The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)

Directed by

Kirk Thatcher

Genre

fantasy film, children's film, musical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 28m

Rated

PG

Rating

5.2 of 10 from 137 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young waitress named Dorothy dreams of becoming a famous singer. A tornado sweeps her trailer to the magical land of Oz where she meets Muppet versions of classic characters and goes to see the Wizard.

playfulwhimsicalupbeatgentlecampylightheartednostalgicmusical

What happens

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz is a 2005 musical fantasy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher, and the third television film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Ashanti, Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino, David Alan Grier, Queen Latifah, as well as Muppet performers Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, and Eric Jacobson. A contemporary adaptation of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, the story follows young Dorothy Gale, who works in her Aunt Em's diner, but dreams of becoming a singer somewhere beyond her small Kansas town. Swept up by a tornado, in her trailer home with pet prawn Toto, she lands in Oz and embarks on a journey to meet the Wizard who can help make her dreams come true. Following the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of the rights to the Muppets in 2004, pre-production took place throughout February 2004, and principal photography began seven months later. The Muppets' Wizard of Oz was co-produced by the Muppets Holding Company, the Jim Henson Company, Fox Television Studios, and Touchstone Television, marking the Jim Henson Company's final involvement with the Muppets after more than five decades of ownership. ABC made several changes after the initial script was written, ultimately deciding to adapt plot elements from Baum's original novel as well as the 1939 musical film adaptation. The Muppets' Wizard of Oz became a musical, and included five new songs composed by Michael Giacchino. It is the first Muppets film without the involvement of veteran performer Jerry Nelson following his 2004 retirement from physical performing; his characters Lew Zealand, Floyd Pepper, Crazy Harry, Camilla the Chicken and Statler were instead performed by Bill Barretta, John Kennedy, Rickey Boyd, Alice Dinnean, Whitmire respectively, while Barretta also debuts as the new permanent performer of Dr. Teeth, a character originally performed by Jim Henson. The production also marked the feature film debut of Eric Jacobson as the performer of Sam Eagle, a character originally performed by Frank Oz. The Muppets' Wizard of Oz premiered on April 27, 2005, at the Tribeca Film Festival, and made its television premiere on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney on May 20, 2005. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who felt that the film was too mature for young audiences and that the cameos and popular culture references were unnecessary. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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