The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
Dorothy is a young girl who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and her little dog Toto on a farm in the Kansas prairies. One day, Dorothy and Toto are caught up in a cyclone that deposits her farmhouse into Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz. The falling house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, the evil ruler of the Munchkins. The Good Witch of the North arrives with three other grateful Munchkins and gives Dorothy the magical Silver Shoes that once belonged to the Wicked witch. The Good Witch tells Dorothy that the only way she can return home is to go to the Emerald City and ask the great and powerful Wizard of Oz to help her. As Dorothy embarks on her journey, the Good Witch of the North kisses her on the forehead, giving her magical protection from harm.
On her way down the yellow brick road, Dorothy attends a banquet held by a Munchkin man named Boq. The next day, Dorothy frees the Scarecrow from the pole on which he is hanging, applies oil from a can to the rusted connections of the Tin Woodman, and meets the Cowardly Lion. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Woodman wants a heart, and the Cowardly Lion wants courage, so Dorothy encourages the three of them to journey with her and Toto to the Emerald City to ask for help from the Wizard. After several adventures, the travelers enter the gates of the Emerald City and meet the Guardian of the Gates, who asks them to wear green tinted spectacles to keep their eyes from being blinded by the city's brilliance. Each one is called to see the Wizard: Dorothy sees the Wizard as a giant head on a marble throne, the Scarecrow as a lovely lady in silk gauze, the Tin Woodman as a terrible beast, the Cowardly Lion as a ball of fire. The Wizard agrees to help them all if they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, who rules over Oz's Winkie Country. The Guardian warns them that no one has ever managed to defeat the witch.
The Wicked Witch of the West sees the travelers approaching with her one telescopic eye. She sends a pack of wolves to tear them to pieces, but the Tin Woodman kills them with his axe. She sends wild crows to peck their eyes out, but the Scarecrow kills them by breaking their necks. She summons a swarm of black bees to sting them, but they are killed trying to sting the Tin Woodman while the Scarecrow's straw hides the other three. She sends her Winkie soldiers to attack them, but the Cowardly Lion stands firm to repel them. Finally, she uses the power of the Golden Cap to send the winged monkeys to capture Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion, unstuff the Scarecrow, and dent the Tin Woodman. Dorothy is forced to become the Wicked Witch's personal slave, while the witch schemes to steal Dorothy's Silver Shoes.
The Wicked Witch successfully tricks Dorothy out of one of her Silver Shoes. Angered, Dorothy throws a bucket of water at her and is shocked to see the witch melt away. The Winkies rejoice at being freed of the witch's tyranny and help restuff the Scarecrow and mend the Tin Woodman. They ask the Tin Woodman to become their ruler, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas. Dorothy finds the Golden Cap and summons the Winged Monkeys to carry her and her companions back to the Emerald City. The King of the Winged Monkeys tells how he and the other monkeys are bound by an enchantment to the cap by the sorceress Gayelette from the North, and that Dorothy may use the cap to summon the Winged Monkeys two more times.
When Dorothy and her friends meet the Wizard of Oz again, Toto tips over a screen in a corner of the throne room that reveals the Wizard. He sadly explains he is a humbug—an ordinary old man who, by a hot air balloon, came to Oz long ago from Omaha. The Wizard provides the Scarecrow with a head full of bran, pins, and needles ("a lot of bran-new brains"), the Tin Woodman with a silk heart stuffed with sawdust, and the Cowardly Lion a potion of "courage". Their faith in the Wizard's power gives these items a focus for their desires. The Wizard decides to take Dorothy and Toto home and leave the Emerald City. At the send-off, he appoints the Scarecrow to rule in his stead, which he agrees to do after Dorothy returns to Kansas. Toto chases a kitten in the crowd and Dorothy goes after him, but the tethers of the balloon break and the Wizard floats away.
Dorothy summons the Winged Monkeys to carry her and Toto home, but they explain they cannot cross the desert surrounding Oz. The Soldier with the Green Whiskers informs Dorothy that Glinda the Good Witch of the South may be able to help her return home, so the friends begin their journey to see Glinda, who lives in Oz's Quadling Country. On the way, the Cowardly Lion kills a giant spider who is terrorizing the animals in a forest. The animals ask the Cowardly Lion to become their king, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas. Dorothy summons the Winged Monkeys a third time to fly them over a mountain to Glinda's palace. Glinda greets the travelers and reveals that the Silver Shoes Dorothy wears can take her anywhere she wishes to go. Dorothy embraces her friends, all of whom will be returned to their new kingdoms through Glinda's three uses of the Golden Cap: the Scarecrow to the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman to the Winkie Country, and the Lion to the forest; after which the cap shall be given to the King of the Winged Monkeys, freeing them. Dorothy takes Toto in her arms, knocks her heels together three times, and wishes to return home. Instantly, she begins whirling through the air and rolling through the grass of the Kansas prairie, up to her Kansas farmhouse. She is now in her stocking feet; her shoes were lost forever in the desert. Dorothy runs to her Aunt Em, saying "I'm so glad to be at home again!"

Review: One of the better adaptations. I was 6 when I first saw this version of The Wizard of Oz (the full TV series - it has since been split up for video with this one being the 1st part), and I hadn't seen any of the other versions nor even knew it was actually based on a book.  Only afterward did I get to find out it was based on a novel (which I still haven't read) and see the Judy Garland version plus the 'Return to Oz' movie released in the 80s.Needless to say my memory is a bit sketchy, however I can remember enjoying this one immensely (my local TV station ran it twice - restating it as soon as its first run finished).  One thing 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' has over some of the other versions is its length - it was able to be spread out over many episodes and not have to be crammed into a 2hr movie or something similar.From what I can recall the story was split into 3 parts (though a search on IMDB seems to indicate there are 4 parts - see below*).  The first part concerned to most memorable part of the Oz saga - Dorothy getting sucked up by the tornado only to land in Oz, where she meets up with Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.  They all join together in a variety of adventures as she attempts to get to the Emerald City to meet the famous Wizard who supposedly has the power to return her home.  The Wizard instead sends them off to kill the Wicked Witch of the West (which they do) but upon returning it is discovered the Wizard is in fact just a normal man who arrived in Oz via a balloon.  When Dorothy misses out on returning home with the Wizard she and her friends end up going to meet Glinda the Good Witch of the South (interestingly every other version has Glinda as being from the North) where Dorothy learns that she only needs to click her magic slippers to return home.The second part involved characters such as the witch Mombi, the usurper-of-the-throne Queen Ginger (the throne had previously been held by Scarecrow after the leaving of the Wizard) as well as the memorable Jack Pumpkinhead and his master/guardian Tip (who later turned out to be Princess Ozma disguised by magic as a boy by Mombi).  This part ended with Ozma being revealed and taking her place on the throne of Oz.  I have to admit I'm a little hazy on what happened during this part with the exception of Ginger making herself Queen after Dorothy and co escape on a wooden horse (brought to life by Tip with the same magic powder that created Jack Pumpkinhead) as well as the end where Ozma is revealed and crowned.The third part struck me as the strangest (and somewhat boring) part involving Dorothy visiting the land of Ed(?) and meeting characters such as Tick Tock and the Gnome King.  This part ended with Dorothy ending up back in Oz and the Gnome King launching an (unsuccessful) invasion of the Emerald City.  One of the most memorable parts from this one was the ornament room where the correct ornament had to be chosen lest the person themselves be turned into an ornament ('Return to Oz' used this part too). As I mentioned earlier this part of the story struck me as the weirdest as I never really understood how Ed existed alongside Oz (early on we see Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion  and Ozma walking to Ed (how far is it?) and towards the end we see the Gnome King and his army tunnelling to Oz - I don't know, maybe the book explains this).  I was also bored by it a bit as most of the storyline took place in Ed (which is more or less a desert).  Fortunately the later sequences in Oz were more enjoyable, especially with the constant girl-fighting between Dorothy and Ozma (who had turned into a bit of a spoiled brat between this part and the last part when Ozma was Tip).All up it was an enjoyable series for me and I have plenty of fond memories of it - I'm actually surprised it's been 16 years since I've seen it as I can still clearly remember many parts of it.  I don't know how close it resembles the original novel (which I haven't read as mentioned before) but compared to some of the other attempts at bringing the Oz story to the screen (big and small) this one is good for taking the time to develop a nice, long story with characters who flesh out and grow as the series moves along.  Definitely recommended.* On IMDB I have found what appear to be 4 parts of the Oz story which are as follows - 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', 'The Marvelous Land of Oz', 'Ozma of Oz', and 'The Emerald City of Oz'.All of these were listed as being made in 1987 and appear to have the same crews and cast (voices) for them so I presume these were all the parts that made up the story I remember seeing.  I'm not 100% sure of the order however 'Marvelous' has Jack Pumpkinhead on the poster which would suggest its the 2nd part.  'Ozma' and 'Emerald' I'm not too sure about their order but I daresay they made up the later parts.. A great adaption of the story. I have always liked the story "The Wizard of Oz." My first experience with it was of, of course, the 1939 musical with Judy Garland. Next I discovered that Disney had made a sequel titled "Return to Oz," and enjoyed it as well. Then I saw this movie when it first aired on HBO, I think I was 3 or 4 at the time, and I loved it. After that I never saw it again until a few months ago when I bought a copy. I still loved it.Anyway, you already know the story, so here are my likes and dislikes. Good stuff: Good animation, good acting, a well written script, and a pretty fast pace. Bad stuff: The pace lags a bit in the middle, but it picks up again after a little while.**** out of *****. I have yet to see "The Emearld City of Oz," but I have seen and own the other 2 installments and like them also.. Maybe not the best Oz adaptation, but certainly not the worst. Before I say anything else, I must make it clear that this review is based on viewing the 90 minute movie version of this cartoon. Since the 'movie' was a splicing together of a series of 10-15 minute cartoons that I haven't seen since the late 1980s, my comments may or may not be truly judging this on its own merits.The nature of the original cartoons perhaps gives the movie version its only real glaring weakness. Since everything was serialised and shown in short blocks, there's a lot that has to be crammed into each episode. So there we are left with Margot Kidder's narration (brilliant as it is - gotta love that woman) and the characters who have to scream out every single thing that they think and feel, and to state the obvious about what's going on. That said, I do believe that child and adult viewers do get to feel for the characters, and the voice artists have the right balance of quirkiness and compassion to be believable.Sadly, as with most screen adaptations of the Oz stories, one of the most important layers of the stories is completely UNDER-stated. This is the quirky social commentary that peppers L Frank Baum's original stories. The real shame is that there are so many events in the cartoon that could use it so strongly. Lion's failure to live up to social perceptions of him, the main winged monkey having a surly New York accent, the crows who recommend to Scarecrow to "find a new line of work", the former mayor of the Winkies who is only safe from the witch because a mayor has no real powers to 'conquer and destroy', and (of course) the discovery that the wizard only has 'power' because the Ozfolk believe in him. I'm not saying that these messages should have been shouted from the Wizard's hot air balloon, but if there had been some effort to have characters respond to or comment on these elements, so much material could have been given extra special depth that wouldn't have detracted from the main focus.The bottom line? It's maybe not the best Oz adaptation, but it's certainly not the worst. There's plenty of magic, plenty of passion, plenty of quirkiness to draw out the right emotions at the right times. It's also one of the Oz films that's more faithful to the original story despite the rapid jumps over certain parts of the story. If you're an Oz fan, check it out but be aware that it leans more towards sentiment than fantasy or comedy.. nicely drawn animation. I sometimes find myself working very late (early?) hours, and this program comes on when the only other option infommercials.I came across this 1987 Japanese-Canadian production one late night and sometimes have it going in the background when working. Characters are very nicely-drawn, background art lush, voices and soundtrack work well. Production value, overall, is pretty good but the animation is distractingly choppy.If the writing were a little better, it would play like an early Miyazaki production.Compared with some of the other early-morning kids programming crap, this is some pretty decent eye-candy.