Does anyone remember this film? I loved it as a kid; Sarah and i rented it the other night and reveled in memories of it. So fun. It's too bad that it never got the acclaim it deserved, because unlike the 30's "Oz", it actually remained true to Baum's vision and storytelling. It's dark and very chilling at parts, and there are no munchkins! Dorothy (played brilliantly by Fairuza Balk in her first film role) is in very real danger in this film, being threatened by numerous grizzly ends...whether it's turning into sand in the deadly desert, being "ripped into little peices" by the wheelers, or having her head stolen by a very frightening princess...you don't for once mistake this world as the same colorful, safe one that Ms. Garland skipped and sang her way through so many decades ago. It helps to not even associate the two films with each other.
The special effects are almost painfully dated...but that adds to it's charm, really. The claymation and exquisite puppetry used in this film are wonderful to behold...such "tangible" effects have long been my preference to CG, and all throught the film i kept wondering how much of the magic would have been swept from it if everything was perfectly clean and computerized. Anyway.
Add to it all a beautiful, haunting score that still drifts through my head every once in a while, it still remains a lovely little "cult classic" of a film. I've gone on much longer than i expected (i imagined a sentence or two) and must now go wash and wax my baby.
i mean...my car.
2 comments:
I never saw this movie, but now wil have to go and find it. Sounds interesting. I do love the first one, I know it's nothing like the books, but it still has its magic.
Saying that I love the books too. I have a collection of the first dozen or so of the books. Oz is nothing like in the movie, you're right , it can be a scary place, but a marvelous place too.
Yea, i should really read the books again. It's been years.
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