The Witches of Oz

The Witches of Oz is a film based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

It follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale, now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her.

It has what can best be described as a rather curious distribution history. It was initially released on the Syfy channel as a two-part miniseries in 2011 and subsequently made available on DVD and Blu-Ray. However, a director's cut - retitled Dorothy and the Witches of Oz - is currently slated for theatrical release in the US on February 17th 2012. This newer version will be an overall shorter movie with new scenes and about 90 % of the special effects completely redone.

The trailer for the miniseries can be seen here.

The trailer for the theatrical-release version can be seen here.

This movie contains examples of:

 * An Axe to Grind: The Nome King and the Tin Man both use them.
 * Big Applesauce
 * Big Bad: The Wicked Witch of the West.
 * Big Eater: Frick and Frack, and also Bryan.
 * Darker and Edgier
 * Deadpan Snarker: Nick has his moments.
 * Dueling Movies: A big screen adaption of Wicked is slated to come out in 2012 as well.
 * Eyepatch of Power: The Wicked Witch of the West, true to her portrayal in the books.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!
 * The Wizard is Christopher Lloyd
 * Uncle Henry is Lance Henriksen
 * Langwidere is Mia Sara
 * Sean Astin and Billy Boyd reunite here as Frack and Nick, respectively.
 * Jeffrey Combs is Frank
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: The Wizard plays a song that sounds suspiciously like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a flute. Dorothy remarks that she likes it.
 * Large Ham: The Wizard.
 * MacGuffin: The key to the Wizard's book.
 * Mage in Manhattan
 * Mythology Gag: Mia Sara plays Princess Langwidere, who is a witch in this adaptation. She also played the Wicked Witch of the West in the failed TV pilot Lost in Oz.
 * Neck Lift: Langwidere does this to Dorthy in the trailer.
 * Off With Her Head: Langwidere threatens Dorothy with this via magic sword.
 * Or Was It a Dream?
 * Playing with Fire: The Witch of the East had a flamethrower broom.
 * Posthumous Character: The Wicked Witch of the East, who is seen in flashbacks.
 * Re Cut: The shorter, theatrical-release version.
 * Red Herring:
 * Sequel Hook
 * Shout-Out: The Wicked Witch of the West summons the Jabberwock during the climactic fight, and mentions Narnia and Neverland.
 * Steampunk: The Wizard's inventions, the Tin Man, and the briefly-seen Tik Tok all evoke this aesthetic.
 * Take That: The trailer for the theatrical version ends by saying that it will debut in theaters on Feb 17th..."in glorious 2-D"; almost-certainly a jab at the 3-D craze.