This version of the classic “The Wizard of Oz” was originally aired on TV, but has since been made available on DVD for your enjoyment any time.
Ashanti stars as Dorothy Gale, a girl who lives with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in Kansas. Em runs a diner, and Dorothy works there every afternoon, but she feels trapped. She wants to leave Kansas and go to Hollywood to become a big singing star. When she hears that the Muppets will be in town for a star search, she begs to go, but Em says she’s needed in the diner. Henry sneaks her out the back, and she runs to the audition, only to find that she’s late.
Feeling discouraged, Dorothy manages to give a demo CD to Kermit, and then heads home, sure that she’ll never be able to leave Kansas.
When she gets home, she finds that Henry and Em are getting ready to go down into the storm shelter. A tornado is on its way, but Dorothy is too upset to even think about it. Finally, when the storm is nearly on top of them, she heads for the shelter, only to realize that she has forgotten Toto, her pet King Prawn, back in her room. She goes back to get him, only to get carried away in her house to the land of Oz.
This is where the Muppets come in, and I’m sure you can imagine that it just gets whackier from here. Toto is now played by Pepe the Prawn, a flirtatious crustacean. Dorothy meets up with the Scarecrow (Kermit the Frog) the Tin Man (Gonzo) and the Cowardly Lion (Fozzie Bear.) Together they head off to the Emerald City to find the Wizard, all the while avoiding the witch (Miss Piggy).
I found the movie overall to be enjoyable and funny, but I did have a few issues. Dorothy is a real snot to her aunt and uncle before she leaves, making it hard to care what happens to her the rest of the film. And when Gonzo goes in to see the Wizard, he sees a sexualized computer image designed to distract him from his real purpose. If it weren’t for those two things, this movie would be quite good. As it stands, it was good but with reservations. But with the magic of a TV remote, you can flick through the parts you don’t like.
This film was not rated.
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