This animated film has a pretty complicated history. I heard about it a few years ago & was intrigued by it as it had an all-star voice cast, but there wasn't really much promotion other than some behind the scenes videos, interviews with the cast & some stills. Also, it was originally titled Dorothy of Oz & is also based on one of the more recent books in the Oz series, which had the same name as it's original title. The movie also had a lot of delays for no reason whatsoever, but I'm guessing it was so it could be out around the time when other Oz related things in the media became popular like Wicked, Oz: The Great & Powerful & Once Upon A Time when it had a plot involving Oz & the Wicked Witch of the West in the third season. Anyway, directed by 2 former Disney animators & having it's all star cast under it's belt, will this movie bring back the nostalgia of the 1939 classic, or will it make me feel like falling asleep in a field full of poppies? Let's go somewhere over the rainbow & find out!
Story: Since this is a Wizard of Oz sequel that is based on a book, you'd think they'd keep in the same continuity of the original movie! Actually wrong! This pays as much tribute to the original movie as much as 100 yard dash for people with no sense of direction! I mean, Kansas looks like it's set in modern times with cars being used & the characters wearing modern-ish clothing, despite the fact that the first film was set in the early 1900s! It doesn't really help that the continuity is all over the place in it's own story, which makes the movie feel confusing overall! It doesn't really help that the overall premise is essentially a watered down version of the original film as the characters, old & new express nothing as to why we should care for them & the pacing is just so tedious & slow. I'm not gonna lie, I felt like falling asleep when watching it! It doesn't really help that there are subplots like the romance between Marshal Mallow & the China Princess and Wiser wanting to fly are either forgotten then come back as if we had to remember, or end up going nowhere once they are resolved. Also, the parallels with Oz & Kansas this time round are just so pretentious & treat the audience as if they're stupid & the message is just hand fisted so hard! In fact, this whole movie just doesn't feel like a Wizard of Oz movie/sequel half the time as they don't even mention things at all like the ruby slippers, the Wizard himself, the poppy field & when Dorothy also killed the Wicked Witch of the East! I know that you could argue that it wants to be it's own version of The Wizard of Oz, but the few things mentioned are evidently from the 1939 film! Overall, with a poorly written & executed story with confusing logic, it results in a boring, generic & overall heartless story!
Animation: Although this is made by the same people behind the Tinker Bell movies, this is somehow much worse! Yes, animation is mostly dependent on budget, but here, it's just amateur! If it wanted to look 'good' then they should've at least made it direct to DVD as it doesn't come close to theatrical quality compared to other animated films out there! The character designs seem like they're going to for cartoony/Disney style, but it really doesn't fit well into computer animation & it doesn't help that their eyes most of the time look dead & lifeless. The character animation is also pretty stiff & at times looks like pretty lazy in that they couldn't be bothered to make the characters express emotion through their movements. But this is nothing compared to the texturing which is awful! Things like the china on the China people, the fur on the Cowardly Lion and candy in Candy Land doesn't loook or feel like what it's supposed to be. As for the backgrounds, although it doesn't really feel like Oz, it does look nice. I will admit that the China Kingdom, Cave of the Fireflies & Candy Land do look pretty nice to look at, if you can ignore the poor texturing & the fact we barely look at them thanks to the poor pacing. Anyway, I'll also say that the special effects like the tornadoes and Jester's magic are also nice to look at & actually make the film look good. Despite that, the movie can look pretty (I think unintentionally anyway) scary, especially in the scenes with the puppets, the Jester's magic or when the characters make unintentionally scary faces directly at the camera! However, the rendering on the humans & overall quality of the movie avoid the animation from being anything past 'OK'.
Characters: Remember when the Wizard of Oz characters were all loveable & memorable? Yeah, now they're completely butchered! Dorothy, voiced by Glee's Lea Michele, is now a generic heroine with barely any character or development. I didn't really care for her so next! The Jester, voiced by Martin Short, is just there to be the central conflict and nothing else. Even if he's the Wicked Witch of the West's brother, his backstory is pretty weak & his motivation to take over Oz is just the same as his sister's in the last movie! Scarecrow, voiced by Dan Akroyd, Tin Man, voiced by Kelsey Grammer & Lion, voiced by Jim Belushi are pretty much unrecognisable thanks to the changes since the last movie & have lost all of their charm. Glinda, voiced by Broadway legend Bernadette Peters is barely in the movie other than to cause nightmare fuel & because she was in the last movie! Seriously, she doesn't even have a song despite her voice actress! As for the new characters, they are no better as they have no motivation other than to help Dorothy, they have no depth to them & are just blank slates! Wiser, voiced by Oliver Platt, is a fat owl whose schtick just talks a lot (depsite ironically not talking for much of the movie), the China Princess, voiced by Megan Hilty, is just a selfish brat that eventually becomes Marshal Mallow's love interest & is pretty much useless after their 'arc' has ended & Marshal Mallow, voiced by Hugh Dancy, is a 'sweet' man with authority that is just there to be in love with the China Princess. Oh yeah, and there's Tugg/Tank, voiced by Patrick Stewart, a boat/catapult made from an aging tree who has no personality & is only there so Dorothy & her new friends can get into some conflict as well as for transport & to help during the big fight near the end. Other than that, the characters are all hollow, lifeless & horribly butchered! Doesn't really help the voice acting is pretty bad!
Songs: Remember when the 1939 film had some of the greatest songs of all time like Over The Rainbow & The Merry Old Land of Oz? Yeah, that doesn't exist here! Although I personally love animated musicals, all of the songs in this are just bland, unforgettable & worst of all, modernized! When The World Turns Upside Down is this movies really abysmal attempt to re-enact Over The Rainbow, but it's not memorable & doesn't stand well as an I Want type of song. The Candy Song is just awful with a rock feel to it which is bland & forgettable as well as filler. But it's not as bad as Work With Me which has no purpose at all to be in the movie at all besides the characters having nothing else to do to stretch the running time to 90 minutes! And it also features a cameo from Bryan Adams as a singing beaver! The Jester's song is possibly the worst villain's song I've heard in a while, isn't memorable & is just there because the movie needs a villain's song and for Martin Short to sing (even though freaking Bernadette Peters doesn't sing at all) Even Then is the obligatory love song which features Dorothy for no reason other than Lea Michele needs to be featured in almost every song in the movie! The songs just give the movie a dated feeling with the pop twists to them & are just there because the 1939 film was also a musical! This is an example of why you should carefully consider who you should hire to compose the musical numbers in your movie since Bryan Adams did them for this! Of course they're gonna have a crappy pop guitar motif!
Overall, this is one of the laziest animated films I've ever seen & is pretty much the antithesis of the original 1939 film! Rather than a heartwarming story, this one is cliched, confusing & inconsistent. Rather than beautiful & groundbreaking visuals, this one has amateur & freaky visuals with nothing to show off. Rather than memorable & loveable characters, this one has generic characters not worth caring about. And finally, rather than timeless & classic songs which have become hallmarks in cinema, this one has dated & unecessary songs! I highly recommend avoiding this film & sticking with the 1939 film! Or if you want a good Wizard of Oz sequel, them watch Disney's Return to Oz, even if the visuals are scarier, but they're intentional as the special effects are incredible & the story & characters are creative & actually stick to the continuity of the books.
Story: 2/10
Animation: 4/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 2/10
Overall: 2/10
This animated film has a pretty complicated history. I heard about it a few years ago & was intrigued by it as it had an all-star voice cast, but there wasn't really much promotion other than some behind the scenes videos, interviews with the cast & some stills. Also, it was originally titled Dorothy of Oz & is also based on one of the more recent books in the Oz series, which had the same name as it's original title. The movie also had a lot of delays for no reason whatsoever, but I'm guessing it was so it could be out around the time when other Oz related things in the media became popular like Wicked, Oz: The Great & Powerful & Once Upon A Time when it had a plot involving Oz & the Wicked Witch of the West in the third season. Anyway, directed by 2 former Disney animators & having it's all star cast under it's belt, will this movie bring back the nostalgia of the 1939 classic, or will it make me feel like falling asleep in a field full of poppies? Let's go somewhere over the rainbow & find out!
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