Muppets' Wizard of Oz cast list

[The Good Doctor]

You're insane. The books don't reffer to the munchkins as rats either you know.

Insane? ......That seems a bit severe. I have spent the last 10 years collecting and studying OZ and the Many OZ Authors, as well as the connection between the land of OZ and the United States.

It may seem foolish but if we are willing to accept that because the road is in Munchkin Land the bricks are tiny. Then you might just as well make them blue, because after all Munchkin Land is the blue part of OZ and all things are supposed to be blue there, from the grass, right down to the clothes the folks wear.

If I am remembering correctly the Wizard commissioned the construction of the Yellow brick road along with the Emerald City and it is a road for all people and makes no distinction between the many peoples of OZ despite the fact that it connects much of the country. Meaning while the surroundings change color from blue to red to yellow to purple to green depending what part of OZ you are in the yellow brick road stays the same and consistent.

Again I am sure you will all think I am nuts or insane as you so eloquently put it. But the Yellow Brick Road is actually a representation of many different things that were happening historically at the time. The book was published in 1900, with the industrial revolution and the dust bowl on the door step we have an influx of people moving away from farming and going to the city to make a better life. The Scarecrow represents the stereotype of the foolish “backwards” farmer trying to make a better life in the big city. The Tin Man is a man of metal, a machine man who very often in the book efficiently chops down trees and constructs useful things. He is in fact a heartless machine, but not with out emotion.

If we look at immigration, as the United States starts is struggling with the Dust Bowl, and starts to head toward the Great Depression, and WWII, immigrants were coming to our country to escape the hardship they faced, persecution, and famine in there own lands. It was popularly believed that the United States was an affluent country where even the streets were paved with gold.

Weather or not L. frank Baum was thinking of these things while writing his famed book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is impossible to know. he may have been influenced by what was happening around him as many authors are. Considering that much of this was yet to come in history he would have had no real way of knowing. there are many many more connections that can be made, to many to list them all here.

But as I mentioned before I am not going to split hairs. I think it is dumb to make the bricks in Munchkin land so small.

 

[Beauregard]

Cool, I didn't know that you studied Oz so much. Tres cool.

Have you read all the books? I am understanding that there are about fory, arn't there?

 

[The Good Doctor]

40 books

Cool, I didn't know that you studied Oz so much. Tres cool.

Have you read all the books? I am understanding that there are about fory, arn't there?

There are 40 books which make up what is called the original cannon, which include the 14 original stores by L. Frank Baum. After his death many other authors carried on the tradition of writing OZ books for a number of years. Out side of the cannon there have been hundreds of other OZ books written by many different authors, some good, and some not so good.

Unfortunately due to my OZ collecting and research I am holding the Muppets Wizard of OZ to a very high standard. Based on what I have seen this new Muppet film falls shot, even when compared with Muppets Treasure Island, and Christmas Carol. The Original Wonderful Wizard of OZ is a timeless classic full of kind philosophy, humor, and magic, it needs no changing or retelling. Yet Hollywood in all of the times it has tried to reproduce that story (Hundreds of times) has always felt it needed to be jazzed up, changed, and modified to "make it better". This new Muppet film is no acceptation, and from where I sit, it won't be worth watching.

I have red most of the books in the original cannon but not all, I am still collecting many of them. Soon I will have read them all.

 

[McFraggle]

The book was published in 1900, with the industrial revolution and the dust bowl on the door step we have an influx of people moving away from farming and going to the city to make a better life. The Scarecrow represents the stereotype of the foolish “backwards” farmer trying to make a better life in the big city. The Tin Man is a man of metal, a machine man who very often in the book efficiently chops down trees and constructs useful things. He is in fact a heartless machine, but not with out emotion.

That is very interesting and makes a lot of sense.

 

[The Good Doctor]

That is very interesting and makes a lot of sense.

I was expecting the Muppets to change the story slightly and make it there own. Looking at MTR, and MCC those are great films with a good story at the heart of the matter. Like wise I expected the same thing for the Muppets Wizard of OZ, but unfortunately there story of OZ is so fair removed we are left with nothing but Outrageious Muppet Stupidity, I thik HiI-Yaa Sums it all up!

 

[Beauregard]

I was expecting the Muppets to change the story slightly and make it there own. Looking at MTR, and MCC those are great films with a good story at the heart of the matter. Like wise I expected the same thing for the Muppets Wizard of OZ, but unfortunately there story of OZ is so fair removed we are left with nothing but Outrageious Muppet Stupidity, I thik HiI-Yaa Sums it all up!

Ah, yes. I think that is close to summing it up

OMS (Outrageious Muppet Stupidity) seems to be on the rise while QTMM (Qiet tender Muppet moments) are lessening with each production. Although, there are several parts in VMC where I almost cry, and some very good scenes (amugst the OMS scenes) and I do think we have to wait and see. I remeber I was as shocked/horrified/angry/annoid/outspoken about VMC before I saw it, and it is better than than I hoped.

Maybe this is the same.

Bea{Maybe not}regard

 

[timrikthegorf]

I think AVMMC had plenty of QTMM. Perhaps the Oz trailer on showed the crazy stuff. I mean, it's not even a minute long.

 

[The Good Doctor]

I think AVMMC had plenty of QTMM. Perhaps the Oz trailer on showed the crazy stuff. I mean, it's not even a minute long.

I am not sure I know what you mean by QTMM, but I do agree that I am being very hard on about 45 seconds of Muppet film. I will probably just rent it when it comes to video.

 

[timrikthegorf]

Look atthe post above mine. QTMM, Quite Tender Muppet Moment.

I do agreethatthe muppetshave become too wacky. Kermit in particular. Steve really warps the heck out of the frogs face like he can't keep his hand still. He could hold the shape in MCC and MTI for the most part. WHy does he warp the face so much in other productions?

 

[Rugby]

I think they may have 'loosened the reigns' on how Steve performs Kermit's character a bit too much. I think he needs to sit down one weekend and watch and rewatch all of the old shows and movies where Jim performed Kermit.

Kermit should be Kermit, not whatever the person that puts him on their arm thinks he should be. There's just something annoying about Steve's performances to me. It kind of bothers me also that Kermit used to have a deeper more mature sounding voice in Jim and with Steve, he sounds more like a teenage frog now. Also, is there ever a moment that Kermit ever quietly sits back and reflects anymore? Or is does he always have to be hyper hyper hyper now?

Before, he was only hyper occasionally, like the Muppet Show episode where he fires Piggy. It seems Steve took that bit and employs it much too often, or at least the writers do.