{"id":174619,"date":"2021-02-10T04:42:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T01:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/stop-with-the-terrible-wizard-of-oz-adaptations\/"},"modified":"2021-02-10T04:42:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T01:42:45","slug":"stop-with-the-terrible-wizard-of-oz-adaptations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stop-with-the-terrible-wizard-of-oz-adaptations\/","title":{"rendered":"#Stop with the terrible ‘Wizard of Oz’ adaptations"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Stop with the terrible ‘Wizard of Oz’ adaptations<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Why, Oz, why?!<\/p>\n

A new big-screen adaptation of L. Frank Baum\u2019s children\u2019s classic \u201cThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u201d is headed our way like a cyclone, according to a Deadline report<\/a>. The film from New Line will be directed by Nicole Kassell of HBO\u2019s popular \u201cWatchmen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an idea for her: Drive down to Ace Hardware, buy a jackhammer and rip up the Yellow Brick Road so nobody can ever access it again. Just like we did with \u201cPeter Pan\u201d and \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d the world has reached critical mass with Dorothy and Toto. <\/p>\n

The dreamy land of Oz and its characters have been plundered over and over again since Baum\u2019s book was first published in 1900 and, yes, society has fond memories of exactly three riffs: 1939\u2019s \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d (\u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow!\u201d \u201cThe Wiz\u201d (\u201cEase on Down the Road!\u201d) and \u201cWicked\u201d (\u201cDefying Gravity!\u201d).<\/p>\n

The rest of them \u2014 and there is a boatload \u2014 bring to mind another catchy tune: \u201cIf I only had a brain!\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because 99% of Oz adaptations are mindless gunk.<\/p>\n

The first notable stinker after Victor Fleming\u2019s Technicolor classic was a low-budget 1969 film called \u201cThe Wonderful Land of Oz,\u201d based on Baum\u2019s second novel \u201cThe Marvelous Land of Oz.\u201d It is said to be faithful to its source, and is considered by some to be one of the worst movies<\/a> ever made.<\/p>\n

\"1978's
1978\u2019s \u201cThe Wiz,\u201d starring Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Diana Ross and Ted Ross, was one of the only successes.<\/figcaption>
Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The film\u2019s origins were, app<\/a>ropriately for the late \u201960s, in porn. Well, \u201cnudie\u201d flicks \u2014 a titillating genre that petered out in the \u201970s and, while not displaying full sex, featured plenty of naked women. Suffice it to say, nobody left the theater raving about the dialogue. <\/p>\n

In the two years before Barry Mahon directed \u201cThe Wonderful Land of Oz,\u201d he helmed such high-class indulgences as \u201cForbidden Flesh,\u201d \u201cInstant Orgy,\u201d \u201cThe Warm, Warm Bed,\u201d \u201cSex Club International\u201d and \u201cRun Swinger Run!\u201d He thought the genre was getting too smutty \u2014 really \u2014 so he transitioned to family fare. And what a transition it was.<\/p>\n

\"In
In the two years before Barry Mahon directed \u201cThe Wonderful Land of Oz,\u201d he directed \u201cnudie\u201d flicks.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His first go-round is a disturbing descent into misery and tastelessness that is barely watchable today. Mahon cast his son Channy as Tipp, a little boy who runs away to Emerald City and finds himself in the middle of a creepy palace coup. There are no stars, the setting appears to jump from shabby cabin to shabbier cabin and many of Tipp\u2019s compatriots, including something called the Wogglebug, look like nightmarish insects. It\u2019s on YouTube<\/a>. Watch it if you want. I\u2019m not your doctor.<\/p>\n

Less than 20 years later, Disney sank its fangs into the Baum brand, too. In 1985\u2019s \u201cReturn to Oz,\u201d Dorothy (Fairuza Balk making her debut) lands with a thud back in Kansas six months after her stint in Oz. The annoying girl can\u2019t stop\u00a0rattling on about flying monkeys and a tin man, however, so a reasonable Auntie Em thinks she\u2019s lost her marbles. Shock therapy, it is! Not so shockingly, the movie made just $11.1 million at the box office against a $28 million budget.<\/p>\n

\"Fairuza
Fairuza Balk played Dorothy in 1985\u2019s \u201cReturn to Oz.\u201d<\/figcaption>
\u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then in 2013, that model of restraint James Franco wanted a piece of the action. He starred in a prequel (ugh) to the 1939 film called \u201cOz the Great and Powerful,\u201d which Post critic Lou Lumenick hailed as \u201clong-threatened!\u201d It tries to explain how a Kansas huckster becomes a powerful leader, and why everybody is terrified of the Wicked Witch. It did not help matters that a decade earlier, the Broadway musical \u201cWicked\u201d did a much better job of that. The aforementioned hag was played by Mila Kunis, who won an MTV Movie Award. A feather in her pointy hat.<\/p>\n

The flops, they keep on coming.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Franco starred in a prequel to the 1939 film called \u201cOz the Great and Powerful\u201d in 2013. <\/figcaption>
\u00a9Walt Disney Co.\/Courtesy Everett<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s because the most famous book, \u201cThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz,\u201d has been in the public domain since 1956, so anybody can take a crack at it. Kassell and New Line\u2019s prime advantage is that the 1939 film, which had original elements such as the ruby slippers, is in the Warner Bros. library. She can borrow whatever iconic elements she likes. <\/p>\n

From the sound of it, though, this is going to be like every other film that gloats about how it will expose a classic to a new generation: a soon-to-be-forgotten dud. The dismal \u201cAnnie\u201d with Cameron Diaz arrogantly tired to do that. So did \u201cCharlie and the Chocolate Factory\u201d with Johnny Depp.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you right now, if I have to watch a ginger Billie Eilish sing \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow\u201d in this thing, I\u2019m changing professions. That\u2019s a dare.<\/p>\n

\"THE
Please rip up the Yellow Brick Road so nobody can ever access it again.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Stop with the terrible ‘Wizard of Oz’ adaptations” Why, Oz, why?! A new big-screen adaptation of L. Frank Baum\u2019s children\u2019s classic \u201cThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u201d is headed our way like a cyclone, according to a Deadline report. The film from New Line will be directed by Nicole Kassell of HBO\u2019s popular \u201cWatchmen.\u201d Here\u2019s an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/oz.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[92502,92635,82385,1364,80819],"class_list":["post-174619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2-9-21","tag-classic-films","tag-judy-garland","tag-remakes","tag-the-wizard-of-oz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}