Oz the Great and Powerful

Plot

In Kansas, Oscar Diggs (James Franco) works as a barnstormer and a small-time magician in a traveling circus. As a storm approaches the circus, the circus strongman (Tim Holmes) learns Oscar has flirted with his wife and goes to attack him. Oscar escapes in a hot air balloon, but is sucked into a tornado that takes him to the Land of Oz. There the witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) finds him and believes him to be a wizard prophesied to overthrow the Wicked Witch who killed the king of Oz . En route to the Emerald City, Theodora falls in love with Oscar (because he flirted with her as he does with other women). They also encounter the flying monkey Finley (Zach Braff), who pledges a life debt to Oscar when the latter saves him from a lion.

On reaching the Emerald City, Oscar meets Evanora (Rachel Weisz), Theodora's sister, who is skeptical of Oscar being the foretold wizard. Evanora tells Oscar that the Wicked Witch resides in the Dark Forest and can be killed by destroying her wand, the source of her power. Oscar and Finley are joined en route to the forest by China Girl (Joey King), a young, living china doll whose home and family were destroyed by the Wicked Witch. China Girl's legs had been broken during the attack, and Oscar repairs them using glue. The trio reaches the forest, and on the verge of breaking her wand, discovers the "Wicked Witch" to be Glinda the Good Witch (Michelle Williams), who tells them Evanora is the true Wicked Witch. Evanora sees this with her crystal ball and manipulates Theodora against Oscar by showing him together with Glinda, saying he is trying to court all three witches. She offers the heartbroken Theodora a magic apple she promises will remove her heartache. Theodora takes a bite, which transforms her into a heartless, green-skinned Wicked Witch.

Glinda brings Oscar's group to her domain of Oz to escape Evanora's army of Winkies and flying baboons. She confides to Oscar that she knows he is not truly a wizard, and that he has less than noble motives. However, she still believes he can still help them stop Evanora, and provides him an "army" of Quadlings, tinkers, and Munchkins to do it. Theodora enters Glinda's domain and angrily reveals her new, hideous appearance to Oscar before threatening to kill him and his allies with the Emerald City's well-prepared army. Oscar despairs that his army cannot defeat the Wicked Witches, but after telling China Girl about his exploits, he realizes they can fight using prestidigitation.

Glinda and her subjects use an automated army of scarecrows to mount a mock attack on the Wicked Witch's castle. Aided by a blanket of thick fog, they trick the Wicked Witch into sending their flying baboons through a poppy field that puts the baboons to sleep. However, two baboons manage to capture Glinda, who is brought to the city square and placed in chains to be executed. Meanwhile, Oscar infiltrates the Emerald City with his allies, only to seemingly abandon them in a hot air balloon loaded with the king's gold, which Theodora destroys with a fireball. Oscar then secretly reveals himself to his friends, having faked his death. Oscar uses a hidden smoke machine and image projector to present a giant, holographic image of his face as his "true" form, and afireworks display to attack and intimidate the Wicked Witches. Evanora fearfully hides in her castle while Theodora flees from the city on her broom, unable to hurt the "invincible" wizard. China Girl frees Glinda, who defeats and banishes Evanora, destroying the Wicked Witch's emerald necklace that hides her true, crone-like appearance before she is carried off by flying baboons.

The film concludes with Oscar, now king of Oz, using his projector to sustain the belief that he is still a powerful wizard and keep the citizens of Oz united against the Wicked Witches. He also presents gifts to his friends: Master Tinker (Bill Cobbs), who helped build his machines, receives Oscar's camping-tool jackknife; Knuck (Tony Cox), the grumpy Munchkin city herald and an ally of Glinda, receives a mask with a smiley face; the long-suffering Finley receives Oscar's friendship (and his hat); and China Girl accepts her friends as her new family. Finally, Oscar takes Glinda behind the curtain of his projector and kisses her. While doing so, Glinda accidently bumps a switch so that their kissing scene is projected for their friends to see.
[edit]Continuity

The film is set 20 years before the events of the first book and 1939 film, in the year 1905 (somewhat anachronistically, since the original Wizard of Oz novel was published in 1900). There are also several references to both sources.

Oz the Great and Powerful features several artistic allusions and technical parallels to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The film's opening sequence is presented in black-and-white, transitioning into color when the protagonist arrives in Oz; additionally, the aspect ratio changes from 4:3 Academy ratio to 2.35:1 widescreen[4], and the audio transitions from monaural to surround sound.[5]As in the 1939 film, Glinda travels in giant bubbles, and the Emerald City is actually emerald – in the novel, characters wore tinted glasses to make it appear so. The iconic green look of the Wicked Witch of the West is close to her look in the classic film, as in the novel the Witch was a short, one-eyed crone. The Wicked Witches are portrayed as sisters – an idea which originated in the 1939 film. Several actors who play Oz characters make cameos in the Kansas segments. One such character, Annie (Michelle Williams), informs Oscar that she has been proposed to by a John Gale, presumably hinting at Dorothy Gale's parental lineage.[6] She also wears a gingham dress, similar in style to Dorothy's iconic blue and white outfit.

The film also alludes to L. Frank Baum's original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow, who is built by the townspeople as a scare tactic; the Tin Man, whose creator is introduced as the Master Tinker; and the Cowardly Lion, who is frightened away by Oscar after attacking Finley.[7] Similarly, various other races of Oz are depicted besides the Munchkins(the only race named in the classic film), including the the Winkies, the the Quadlings, and the china doll inhabitants of Dainty China Country. Also, Oz is presented as a real place (as it was in the novel) and not a dream, as the 1939 film presented.

In the film, the Munchkins sing a song, similar to the ones they sing in the 1939 film.

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