Along Main St.
FanSided

Disney & Oz Part III: Muppets, Raimi, Once and the future

Disney's later work with the Oz property included the Muppets, Sam Raimi, a hit ABC show and the question of the future!

By Michael Weyer

Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures' "Oz The Great And Powerful" - Arrivals
Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures' "Oz The Great And Powerful" - Arrivals / Albert L. Ortega/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

Return to Oz was a wild mess for Disney, but not the last time they’d use the Oz property!

Given what a disaster the production of Return to Oz was and how it ended up being a box office flop, it’s no shock that Disney was very wary of ever using the property again. Despite still owning the rights, Disney didn’t focus on Oz at all, even as other studios had various projects, from Syfy’s modernized fantasy Tin Man to NBC trying to make it a dark fantasy epic with Emerald City to Wicked becoming a smash Broadway hit. 

As it happened, Oz would collide with another Disney property in a rather unique way, although not the success hoped for. 

The Muppets see the Wiz

In 2004, after much legal wrangling, Disney reacquired the rights to the Muppets. The plan of using them in various new projects was out there with the suggestion of reviving an old idea intended for the Disney-MGM Studios of putting the Muppets into classic films that somehow led to the Muppet’s Wizard of Oz.

R&B star Ashanti landed the role of Dorothy, a modern gal with dreams of stardom whisked by tornado to Oz.The first big turn is that rather than a dog, Toto is Pepe the prawn who gains a voice in Oz. The rest of the Muppets make sense: Kermit as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as the Tin Man, Fozzie as the Lion and Miss Piggy taking on the role of all four Witches. And the rest of the gang pop up in various cameos. 

The film premiered on The Wonderful World of Disney on April 27, 2005 and later on home video. Sadly, it wasn’t as well received as expected. While the Muppets were fun, there was criticism of how Dorothy’s desire to see the Wizard was to become a star, not just go home. The forced pop cultural references also didn’t work and some jokes meant for mature audiences. Jeffrey Tambor was fun as the Wizard, but the scene in which Quentin Tarantino comes up with violent ways to stop the Wicked Witch is ludicrous. 

So, once more, the Oz property sat waiting for someone else to take a crack at it before circumstances made it possible.

Home/Disney Movies