OZ The Great and Powerful Movie Stills and Details

CURTAIN RAISER:

Inspired by L.Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, this fantasy adventure film is a prequel to the 1939 blockbuster, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ which has been made at a cost of $200 million, in traditional 2 D, Digital 3 D, Real 3 D and IMAX 3 D format with a running time of 130 minutes. Following the success of their home production, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ in 1937, Walt Disney was desirous of making an animated film based on the first of Baum’s Oz books but MGM had developed it and had released it as a musical in 1939. Yet, Disney managed to acquire the rights of Baum’s 13 other Oz books. In 1985, ‘Return to Oz’ was made which could be construed as a sequel, thereby kick starting a loyal fan base for the royal clan the of Oz series. Sam Raimi, the maker of the Spiderman trilogy has directed this fantasy flick. It is interesting to note that practical sets were erected in conjunction with computer generated imagery.

SYNOPSIS:

The film opens in Black/White at a circus in Kansas in the year 1905 depicting the story of a circus magician, Oscar Diggs. After running into trouble with the strongest man in the circus who is a fearsome creature, Oscar is forced to flee in his hot air balloon which gets caught in a tornado. Subsequently, after weathering tough climatic conditions, Diggs lands in a magical country as the color descends on the silver screen… Alongside his eventful journey, Oz, as Diggs is now hailed as, meets witches, river fairies, a girl from China and a flying monkey as he strikes a chord with the weird and wonderful inhabitants of the land of Oz while striking a balance between his old acquaintances of the Black/White era and the new found relationships in the land of Oz.

CREDITS:

James Franco as Oscar Diggs, Michelle Williams as Glinda, Rachel Weisz as Evanora besides the voices of Mila Braff, Joey King etc.

Camera: Peter Deming; Editing: Bob Murawski; Music: Danny Elfman

An UTV MOTION PICTURES Release