The Great and Powerful Oz question.

[maxairmike]

Just watched the trailer, and I am definitely interested. I love the original in that nostalgic, growing up with it way, but I have yet to see Wicked. I should probably pick up the books (or get them off Amazon for $1, thanks for that tip!) and read through them, though.

 

[HenryMystic]

Oz is being considered for DL as a new mini-land, but much will depend on the box office ... and how it compares with another tentpole that is much more likely (from industry observers) to have franchise written all over it.

But this has nothing to do with WDW. Enjoy all the new timeshares and wait and hope for Avatarland and then 2021 because you KNOW Disney just has to do something then, right?

Out of the two, I hope the 'other tentpole' does the best...

And by 2021, Universal will have how many new attractions? I've lost count.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Just watched the trailer for the Great and Powerful Oz... Could this be the next franchise for parks and resorts? Creating a mini-land of Oz? With the Great Movie ride at HS, I am assuming disney holds somesort of rights for Oz attractions. Then, I could be wrong.

Discuss... I am prepared for the bashing though.

Why would anyone bash you?

Anyway, the story of Disney and Oz is an interesting one...it seems that, after the success of "Snow White", a memo circulated through the Disney studio stating that the story most people wanted Disney to animate next (according to letters the studio received) was "The Wizard of Oz". At some point, someone from the company contacted L. Frank Baum's widow, but she wasn't interested, apparently because Walt was considering doing a short cartoon version which would involved Mickey and Donald. Baum's son eventually sold the Oz film rights to MGM, and of course the rest is history...but it doesn't end there. Apparently Walt regretted losing the opportunity to do an Oz film, and later bought the rights to the Oz books, intending to make a Disney film called "The Rainbow Road to Oz". That fell through...nobody knows for certain why. Here's more on the story: http://suite101.com/article/the-rainbow-road-to-oz-a65875

As for this new Oz film...well, the black-and-white beginning looks awesome...but there is a touch of "Wicked" about the witches, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Don't know if I'll see the movie or not. Guess I'll wait for reviews.

As for Oz in the parks...I was always disappointed that Disney and MGM didn't do more with the movie when they were partners. It seemed like such a waste. And I'm not sure if I'd care for an Oz land if it didn't have the "Over the Rainbow" song and the ruby slippers and so on in it, and of course it couldn't because of copyright issues, so an Oz land with no connection to the 1939 MGM film doesn't really interest me...

 

[Magenta Panther]

Exactly, and I'm guessing it's going to be a land because the rumors always stated the Land of Oz. Not just an attraction based on the movie.

I tried to watch that version of Oz but it was a little too creepy and scary for me.

I thought it pretty much sucked...

 

[JohnLocke]

For my part, I loved the original movie, and as for Wicked...well, I've never seen the stage show, but after reading the first few pages of the book, I heaved it into the trash...

I'll admit to not having finished the book yet, but the play's really good, I've seen it twice so far. It has a much lighter tone than the book, and falls into a sort of Beauty and the Beast category. It may not be completely appropriate for all ages, but it's close.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Being developed as we speak, but...
Keep an eye on the Box Office numbers. That will tell the tale.

I really wish that, since Disney has partnered with Lucas to create that Star Wars attraction, that it would do the same with Turner (holder of the copyright on the MGM film) to create an Oz attraction. An Oz land bereft of the charm of that film (and that film is certainly the DEFINITIVE interpretation of Baum's book) would interest me about as much as Avatarland does ...

 

[acishere]

Nobody remembers the other time Disney did Oz?


In fact, at Eurodisney...

http://www.waltdisneysreturntooz.com/Mar_Story.htm

I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked my mom to rent me that when I was 5. I thought the flying monkeys in the original were sort of creepy, but they didn't scar me like those damn Wheels-for-hands people or that closet full of disemboweled heads all screaming at Dorothy. Even that Pumpkin-man freaked me out and he was supposed to be good. Then again a lot of kids movies during this time had the funny side-effect of scaring the heck out of the audience they were made for.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I'll admit to not having finished the book yet, but the play's really good, I've seen it twice so far. It has a much lighter tone than the book, and falls into a sort of Beauty and the Beast category. It may not be completely appropriate for all ages, but it's close.

I have heard that a lot of the questionable stuff in the book was left out of the stage show. Smart move, if that's true.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Out of the two, I hope the 'other tentpole' does the best...

And by 2021, Universal will have how many new attractions? I've lost count.

I guess we can't mention that other movie by name in this thread, sometimes good movies have to wear masks . . .

 

[JohnLocke]

Just watched the trailer for the Great and Powerful Oz... Could this be the next franchise for parks and resorts? Creating a mini-land of Oz? With the Great Movie ride at HS, I am assuming disney holds somesort of rights for Oz attractions. Then, I could be wrong.

Discuss... I am prepared for the bashing though.

Disney, from what I gather, can do whatever they want that's Oz related, as long as they don't break other company's trademarks on their depictions. For example, they can use Glinda, Dorothy, the Wizard, or name any other character, but can't take on the likenesses or property of another company. So you can't have an identical Glinda as Wizard of Oz 1939 or Wicked and you can't use their songs.

Disney has licensed certain movies for the Great Movie ride, but I doubt that would extend outside that building.

 

[bubbles1812]

I guess we can't mention that other movie by name in this thread, sometimes good movies have to wear masks . . .

Bahaha. I see what you did there... Though I'm honestly not sure about the "franchisability" (yes I did just make up that word) of that one either. The property is well known, but not to kids today. Hopefully it will be really good or at least enough to spark the interest/draw in those who have never seen the original show. If Mask of Zorro (using this example since it was another ancient tv show adaption) could do it, or well at least the first movie anyways, I believe The Lone Ranger can! (Ohhh I went there and named it ) I actually hope both movies are successful, which is what Disney will place the most importance on, but most importantly for me, I hope that they are good movies.

 

[Patricia Melton]

There's been a rumor going around for months now that an Oz land could be coming to Disneyland.

This has already been posted.

 

[JohnLocke]

I have heard that a lot of the questionable stuff in the book was left out of the stage show. Smart move, if that's true.

Pretty much everything questionable's left out or glossed over. The mother's liaison and Elphaba's birth are probably the most risque things left in the show, but they take up approximately less than a minute of time and everything is more implied than seen.

 

[Patricia Melton]

I knew it. Where in the world is it going to go? The Circle D Ranch area? I know you can't answer me, so I have no clue why I'm asking.

This was already posted.

 

[DocMcHulk]

Being developed as we speak, but...
Keep an eye on the Box Office numbers. That will tell the tale.

Disneyland park or DCA?

 

[WDW1974]

Out of the two, I hope the 'other tentpole' does the best...

And by 2021, Universal will have how many new attractions? I've lost count.

Well, I actually hope they both do well IF they are good films and deserve to. Then, Disney will have a tough choice to make.

As to UNI, I have no idea ... suffice to say, I think there will be many attractions that haven't even been proposed yet. And WDW will likely have thousands of more timeshare units. And I just bought an AP for the 31st straight year ... maybe I'm not completely free of the Pixie Dust!

 

[JustInTime]

If the movies does well, they are planning on making this a trilogy.

 

[menamechris]

This was already posted.

If you're going to do this...can you do a thread link? Otherwise, it's pointless

 

[WDW1974]

I really wish that, since Disney has partnered with Lucas to create that Star Wars attraction, that it would do the same with Turner (holder of the copyright on the MGM film) to create an Oz attraction. An Oz land bereft of the charm of that film (and that film is certainly the DEFINITIVE interpretation of Baum's book) would interest me about as much as Avatarland does ...

I would be shocked if Disney didn't come to an agreement if they ever move forward with Oz attractions for DL ... if they can buy Avatar rights, then they certainly can do so for a real classic.

 

[WDW1974]

Disneyland park or DCA?

DL.

Which probably means this thread should be over there, but I don't play board police (tonight I saw the cops and went in the other direction ... but that's because I was with two other Spirits who are afraid of the officials!)