Off to See the Wizard

Due to an extended business trip overseas, I was away during the time Oz the Great and Powerful premiered in the States. Finally the chance to see the film surfaced, and I jumped at the opportunity.

It's not the perfect film as much of the acting is slightly more than average. Rachel Weisz comes off the most successfully of the major characters, but James Franco does eventually win viewers over with his combination of goofy charm and all the slime-filled posturing worthy of a televangelist. 

The real star of the film is the atmosphere created. Old Kansas in black and white perfectly sets the stage for what lies ahead. Once we finally see Oz, it is a glorious land of thrilling landscapes and amazing color and texture. Whether or not a recreation by the Disney Imagineers belongs in Disneyland is up for debate, but if done to the fullest, it would at least be a fantasyland come true.

I'll give the next film in the series a chance to be even better than this one, which could have been great. Clearly a "B" rated film in an "A" quality package. Worth a view on the big screen, however.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Oz Soundtrack to Feature New Mariah Carey Song

While fans debate the pending success of Disney's "Oz the Great and Powerful", sounds like Disney is planning for Mariah Carey to record a new song, "Almost Home", for the soundtrack. It's the first time she's featured on a soundtrack since "Prince of Egypt" with Whitney Houston. Will James Franco make a great Oz as he works with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz? Beats me. But the odds are getting more interesting for the film to be a hit. Hopefully, the pending Tony Baxter-less project for Disneyland will not be a botched job, full of the video screens Tom Fitzgerald loves so much!

Wizard of Oz to Debut in Fantasyland?

Will Frank L. Baum's beloved book The Wizard of Oz finally make it to Disneyland? Could be.

Disney Imagineering has been trying to bring something from his series into a park for several years- decades, actually.

Naturally, the minds of fans go right to the Munchkinland scene at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Great Movie Ride. Although the attraction is in desperate need of repair and revamping, the final Wizard of Oz scene is the ultimate showstopper in the park. When the Wicked Witch of the West appears, she does with such panache, that all eyes are riveted to her.

Beyond Disney-MGM Studios, er, Hollywood Studios, one scene from the Wizard of Oz does appear at Disneyland Paris. The very lovely cruise, Le Pays des Contes de Fees, known as the Storybookland Canal Boats in Anaheim, includes this little piece of the film Return to Oz. The 1985 flop was an attempt by Walt Disney Pictures to capture a bit of Oz magic.

Apparently, Disney is at it again with a new film starring James Franco. I see some potential here, as the smash musical Wicked seems to have brought new interest to the story.

The boards at MiceAge/MiceChat are buzzing with discussion about what this means for Disneyland. All that unused space out by Toontown that backs up into Frontierland? Could this be the project that finally gets built there? Who knows! But it will not be the first time Disney has thought about building something "Oz" like or related in the park. They tried at the very beginning of the park's creation!

Directly above is a piece of artwork for a proposed "Rainbow Road to Oz" attraction for Fantasyland. Nice, huh? And thanks, Alain, at the excellent Disney and More blog for a look at it. But there is more...

At the top of this post is a proposed entrance for the park's very first version incarnation of Tomorrowland. (Yes, I said Tomorrowland.) Can you see where the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz was the inspiration here? I sure can. Can I see a whole new mini-land themed to the new movie? Perhaps, but I'd rather have a genuine Frontierland expansion that brings back more of the Wild West. Not enough space for both!
(Concept art copyright The Walt Disney Company)