Oz the Great and Powerful

After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Walt Disney planned to produce an animated film based on the first of L. Frank Baum's Oz books. However, Roy O. Disney, the chairman of Walt Disney Productions, was informed by Baum's estate that they had sold the film rights to the first book to Samuel Goldwyn, who re-sold it to Louis B. Mayer in 1938.[19] Ironically, the film was approved due to the success of Snow White.[20] The project was then developed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer into the well-known musical adaptation which was released the following year.

In 1954, when the film rights to Baum's remaining thirteen Oz books were made available, Walt Disney Productions acquired them[21] for use in Walt Disney's television series Disneyland which led to the live-action film Rainbow Road to Oz, which was abandoned and never completed.[22] Disney's history with the Oz series continued with the 1985 film Return to Oz, which performed poorly, both critically and commercially,[23][24][25] but has developed a cult following since its release by fans of the books who considered it a more faithful adaptation to the Oz books than the 1939 classic.[26][27] After Return to Oz, Disney lost the film rights to the Oz books and they subsequently reverted to the public domain.[28] In 2005, Disney produced the television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz which aired on its network ABC.

Upon the release of Wicked, screenwriter Mitchell Kapner felt he had missed his opportunity to explore the origins of the Wizard of Oz character.[29] In 2009, he met with producer Joe Roth who turned down his current pitches and asked if he had any other ideas. Kapner, who had been reading the Oz series to his children, outlined the plots of the books. Roth stopped him on the sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz, which had some of the Wizard's backstory. Roth said:

"… 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."[30]

Kapner and co-writer Palak Patel were turned down by Sony Pictures[29] before the project was set up at Walt Disney Pictures in 2009. Disney president Sean Bailey commissioned Oz the Great and Powerful (under the working title "Brick") during the tenure of chairman Dick Cook, who was succeeded by Rich Ross, and later Alan Horn, a succession in management rarely survived by a major studio release.[29] David Lindsay-Abaire was later hired to do a re-write.[28]

Roth initially sought Robert Downey Jr. for the title role of the Wizard.[31] Sam Raimi was hired to direct in 2010 from a shortlist including Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman.[31] In January 2011, Downey declined the role[29] and it was offered to Johnny Depp, who had previously collaborated with the studio in Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland.[32] Depp liked the role but was already committed to The Lone Ranger.[29] In February, James Franco accepted $7 million to star in the film, five months before filming was scheduled to begin.[29] Franco and Raimi had previously worked together on the Spider-Man trilogy, in which Franco played Peter Parker's best friend Harry Osborn.[33] Franco received training for the role from magician Lance Burton.[29]

Kapner adapted the character of the Wizard from the novels to conceptualize an original story, and Raimi ensured that the film would "nod lovingly" to the 1939 film by inserting references and homages to it.[34]

Disney wanted to reduce the film's production budget to $200 million.[33] Casting calls were put out for local actors in Michigan.[35]

Principal photography for Oz the Great and Powerful began July 25, 2011, at Raleigh Michigan Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, employing 3D cameras.[36]

Raimi opted to use practical sets in conjunction with computer-generated imagery during filming.[37] Physical sets were constructed so the actors could have a visual reference, as opposed to using green screen technology for every scene. Chroma key compositing was only used for background pieces.[36] Zach Braff and Joey King were on set, recording their dialogue simultaneously with the other actors, whenever their CG characters were present in a scene. Puppetry was employed for a physical version of the China Girl to serve as a visual key-point for actors to manipulate.[38] Braff wore a blue motion capture suit to create Finley's movements and had a camera close to his face for the flying sequences to obtain facial movements.

Art director Robert Stromberg, who worked on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, drew inspiration from the films of Frank Capra and James Wong Howe to achieve the Art Deco design he envisioned for the Emerald City. Stromberg contrasted the colorful tonal qualities of Oz with the restrained appearance of Alice, affirming that although both films explore similar fantasy worlds, the overall atmosphere and landscape of each "are completely different."[39] In 2011, Stromberg and his team visited the Walt Disney archives during the pre-production phase to reference production art from Disney's animated films such as Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, drawing from designs and textures in order to give certain settings in the film an affectionate nod to the Disney style.[40] Costume designer Gary Jones focused on authenticity with his wardrobe designs: "We started by doing a lot of research and having ideas of the ways (costumes) should look in order to be (historically accurate) but as we went on, we really began creating a whole new world."[41]

Although the film is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz, it was not allowed legally to be considered as such. The filmmakers had to toe a fine line between calling the film to mind but not infringing upon it. To that end, Disney had a copyright expert on set to ensure no infringement occurred. The production team worked under the constraint of abiding by the stipulations set forth by Warner Bros., the legal owner of the rights to iconic elements of the 1939 film (via its Turner Entertainment sister company which purchased the MGM film library in 1986), including the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland. Therefore, Disney was unable to use them nor any original character likenesses from the 1939 film.[42] This extended to the green of the Wicked Witch's skin for which Disney used what its legal department considered a sufficiently different shade dubbed "Theostein" (a portmanteau of "Theodora" and "Frankenstein").[43] Additionally, the studio could not use the signature chin mole of Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West nor could they employ the yellow brick road's swirl design for Munchkinland.[38] The expert also ensured that the Emerald City was not too close in appearance to the original Emerald City in the 1939 film.

While Warner and Disney did not engage in copyright battle, they did file rival trademarks. In October 2012, Disney filed a trademark on "Oz the Great and Powerful" while one week later Warner filed its own trademarks for "The Great and Powerful Oz". The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suspended Warner's attempt at a trademark because Disney had filed basically the same one a week earlier.[44]

In addition to the legal issues, the film was also faced with delays when several cast members went on hiatus due to unrelated commitments and circumstances. Rachel Weisz left halfway through the shoot to film her entire role in The Bourne Legacy, Michelle Williams was required to promote the release of My Week with Marilyn and Franco's father died during production. Roth compared the task of managing overlapping schedules to "being an air-traffic controller."[29] Mila Kunis's makeup and prosthetics were supervised by Greg Nicotero and 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.[29][45] Raimi had to edit the frightening nature of several scenes to secure Disney's desired PG-rating from the MPAA.[29] Sony Pictures Imageworks was contracted to create the film's visual effects.[46]

In June 2011, composer Danny Elfman was chosen to score the film despite Elfman and Raimi having fallen-out over Spider-Man 2 and Elfman having declared they would never again work together.[47] He noted that the film's score was accessibly quick to produce, with a majority of the music being written in six weeks.[48] Regarding the tonal quality of the score, Elfman stated, "We're going to take an approach that's old school but not self-consciously old-fashioned. Let the melodrama be melodrama, let everything be what it is. I also think there's the advantage that I'm able to write narratively, and when I'm able to write narratively I can also move quicker because that's my natural instincts, I can tell a story in the music."[49]

American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey recorded a promotional single called "Almost Home" written by Carey, Simone Porter, Justin Gray, Lindsey Ray, Tor Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen (a.k.a. Stargate) for the soundtrack of the film. The single was released on February 19, 2013 by Island Records.[50] The original soundtrack to Oz the Great and Powerful was released digitally and physically by Walt Disney Records on March 5, 2013.[51] The physical CD release was released in association with Intrada Records on March 26.[52]

In May 2011 before filming began, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures gave Oz the Great and Powerful a March 8, 2013 North American theatrical release date.[53] The film had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on February 14, 2013.[13] Disney opened the film in wide release in 3,912 theaters.[54]

To promote the film, Disney partnered with the IMAX Corporation and HSN to coordinate a hot air balloon campaign across the United States beginning in California at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, stopping at four locations; the El Capitan Theatre during the world premiere, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, the Daytona International Speedway in Florida and Central Park in New York City.[55] Disney also promoted the film through its theme parks; Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival featured a multi-purpose garden and play area themed to the film and Disney California Adventure hosted sample viewings inside the Muppet*Vision 3D theatre.[56][57] The estimated marketing campaign cost upwards of $100 million.[29]

Oz the Great and Powerful was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital download on June 11, 2013.[58] The film is Disney's first home media release to exclude a physical digital copy disc and instead provides only a digital code for the download.[59] Oz the Great and Powerful debuted at number one in its first week of home media release in overall disc sales with 46% of its first week sales from Blu-ray Discs.[60] The film has earned $52 million in sales.[61]

Oz the Great and Powerful earned $234.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $258.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $493.3 million.[4] Worldwide, it was the thirteenth-highest-grossing film of 2013.[62] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $36.4 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the 13th most profitable release of 2013.[3] It topped the box office on its worldwide opening weekend with $149 million.[63] Before its theatrical release, several media outlets reported that Oz the Great and Powerful was expected to duplicate the box office performance of 2010's Alice in Wonderland.[64][65][66] However, Oz accumulated less than half of Alice's worldwide gross.[67]

Preliminary reports had the film tracking for an $80–100 million debut in North America.[68] The movie earned $2 million from 9 p.m. showings on Thursday night.[69] For its opening day, Oz the Great and Powerful grossed $24.1 million, the fourth-highest March opening day.[70] During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $79.1 million, the third-highest March opening weekend.[71] Despite the film's solid debut, which was larger than nearly all comparable titles, it clearly lagged behind Alice in Wonderland's opening ($116.1 million). The film's 3-D share of the opening weekend was 53%. Females made up 52% of the audience. Surprisingly, though, families only represented 41% of attendance, while couples accounted for 43%.[71] The film retained first place at the box office during its second weekend with $41.3 million.[72]

Outside North America, the film earned $69.9 million on its opening weekend from 46 territories. Among all markets, its highest-grossing debuts were achieved in Russia and the CIS ($14.7 million), China ($9.06 million),[73] France and the Maghreb region ($5.77 million).[74] The film's openings trailed Alice in Wonderland in all major markets except Russia and the CIS.[75] It retained first place at the box office outside North America for a second weekend.[76] In total grosses, Oz's largest countries are Russia and the CIS ($27.4 million), China ($25.9 million) and the UK, Ireland and Malta ($23.4 million).[74]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Oz the Great and Powerful received an approval rating of 57% based on 273 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It suffers from some tonal inconsistency and a deflated sense of wonder, but Oz the Great and Powerful still packs enough visual dazzle and clever wit to be entertaining in its own right."[77] On Metacritic the film holds a score of 44 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".[78] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[79]

Kim Newman, writing for Empire, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "If there are post-Harry Potter children who don't know or care about The Wizard Of Oz, they might be at sea with this story about a not-very-nice grownup in a magic land, but long-term Oz watchers will be enchanted and enthralled ... Mila Kunis gets a gold star for excellence in bewitchery and Sam Raimi can settle securely behind the curtain as a mature master of illusion."[80] Critic Alonso Duralde also admired the movie: "That Oz the Great and Powerful is so thoroughly effective both on its own terms and as a prequel to one of the most beloved movies ever made indicates that this team has magic to match any witch or wizard."[81] Leonard Maltin on IndieWire claimed that "No movie ever can, or will, replace 1939's The Wizard Of Oz, but taken on its own terms, this eye-filling fantasy is an entertaining riff on how the Wizard of that immortal film found his way to Oz."[82] IGN rated the film 7.8 and said, "The film is expansive and larger-than-life in scope and so are the performances, overall. Franco in particular hams it up and is often playing to the balcony ... The 3D is utilized just as it should be in a children's fantasy epic such as this – overtly, but with skill. Snowflakes, music boxes and mysterious animals all leap through the screen towards the audience as the story unfolds."[83]

Justin Chang of Variety had a mixed reaction, writing that the film "gets some mileage out of its game performances, luscious production design and the unfettered enthusiasm director Sam Raimi brings to a thin, simplistic origin story."[84] He also compared the film's scale with the Star Wars prequel trilogy adding, "In a real sense, Oz the Great and Powerful has a certain kinship with George Lucas's Star Wars prequels, in the way it presents a beautiful but borderline-sterile digital update of a world that was richer, purer and a lot more fun in lower-tech form. Here, too, the actors often look artificially superimposed against their CG backdrops, though the intensity of the fakery generates its own visual fascination."[84] /Film rated the film 7 out of 10, saying it had "many charms" while considering it to be "basically Army of Darkness: (Normal guy lands in magical land, is forced to go on quest to save that land.) But just when you see Raimi's kinetic, signature style starting to unleash, the story forces the film back into its Disney shell to play to the masses. We're left with a film that's entertaining, a little scarier than you'd expect, but extremely inconsistent."[85]

Richard Roeper, writing for Roger Ebert, noted the film's omnipresent visual effects but was largely disappointed by the performance of some cast members; "... to see Williams so bland and sugary as Glinda, and Kunis so flat and ineffectual as the heartsick Theodora ..."[86] Marshall Fine of The Huffington Post was unimpressed, writing, "Oh, it's exciting enough for a six-year-old; anyone older, however, will already have been exposed to so much on TV, at the movies and on the Internet that this will seem like so much visual cotton-candy. Even a sophisticated grade-schooler will find these doings weak and overblown."[87] Similarly, Todd McCarthy criticized the characterization, writing that the film's supporting cast "can't begin to compare with their equivalents in the original ... so the burden rests entirely upon Franco and Williams, whose dialogue exchanges are repetitive and feel tentative."[88] Entertainment Weekly agreed, giving the film a C+ and saying that the "miscast" Franco "lacks the humor, charm, and gee-whiz wonder we're meant to feel as he trades wisecracks with a flying monkey ... and soars above a field of poppies in a giant soap bubble. If he's not enchanted, how are we supposed to be?" and complaining that "while Raimi's Oz is like retinal crack, he never seduces our hearts and minds."[9] Alisha Coelho of in.com gave the movie 2.5 stars, saying "Oz The Great and Powerful doesn't leave a lasting impression, but is an a-ok watch."[89]