Your Thoughts: The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

[Johnboy]

Fun muppet movie! not the best but that honor goes to the original Muppet Movie with Muppets Take Manhattan but still a nice remake of the classic movie Wizard of Oz.

I thought Miss Piggy was kind of bad to be the Wicked Witch of the West, she's much better as the Good witch, but anyone else thinks that Aughra from Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal would have been a better Wicked Witch? now that would be gold.

Speaking of Disney and Jim Henson with Wizard of Oz! anyone remembered the last time Disney with Brian Henson and Dark Crystal producer Gary Kurtz did a "Oz" movie of their own?

 

[Lynnette]

I'm taking a symbolic look at miss piggy's hair...

What are your thoughts about Miss Piggy as a brunette in the photos of the premiere of "Oz"?

 

[HPDJ]

I like Piggy's new hairstyle.

 

[Beauregard]

Ooooooookay!

Here comes the great, and only Beauregard to have his say.

So far it's approximatly a 50/50 like and hate. So there must be some redeaming moments. Those who hated it, take a moment to go back in your mind and search for them.

Second-of-all. Don't blame this movie's rubishness on the fact it is post-Jim. It is the post-Jerry films that have been rubish, MCC, and MTI worked.

Third-of-all. I would be very interested in a basic run-down of teh mvoie, complete with quotes, if anyone can spare a few minutes for us poor English Muppet Fans.

Fourth-of-all.....I dispice pepe.....

Fith-of-all. I also like Piggy chocolate-brown hair style.

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Man, what a disappointment...well, what should I expect once I learned that Miss Piggy would be playin' all 4 witches anyway (I wish they would've made Janice one, Camilla another one, and maybe Annie Sue or some other female Muppet the 4th; there's a picture of Janice as Glinda in "The Muppets Look & Find", and she looks so great and funny as that).

I was much more optimistic at the beginning cause I like Queen Latifah and Pepe is freakin' hilarious (he's my official favorite "new Muppet" now), but once the film got goin' some more and his part was lessened it just didn't measure up. And was anyone else creeped out that "Dorothy Gale" cared about bein' SEXY?! She's a kid! And here she is in revealin' clothes and likin' the whole "hot mama" look...okay, maybe Ashanti is at least 18, but still...weird for a family film to have the role model for young girls wanna be all sexed up.

Funny stuff here and there, and I did love some of the settings (forest and Witch castle), but I agree that Ashanti can't act, and there was so much left to be desired and things that could have been much improved; and would a few lines by the band in Poppyfields been too much to ask??

I give it 2 out of 5 Electric Mayhem members...(Janice & Dr. Teeth)

 

[Johnboy]

Yeh they could have used another muppet for the Wicked Witch or maybe a Creature Shop muppet for one.

But what if Aughra played The Wicked Witch instead of Miss Piggy? now would that be cool?

 

[MWoO]

But it wouldn't fit with what they were doing. They were 4 pig sisters, not a pig, anne sue pig, a chicken, and a human like character. So no, it owuld not be better if Janice played a witch and Camilla already had a role set. Plus she can't talk, so what kind of witch would she make? And Aughra is not a Muppet character owned by Disney. She is a creature shop puppet owned by the JHC.

Seriously, these are some odd complaints now.

 

[Lynnette]

Mixed Feelings

I'm pleased that the powers that be addressed our needs to see our classic Muppets in present day (I'll even include as classic the ones we first met on "Muppets Tonight"). I'm grateful that so many of these characters were included in a 2-hour TV movie - a LOT to compress into the time allotted and still have a story. The characters we know behaved according to their established personalities - so no surprises or disappointments there. It's good to have that stability. Everyone is going to have preferences for seeing more of each of our favorite characters - but I'd bet that would happen if we even looked back at The Muppet Movie with fresh eyes!

I appreciate that "Oz" appeases those of us who know more about the Muppet-y world than the average viewer. You begin to realize how much we Muppet geeks know when you have a conversation with someone who would, hmmm...let's see, probably never seek out a Muppet messsage board. Kermit's cute reference to Frank Oz for example. Or, the fact that we would recognize Dave Goelz front and center on the screen at the end of the movie. We get these little kicks out of noticing things that may pass by the average viewer. It's similar to when there are adult jokes that fly right over childrens' heads - whether in the Muppets or the Simpsons. It's like we feel a little cooler and more connected when there's that special bit that we "got" and others didn't. I really like that those in charge of these productions do this for us. To me, even when they aren't intentional "winks" to the long time Muppet fans, these actions indicate that we fans are thought of as important and valuable to the continued success of the Muppets.

The show had cute and clever parts that were pleasant but, overall, the show was neither good nor bad. I'm glad I didn't stay home on Friday night to watch it in real time. Ashanti is a pretty Dorothy and has a good voice but her acting was lacking. The conference room scene with Quentin Tarantino's cameo seemed out of place and useless in moving the story along. Costumes were great (even Tin Thing's cell phone: why not! We hang them off our ears - why not off our noses?!). I liked the rats as Munchkins - especially when they carried Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion out of Poppyfields.

I probably shouldn't even say this and it's not quite fair to "place blame" on one person but find that I haven't been impressed with Kirk Thatcher's work. I enjoyed his effort as MC during MuppetFest so it's nothing personal. I just notice that when he has major involvement in writing and directing roles with the Muppets, the results aren't that great. Things just seem a little off. I could go on with more specific examples but it's just not worth it. It's just something that I seem to notice and, admittedly, can't quite put into words. (I already stated it wasn't quite fair of me.)

I know I can get a munchkin house on eBay but can I get a Flying Monkeys leather jacket?

Well, as Pepe said in the line he stole from me, "I'm so gosh darn sexy it hurts." (Though usually not a big Pepe fan - but Bill B. has to do something, doesn't he?)

-Lynnette

 

[JaniceFerSure]

I didn't watch the whole movie.I caught the scene with Piggy as the Good Witch,kissing & chatting with the rats/munchkins.Piggy's voice is so bad.When they told Tattytoo(whatever good witch's name was,wasn't Glinda like the original movie) that her sister was killed;Piggy just shrugged it off,oh well I have other sisters. I just turned off the tv after that & went to sleep,didn't think it could've improve after that scene.

 

[Beauregard]

Question: Is there magic in the film?

Much magic?