Oh my Goodness! I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it. Oz the Great and Powerful is coming to a theater to you next year! I can’t wait to see what Disney is going to do to up the Wizard of Oz game. It’s going to be hard to live up to the standard but I can’t wait to see them try!
As a child, every Thanksgiving when I was growing up, watching the Wizard of Oz as a family was a yearly tradition.
After dinner and all the family had gone home, my mother would sit with my brothers and sisters and I and we’d snuggle into palettes on the floor and watch on in enchantment as Dorothy left Kansas and found her way atop the witch and her magical adventure to find her way back home through Oz. I still get the warm fuzzies when I think about it.
I’ve since watched the Wizard of Oz several times with my own children, and I still find it as endearing at 40 as I did at 3. I’ve even read the girls some of the L.Frank Baum books. When I heard that Disney was coming out with a movie Oz the Great and Powerful, I was thrilled. I can’t wait to see what it is all about.
Disney’s new fantasy adventure, Oz The Great and Powerful, the prequel to the beloved Wizard of Oz, was directed by Sam Raimi. The movie brings to life the story of how Oscar Diggs, played by James Franco, comes to Oz.
Diggs is a circus magician with questionable morals. He is hurled away from Kansas (much like Dorothy is in the Wizard of Oz) to the Land of Oz, beautiful vibrant land.
At first, he believes that this is his opportunity for fame and fortune until he encounters three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams). The witches are not sure that Diggs is the great and powerful wizard that everyone in Oz has been expecting, but they cautiously allow him to prove himself .
Before long, Oscar Diggs finds himself immersed in all the issues that are facing the people of Oz and he must race against time to determine who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Using his magic of illusion and a bit of wizardly ingenuity, Diggs soon transforms himself into the great and powerful Oz and a better man, as well.
I’m excited to see this movie. I’ve seen several clips and the colors and cinematography definitely lend themselves to making the land of Oz a beautiful and fantastical setting.
This movie will be something that we can start a new tradition with our own children. The beauty of the scenery and the engaging storyline will definitely transport you to the land of Oz while you are watching the movie. The bar was set high with the original, but from what I’ve seen, this prequel will definitely live up to its namesake.
Oz The Great and Powerful opened in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2013. It opened two days before my daughter’s birthday and she’d already planned that we will be going to see this as a family. I can’t wait to see the expressions on my girls’ faces as they watch the movie for the first time.
I still remember the first time I saw the Wizard of Oz, it was magical and I have never forgotten it.
We’ll be seeing it on March 14, 2013. Will you? Will you take your children to see it?
Photo Source: Disney