#The muppets wizard of oz movie

Even just the image of Dorothy played by Ashanti dressed in hipster jeans and low-cut tank top beneath her pink-checkered apron signals that we are in for a far more modern Wizard of Oz. The most notable change has been to recast the Gale family with African-American rather than Caucasian ethnicity – a move that would probably cause outrage back in 1939 but now almost entirely passes by without notice. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry’s Kansas farm has been replaced by more modern social realities – they manage a diner in rundown rural Kansas and the home that gets whisked away by a tornado is in a trailer park. The Muppet remake certainly conducts some interesting modernisations of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), although more than anything, it is a remake of the most famous film version of the Baum story – The Wizard of Oz (1939). The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz is a remake of L.

The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz had a miniscule theatrical release but was mostly seen on television.Ī number of these modern Muppet movies are remakes of classic stories – Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883).

#The muppets wizard of oz movie

Following Jim Henson’s death in 1990 and the inheritance of the Henson empire by his son Brian, Brian mishandled the Muppets through a handful of film and tv incarnations that have included The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), Kermit’s Swamp Years (2002), as well as a short-lived tv series revival Muppets Tonight (1996), all of which are mediocre at best and missing the sophisticated level wit and humour of Jim’s films. The joy of these comes in their sly wit that lies halfway between children’s amusement and sly often meta-fictional asides to the adult audience. Creator Jim Henson put them through one hilarious tv series – The Muppet Show (1977-81) – and two very witty movies – The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981) – and one mediocre – The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). The Muppets were one of the quintessential pop culture icons of the 1970s/early 1980s. Thing, the Wicked Witch of the West’s information gleaning robot and a cowardly lion-bear, who join her, each seeking to visit The Wizard for their own reasons. Along the way, she gathers various companions – a frog scarecrow Total Intelligence Network, or T.I.N.

Dorothy sets out on a journey along the Yellow Brick Road to find The Wizard. The Munchkins tell Dorothy that the person who can help her become a star is the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City. This serves to release the Munchkin talking rats from the Wicked Witch’s thrall. The house is deposited in the magical land of Oz and crushes the Wicked Witch of the East as it lands. As a twister alert comes, Dorothy returns to her trailer park home for her frog Toto, only for the trailer to be picked up and carried away by the tornado with her in it. She is able to hand an audition tape to the Muppets who are touring the country, looking for a new young star. Dorothy’s greatest dream is to be able to make it as a singer. Dorothy Gale works as a waitress in the Kansas diner of her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.