The Witches of Oz: The Television Miniseries

 

THE WITCHES OF OZ 

(aka DOROTHY AND THE WITCHES OF OZ)

For my Wizard of Oz Retrospective, I did not get to every adaptation and variation out there. One that slipped through the cracks was The Witches of Oz, a television miniseries that was reedited into a feature film called Dorothy and the Witches of Oz. I cannot say whether the film version was better, but the television miniseries was a bit of a lost opportunity. Some good ideas, some good casting made it bearable. It also could have done with more structure.

Dorothy Gale (Paulie Rojas) has been writing stories about a magical land called Oz for some time. Still living on the Kansas farm that she grew up on with her Uncle Henry (Lance Henricksen), Dorothy is thrilled when a publishing offer is made. She, along with her illustrator friend Allen Denslow (Ari Zagaris) are whisked off to New York by their book agent, Billie Westwood (Eliza Swenson). Dorothy finds herself attracted to Scottish stockbroker Nick Chopper (Billy Boyd). 

Others, however, are attracted to Dorothy but not for any romantic ideas. Billie is really the Wicked Witch of the West, determined to unlock two things. The first is Dorothy's memories, for in reality what Dorothy thinks are fantasy stories are actually suppressed memories of when she was in Oz. The second is the fabled Book of Bini Aru, which was used to create Oz and which would give anyone who reads The Changing Word within it total power over Oz.

Long ago, the Wicked Witch of the West came close to obtaining the Book of Bini Aru, but the wily Wizard of Oz (Christopher Lloyd) managed to deceive her and made it disappear along with the key to open it, the latter which Dorothy unknowingly has. The Wicked Witch has been using Frick and Frack (Sean Astin and Ethan Embry), little creatures known as Muckadoos to spread memory powder on her while she sleeps to jog her memory.

Eventually, she does remember, but will she be able to defeat the Witch and save Oz? How are the thin, scarecrow-like Allen and Bryan (Barry J. Ratcliffe), a cowardly book publishing executive, connected to Dorothy? It's an all-out battle in New York City for the future of Oz, but who will win out?

There is a lot of material in writer/director Leigh Scott's screenplay (with story by him and Witches of Oz actress Eliza Swenson). One can see that some of his ideas are quite good, particularly having the Oz stories be suppressed memories. I think, to be fair, this is not too far from Return to Oz where Dorothy's stories were real but unlike here, she remembered them. 

I think thought that part of the problem in The Witches of Oz is the amount of material. We start the television miniseries with a very long introduction about the creation of The Book of Bini Aru and the rivalry between the Witch and the Wizard. There is nothing particularly wrong with that. I, however, think it would have been better to sparse that part out throughout The Witches of Oz versus giving us that long recap. That part might have served as part of other dreams that Frick and Frack opened to Dorothy.

Later on, we get another longer flashback where Uncle Henry reveals a shocking secret about Dorothy and her ties with Frank (Jeffrey Combs), who she thinks is her grandfather. There just seemed to be a lot of repetition in The Witches of Oz that I think could have been cut back or cut down.

I think some have blasted The Witches of Oz for its poor visual effects. I do think that at least in the television version, they looked like early versions and look pretty weak. The opening scene attempts to give us almost Lord of the Rings-type battles and fails hard. Later on, Dorothy and Allen are saved from a so-so dragon when a bubble lifts them and their cab driver up to safety. That scene also looks bad, but worse is how somehow that bubble managed to save Nick and Bryan too.

The visual effects and sheer length of the film push The Witches of Oz down. I think some of the violence also does more harm than good. The final battle between the Nome King (Allen Sarven) and Princess Langwidere (Mia Sara) was a bit gruesome if the target audience was kids and families. Same goes for whenever poor Allen gets unstuffed. 

As a side note, Allen says something curious the first-time straw is taken out of him. "I always knew that I was different. I just thought I might be gay". Given the suggestions that Allen may have harbored a yearning for Dorothy, this is a strange thing to say. It does not appear to be clear if Allen or Bryan knew who they were supposed to be or were just made to be certain characters because they tie into Oz itself. 

Frick and Frack are original to The Witches of Oz, and Astin and Embry did well as the comedy relief. I think they behaved as though they were in another film altogether and could have been cut. Still, it did give Billy Boyd's Nick a chance to say one of the funnier lines in the miniseries. "Memory dust. Witches. Drunk pygmies dressed as court jesters. I think I get it". 

I think some of the performances were great. It is a shame that Christopher Lloyd did not get the chance to play the Wizard of Oz both more often and in better material. He was a standout, mixing cowardice and cleverness quite well. Boyd managed the romantic lead respectfully, though at times he looked too eager to play situations for laughs versus taking them seriously. Rojas was a bit flat as Dorothy. Swenson and Sara were appropriately over-the-top as the villains, and credit to the latter for having a genuinely clever bit late in the miniseries. As she dreams of taking over both Oz and New York, the Wicked Witch of the West has more ambitions, planning to take over Camelot, Wonderland and even Narnia. That was a nice bit. 

I do not know if The Witches of Oz knew what the target audience was. Too long and a bit too violent for kids and families, poor visual effects for adults. Still, perhaps with more reediting or a remake, The Witches of Oz could be shaped into something good. As it stands, The Witches of Oz is probably best for those who want to be Oz completists.

4/10