Written by Debra Frank And Steve Hayes And Tom Martin And Adam F. Goldberg
Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher
Miss Piggy/Wicked Witch Of The West: "There's only room for one diva in Oz, and that is moi!"
Having seen Wicked: For Good this week, it's put me in the mood for more explorations into the land of Oz. I had heard of The Muppets Wizard Of Oz but it was time to actually see it for myself.
Back in the 2000s, Ashanti was a fairly popular R'n'B singer and if Diana Ross could play the role of Dorothy Gale back in 1978, there was no reason why Ashanti couldn't in 2005. Spoiler alert: she's also pretty good as Dorothy.
This version of Dorothy was in Kansas, working in a diner with her Aunt Em (Queen Latifah) and Uncle Henry (David Alan Grier). She also had aspirations of being a singer, putting her into conflict with her guardians. Oh and Toto was a prawn, a development I was less fond of but whatever.
Anyways, a tornado happened and Dorothy ended up in Oz. Toto also quickly turned into Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta) and soon enough, every witch that appeared was played by Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire), Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz) was the Tin Thing and Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson) was the Cowardly Lion. Yes, they made for a chaotic team.
Their mission was to get to the Wizard (Jeffrey Tambor) himself but in order to do that, they had to go through a different type of Poppy, do battle with the biker version of the Wicked Witch of the West and of course, entertain the odd celebrity cameo. Also if you've hired someone like Ashanti, of course you've got to have her sing as well. It's only fair after all.
The rest of the movie played out the same as usual - the Wizard being exposed for being a fraud, Wicked Witch melting, Scarecrow/Tin Thing/Cowardly Lion realising they already had the things they were looking for all along and Dorothy using the silver shoes to get home. If it ain't broke, right?
- There's some amusing cameos from both Kelly Osbourne and Quentin Tarantino to name but a few. The latter in particular really made the most of his screen time.
- There's a nice reference to a certain Pink Floyd song during the movie as well.
- Standout music: Kansas, When I'm with You, The Witch is in the House, Nap Time and Good Life.
- Chronology: It was definitely the 2000s in Kansas. I did laugh at the Napster joke.
I liked The Muppets Wizard Of Oz. It's not my favourite adaptation but it's fairly inoffensive and pretty funny in parts too. It's worth at least one viewing if you've got the time for it.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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