A quick 'Thank you' and 'Damn you!' to Rifftrax for this.  This is 1969's The Wonderful Land of Oz.  When we last left Barry Mahon, he had moved from WWII Pilot to Director for Errol Flynn.  When the latter died in 1959, Mahon kept up working, making such 'classics' as Nudes, Inc, Bunny Yeager's Nude Camera and, confusingly enough, Censored.  The Films aren't *actually* Porn, but also kind of are.  Think of Porn as French and Mahon's Nudies as Portuguese.  When people started to want actual Porn, Mahon changed Genres- Ed Wood just took his place.  After directing a dozen Films about topless women, the natural thing to do is...an Oz Film.  Sure, sure.  As noted two Reviews back, the Oz Rights are a bit tricky.  He was able to cheaply do a later Book, but couldn't use stuff made up for the Films (like the Ruby Slippers).  To get the Film made, he had to scrounge up a hefty $50,000 for the Production (and $90,000 to get it distributed).  To get a Cast, he didn't go far- specifically, his own House!  He cast his son Channy Mahon as 'Tip' and got his Wife to the be Script Supervisor.  The rest of the Cast is made up of relative newcomers and unknowns.  I'm sure that being in this helped them break out, right?  Well, one of them was a Character Actor and another worked in the Make-Up Department for stuff like Ghostbusters 2 and Saturday Night Live.  So, yeah...it didn't.  The Plot is *fairly* accurate to the Book and touches upon similar stuff we saw in Return to Oz.  It's also considered to be the worst Oz Film by many, so maybe authenticity only takes you so far.  I only watched this due to the Rifftrax release, so I might as well turn this into a Review and complete the 'trilogy'...
Tipp lives in Oz with Mombi the Witch (who doesn't steal heads or work with the Nome King).
Hating his existence there, he makes a Pumpkinhead to scare the Witch.  She, instead, brings it to life and he gets out of there that night.

He also, confusingly, sings a song about how he wants to be a Boy.  This is because she had threatened to turn him into a Statue FROM A BOY earlier.  Makes sense?
On their trip to Oz, Tipp and Pumpkinhead get separated.  The latter goes on without him- for no good reason- and makes it there.

Boy, does it sure look cheap as hell.
Tipp, meanwhile, finds an army of young women- dressed like Majorettes- who plan to take over the City (now ruled by Scarecrow).

Making Plots about your Children being forcibly-marched- that's the Barry Mahon way!
Skipping ahead, the ladies take over and our Heroes- along with the Tin Woodman and The Wogglebug- are trapped in the Throne Room.
They make the Gump and fly to the Good Witch, who proves to be an Ex Machina for this whole Story.  She makes the ladies leave and reveals the truth about Tipp...
He's actually the transformed version of Ozma, the true Ruler of Oz.  They proceed to undo the transformation, never bothering to ask how 'Tipp' feels about it.

She is back on the Throne and the ancillary Characters hang around, as we see the ladies march away sadly as the Film ends.
A delightfully-bad Movie.  If you have seen either version of Santa Claus and The Ice Cream Bunny, you know what to expect from a Mahon Fairy Tale.  This is more of the same- just longer!  The cheap Sets.  The bad Songs.  The bad Acting.  Hell, one of the Actors here is in Jack and the Beanstalk!  I almost don't believe that they spent $50,000 on this.  It barely looks better than a High School Play.  Poor Channy Mahon clearly didn't want to be an Actor and it shows.  He's just not good, bad Script or not.  He only really Acted this one time, so the proof is in the pudding.  The Songs are also not good here, not helped by stuff like the Singers not having good range.  Poor Channy- again- has to sing when he's not ready or trained for it!  The Costumes look pretty bad for the most part and this seems to be the only real Film to show the Wogglebug.  Oh well- you don't get an iconic look like the Scarecrow or Tin Man!  If you're a fan of 'so bad its good' Films, this one just squeaks by.  It's so inept that you have to laugh.  That said, Rifftrax also has a version- again, the one I watched- and its probably the best way to approach this.  As a final presentation, here's a Poster for the Film that...promises that it will be Live!
Next time, a break from Oz and/or Politics.  Instead, it involves evil Hippies and lots of blood.  Stay tuned...

A very strange one-and-done Film that should be something more.  This is 1985's Return to Oz, a Film strangely-made by Disney.  Is that the Studio you think of when you think of Oz?  This apparently due to a number of bizarre issues with the rights.  This led to a slew of random Oz Adaptations, from Anime to Turkish to Filmation's unofficial Film Sequel.  By 2019, every random angle you can think of has been covered- including Prequel Tales for The Cowardly Lion AND The Wizard himself!  Thanks, Public Domain.  In 1980, Disney had the rights and wanted to do something with it.  As such, long-time Film Editor Frank Murch was given the chance to Direct.  Production was long and fraught, going so long as to have CEOs change at Disney during it!  Murch was briefly-fired, but the Film came out.  It made about half of its Budget.  Aw.  It is the Film Debut of Fairuza Balk and features a few notable Actors such as Piper Laurie.  It's weird and dark.  If you saw this as a kid, you may have some nightmares to thank it for.  After all this time, is it a Cult Classic or a confusing mess?  To find out, read on...
6 months removed from the events of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy still has trouble sleeping due to 'nightmares' of a magical world.
Thinking that she needs psychological help, they take her to a Doctor for Electro-Shock Therapy!
Lightning strikes before it can happen and she escapes with another girl.  They end up in a river and...now she's in Oz.

Toto isn't with her, but her favorite chicken is.  Alright...
She finds the Emerald City in ruins, the people turned to stones and meets the Wheelers, who surely scared a generation of children.
She finds new allies like Tik-Tok, a Royal Guard Robot who needs certain dials turned to do things like think, act and use logic.

If you guessed that this was a silly pretense to make the Plot work, you're right!
They end up with the evil Witch Mambi, who steals the heads of women to seem younger.

Again- this is NOT a Film for very young children!
Dorothy- joined by Jack Pumpkin and the Gump (on the right) end up in the clutches of the Nome King (no 'G') and he makes them solve a riddle to escape.

When you figure out the trick, it's the most obvious riddle in the world too.
Through the magic of a Chekhov's Chicken (the King is deathly allergic to eggs!), they save the day and free Ozma, who seems to be the girl with her in the Asylum.
She returns home and all seems to be normal...until she sees Ozma in the mirror.

I guess it was real the whole time.  Suck it, Producers who changed it in the 1939 Film!
A fun, but much darker tale.  Right off the bat, the Film looks really nice.  There are few 'seams' in the visual effects to really notice.  When she's first in Oz and looking at a Rear Projection Screen, it doesn't quite look real.  Beyond that, the Practical Effects- including Puppeteering by Brian Henson!- look really nice.  There are definitely limits- especially for 1985-, but they hide them well.  The only Puppet (of sorts) that looks awkward is the Cowardly Lion, who only gets a few minutes of screen time (possibly as a result).  The majority of the work is by Suit Performers- like for Tik Tok and others- and it works quite well.  For her first Film, Balk does pretty darn good.  They put her character through hell here and she makes it show.  The Screenplay gives her few times to really stand out as a Character, but she makes the most of those moments.  It's a bit odd how they excise the Characters you would think of most.  To be fair, of course, there are like 42 Books and not all of them feature the Characters from the 1939 Film.  If you're a big fan of the Books, you'll notice how they cherry-picked from two main Books and take Tik-Tock from a different Book from those (and change him a bit).  It's not the most faithful Oz tale, but it is quite nice.  It's a bit underrated as its box office failure makes it more of a Cult Classic.  Don't overlook it- it's dark, but good.  I have to note how much the DVD Cover (not the Poster) mucks up poor Fairuza's face.  One of them is real and one is fake- you figure it out!
Next time, something completely-different.  It's got Politics and looks kind of awkward given what we know now.  Stay tuned...

With Oz: The Great and Powerful (short review- pretty, but so-so overall) out, I thought it might be important to remind people that Oz films go back to before the classic 1939 film.

Yes, it's pretty and great.  This one came out much earlier though...
Considering when it was made, the Effects and Production Values are quite nice.

As a bonus, here's the last film Produced by L. Frank Baum himself...
It's important to remember that Baum worked on most of the adaptations while he was alive, even forming a Production Company to do so.

So, while Oz: The Great and Powerful is the latest film in the series, it's important to remember where it all started...

Seriously, I need a new hobby! To celebrate 1,400 posts at Mondo Bizarro, I'm bringing you an obscure movie from nearly 100 years ago. Seems par for the course, huh? Let's step back in our Delorean to the year 1914 and meet a writer named L. Frank Baum. To my younger readers (not like I'm that old, but whatever) or those that don't know classic literature, Baum is the Writer of the 'Oz' series of books. Yes, it is a series- despite only the first one being super-famous. In fact, 1939's The Wizard of Oz is so famous- thank you, Ted Turner- that people fail to realize that about a half-dozen films precede it! The oldest known film is 1910's Wizard of Oz, which is a Silent Film adaptation that has more to do with Baum's Musical adaptation of the story. Another fact many don't realize is that Baum was not just a Writer of books/short stories. No, Baum Produced Musicals and Plays to promote his tales, not leaving it to others. Today's film is not the first one- obviously- but it is the oldest one I could find that is not a version of the most often done story. This Silent Film is a version of another tale in Oz, not even featuring Dorothy! In fact, only one of the characters most associated with Oz stories shows up here. Thanks to the folks over at Kino Films (the source for Super-Old-School Films), I can bring this to you today. Let's sew up our relationship with...
Due to the format, this tale is a bit hard to follow. Stick with me though. A young boy (who looks like a girl, thanks to the outfit and over-done make-up of the Silent Era) goes off with his father in search of food.
Meanwhile, a pair of young lovers are celebrating, well, their young love. Further meanwhile, we see a horse causing mischief. Due to different standards, this bit looks much creepier than intended. Cue Silent Film Chase Scene!
In yet another location, a scientist has just finished up six years of work making a potion to give life to inanimate objects. Animated objects in an Oz tale- get out! The wife chooses a bunch of patchwork quilt material to animate, making the titular girl. You get some Super-Old-School Stop-Motion Animation to boot.

The Patchwork Girl is originally made without brains (to be a servant), but our gender-ambiguous hero gives her some. This makes her so happy that she flips.
We have a missing scene in which a bunch of powder gets tossed on the boy's father, the scientist's wife and the young lover. The scientist explains that it takes six years to mix and animate their statues. No offense, but that's a silly plan.