10 Wizard of Oz-Adjacent Movies and TV Shows That Aren’t Wicked
Ding-dong, the Wicked movie is nearly in theaters—85 years after the original Wizard of Oz. If you want to dive into the emerald-hued source, you can stream the 1939 classic on Max. But if you’re seeking a horse of a different (yet still oddly familiar) color, consider these 10 Oz riffs.
Oz the Great and Powerful
In 2013, Disney made this lavish but uneven trip over the rainbow, with Sam Raimi helming a fantasy origin story for the eventual Wizard of Oz. He’s a sleazy con man when a tornado whisks him from Kansas, but with a lot of help he inches toward becoming the doddering “humbug” we know him to be. If you can get past James Franco being front and center, the rest of the cast is top-tier, with Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams playing versions of the Wicked Witches of the East and West, and Glinda. Also, there’s a Bruce Campbell cameo.
Return to Oz
Acclaimed editor and sound designer Walter Murch made a rare visit to the director’s chair for this 1985 Wizard of Oz sequel, featuring Fairuza Balk (in her film debut) as Dorothy Gale and an aesthetic that perfectly marries whimsy with deeply surreal nightmares. As one of the most traumatizing films ever to be ostensibly aimed at children, Return to Oz has rightfully claimed its spot in the cult-movie pantheon.
The Wiz
What, you thought Wicked was the first Wizard of Oz musical to conquer Broadway and then hit the big screen? The superstar team-up of Diana Ross (as Dorothy) and Michael Jackson (as the Scarecrow) top-lined the cast of this 1978 release, which has arguably better song-and-dance numbers than the original Oz. Its popularity has endured; most recently, a 2015 performance (the superstar team-up in this version: Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West; Queen Latifah as the Wiz) aired on NBC as part of network TV’s brief but prolific phase of live musical broadcasts.
Tin Man
Tin Man was a three-part mini-series released in 2007 on what was then known as the Sci-Fi Channel. It proved to be an Emmy-winning hit for the network despite diverging wildly from the basics of The Wizard of Oz (io9 described its take as “kinky-gothy“). 500 Days of Summer-era Zooey Deschanel stars as “DG,” a Kansas waitress who gets tangled up in fantastical sci-fi adventures in O.Z., short for “the Outer Zone,” which is populated with characters that kinda, sorta echo back to the classic story.
Emerald City
This TV series ran for just one season in 2017 on NBC. Emerald City had visually innovative director Tarsem Singh (The Fall, The Cell) behind the camera and starred a pre-Andor Adria Arjona as Kansas nurse Dorothy Gale, who’s picked up by a tornado and transplanted you-know-where. This version of the story is styled like a dark fairy tale, complete with a prophecy, and has some intriguing cast members beyond Arjona, including Daredevil‘s Vincent D’Onofrio as the Wizard.
The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz
Released in 2005 through ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney—Disney had acquired the Muppets just a year prior—The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz is often forgotten in the Muppet filmography because unfortunately, it’s not nearly as magical as you’d want it to be. That’s saying something because this version features Kermit the Frog as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as the Tin Man, Queen Latifah (a repeat Oz-adjacent cast member!) as Auntie Em, and Miss Piggy as all of the witches.
Under the Rainbow
This gleefully tasteless 1981 comedy starring Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher takes place in 1938, and was filmed at the actual Culver City hotel used for lodging the little people who played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. The plot involves hijinks (Secret agents! Nazi spies! Assassins!) and mix-ups galore, as well as a chase across the set of Gone With the Wind. Its setting around the fringes of The Wizard of Oz is an intriguing idea, but its depiction of little people has unfortunately not aged well—and frankly probably looked pretty insensitive even 40 years ago, considering the movie was nominated for a pair of Razzies. (Naturally, it now has a cult following.)
Wild at Heart and Lynch/Oz
David Lynch’s obsession with The Wizard of Oz shapes the narrative and visuals of his 1990 crime-drama romance Wild at Heart, starring Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage as lovers on the run from her Wicked Witch-esque mother (played by Dern’s real-life mother, Diane Ladd). But it’s not just Wild at Heart that reflects his fascination with the Victor Fleming classic. As Alexandre O. Philippe’s 2022 documentary Lynch/Oz explores, Hollywood’s ruby-red cinematic touchstone has consistently inspired Lynch throughout his long, inventive career, often in less-than-obvious ways.
Cursed Films: The Wizard of Oz
If you want to hear all the sordid legends and rumors about the making of The Wizard of Oz gathered in one place (was there really an on-set suicide captured on film?), head to Shudder for the first episode of the second season of Cursed Films. Under the Rainbow director Steve Rash pops up as one of the interviewees—as does the son of Margaret Hamilton, Oz‘s forever iconic Wicked Witch of the West.
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