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From: urban@spp2.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Time between movies and sequels
Message-ID: <326@spp2.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 18-Dec-84 15:04:33 EST
Article-I.D.: spp2.326
Posted: Tue Dec 18 15:04:33 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Dec-84 00:39:20 EST
References: <2179@garfield.UUCP> <3768@ucbvax.ARPA> <3302@mit-eddie.UUCP> <6613@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike urban)
Distribution: net
Organization: TRW, Redondo Beach  CA
Lines: 46
Summary: 

In article <6613@brl-tgr.ARPA> ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie ) writes:

>Return to OZ is not a Sequel to the "The Wizard of OZ" that has Judy
>Garland in it.  Return to OZ distinguishes itself in that it tries to
>be an accurate reproduction of the story in Baum's book, rather than
>a made over for Hollywood musical like its predecessor.  The technology
>necessary to make a lot of what happens (like making the characters
>actually look like the illustrations in the book) is fairly recent
>stuff.

I've read a draft of the script for Return to Oz; how close it is to
what eventually hits the screen is anyone's guess.  However,
it is clear that the film is an amalgam of the second and third
Oz books ("Marvelous Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz"), with some
clear changes that are based primarily on the MGM musical.  For
example, Dorothy's Ruby Slippers figure heavily into the
plot; in the original book, they're Silver Shoes (MGM thought
that ruby slippers would be better in Technicolor),
but their function in the new story derives from a different
artifact from the books, the Nome King's Magic Belt.  There are
a couple of other oblique references to the MGM film, especially
in the Kansas scenes. 

Some of the story emendations are a little strange if you grew
up on the Oz books (as I did).  For example, the characters
of Mombi and Princess Langwidere are fused into one, and it's
Dorothy who brings the Gump to life.  Imagine Dorothy, Tik-Tok,
Billina, and Jack Pumpkinhead fleeing from the Emerald City in
the Gump, and you begin to get the idea.  If you haven't read
the books, of course, none of this should bother you.

Rather more disturbing is that the draft that I read seems to
imply that Disney is going to attempt to continue the
"it was only a dream/hallucination" approach of the 1939 film,
though somewhat more ambiguously.  I'm unable to determine
if this element was retained in the final film.

On the other hand, he publicity on the film at the Worldcon
convinces me that the film is going to be visually fabulous.
You'll believe a Gump's head can talk.  We'll just have to
wait and see whether or not the elements can all come together
and make "Return to Oz" a complete delight, or a stultifying
disaster.

	Mike
	trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban