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Lost in Oz cast

From left to right: Caleb Jansen, The Patchwork Girl, and Alexandra Wilder. The cast of Lost in Oz.

For other works with the same title, see Lost in Oz.

Lost in Oz is a pilot filmed in 2002 for a cancelled alternate Oz television drama series. It would have taken place in the present day with references to the 1939 film, and contain a cast of new characters, some of whom are references to various book characters.

It would have similar to CW's Smallville and The WB/UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by David Hayter, who was also executive producer, and directed by Mick Garris. With the pilot running for about 46 minutes, it can speculated that episodes were to fit into an hour time-slot.

Plot[]

Per the only filmed episode, the title is shown after words appear stating that "A long time ago, a hero came to the Land of Oz. Her name was Dorothy Gale. Today, a new Wicked Witch of the West has enslaved the ancient Emerald City, and is slowly driving Oz into ruin. If the land is to survive, a new hero must be found..."

It opens with Alex in a dream trying on her wedding dress as she expresses doubts to her mother and friend Brianna. She then receives a call from her boss Mr. Linder which she picks up which corresponds to a real call from him that wakes her up who begs her to come to work.

She looks at her ring and then invites her dog Jack to come for a ride but he declines. She explains to her mother that she can't do brunch because Linder is breaking ground on a project for Wichita State's Science program. Her mother notes that it is a two hours drive who feels that she should quit her job as Alex agrees but states she has to go. She kisses her mom on the cheek and they both say their "I love yous".

In her car, she hears a man on the radio give a tornado warning from the weather service but she doesn't seem concerned because the sky is clear. Suddenly a tire hits the top of her car's front end which causes her to hit the brakes in confusion. Just then a giant tornado arrives at her side as she watches it destroy a house and tries desperately to floor her car to outrun it. She even swerves onto a dirt road but it continues to follow her from behind and then a tractor drops in front causing her to drive into a cornfield. She crashes into a fence and while running on foot nearly gets crushed or electrocuted by falling electric poles. She runs into a barnhouse which is quickly swept by the tornado.

Eva Cassidy's rendition of Over the Rainbow plays as she wakes up and opens the barn doors to see what looks like the Yellow Brick Road but was actually a bunch of yellow butterflies plus a horse that was also in the barn. Just then four guardsmen wearing armor on horses frightens her to the point that she jumps on the horse as to have it gallop away as a chase starts. They go into a dense forest area and she is knocked off her horse when it comes to a fallen tree but she is able to hide under a log. However a mysterious cloaked man is also behind a tree and jumps onto her.

The guards then leave so he tries to help her up but she knocks him down and strangles him while demanding answers to questions. He knocks her off of him and tries again to grab her hand but she instead knocks down him again with a small log this time. She then orders him to get up and take off his robe as she notices the American flag insignia on his jacket. They are surprised to learn they are both from America and they introduce each other. Caleb explains that they are in Oz as he got there after flying into a fog on a mission out of Dover, England when enemy fire took him down a year ago.

She is stunned and asks "Like the movie?" as he reflects that he was already overseas when it came out. They realize how time is changed as he believes the year is 1943 while she notes that it is 2002. Suddenly their horses race off quickly to a lake where they can walk on as they see a town underwater. Then the four guards catch up behind them and aim their arrows forcing them to go into a magical cavern that leads to the town. Caleb tries to fight them off even knocking one's head off before it gets reattached because they are just sentient magically contructed beings. Bellaridere appears revealing the guards are with her as they are not a threat. She leads them through her castle and even comes across an aggressive pet tiger that causes Alex to run off.

Caleb catches up to her and Bellaridere reassures her while explaining the history of Dorothy Gale and the Wizard leaving Oz which left them exposed to the new Wicked Witch of the West. She notes that she trained a savior named Ozma who is about Alex's age who can fight and rule but she was captured by the Witch who imprisoned her. She promises to send them home if they can rescue Ozma. She hands Caleb a gun and gives Alex a small glass bottle with a magical tornado inside with the instructions that she can open it to get back home once Ozma is free. She warns that it can only be used once and the destination must be imagined in her mind or else it will simply be a force of destruction.

Caleb tries to convince her to just use it without going on the rescue mission but she simply rejects this as four guards follow behind them. In the woods they heard a jiggling and a mysterious figure running through the trees and walks up to them. Caleb raises the gun but Alex lowers his hand realzing that the woman resembles Brianna. She talks in a blank verse style and introduces herself as Selina the Patchwork Girl who has been sent by Bellaridere to help them. Alex questions if she is actually with the Wicked Witch but Selina explains she hates the witch and that the guards would have destroyed her. She has them follow her to an cavern entrance to a labyrinth and Caleb walks up to the door but suddenly starts turning into stone because he touched the gate which starts talking in a booming voice.

Selina explains that they need to answer three riddles to open the gate as she does with the first two but is stumpted by the third. Alex figures out that the answer is"nothing" to the question "What is more powerful than the Wizard and more Wicked than the Wicked Witch"? Caleb falls to the ground after nearly becoming a statue and the gates open. Meanwhile the Wicked Witch is jolted from her sleep and looks into a mirror to exclaim that "Something is coming". Near the cavern they have started a campfire for the night as Alex explains that other than a school trip to New York, she has never left Kansas and that she always wanted to change the world. She notes that she feels her engagement is off but doesn't go into much detail to Caleb.

Instead of talking about himself, he decides to ask Selina about Loriellidere as she explains that long ago she lived with her family in a forest and that her best friend Nerissa lived across the river. They had heard about Dorothy as the previous Wicked Witch of the West fearing her end placed a curse upon Nerissa that would make her become Wicked. She then became Loriellidere and killed Selina's family plus everyone she knew but even after hunting her down, Selina hesitated to kill her because she still had the face of her old friend. Loriellidere had her flying monkeys tear Selina apart but someone put her back together again persumably making her patches.

Just then they are ambushed by a Wheeler sent by Loriellidere throws one of the guards onto their fire. Caleb grabs his gun and Selina heads off in another direction leaving Alex alone. One almost attacks Alex but Selina knocks off his wheels which appears to simply defeat him as it implies that he retreated on limbs. They decide to sleep but Caleb decides to take the tornado jar and ponders about using it but puts it back as Selina opens her eyes. Alex wakes up and confronts him for almost stealing it as they get into an argument about how he nearly left her stuck there.

Meanwhile Loriellidere goes to her balcony and yells into the sky to demand the 'sister moon' to show her enemy's purpose as a crown falls from the sky. She realizes this signifies Ozma as the scene shifts to the party arriving at the Western border. The guards are not able to cross and simply disassemble with all their armor on the ground. They proceed and find the remains of Dorothy's house as it implied that Loriellidere killed most if not all of the Munchkins as Alex spots a skeleton's arm but Selina doesn't want to talk about their fate. Alex dusts the ground and discovers a faded Yellow Brick Road before stating "Let's get this done". They finally arive at Ozma's labyrinth which is a large mechnical structure who Selina explains should be found at the maze's center and that it's easy to get in, it will be hard to get out.

At her castle, Loriellidere performs a ritual to travel to the labyrinith but her assistant Jeffrey begs her not the leave alone but she notes that she "has things to do". Labyrinith they easily find Ozma on a bed who is only but a child as Loriellidere appears from behind a banister. Selina sceams in anger as she rushes toward Loriellidere after being told that she "looks lovely" but Loriellidere throws her to the wall and does the same to Caleb. Alex asks where Ozma is which prompts Loriellidere to explain that she enchanted her to be young forever. She tells Alex that she requires her death about being warned about her in dreams. Alex reacts to this by stating point blank that she has no part in what's going on other than being told she can go home only after freeing Ozma while Selina sneaks by and grabs her as Loriellidere notices.

Alex tells Selina to run but while she and Caleb run off in another direction their escape is twarted by the magical nature of the hallways. Caleb suggests they should just use the tornado at that point so they can get back home but then they hear Selina scream. Alex runs off and Caleb tries to follow but a gated door stops him. Alex sees Selina pinned to the wall as the door locks behind her and sees that Loriellidere has Ozma back with her. She aims a blade at Alex but Caleb finds another way in and points his gun at her as he explains that it can kill her but doubts it can. Caleb starts to aim it but suddenly Alex starts to glow and falls to the ground in pain. She appears possessed as she reveals that if Loriellidere dies, the wickedness will transfer to her. Just then she breaks the tornado and commands that it takes Loriellidere far away.

After the twister leaves with Loriellidere, Caleb picks up Ozma and is dismayed that the tornado is gone. Alex takes knifes out of Selina as she reflects that Alex is a true hero and takes the hand of Ozma who they return to Bellaridere. She tells Alex that the people now have hope because that know someone from where Dorothy came from is there and believe she will be their savior.

Alex and Caleb go to a creek at night as she realizes the slight moment of Wickedness enchanted her with a bit of magic as she can summon an energy orb. He asks if she is okay with what he did and offers to leave if she is still upset but she implies that he doesn't have to since he is the closest thing to a friend she has. She regrets blowing their only chance at getting home but he assures her that she did the right thing and that Selina says there are other ways to get back to Earth but difficult to find. Alex states that they will keep looking and the credits roll to the tune of Everything is Wrong by Gigolo Aunts.

Cast[]

  • Alexandra "Alex" Wilder (Melissa George) - A young Kansas woman who is about to get married but is having cold feet. An unexpected cyclone carries her to Oz.
  • Caleb Jansen (Colin Egglesfield) - A World War II air force pilot, whose callsign is 'Scarecrow'.
  • Selina the Patchwork Girl and Brianna (Sandra Allen) - A mysterious girl called who has been patched together much like Frankenstein's monster. She always speaks in rhymes and also was friends with Loriellidere before she became the next wicked witch.
  • Bellaridere (Lynn Whitfield) : The Good Witch of the South that replaces Glinda who helps Alexandra and Caleb on their journey.
  • Loriellidere (Mia Sara) : The new Wicked Witch who was a simple peasant named Theressa who became wicked against her will by a magical force after Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the West.
  • Ozma (uncredited actress) Reduced to only a little girl by a magic spell cast by Loriellidere.
  • Alex's Mom (Kerry Armstrong)

History[]

The series was picked up by WB (short for Warner Bros television) but too much time had passed from when the pilot was filmed. Melissa George for example had already moved to America and had no interest in traveling back to Australia where it was going to be filmed because her initial contract associated with the pilot had expired.

In a 2012 interview it was noted by a representative for the website Bullz-Eye that: "You had a couple of other pilots that didn’t go, but they’ve still become a bit legendary among TV geeks because they really seemed like they should’ve gone. The first that leaps to my mind is Lost in Oz.

Her response to this was: "Lost in Oz was actually my decision. It was weird, because my contract lapsed. They picked it up, they wanted to do a second episode, but my contract lapsed, and by that time I didn’t want to move back to Australia. I was living in America, and the show was shooting in Australia. So, y’know, it was partly my decision. But what a show! What a concept! " (interview link)

In a short press release dated January 27th, 2002 (Variety link), it was suggested the name of Melissa's character was going to be named Tina Vittori and that the plot synopsis was going to consist of it being "a romantic fantasy in which Tina ends up leading a revolt against the Emerald City’s powers-that-be". It also notes a pilot commitment had been made on August 16th, 2001.

The website Ain't It Cool News posted a review of a draft script on February 16th, 2002 that included details that were left out of the pilot. With the name Tina used, it notes her fiance was to be named Aaron with the conflict to not marrying him being a scholarship to Oxford. Also the tiger belonging to Bellaridere was supposed to talk and be named Alakhan as he threatens to eat Tina if she didn't help.

It was suggested the series was supposed to start airing on September 1st, 2002 but of course no further episodes were filmed but is not known if other pre-production materials such as scripts were created. On Melissa's website, the role is listed on her digital resume as Tina even through the description says Alex Wilder.

As a network, the WB would be replaced by the CW about four years later in 2006.

Unaired Pilot[]

Wiki Notice: For a while this upload of the pilot was blocked in 2020 due to a copyright issue with Warner Music Group regarding the audio. This flag might have been the soundtrack used with songs such as Drive by Incubus. Somehow this was resolved and we share it here under the basis of "Fair Use" since it might as well be considered within public domain as the product presents no commercial value that disallows it from YouTube.

Melissa_George_in;_LOST_IN_OZ,_cancelled_2002_pilot_(tv_series)._Promo_info,_Fair_Use

Melissa George in; LOST IN OZ, cancelled 2002 pilot (tv series). Promo info, Fair Use

Pilot Film






Trivia[]

  • Had it aired, it would have been the first live-action Oz show before Emerald City (TV series) and associated characters appearing on Once Upon a Time.
  • Mia Sara would later play the similarly named Princess Langwidere in Dorothy and the Witches of Oz, as Loriellidere might have been derived.
  • Coincidentally the name Nerissa is also used in Amazon's Lost in Oz.
  • The concept that the title of Wicked Witch can be transferred was later used in the Tin Man miniseries.
  • It can assumed Bellaridere's tiger is based on the Hungry Tiger.
  • It is unclear how the creators envisioned the story to develop in further episodes. It can be persumed that possibly human characters inspired by Tin Man and Cowardly Lion were to appear after being sent to Oz from different years. Also it is uncertain if they would return to Earth in the present day per a finale which was the early 2000s or at the exact year which they left it.
  • With a speculative airdate of September 2002, it can be guessed that this project was replaced by Everwood which premiered that month.

External Links[]

Site-logoTelevision Shows, Specials and EpisodesSite-logo
TV Series Adventures in Oz with Cheryl (1999) • Lost in Oz (2002) • Tin Man (2007) • La Maga (2008) • Dorothy and the Witches of Oz (2011) • Emerald City (2017)
Animated Series and Specials Tales of the Wizard of Oz (1961) • Return to Oz (1964) • Dorothy in the Land of Oz (1980) • In the Magical Land of Oz (1983) • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986) • Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz (1987) • The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz (1990) • The Wizard of Oz (1990) • The Oz Kids (1996) • Adventures in the Emerald City (1999) • Marchen Awakens Romance (2007) • Lost in Oz (2015-2018) • Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (2017-2020)
Guest Appearances Shirley Temple's Storybook Theater: "The Land of Oz" (1960) • Once Upon a Time (2011-2018) • Supernatural (2013-2015)
Pastiches, parodies, etc The World's Greatest SuperFriends: "The Planet of Oz" (1980) • Scooby-Doo (1981-) • Beetlejuice: "Wizard of Ooze" (1991) • Animaniacs: "Buttons in Ows" (1995) • Earthworm Jim: "Wizard of Ooze" (1996) • Rugrats: "No Place Like Home" (1999) • MadTV (2000-2004) • Futurama: "Anthology of Interest II" (2002) • That's So Raven (2003-2006) • Phineas and Ferb: "Wizard of Odd" (2010) • Dora the Explorer : "Book Explorers" (2012) • The Fresh Beat Band: "The Wizard of Song" (2012) • Victorious: "April Fools Blank" (2012) • "Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Brick Road" (2012) • Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: "Minnie's The Wizard Of Dizz" (2013) • Dino Dan/Trek's Adventures "The Wonderful Wizard of Dinoz" (2014) • Black Dynamite: "The Wizard of Watts" (2015) • Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn: "The Wonderful Wizard of Quads" (2017)
Reality TV Project Runway (2004) • America's Got Talent (2006 – present) • Face Off (2011)
Shorts and others Beef Ravioli commercials (2006) • Unknown, Lost, or non-English Adaptations
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