Is it time to remake the Wizard of Oz?

Johnny Depp is a fantastic actor. He hasn't taken any acting challenges since Jack Sparrow, but that doesn't diminish his talent.

I thought this was to discuss a potential Wizard of Oz remake, not discuss Tim Burton and Johnny Depp for a page and a half. Is the Alice In Wonderland thread and the 'Actors You Hate' thread not enough for these two to get discussed thoroughly?

I was really looking forward to a lively discussion about the Baum books and possible movies and casting choices, not the same old bullshit rants about Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. My fault for thinking we could stay on topic for the first two pages....

Quit whining and get the discussion back on track, then, Doug! Mr. Best Elder PoP!Per!

Did you guys hear that Christopher Nolan will be working on the next Superman movie? I'm pretty excited.

Joshua wrote:I would have no problem with a more accurate to the source material film adaptation, but I see no reason to remake the MGM musical version.

I'm with Josh. Remake? No. Faithful adaptation? Please.

Ska wrote:...leave Tim Burton and Johnny Depp out of this.

Agreed.

deadbolt85 wrote:

Ska wrote:I thought Ninth Gate sucked.

So did a lot of people. But have you seen Blow?

I loved Ninth Gate, and Blow bored me to fucking tears.

Fine. Here we go.


THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ -- Casting Choices


Dorothy: Ariel Winter



Glinda, Good Witch of the South: Amy Adams



Scarecrow: Doug Jones



Tin Woodman: David Tennant



Cowardly Lion: Gerard Butler



The Wizard: John Lithgow



Wicked Witch of the West: Michelle Pfeiffer

I would be down with a Henry Selick-directed stop motion adaptation of the material. I think that eerie vibe stop motion tends to illicit is perfect for the land of Oz.

Joshua wrote:I would be down with a Henry Selick-directed stop motion adaptation of the material. I think that eerie vibe stop motion tends to illicit is perfect for the land of Oz.

Except that Oz isn't an eerie landscape. It's a fairy land, full of bright sunshine and talking animals. Sure, there are places in Oz that are creepy, but the story itself and the landscape do not lend itself to an eerie sort of retelling, no matter WHAT the fuck Todd McFarlane says.

Lithgow as Oz is kind of brilliant.

I've always thought John Lithgow would be great as Oz. He could do both the grand pomposity facade and the unnerved man from Omaha with equal ease.

superdoug wrote:

Joshua wrote:I would be down with a Henry Selick-directed stop motion adaptation of the material. I think that eerie vibe stop motion tends to illicit is perfect for the land of Oz.

Except that Oz isn't an eerie landscape. It's a fairy land, full of bright sunshine and talking animals. Sure, there are places in Oz that are creepy, but the story itself and the landscape do not lend itself to an eerie sort of retelling, no matter WHAT the fuck Todd McFarlane says.

Maybe I've been misinformed, but I always thought the Baum version was darker than the MGM one. Not McFarlane dark of course, but not Dorothy singing to rainbows either. Either way, slightly dark or light-hearted as shit, I'd be really into a stop motion version.

Joshua wrote:

superdoug wrote:

Joshua wrote:I would be down with a Henry Selick-directed stop motion adaptation of the material. I think that eerie vibe stop motion tends to illicit is perfect for the land of Oz.

Except that Oz isn't an eerie landscape. It's a fairy land, full of bright sunshine and talking animals. Sure, there are places in Oz that are creepy, but the story itself and the landscape do not lend itself to an eerie sort of retelling, no matter WHAT the fuck Todd McFarlane says.

Maybe I've been misinformed, but I always thought the Baum version was darker than the MGM one. Not McFarlane dark of course, but not Dorothy singing to rainbows either. Either way, slightly dark or light-hearted as shit, I'd be really into a stop motion version.

Not necessarily darker, but there were more 'scary' moments in the book. (The Kalidahs, the wolves, the black bees.) But I could be down for a movie along the lines of Coraline, so long as the characters were based on Skottie Young's designs.

While maybe not Skottie Young, but that John Boorman concept art is pretty nice.

Voice Actors?

I'm gonna go a little "The Office" centric

Jenna Fischer: Dorothy
Steve Carrell: Scarcrow
Rainn Wilson: Tin Man
Seth Rogen: Lion
John Lithgow: Oz
Jane Lynch: Wicked Witch
Amy Adams: Good Witch

Doug Jones as the Scarecrow is brilliant casting Superdoug.

Silent K wrote:While maybe not Skottie Young, but that John Boorman concept art is pretty nice.

Voice Actors?

I'm gonna go a little "The Office" centric

Jenna Fischer: Dorothy
Steve Carrell: Scarcrow
Rainn Wilson: Tin Man
Seth Rogen: Lion
John Lithgow: Oz
Jane Lynch: Wicked Witch
Amy Adams: Good Witch

Awesome cast.

I'm so tired of people going on and on about The Office. I cannot watch it, and I certainly wouldn't want that stink on my Wizard of Oz movie. Nor would I want Seth Rogan's loser B.O. on it. I could take Steve Carrell, but only as the Cowardly Lion.

My modified V.O. cast:

Dorothy: Lea Michele (from Glee)
Scarecrow: Kelsey Grammar
Tin Woodman: David Hyde Pierce
Cowardly Lion: Steve Carrell
Wizard: John Lithgow
Wicked Witch: Jane Lynch
Good Witch of the South: Amy Adams (alternately, Julie Bowen)

Dorothy: Jack Black
Scarecrow: Dustin Hoffman
Tin Woodman: Angelina Jolie
Cowardly Lion: Jackie Chan
Wizard: Lucy Liu
Wicked Witch: David Cross
Good Witch of the South: Seth Rogen

They already made a Wizard of Oz for this generation its called Tin Man.

Off_White_Lantern wrote:They already made a Wizard of Oz for this generation its called Tin Man.

And it's terrible.

Off_White_Lantern wrote:They already made a Wizard of Oz for this generation its called Tin Man.

Tin Man was not a remake of the Wizard of Oz. It was a telling of a possible future of the Land of Oz. It bore only a passing resemblance to the stories of L. Frank Baum, and wasn't true to the source material in the least.

We're talking about a version that would be true to the original story, as written by Baum.

Joshua wrote:And it's terrible.

That, too.

Tin Man : Wizard of Oz :: Hook : Peter Pan

Joshua wrote:Tin Man : Wizard of Oz :: Hook : Peter Pan

The difference being that I actually enjoy parts of Hook (I actually think that Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell was a pretty solid bit of casting), while Tin Man had me wanting to go after my eyes with a spoon.

I meant concept, not quality. While Hook is a fairly inferior movie, it's a guilty pleasure of mine.

These actors came to mind when I saw this thread...they probably aren't good choices but it's just who I thought of.

Josh Peck as The Scarecrow (He's kinda skinny now and reminds of the old school slapstick comedians)he probably doesn't have the acting experience to pull it off though...So how about..I know it's another everybody always picks him actor but, Jim Carrey

Cillian Murphy or Crispin Glover as the Tin man (Probably as voice over/motion capture thing like with Davey Jones.)

Wayne Knight as the Cowardly Lion

Superdoug suggested it and I really can't see any other actor doing it

John Lithgow as The Wizard

I'm really at a loss for who to play Dorothy..

Dorothy: Jennifer Carpenter
Scarecrow: Michael C. Hall
Tin Woodman: Erik King
Cowardly Lion: David Zayas
Wizard: James Remar
Wicked Witch: Lauren Velez
Good Witch of the South: Julie Benz