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Ozposter

A promotional poster for the film.

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz was an ABC television movie broadcast in 2005 based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and starring the Muppets. After a few years of mostly being seen in commercials and cameo appearances in television specials, it was the first major Muppet product after Walt Disney Pictures purchased the characters from the Jim Henson company and an attempt to reintroduce them to a new audience. Although a satire and parody, it rarely makes reference to the 1939 MGM film and relies more on the original book. This is not the first time that the Muppets have journeyed to Oz; parody photos of the Muppet Babies were published in the 80s based on the 1939 film. The main Muppet cast is the same for the most part except for one difference: Baby Piggy portrayed Dorothy in these photos.

Cast[]

Cameos[]

  • Quentin Tarantino as Himself
  • Kelly Osbourne as Dorothy Gale (Transformed)

Plot[]

Warning: Contains some spoilers

Dorothy Gale is a waitress at a diner owned by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Tired of her life in Kansas, she dreams of becoming a singer, which is a dream that Aunt Em discourages and Uncle Henry encourages. As luck would have it, the Muppets are currently on a search for some new talent. So, while Aunt Em is not looking, Uncle Henry tells Dorothy to go to the audition for the Muppets. Unfortunately, she just missed them, but manages to give the demo CD that she made to Kermit before they drive off.

When Dorothy returns to her home in a trailer park, the modern equivalent of the prairie farmhouse of the original story, she gets in a fight with Aunt Em because of going to the audition. But the storm is getting worse, so everybody heads for the storm cellar just before the tornado hits. But Dorothy realizes that she left her pet King Prawn, Toto, behind in her bedroom. But when she goes back in to get him, the tornado lifts the trailer and carries them off to Oz.

After landing in Oz, she finds that Toto can now talk and is a lot bigger. Upon coming out, she's greeted by the Munchkins, portrayed by the Muppet rats, led by Rizzo, who praise her for killing the Wicked Witch of the East. Tattypoo, the Good Witch of the North, gives her the silver shoes and sends her on her way to the Emerald City where the Wizard can make her a star.

On her way to the Emerald City, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow (Kermit), who wants a brain, the Tin Thing (Gonzo), who wants a heart so that he can marry his love, Camilla, and the Cowardly Lion (Fozzie), who wants to overcome his cowardliness so that he can be a great stand-up comedian. When they eventually get to the Emerald City, the Wizard sees them one by one, appearing in a different form each time. He tells Dorothy that they will all get what they want if they bring back the Wicked Witch of the West's eye.

On their way to the Witch's castle, she captures the group with the help of the Flying Monkeys, a club of motorcycle enthusiasts who are under her control by her enchanted biker cap.

After a fight, Dorothy kicks the Witch into her jacuzzi, where she begins to melt away because it was filled with a bit of tap water instead of pure bottled water.

On returning to the Wizard with the Witch's eye, everybody discovers that he's a fraud, just a tour bus driver that managed to amaze everybody with a simple magic trick. But he keeps his promise by putting on a TV show in which Dorothy will make her television debut as the biggest star in Oz. However, she realizes that this, too, is a scam and cuts her song short, and that what she really wants is to go home.

The group travels to Glinda to find out how the silver shoes work, and she tells Dorothy how to get home.

Upon returning, still in her clothes from Oz, Dorothy rushes into the diner to apologize to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Kermit is waiting there for her, wanting to make her a star and Aunt Em finally gives her blessing to pursue her dreams.

Baum's Oz and MGM's Oz[]

Similarities to the original story[]

Unlike many post-1939 Oz films, this one is based more on the book and ignores most lore created for the 1939 MGM film. Elements based on the book that are frequently forgotten due to the popularity of the 1939 film include:

  • The Wicked Witch of the East has silver shoes.
  • Glinda is the Good Witch of the South.
  • The Good Witch of the North introduces herself as Tattypoo. While this name was not used in Baum's novel, it does show that the writers referenced the original forty books in order to establish that she was not Glinda.
  • The Tin Thing wants a heart so that he can love his girlfriend, Camilla.
  • Everyone must wear green glasses while in the Emerald City.
  • The Wizard sees Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Thing, and the Cowardly Lion one at a time, appearing different each time. However, he appears as the beast (a dragon) to the Cowardly Lion and as the beautiful woman (who transforms into a chicken) to the Tin Thing.
  • The Wicked Witch of the West wears an eye patch.
  • The Wicked Witch of the West wants to send out wolves, crows, bees, among animals, with various enchanted accessories. However, she is given excuses as to why they aren't currently available.
  • The Wicked Witch of the West uses an enchanted biker cap to brainwash the flying monkeys.
  • The Wicked Witch of the West has an eye that can see everything, similar to the telescopic one of the original book. Unlike the book, however, it is this eye that the Wizard sends Dorothy to bring to him.
  • When Dorothy and her friends get to the poppy field, they are saved when the Munchkins pull them out after they are called. While it was the field mice that pulled them out in the book, the Munchkins are portrayed by the Muppet rats.
  • The Wizard fills the Scarecrow's head with a box of bran flakes cereal.
  • Though the people of Oz are based on people she meets in Kansas (a common theme of films depicting Oz as existing only in a dream), the end of the film sends her back in the clothes she wore while there, suggesting it to be a real place.

References to the 1939 MGM film[]

As stated above, the Muppets rarely acknowledge the 1939 film, possibly due to legal issues related to using images of the 1939 film.[1] However, there are some notable elements taken from or referencing the MGM musical.

  • The Kansas scenes are presented in desaturated color, reminiscent of the use of sepia toning of the ones in the 1939 film.
  • Many characters that appear in the Kansas scenes later appear as characters in Oz.
  • When Dorothy and Toto get to Oz, Toto faces the camera and instructs audience members that have a copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to start playing it. This is a reference to the belief that it is an alternate soundtrack for the film. (Sgt. Floyd Pepper, who plays bass guitar for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, who's seen in the poppy field, is partially named after this band.)

References[]

  1. Jim Hill, "Were Disney's lawyers at odds with 'The Muppets' Wizard of Oz?'". Note that most of the article is based on rumor and that fair use laws in the US allow for parodies.
Site-logo Films Site-logo
Live-Action adaptations Silent films Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908) • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) • His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914) • The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) • The Magic Cloak of Oz (1914) • The Wizard of Oz (1925)
Modern films The Wizard of Oz (1939) • The Wonderful Land of Oz (1969) • 20th Century Oz (1976) • The Wiz (1978) • Return to Oz (1985) • The Dreamer of Oz (1990) • The Wizard of the City of Emeralds (1994) • The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) • After the Wizard (2011) • Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) • The Wiz Live! (2015)
Inspired films Flying Monkeys (2013) • OzLand (2015)
Guest Appearances Inkheart (2008) • Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
Animated adaptations Feature films Journey Back to Oz (1974) • The Wizard of Oz (1982) • The Wizard of Oz (1983) • The Wizard of Oz (1991) • Lion of Oz (2000) • Tom and Jerry & the Wizard of Oz (2011) • Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014) • Guardians of Oz (2015) • Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (2016) • Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers (2017) • The Steam Engines of Oz (2018)
Guest Appearances The LEGO Movie (2014) • The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Upcoming adaptations Wicked: Part One/Wicked: Part Two (2024-5) • Dorothy & Alice (TBA) • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (film) (TBA) • Toto (film) (TBA)
Short films After Oz (2007) • The Land of Oz (short film) (2015) • Dorothy in the Land of Stars (2017) • Unknown, Lost, or non-English Adaptations
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