The first full official trailer for Walt Disney Studios Oz The Great and Powerful has arrived, and it is all kinds of spectacular. And check out the full-sized poster that Disney has been teasing us with for the last couple of weeks in its full glory.
Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved wizard character. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful wizard but into a better man as well.
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Nobody broke into song, so that’s a good sign. However, somebody from 1910 Kansas wouldn’t say “Guys, take five”. I hate it when they put modern slang into a period piece. That’s just sloppy writing.
Webster’s Dictionary dates the phrase “take five” as shorthand for “take a short or five minute break” to the early part of the 20th century, and has been identified as in common usage as early as the 1920s. I don’t know that it’s such a stretch to assume that somebody in Kansas (where Jazz, and thus the jazz-derived phrase originated) is familiar with it. Mileage varies, and all that…
Looks really interesting.
looks interesting,but why does The Wizard of Oz require a prequel?
I don’t know that anything requires a prequel, but it’s probably due to the $$$ factor.
I wonder if this is all supposed to tie into the Wicked book trilogy?
I don’t think so as it looks like the “Wicked” witch (or Alphaba) is the main villain of this movie and in Wicked (at least the musical I haven’t read the books yet) the wizard is revealed to have come to Oz long before the witches become witches. In that the wizard was actually more of the villain. Of course if Les Mis does as well as it is looking we might see more musicals take screen like Wicked.
This looks great!, i love the idea of a new OZ story.
That’s true, Matthew, however, the Wizard of Oz was copyright protected in 1899, and if you read just the first page, you’ll find that, although no date is specified, the technology presented are wood stoves and lamps, no refrigerator, no electricity, no telephones., so it probably was set some time before the 1890 (telephones and electric lights began to filter out to the public in the 1880s). Frank L. Baum died in 1919, and by most accounts, the Jazz Age began in the late 1920s, so he wouldn’t have used phrases like “Take 5”. I maintain that it’s as jarring as the “Sitting Ducks” in Star Wars – it takes me out of the fantasy, which means it’s not a good thing.