the start, and hold a warm place in my heart for the source material, but that makeup was so horrible, the makeup department should be ashamed of themselves at the very least. Were it a true and just world, they would be finding jobs that don’t involve makeup, paint, pigment, dye, other people or any form of artistic expression. Even as an adult, there is something deeply ingrained in my psyche about the sound of that laugh (which is done perfectly in this film by the way), and the sight of green skin, black fingernails, and an iconic pointy hat. It’s an archetype of evil, even though at face value there isn’t much imposing about it. The first time her hand scratches a table, and the Wicked Witch slowly looks up from under the brim of her hat, it gave me chills. Then they show her clearly, in good light, and it looks like something Roger Corman would be proud of, and the producers of the original Star Trek series would have rejected. Yes, it’s that bad. The best scenes featuring the Wicked Witch are when she is hidden by darkness (few) and done in CGI (once, her fire teleportation.)

“I don’t want to be a good man, I want to be a great one!”

Legal issues plagued the production of Oz. Oz the Great and Powerful serves as a prequel to the 1939 original. Problem is: Great and Powerful is a product of Disney, the original Wizard of Oz is a property of Warner Bros. Everything from music played in this film, to the shade of green colors was called into question during production. The source material “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” novel by Frank Baum is public domain and has been since 1956, but the flourishes added during the 1939 production are not part of this freedom. What that means is Dorothy, the Tinman, Winged Monkeys, the Emerald City and the Yellow Brick Road (amongst other things) is safe to use. Ruby Slippers, the familiar witch’s theme, and the particular shade of green worn by Margaret Hamilton in the original, however, are not. While this doesn’t necessarily take away from Oz the Great and Powerful, it’s a perfect example of lawyers ruining art. While some elements are not missed, it would have been a nice touch to hear the witch’s theme over the recognized cackle.

Even so, there are still many hidden nods to the popular story in this film. Eagle-eyed viewers will see reference to multicolored horses, the Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man, the Scarecrow (without them being extremely obvious.) Produced by Disney, and made alive by the hyper-colored palate it seems only they can produce, and completely brought to life by the masterful orchestration of Danny Elfman; Oz the Great and Powerful was released to theaters on March 8th 2013, where it enjoyed the third highest historical opening weekend for the month of March. In July of 2013, the film is expected to be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 3D home media.