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Product Details

Actors:	Ashanti, Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino, David Alan Grier, Queen Latifah
Format:	Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Director:	Kirk R. Thatcher
Release Date:	2005-08-09
Aspect Ratio:	1.33:1
Audience Rating:	NR (Not Rated)
Category:	DVD
Number of Items:	1
ISBN:	0788860364
Label/Manufacturer:	Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney
UPC:	786936283051

Product Description

There were good intentions in this Muppets adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic Emerald City story of Dorothy’s journey to see the Wizard with hopes of fulfilling her dream of stardom: the film is a nostalgic nod to the original 1979 Muppet Movie, where Kermit leaves the swamps for Hollywood to become a star, picking up some friends along the way. Grammy winner Ashanti plays Dorothy Gale, an aspiring singer who serves meatloaf to truckers and lives in a Kansas trailer park with her Aunt Em (Queen Latifah). In the ensuing chaos of a giant tornado, she gets dumped in the Land of Oz—along with her pet shrimp, Toto (Pepe the Prawn). Dorothy soon meets the familiar Scarecrow, Tin man, and Lion (Kermit, Gonzo, and Fozzie, respectively) and together they journey to see the Wizard (voiced by Jeffrey Tambor) who promises to grant her celebrity wish if first she defeats the Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Piggy). While the Muppets have survived a few cinematic flops before, this film is bereft of all they represent--the endearing innocence, engaging silliness, and cagey humor of Jim Henson’s legendary variety series. Instead, a mean-spirited cynicism with sexual subtext prevails that is not only unfunny, but also mildly offensive. In a desire to appear edgy and culturally relevant by the filmmakers (and executive producers Brian and Lisa Henson), the timeless spirit of the vintage Muppets is missing, as are the signature voiceovers by Frank Oz and Brian Henson. Onscreen chemistry between actors and Muppets feels contrived, not to mention Quentin Tarantino’s bizarre cameo. When Kermit delivers a religious joke of questionable taste, viewers might yearn for the swamp years, when Kermit the frog and the Henson Company could do no wrong. (Ages 4 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Product Features

Customer Reviews

Rated

on 2010-07-01

After seeing nearly every other movie verion of Wizard Of Oz, I figured I might as well get around to doing the Muppets one too. Since Kermit and friends already knocked over A Christmas Carol and Treasure Island, it was probably going to be this or an Alice In Wonderland adaptation. Originally meant to be a made-for-TV movie, this was released on DVD as an extended feature with some material not used in the original broadcast, which included some rather mature stuff for an intended "family" film. For this time around, Dorothy Gale(played by Ashanti)is a young waitress(did Tin Man steal this?)who wants to be a pop singer. After failing to get it to an audition for the Muppets, Dorothy heads back home to her trailer park, which gets swept off to Oz by a tornado. Once there, her pet prawn Toto(yep, prawn)has evolved into a larger talking prawn. The Munchkins are actually rats, although they're called Munchkins here, who are watched over by the Good Witch of the North(i.e. Miss Piggy). BTW, Piggy plays all the Witches in this. She sends Dorothy off to see the Wizard with her dead sisters' shoes. Along the way, Dorothy befriends Scarecrow(Kermit), Tin Man(Gonzo), and the Lion(Fozzie). They manage to get past the heckling Kalidahs(Statler and Waldorf), and the Poppyfield nightclub where the Electric Mayhem jam. After finally arriving at the Emerald City, each of our heroes go in to see the Wizard which takes on a different form for each one. The big Wiz tells them to get the Wicked Witch of the West's magic eye. The Witch has Piggy looking like Cher in biker gear, and uses her magic cap to command the flying monkeys(here a biker gang)to get Dorothy. Dorothy manages to push the Witch into a bathtub which was supposed to be filled with bottled water, but instead melts her. Dorothy and the others take the eye back to the Wizard, who is revealed to be a special effects expert from Hollywood and not really a wizard. He however makes it possible for Dorothy to be a celebrity in Oz, and gives the others their own hearts' desires. Dorothy realizes that she really wants to go back home though, so they head back to Munchkinland to get help from Glinda(also Piggy). She then uses her magic footwear to go back to Kansas, where the Muppets hire her on their Star Search ripoff show. This was ultimately a decent movie, although it seemed to be a bit lacking in both style and substance from most Muppet productions. There was just too many pop culture parodies thrown in, like it was trying too much to be like Shrek. Plus, there was some stuff in this that was definately not for kids, like the phrase "bitchslap", or Kermit bringing up The Passion while being nailed up on the pole as a scarecrow. Ashanti wasn't bad as Dorothy, which apparently helped her later on to get in a recent production of The Wiz. I was mostly impressed though that the movie actually followed the original novel a little more than most adaptations did, like the East Witch being called Tattypoo which didn't even come up until the Ruth Thompson novels, as well as the West Witch only having one eye. I'd recommend this one at least as a rental or legal download.

Rated

on 2010-04-11

First of all, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of the Muppets, and have been since I discovered them at the tender age of 12. Secondly, I'm by no means a prude, so my problems with this movie have nothing to do with "adult" humor or violence. When I heard that there was going to be a TV movie of the Muppets' take on "Wizard of Oz" five years ago, naturally, I was hyped. But this was just... BAD.

First of all, to paraphrase an astute IMDB commentator, Ashanti's acting makes Keanu Reeves look like Laurence Olivier. I mean, I'm fine with a reimagining (even a modern take) on what the character of Dorothy is like, but you really couldn't get a better actress for the role?

Other problems:

-The songs ("The Witch is In the House" and even the beginning "Kansas" song being exceptions) are horrible
-The Electric Mayhem (my favorite characters) are barely in it, and most of them don't even have a line
-The jokes are corny (to be fair, most Muppet movie jokes are corny, but at least they're still funny)
-That Goddess-damned Pepe character. For one thing, he shouldn't have been Toto, because Toto is a dog. He's not a shellfish, he's a dog. The Muppets already have a dog character (who, unlike most of Jim Henson's characters, does have a decently recasted voice); why not just use him? Secondly, Pepe is NOT FUNNY. He's annoying and "edgy" (which seems nowadays to be just a code term for raunchy), but he ISN'T FUNNY. As i said before, I'm not a prude, so I don't hate his lines about how sexy he is because they're offensive; I hate them because they're annoyingly repetitive.
-The whole flow of the movie is just... dull.

On the plus side, though:

-As mentioned above, I did like two of the songs.
-They managed to give Scooter some lines.
-Johnny and Sal were there, and funny (seriously, why aren't these guys the breakout characters of Muppets Tonight? They're 100 times funnier than that useless chunk of fish bait Pepe, mostly because their humor isn't rubbed in your face), and
-Unlike most people, I actually did find the Tarantino cameo pretty funny.
-Uh... that's all I've got...

Now to be fair, this movie isn't quite so bad as the recent train wreck "Letters to Santa," but that's really not saying much. Bottom line, ridiculously horribe movie. Skip it and watch the 2002 TV movie "Very Merry Muppet Christmas." It's probably the best thing the Muppets have done this century so far! But for the real classics, check out the Muppet Movie and the Great Muppet Caper.

Rated

on 2010-03-05

I love (love, love, love) the Muppets, and checked this movie out from my library. I don't think I made it past 10 minutes- the point when Rizzo makes a comment about "Girls Gone Wild" movies. I'm an adult and was completely appalled. It's one thing to make a subtle joke in a kid's movie that adults can titter about, it's another to blatantly refer to an adult film production. How do you explain that to a curious child? I see from the other reviews now that the rest of the movie is garbage, and I'm glad I didn't continue watching (or buy it for that matter). What a shame that this movie wasn't done the way it should have been. I'll go watch the Muppet Christmas Carol and try to shake off the awfulness of what I just saw.

Rated

on 2010-01-11

This movie is bad, I am truly sorry that I rented it. It scares little children into not liking the "Wizard of Oz" story. The adult innuendo is not entertaining. The Characters ALL have bad scripts. What was with Miss Piggy's wicked witch character? She was genuinely frightening to 3 and 4 year olds, and to adults campy, and boorish. I can't say enough bad things about this Muppet movie.

The Veggie Tales "Wizard of Ha's" movie was a much better choice for young children to watch. I bought that one, and I have no regrets.

Rated

on 2010-01-06

My son was so excited to see this at the video store last night. We love the muppets, so we gave it a try. There were several comments throughout the first 30 minutes that seemed inappropriate, and after 30 minutes we finally had to turn it off.
First off, it did have a few cute spots. Instead of having Toto as a dog, Dorothy has a shrimp named Toto. Dorothy is still in Kansas, but instead of dreaming she is exploring outside the farm, Dorothy is a waitress in a small-town diner, dreaming of a career as a singer. Cute concept, and I really thought this movie had great potential.
The part that gets to me is that there are SO many inappropriate, adult comments, I don't know why this is marketed as a children's movie, or why the muppets were even involved. Just as one example, Dorothy refuses to wear the witch's magic shoes and starts a bratty little tirade, until Miss Piggy explains they are from a top-name designer. Dorothy jumps at the chance to wear them then, and exclaims they make her feel SEXY. Are you kidding??? I was watching this movie with a 5-year old! The first 30 minutes of the movie were riddled with such comments. I am completely disgusted.

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