Disney & Oz Part III: Muppets, Raimi, Once and the future
The failed franchise attempt
In 2010, Disney scored a monster hit with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. So, the thinking was obvious: a beloved fantasy novel with a unique horror-themed director giving a lavish CGI budget could be a hit once, it could be so again. Thus, Oz the Great and Powerful was born.
The plot itself made sense: Who was the Wizard before he came to Oz and how did he become this ruler? An origin story for the character wasn’t a bad idea and gave the filmmakers a chance to explore more of Oz inspired by the books. Also, the huge success of Wicked made it clear audiences would like a somewhat revisionist take on the property.
Getting Sam Raimi to direct was a great choice. The man was known for his wild Evil Dead trilogy but also knew big-budget fare with Darkman and the Spider-Man trilogy. Turning him loose on Oz was a fun decision. Originally, Robert Downey Jr was considered for the Wizard and it’s easy to imagine him in the role with his cool style and ability to play egotistical characters. Reportedly, it came down less to Downey’s huge salary than his being so busy playing Iron Man, but he would have been perfect for the role. Johnny Depp was the next choice but was busy with the ill-fated Lone Ranger, so it went to James Franco.
In comparison to the 1939 movie and Return to Oz, the production was pretty well-oiled. Raimi smartly mixed the CGI with practical sets and clever touches, like how the opening Kansas scenes are in black and white, then shifting to color in Oz. The big issue was the careful handling of the copyrights between Disney and MGM regarding Oz, with Disney unable to directly reference anything from the 1939 movie and focus on the original books. They did put in a few bits like Glinda (Michelle Williams) using bubbles and even how green the Wicked Witch would be.
The only major hassles was that some actors were busy with Rachel Weisz having to film The Bourne Legacy at the same time while sadly, James Franco was distracted by his father dying. Other than that, the production went smoothly, resulting in a box office hit of nearly half a billion dollars worldwide. This should have meant a franchise and, in fact, plans for a sequel that would build on the events before Dorothy arrived in Oz.
Why did it never happen? Well, maybe because, to be frank, the movie…is not good. There are some nice touches, like the China Girl, but Franco seems miscast, and the CGI holds back Raimi’s usual wild style.
Then there’s the movie’s big twist (SPOILERS in case you haven’t seen it) where, after seemingly setting up Weisz’s Evanora as the villain, the film has the good-hearted Theodora (Mila Kunis) becoming the Wicked Witch. Kunis is a good actress but doesn’t work in the role, hamming it up too much and not living up to her potential. Combine that with the thin storyline and the overall mixed-to-poor critical and fan response (not to mention Disney wary of such big-budget fare after Lone Ranger and Tomorrowland flopped), and Disney has yet to touch on the Oz movies again.