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List Price: $24.99 | | Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney
Salesrank: 7708
Released: August 9, 2005 |
| Our Price: $8.89 |
| Used Price: $4.91 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Join Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and all the Muppets as they turn everyone's favorite classic tale into a musical madcap adventure that shines brighter than Emerald City! The fun starts when the Muppets team up with an all-star cast that includes Grammy Award winner Ashanti, Oscar(R) nominee Queen Latifah (2002, Best Supporting Actress, CHICAGO), David Alan Grier, Academy Award(R) winner Quentin Tarantino (1994, Best Original Screenplay, PULP FICTION), and Jeffrey Tambor. Ashanti sparkles as Dorothy, an aspiring singer whose dreams of fame and fortune seem worlds away from coming true in the Kansas trailer park where she lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. But when a tornado transports her and Toto (Pepe the King Prawn) to the magical land of Oz, Dorothy meets the Wizard, who promises to make her a superstar -- if she and her wacky new friends, the Scarecrow (Kermit), the Tin Thing (Gonzo), and the Cowardly Lion(Fozzie), can defeat Oz's #1 diabolical diva, the Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Piggy)! Featuring original music, hilarious performances, and 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage, THE MUPPETS' WIZARD OF OZ will lift your spirits and blow you away!
Description of The Muppets' Wizard of Oz:
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
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz Reviews:
great quality for the price 
2009-10-26 - this was a great deal and made my kids very happy. i am glad i could share kermit with them after all the years i watched him as achild. keep up the low prices and high quality!!
Tasteless, slapped-together, thoughtlessly made, shameful movie 
2009-03-23 - This is not the Muppets, and this is not the Wizard of Oz. This is exploitation trying to pass off as family entertainment.
This was made with only the present--not the past or the future--in mind. What exactly do I mean? Well, the past is neglected because the wit, charm, and spirit Jim Henson originally endowed the Muppets with is almost entirely gone; the future is neglected because the countless references to pop culture will date the movie severely, and within ten years no one will get half of them.
Indeed, the film focuses so much on the present--tries so hard to be "modern"--that it overloads itself with sex and pop culture references to the point of being disgusting. The events in the normally-innocent Wizard of Oz have almost invariably been changed to incorporate innuendo and other unsavory material (Example: The poppy field is now a trendy nightclub), and the humor has been taken in a similar direction, with constant jokes about nipples and being sexy. Do the creators really think that today's audiences will like any movie, even if it's badly made, as long as it's "hip" and "edgy"? Someone who didn't know any better might think the Muppets were doing some clever satire on what's happening with the film industry these days, but sadly, this is not the case.
If your kids are younger than 13, do not let them see this. Even if they're older, they probably shouldn't see it because it's painful to watch and a big waste of time and money.
~~LJB
The Weakest Muppet movie so far... 
2008-11-28 - This movie has a lot of great qualities, but it's got a few flaws as well. The big one being Ms. Ashanti and her god-awful acting!
The story was, oddly enough, a lot closer to the original book than Garland's version was. Which was a pleasant suprise for me, since I loved the book as a child much more than the famous Garland movie. The jokes had me rolling on the floor with laughter, and I was pleased that the Muppets weren't afraid to continue to entertain their adult audience as well as the little kids.
Speaking of the adult humor, I am irritated to read so many angry comments about them from other people's reviews here. Especially from those who claim to have watched the Muppets since they were kids.
I can't help but question if they've ever actually sat down and re-watched all of the Muppet shows and movies that came before this one...and if so, did they have a problem with the adult content/humor in them too? Adult content/humor has always been a part of the Muppets.
And many of the cartoons I grew up watching as a kid (as well as many of the ones that are on now from what I've seen) had lots of adult content and humor (far, far worse than anything that was said or shown in this movie), and it flys over the kids heads! That's why they're still enjoyable to many people of my generation even today, because it can still appeal to us even though we're all adults now. The same applies with the Muppets, and I'm glad they haven't been watered down over the years!
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I shall now get back on track with the review itself.
It was a pleasure to see old faces (Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Camilla, etc), as well as my favorite "new" Muppets from "Muppets Tonight" (I can't wait for that to come out on dvd). As I said before, the jokes were great as well as the songs (well...the ones the Muppets sang anyway...).
I really didn't like Ms. Ashanti as Dorothy, she was more annoying than likeable to me and I wasn't all that impressed with her acting (the same applies to the teen pop stars from the Disney Channel who performed along side the Muppets in the two "Studio DC" specials). I was also less than impressed with the breif moments when CGI was used for The Great and Powerful Wizard (although...it was a cute touch when Gonzo got to see the Wizard).
Overall, I liked this movie. It's nowhere near as good as the other movies, but I really didn't think it was all that bad either (most of the bad reviews seem to stem from over-protective parents who are pretty clueless about the history of the Muppets, as well as american cartoons over the last 10-15 years...).
good re-make 
2008-10-16 - i bought this after my son saw the original wizard of oz on tv. i didn't want to spend the 24$ on the real one. this was definitely a good second choice.... it was cute and a well made re-make of the movie.
NOT kid friendly
2008-09-29 - Of all the stupid things. I love the original muppets. We had a whole collection of the movies while I was growing up. IF you want a classic...you're looking in the wrong place. I'm a huge fan of the wizard of OZ as well...and this was so dumb.
If you're wanting to buy this for your kids...DONT! They have horrible "jokes" that are no where NEAR approprate for kids. This was a disgrace to the muppets. If you want a good muppet show, go back and get muppet treasure island, Hey Cinderella, The Frog prince, or the muppet movie. Trust me...and the other thousands of reviews, it's not even worth it.
