A Movie Based on the Second and Third of the Oz books, often being hailed as more true and accurate to Baum's writing, it's hard to believe to me as a modern viewer that this is a Disney film. It certainly doesn't feel like it. The dark atmosphere likely caused a lot of children nightmares as a kid, and plus, it's just plain weird. Upon making my Mom watch this one with me, after finding it myself and falling in love, she said "I can see why you like it, but it's just way too weird for me." Which is about par for the course. What can I say? I'm not even a big Oz fan, but when I found out about this movie, I had to watch it for myself. And boy was I not disappointed.
I’m just genuinely a fan of weird, dark fantasy and this delivers on all fronts. Admittedly I got into the movie by seeing someone make a doll of Jack Pumpkinhead and I just thought his design was so charming. His character is just as charming! I love his childlike nature stuck in a tall frame, I think it’s really sweet. I love how reliable Tik Tok is, (no, not the app, the character,) and how something that most people would find a detriment (not being alive) he takes pride in. And that’s not even getting into the villains! I adore Mombi, I love women who will do anything to be beautiful in stories, there’s something about it that is very fun to me. I’m not really sure if it’s the twisted idealization of beauty, the selfishness to the point of putting herself above all of these other women, I’m not sure! But I think it’s awesome to watch. I really enjoy the Nome King, his games, his word puzzles, how he changes and transforms slowly into something more human… I like how subtle the transformation is, how, if you’re not paying attention, you could miss it. How none of the characters remark about his form slowly becoming more humanoid.
And I haven’t even talked about Dorothy yet. I love how in this movie, she actually IS a child. I think her actor, Fairuza Balk, absolutely killed this role. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything else with her in it but I know I have to now after watching this film. (Namely, The Craft is on my to watch list.) I feel like I do not want to say too much else about what I love about Dorothy in detail, for fear of spoiling the movie, as I’ve tried to keep these reviews fairly spoiler free. But she’s def my favorite portrayal of Dorothy that I’ve seen in any Oz movie!
The costume design and set designs here are awesome as well. I love the costume design in particular of the Wheelers, the henchmen of Mombi’s. It really sells the unhinged nature of the Wheelers. The set design in Mombi’s castle as well as in the Emerald City really hits home too and tells us a lot about Mombi as a person, and for the Emerald City, it brings home the fate of the city since Dorthy has been there. I would love to talk about more things I just adore about this movie, but I feel like I’d be getting way into spoiler territory, so if you like what you’ve read, my suggestion is just to go watch it yourself!
