WARNING: This Review Contains Spoilers
Ever since I was a child, The Wizard of Oz has been one of my favourite films, to the extent that it was my go-to film when I was ill. Released in 1939, it brought L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to the screen, with Judy Garland in the leading role. It was in 2013 however that we were told the origin story of Oz: The Great and Powerful wizard.
Once a Fraud
We first meet our ‘wizard’, Oscar Diggs, at a travelling circus in Kansas as a struggling magician. This is the first place this prequel differs from the original film. According to the balloon he eventually leaves Oz in, he was blown away in Ohama, Nebraska – not Kansas. His tricks are so good he has the whole crowd fooled until a young girl asks him to help her walk, which for him is an impossible task. It is this that breaks the illusion for the general public which, along with his philandering ways, causes him to flee in the aforementioned balloon. His charade continued when he arrived Oz, drawn by the promise of a throne and riches. Only the good witch Glinda sees him for what he truly is, but still believes it is him that will save Oz.
Familial Connections
It is in the opening scene at the Kansas circus that we seem to meet Dorothy’s mother. When Annie, one of what seems to be many of Oscar’s girlfriends, comes to visit she drops in to conversation that John Gale has asked her to marry him. We know that Oz the Great and Powerful starts in 1905 but being unclear when The Wizard of Oz is set, it could be suggested that we are talking about the marriage of Dorothy’s parents. This subsequently makes me wonder, what happened to her mother and father for her to end up living with Auntie Em and Uncle Henry?
Wicked Witches of Oz
I have already mentioned Glinda, however she is not the only witch that resides in the Land of Oz, there are also two sisters, Theodora and Evadora. It is the latter that has put Oz in danger but leads many to believe, along with her sister and Oscar, that it is Glinda who is the wicked witch. Theodora does her best to ignore the darkness inside of herself until the heartbreak of seeing Oscar with Glinda sends her over the edge. It is because of this that she takes a bite of her sister’s magical apple (typical of an evil witch – Snow White anyone?), turning her into the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West that we recognise from the original film. We also see that she ends up with her broom due to stealing it from one of the ladies of Oz.
Following the war to save Oz, Glinda banishes both Evadora and Theodora from Emerald City, causing them to become the Wicked Witches of the East and West. Even though no names are mentioned in The Wizard of Oz, it is easy to assume that it is Evadora that Dorothy’s home falls on in Munchkin Land when The Wicked Witch of the West says ‘Who killed my sister? Who killed the Witch of the East?’
The Poppy Field
This is where I got a little confused. I always got the feeling when watching The Wizard of Oz, that the poppies only made Dorothy and the others sleepy because of a spell the Wicked Witch of the West puts on the field at that point in time; “And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. With poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell”. However, according to Oz the Great and Powerful it is caused by the poppies themselves as they have always had this power to put people to sleep.
In Conclusion
Not taking into account the difference between the balloons and the poppy field confusion, as one version may have it closer to the book than the other, Oz the Great and Powerful is a great prequel to The Wizard of Oz as we are shown much more of the Land of Oz than we had seen before.
