I might as well address that the series debuted later than writer/director Toman had intended, but I'm certainly not one to judge. The series is still just as well-produced as ever and still doesn't carry advertising or fundraising pleas, although if they had to turn to that, I would understand. The production took longer, Toman still has a job and other commitments, a podcast that doesn't directly produce revenue (outside of merchandise available through their website).
A change in this season was that episodes were released weekly instead of biweekly as the first two seasons were. For us in the US, that meant we got the episodes late on Saturday afternoon or early evening. Trailers for the next episode were released midweek. This was a nice pace of release, but still.
If this is your first exposure to The Chronicles of Oz, Toman voices the Scarecrow while various performers voice other characters: Kirsten Page as Ozma, Kara Dennison as Dorothy, Jennifer Alyx as Billina, Rob Lloyd as Tik-Tok, Scobie Parker as the Tin Woodman, Tom Denham as the Lion, Elise D'Amico as the Wicked Witch of the West and David Coonan as the Nome King.
If you're wondering why the Wicked Witch is around, hang in there.
I recently commented to Toman that if the Oz books were like Marvel Comics, then his series is like the Ultimate universe: a new incarnation revised for modern audiences that can be enjoyed alongside the original and other versions. "Just I don't hate all the characters except one or two," I added.
There will be some spoilers from here on, so if you want the joy of experiencing it for yourself the first time, look up "Crossover Adventure Productions" in your podcast service of choice or go to ChroniclesOfOz.com.
Each episode starts with Ozma telling of the history of Oz. It's here that we can be sure that while Toman is giving an interpretation of Baum's work, it is not meant to be actually Baum's world as some will notice bits that don't quite gel with Baum lore. Many of these contain Easter eggs to other adaptations of Oz: queens named Tryxie (after Tryxie Trifle in the original Wizard of Oz musical extravaganza) and Azkadellia (from the Wicked Witch incarnation in SyFy's Tin Man). The last episode actually skews away from this format, but I won't spoil it.
The story proper begins not with Dorothy and Uncle Henry, but in the Emerald City as Ozma prepares to hang the Magic Picture that she tries to enchant with her fairy magic. As the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion arrive, Ozma prepares to go on a mission to answer a call for help from the Land of Ev from beyond the desert. The army and Hungry Tiger are not included as Toman decided that it created too many characters who didn't contribute to the story much. That said, he has said that the Hungry Tiger might pop up later. The first episode ends with Ozma and her company arriving at Langwidere's castle where an angry mob is outside and the vain princess seems oblivious but is angered when the Lion discovers that Dorothy is in the tower room and forces Langwidere to free her.
Part of this change to the story's format was to not feel like a retread of Disney's Return to Oz, but also to make Ozma the central character. The story is named after her, but in Baum's original, she's very much upstaged by Dorothy and Billina. It's a smart storytelling decision. allowing Ozma to step up as a ruler and prove herself, not just to Dorothy and her famous friends, but also to herself.
Ozma agrees to help quell a rebellion in Ev by freeing the Royal Family (reduced to just the Queen and her two children here) and restoring them, with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Lion, along with Tik-Tok and Billina.
Oh, and one other character who only Dorothy knows is around: the Wicked Witch of the West, who is now haunting Dorothy as a voice in her head.
Toman has been planning this adaptation for some time and an expanded role for the Wicked Witch is a part of it, and was teased at the start of Season 2 when she vows to find Ozma after the Wizard takes over. Where this plot will go already has me interested in future seasons.
The Nome King doesn't really pop up until the end of Episode 4 with that episode and the previous one featuring the characters having many new adventures on the way. There's the Giant with the Hammer, but also none other than Dr. Nikidik, who wants to study some of the more curious members of the party. While looking for water, Ozma runs across none other than the Phanfasms! There's quite a bit of "Season 6" foreshadowing.
This might be one of the best adaptations of Ozma of Oz out there, possibly even better than Disney's Return to Oz by giving both Dorothy and Ozma character arcs, creating an exciting storyline as well as building into a over arcing series. Quite worth checking out!
I'm very much looking forward to whenever Toman and company are ready to send us on a new adventure with Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
2 comments:
I'm very much enjoying the series, but I do admit to having several issues with it.
First and Foremost (pun intended!) the negativity and cynicism of the majority of the characters.
I get the banter between the Scarecrow and Nick is friendship and it usually stays pretty friendly, but sometimes Dorothy is a bit much for my taste, she's probably my biggest issue with the series, in fact.
I may be wrong, but she seems to be the stereotypical female character trope of having to be rude and angry to be a strong female character.
Unless they have something big planned, I don't see the point in returning the WWW.
I also find some of the film references a bit heavy-handed and tiring, but a few made me smile this time (I-understand-it-better-than-you-do!)
I do enjoy Ozma, I think her disposition makes a lot of sense and giving her most of Dorothy's role in this adaptation works well. I was sad for Billina, though! I don't know if I like Ozma and Tip being separate people, I know this has come up before in other stories, but I think it's more impactful for Ozma and Tip to be the same person, just with a new gender.
The way they handle it here is interesting and I like that Tip is supportive.
I am especially impressed with how Ozma is growing stronger and has a character arc, for once.
I think it fills some plot holes from the books in, too.
I did not care for the Nikidik stuff, but I get they needed some padding since Ozma of Oz is very short.
It took me a bit to get used to the Nome King's voice, but overall, I liked it, it forced me to imagine him as something else. I've always imagined him as Neill illustrated him, but this time I saw him as a more attractive, younger man who has a rather suave persona.
I was expecting him to sound more like Evoldo did in this.
Speaking of which, I LOVED Evoldo's parts. I've never looked at that character with much sympathy, but here he was done so well. I think having the story open with him and Nanda on the cliff was superb.
The voice acting was great, the emotion was great and the sound effects made me feel like I was watching a movie!
The flashbacks with him and Evella were also wonderful. Watching as his sanity deteriorated and she was forced to step in gave these two one-off characters depth and believability.
And every seen that Nanda was in stole the show.
I went back and forth imagining her as Rose Leslie or Lesley Nicol. Either way, I thought her performance was five stars.
Something I'm not sure how to feel about was the return of the Silver Shoes in lieu of the Magic Belt. I think it works and anyone not familiar with the books won't notice its absence since they serve the same purpose in a lot of ways.
I also look forward to the next story, though I do wonder if they plan to skip Dot/Wiz and Road and go straight to the Emerald City of Oz. That ending makes me think so, the way the Nome King says: The Emerald City of Oz!" so boldly. It also might make sense to condense those three into one book.
Besides the Wizard returning, there aren't a lot of important events in any of those two books that can't be combined.
You could argue that Shaggy Man, Button-Bright and Polychrome are important, but I don't know that any of those three are totally necessary at this point
And we've seen that they are not afraid to ax superfluous characters (so sorry Hungry Tiger!) or off major characters (Jinjur, Sawhorse).
Besides, if they do Tik-Tok of Oz or Scarecrow of Oz, they can add Shaggy, Poly and Button-Bright into those stories. I'm wondering if they plan to wrap up after Emerald City though, it seems a popular endpoint for adaptations. It's a shame since Scraps shows up after that and she is would be fun to see in this!
The Witch a voice in Dorothy's head--what an interesting concept!
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