The Muppets Wizard of Oz, A review

The Muppets Wizard of Oz, A review

‘Lets watch the Muppets Wizard of Oz.’ Said my friend and flatmate Chutterbug Harris, he was determined to spend the night in. Playing guitar low in the mix of a theme tune for an obscure podcast did not pay well. ‘Never heard of it’ I said, confident that there was a Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol and an Apocalypse Now in the works but not an Oz. Chutterbug lent forward from his broken armchair ‘Psst,’ he whispered in that way that’s twice as loud as normal speech. ‘It’s kept on the DL so film students bragging how they know ev'ryting Tarantino did are wrong. That, or because a black girl is the lead.’ ’What about the Wiz?’ I exclaimed. ‘What about it?’ He snapped his head back and let out a hoarse laugh that made his guitar twang.

This was to be the first of many nights in. He swaggered back into the living room with the DVD in one hand and what was left of the Christmas brandy in the other. It wasn't much of a living room, four walls slowly filling up with old bottles, leftover food and Jazz records. ‘You've heard that Dark Side of the Moon syncs up with the original right? Well this syncs up perfectly with alcohol’ He casually explains while measuring shots, why he did this every time was beyond me as he then proceeded to pour a generous half of the drink into a noodle pot and shove it in my direction. I wiped the chickens blood off the television (we’d been practising magic the day before), popped the DVD in, got comfy on an old fruit crate and he hit play.

‘Optimus Prime and Eeyore use the same lungs.’ said Chutterbug as he pumped up the jams. I am always amazed at no matter how poor a musician gets they’ll always have speakers that can make your nosebleed. ‘This can’t be the right movie’ I said concerned. ‘You’ve mixed the DVD up with a 90’s music video again.’ ‘No I ent, look Queen Latifah’s in this mo fucker!’ Chutterbugs way with words always outstands me.

‘What the fraggle rock is going on here?’ The Muppets were just referred to as the most POWERFUL puppets in Hollywood, the first joke from them was a porn one followed by a sex one, was that a Napster reference? My confusion only escalates in the following scenes. Toto’s a prawn? Dorothy want to be famous? TV looking sets? I down some brandy and press on. The alcohol warms me up and provides a pleasant distraction from the ropey special effects. ‘Quit gagging you pussy, we’re in Oz’ Chutterbug gleams. And my how we are, sort of.

The original Wizard of Oz is such a major part of our collective unconscious that we recognise parody and/or pastiche a mile off.  It feels like a cover song whenever different hands visit it. Clap your hands you know the beat. This can function as a blessing or a crutch to limp a lazy screenplay on. ‘Ashanti is trying to upstage the Muppets! Ha! What a fool’ my friend chuckles between glugs. ‘Yeah fuck going home Ashanti seek fame and fortune. A scarecrow frog wants a brain, y’know why? To help people! You better learn a valuable lesson by the time this films through.’

Gonzo is a robot with a telly tubby belly and a dark origin story. He asked the witch for time off work to spend with his love and she cursed him, turning him into a robot slave with no heart. ‘We’re watching a film where Gonzo has the most depth and motivation. Mr Harris I am amazed.’ ‘Please,’ he says coolly ‘Mr Harris is my dad.’ Twenty minutes into the film and I wonder if the producers ever thought that giving Pepe the prawn this much screen time was a good idea. I ponder on the location of Waldorf and Statler when where an ad break would have been the screen goes black. I catch a glimpse of me and Harris hunched over, barking madness at the TV and get my answer.

‘I got the name Chutterbug from Dr. Teeth during WWII.’ my friend began ‘We were surrounded by radioactive waste when-Holy shit dog they are trippin’ on poppies in a kids movie!’ I never got to hear the end of that tale and I have the Poppyfields scene in this film to blame for it. The rest of which becomes somewhat hazy:

‘Oh cool, Oz is a dragon…Oh it’s cgi’

‘Frank Oz reference, boo ya!’

‘A horribly animated woman. You can probably buy her nude on Turbosquid for a dollar’

‘Tarantino thinks pigs ‘ave hooves not trotters!’

‘Boss Nass is in this movie!’

‘Fozzie Bear, looks more like Jeffry Tambor in this than he does.’

‘he isn’t the Muppets Frasier, that’s Rowlf the dog.’

‘I FUCKING LOVE THE MUPPETS!!’

‘…Oooh Ms Piggy in leathers.’

We warm up the leftover chicken and I start to sober up. An Apocalypse Now reference appears which is strange as I thought about it earlier, but then there was also a Napster reference and I hadn’t thought about that. Then, in the mist of the Wicked Witch of the West fight it cuts to Quentin Tarantino swinging a samurai sword, intensely pitching the scene to a terrified Kermit. I am not making this up:

I look dumbfounded at Chutterbug who simply nods that slow, knowing nod only jazz musicians can pull off.

So the Wizard of Oz’s room was all cgi, now when they return it’s just a wooden set and Kermit says ‘It’s not even green.’ A clever line for the movie fans or just because everything else in the emerald city is green? No one knows, perhaps the budget ran out. What was that line about it skipping two hours? Was this show broadcast over an evening inbetween something that takes up two hours? How long is a Superbowl? Chutterbug says I ask too many questions when I drink. Least I assume that’s what he was trying to say when he swung the empty brandy bottle into my mouth screaming ‘Do you think I have the answers?’ again and again. That’s just banter these days I suppose. While I'm picking glass from my face the film comes to a head, and everyone learned something. We learnt what we wanted is what we had all along, except for Dorothy who has changed her mind and wants to go home instead. Gonzo gets a chicken and Pepe continues taking up screen time, just as I'm doubting his presence he manages to make me chuckle. Perhaps the reason no one seems to be aware of this film has nothing to do with my friends opinions but because it simply isn't as good as the other Muppet films. But pfft, it still has the Muppets in it. An opinion I keep trying to ram into my brain as the film bookmarks itself with more 90’s r ’n’ b. We throw what’s left of our brandies into the fire.

The day after I pick a melted DVD from the bottom of it. As the fear sets in I wonder if we’d just been staring into the flames all night. Chutterbug met the rest of the Ragtime Dollarseekers with singed eyebrows. Skits McCoy tells me he just looked at them and said ‘When you're done laughing yo asses off I got a guitar to play.’

Carl

The Wizard of Oz and A Touch of Evil (Presentation notes)

For my presentation I have decided to look at aspects of mise en scene in two films. I have carefully selected scenes from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘A Touch of Evil’.

In the Victor Fleming picture we shall observe the scene where Dorothy has been captured  by the Wicked Witch of the West via the application of flying monkeys. The shot of the hourglass is interesting as it represents times running out for her, not just as a threat from the villain but from Oz in general. The colour of the sand is strikingly similar to the slippers that play a crucial part to her departure from the land. In the same frame you can see a small pestle and mortar, this could be taken as a symbol for labour and framed against the large hourglass a metaphor for Kansas. The palette used here is sepia based much like the opening scenes of the film. Another point in this I would like to note is the angle the hourglass has been displayed, it leaves the viewer to see three gargoyles/carvings. Though this seems insignificant the number three reoccurs a lot throughout the movie, there are three lollipop kids, three friends (Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man), three heel clicks, further into this scene you will see three monkey statues below the globe and as the camera pans you can see three powder pots. The powders within are almost primary colours except, with the substitution of yellow its impossible to create green. One could argue this reinforces her distance from earth. As the camera pans you can see an open book with a model of a human hand on it, the story is being read by a human, it is a human that’s in control, could this be a way of telling the audience that Dorothy is the instigator of the world? Bar Dorothy the entire set is artificial and strengthens her departure from reality. All light focuses on her securing her feelings of isolation. When she sits on the floor distressed she hugs the chair, seeking comfort with something man made? It is only when Dorothy commences crying that the globe/crystal ball begins to operate, further reinforcing her unconscious creation of a world. The globe starts with an apparition of her aunt, with our main character turned into the chair she has her back towards her family. Displaying her position from Kansas quite literally. When the Witch appears she is shot in a way that from a distance her green skin, framed within the sphere would look like earth. It is curious to note that as the narrative develops the Witch is disposed of through via the use of water. With the Witch being established as a connection to earth she has to destroy the false image to get home, same applies for the discovery of what the Wizard really is. If we return to the case in point you can see a mosaic like use of tiles in background. Being gold, this is certainly a reference to the yellow brick road. Framed behind the crystal ball is what appears to be a model of a revolving globe except one crucial point, the globe is missing. With the absent of the world it serves as a very simple method of pushing the notion that she is not in her world.

The next scenes I’m going to observe derive from Orson Welles 1958 film ‘A Touch of Evil’. This scene follows after Charlton Heston fucks shit up for the masses and the plot develops to a point where some of the tables have been turned. Ramon now knows Hanks involvement and attitude to the crimes taking place. In the first shot you can see Hank on the right, framed this way it forces you to look at everything else in the set first. One of the more interesting aspects of this scene is a piano that’s playing itself, this could be interpreted as him no longer maintaining control of the case or his life. A bottle in shot establishes he’s been drinking. The décor shows he is completely immersed in the world of the fortune teller which is his old world, he has reverted. In a previous scene when he engages with the fortune teller he his framed with very linear objects behind him will she is juxtaposed with elegant curves. Now we cut to a shot of matadors on a wall, in the same frame you can witness a mirror that is shield like in its design. It is in this that Heston appears as a reflection. The shield connects him to a valiant knight in shining armour and in this scenario he’s the character you could most associate that with. He poses in a similar way to one of the matadors on the wall, as he his Mexican as well it illustrates his role. Matadors now how to play with bulls and manipulate them but the danger aspect is still there. The camera then moves to Hank, with this high angle shot he appears vulnerable and weak. Upon noticing Ramon’s arrival though he rises, accented by a low angle shot. In the background here is a bulls head establishing Orson Welles’ part to that animal, furthermore you can observe a smaller framed matador. A symbol for the physical difference between our two actors, their roles and battles of power. The bull’s head itself is decorated with flowers angles in the same way a plant is to Mr. Quinlan in an earlier scene. In this section of the picture Hank is standing in front of a plant flared up in a peacock like fashion. A bird commonly associated with grandeur and pride it works as reflection of his respect. The plant moves in the wind portraying his reputation as questionable. These two graphic matches establish Hank as more of an animal than human epitomising is rage capabilities. Charlton Heston in this scene is standing in front of an oil refinery, a forewarning of events in the same area. Something that’s digging for oil, pulling out dark murky substances in an apt object to portray the events that follow.

Carl