Rumor: The Muppet Wizard of Oz

[Drtooth]

But, nah, I don't wanna see the Muppets do this film. I want them to do The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made! LOL! That has always made me chuckle about that film.

Would be great if they combined this and made..

The Muppet's cheapest film presents "WIZARD OF OZ!!!"

In which Gonzo and the rest (GOnzo was in the original Cheap film story to do it under budget)

The Tornado could be a cardboard cut out... everyone could float by on very visable wires, and the yellow brick road could vary in colors ( : Wait.. I thought this was supposed to be a yellow brick road! :Uh... we ran out of yellow bricks. Now sing follow the brick red brick road....)

 

[sarah_yzma]

that would be HILARIOUS!!!

follow the yellow and green, and purple brick road.....

and the munchkins could not be munchkins...that would be funny, I must admit!

 

[Muppetsdownunder]

I think a muppets wizard of oz would be great, I have always been a fan of the wizard of oz.

 

[Beauregard]

Some of you guys might know Artie. He has posted at Tough Pigs saying this is indeed true, and its the 2nd movie of a 3 movie deal with NBC.

Is he the Secret Squirel if TP?

SPeaking of which, I havn't seen SS around for ages. Has he leftus in the dark?

 

[Luke]

Some of you guys might know Artie. He has posted at Tough Pigs saying this is indeed true, and its the 2nd movie of a 3 movie deal with NBC.

I kinda suspected at first if anything it would be a TV movie but then doubted it cos of the AICN connection and that the two other ideas people were suspecting are seasonal ones. That's probably what put a lot of people's radars off along with the OZ idea being pretty aloof and unexpected. I don't read TP much nowadays so I dunno what Artie said but you should be aware there were industry rumors that Henson is/was having some problems with NBC (over what i know not) so the leak probably has come at the wrong time for them. It's probably all still tentative or something so i wouldn't go planning movie snacks until they announce officially.

I'm not sure I like the idea - at least not right at this moment. It seems like a big change of direction from the last movie, maybe too much when they are supposed to be laying down foundations for a new 'current style' TV series. I'm sure whatever they do with it will be interesting though.

 

[Kermie81]

So it's true? Maybe?

I think I'd like the idea, but it would depend how they did it. Remember Muppets Go to the Movies with Dudley Moore and Lily Tomlin. They did a brief bit on the Wizard of Oz with Piggy as Dorothy, Foo Foo as Toto, Gonzo as the Tin Man, Fozzie as the Cowardly Lion, and Scooter as the Scarecrow. If they did something like that then I'd enjoy it.

But we shall see.

 

[Drtooth]

You know what would be sweet? If this wasn't the Muppets doing the Wizard of Oz, but an entire retelling using the creature shop....

 

[danielromens]

You know what would be sweet? If this wasn't the Muppets doing the Wizard of Oz, but an entire retelling using the creature shop....

here's my take.

Dorothy: A Human
Toto: FooFoo.
Scarecrow: Kermit
TinMan: Gonzo
Cowardly Lion: Fozzie
Glenda, the Good Witch: Miss Piggy

Upon the realization of the small scope of her role, Piggy goes into a Muppet Caper like fit. She approaches Kermit who is already stuck in place as the Scarecrow. An argument ensues Piggy stops and circles around Kermit who both argues and franticly flails about trying to turn enough on his scarecrow perch to see where Piggy is located. At the end of her fit, she gives him the inevetable karate chop, after a short and awkward panting pause (think the park arguement in MTM) She hits him again for good measure and stomps off with the signature "Hmph."

The munchkins: smaller muppets. Rizzo and the rats would represent the Lolly pop guild.
Mayor of Munchkin City: A humiliated Sam Eagle

"Is nothing sacred"
Scooter, still as stagehand pops head out of Mayors house, "Sam, you said you wanted a part, now say the line."

The Coroner:

The Wicked Witch of the West: Another Human

Upon her entrance there is a bang and a flurry of music. A hard piano continues to play, ignoring the fact that the climax of the entrance has passed. An annoyed Witch says "Do you mind!?!?"
There is a shot of Rowlf at his piano "Oh...uh sorry." this gag may be used at various points of action and dialogue for the witch through out the movie.

The Flying Monkeys: Johnny and Sal leading a band of penguins or Flying pigs. Sal, "The other monkeys are booked." Cue to shot of B-list cameo by original Monkeys (the band) Mickey Dollens, "Tell that to our agent." Cut back to confused cast.

Oz denizens: Muppets Galore.
Oz Doorman: Pops

The are greeted with a song from the Emerald Mayhem.

The Wizard of Oz: Bunsen and Beaker will portray the men behind the curtain of the Great and Powerful Oz, who will be represent by the large floating heads of Statler and Waldorf.

the end.

 

[Chilly Down]

You know what would be sweet? If this wasn't the Muppets doing the Wizard of Oz, but an entire retelling using the creature shop....

Umm, I suggested that about 20 posts ago.

(LOL! No problem. I know it's too much to remember everything everyone said.)

To answer someone else's question: Artie gave 100% accurate information on Kermit's Swamp Years long before it came out, so I completely trust him. No, he's not Secret Squirrel. Artie has always freely given his name, and SS goes by that nickname on both forums. I'd love if SS could shed even more light on it, though. (An official announcement from the company would be even better.)

I think I remember reading a while back that if the first one did well enough, NBC would go with two more movies, so this info sounds right. The NBC lineup has already been announced for 2003/2004, so at this point, I wouldn't expect it till the 2004/2005 season.

I'm still surprised at the choice, as the ideas that seem to have been in play up till now were Muppet Haunted House or a Muppet Valentine movie. This one seemed to come out of left field. However, someone at TP was saying that Oz was one of the first projects discussed at Disney, though they ended up going with Christmas Carol and Treasure Island instead.

While I've expressed my reservations with the idea, I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how it turns out. I'm just glad any new Muppet projects are being made, period. Maybe some of the other Muppets can appear as some of the characters from the other Oz books, just to round out the ensemble a bit (Lew Zealand as Tic-Toc??). That is, if it can be done without tampering with the integrity of the story too much.

 

[radionate]

Oz is also about to become a very hot property in the next 12 months. Mark my words, you'll be "ozzed" out by the end of 2005.

There is a new Oz musical opening on Broadway very soon that is getting rave reviews, and there are some other things Oz that I've seen/heard rumblings about, so I'm sure publicity wise this might not be a bad thing for Henson. They could ride the tails of the media like Avenue Q and Little Shop of Horrors have done on Broadway this year with the whole "puppetry on Broadway" spin that reporters came up with.