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Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz. At first he thinks he's hit the jackpot-fame and fortune are his for the taking. That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity-and even a bit of wizardry-Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.
Trivia:
Christoph Waltz was in early talks to play a role.
Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp were both offered the role of Oz.
Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, Blake Lively, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley, and Rebecca Hall were considered for the roles of the witches.
Hilary Swank and Michelle Williams were director Sam Raimi's first choices for the role of Evanora. Rachel Weisz got the script through her agent and loved the role but neither the studio or Sam Raimi imagined her for the part. Weisz auditioned and had an two hour conversation with Raimi and later she was cast as Evanora. Williams was eventually cast as Glinda.
John C. Reilly was considered for the role of Frank.
Blake Lively was offered the role of Glinda, but chose to do Oliver Stone's Savages instead.
At the start of the film, Oz works with the circus company "Baum Brothers Circus." This is a reference to L. Frank Baum, the original author of the Oz series.
This is the second Oz-related movie to be produced by the Disney company. Their first film was Return to Oz.
This film allowed director Sam Raimi and composer Danny Elfman to patch things up after their falling out during the post-production of Spider-Man 2.
Before Sam Raimi signed on to direct the film, directors Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman were also reported to be top candidates.
This is the third time Mila Kunis circles a role in "Oz". She previously appeared in a stage production of 'The Wizard of Oz' in third grade, and additionally starred as Dorothy in a parody on That '70s Show
Because Warner Bros. owns the rights to iconic elements of the 1939 MGM film, including the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland, Disney was unable to use them nor any character likenesses from that particular film. This extended to the green of the Wicked Witch's skin, for which Disney used what its legal department considered a sufficiently different shade called theostein. The studio could not, however, use the signature chin mole of Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Oz's assistant Frank is named for "Oz" creator L. Frank Baum.
Michelle Williams's character Annie is marrying a man name Gale. Dorothy in the Oz books is named Dorothy Gale.
This is Sam Raimi's first film to be rated PG in the US. All his previous directorial films have been PG-13 or R.
Early on, Oscar (Oz) makes mention of his shabby jacket. There is a famous story of how a shabby jacket was purchased at a used clothing store for use in the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. It was later discovered (and confirmed) that the jacket was originally made for and owned by L. Frank Baum (the author of The Wizard of Oz).
This is the second time Zach Braff has starred in an Oz themed production: in the Scrubs episode 'My Way Home' he plays the role of Dorothy in a Wizard of Oz parody. His Scrubs character JD also mentions that he appeared in his school's production of the musical version of The Wizard of Oz titled 'The Wiz'.
Sam Raimi opted to use practical sets in conjunction with computer-generated imagery: physical sets were constructed so the actors could have a visual reference, as opposed to using green-screens for every scene.
Zach Braff and Joey King were on set to record their dialogue simultaneously with the other actors, whenever their CG characters (Finley and the China Girl) were present in a scene.
A puppet of the China Girl was used on set.
Art director Robert Stromberg cited the Disney animated films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty as an influence on Oz's landscape design.
Robert Stromberg studied the films of Frank Capra and James Wong Howe to achieve the appropriate Art Deco design for the Emerald City of Oz.
Mila Kunis's Wicked Witch prosthetic make-up demanded four hours to apply and another hour to remove, with Kunis taking nearly two months to fully recover from the subsequent removal of the makeup from her skin.
To prepare for his role as Oz, James Franco received training with magician Lance Burton.
Producer Joe Roth was intrigued by the prospect of exploring the origins of the Wizard of Oz character: "During the years that I spent running Walt Disney Studios, I learned about how hard it was to find a fairy tale with a good strong male protagonist. You've got your Sleeping Beauties, your Cinderellas and your Alices, but a fairy tale with a male protagonist is very hard to come by. But with the origin story of the Wizard of Oz, here was a fairy tale story with a natural male protagonist. Which is why I knew that this was an idea for a movie that was genuinely worth pursuing." Screenwriter Mitchell Kapner felt the same way about the character.
Richard DeManincor is the only actor from Sam Raimi's Evil Dead to not cameo in this film. Bruce Campbell appears as a Winkie guard and Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly appear as Quadlings.
The Emerald City flag's lion refers to the MGM lion logo, which is exactly the same.