User:Acidburn24m/Sand Box 5

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Contents 1 Plot 2 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1987) 3 The Marvelous Land of Oz (1987) 4 Ozma of Oz 5 The Emerald City of Oz (1987) 6 Comparison with the source material

[edit] Plot

200px|The re-released DVD set version|thumb|right Oz no Mahōtsukai is split into four distinct parts, or story arcs, each based on one of the original Oz books by L. Frank Baum.

The first story arc (episodes 1 to 17) of the series is based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It follows the adventures of Dorothy, an orphan girl living out in the gray prairies of Kansas. A cyclone tears her house from the ground and take it to the Land of Oz. In Oz she meets the good witch of the north, who tells her that the only person able to send her back home is the Wizard of Oz. On her way to the wizard, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, made entirety of straw and lacking a brain, the Tinman, made entirety from metal and lacking a heart, and the Cowardly Lion who wishes to become brave. From here on, the plot continues to follow the book very closely. Eventually she returns home to Kansas with the help of the good witch of the south, Glinda.

The second story arc (episodes 18 to 30) adapts The Marvelous Land of Oz. Dorothy returns back to the land of Oz and encounters the magician Mombi, who wants to turn Dorothy into a sculpture. Meanwhile Jinjur and her army of girls try to take over the Emerald City. The major changes from the book were the Wogglebug not being present, and Dorothy incorporated into the story (she was not present in the original novel).

The third part of the series is an adaptation of the third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, and covers episodes 31 to 41. The group journey to the neighboring land of Ev to find a lost prince and rescue him. There, they meet the Nome King, the villain of this part of the series.

The final story arc of the series (episodes 42 – 52) is based upon The Emerald City of Oz, the sixth Oz book. Continuing on directly from the last story arc, the Nome King is now planning his revenge – to conquer the Emerald City using underground caves that he has dug with a giant worm.

Though still based on the books, the stories of the third and fourth arcs strayed heavily from their source material. Characters were renamed and bore no resemblance to how they appeared in the books, or simply were not present at all. For example, the characters can freely walk across the Deadly Desert unharmed and Billina does not even come from Kansas. A major plot theme from The Emerald City of Oz - Aunt Em and Uncle Henry coming to Oz - never happens at all. Dorothy also leaves Oz once again to go home to Kansas in the end.

[edit] The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1987)

I got this DVD in the 'Animation Collection/4-Volume Gift Set' and I was so happy that I could now KEEP it instead of returning the video to stores just like I used to years ago - even if the picture quality, sound, lines/writing, (terriblely-designed) front cover and some of the editing wasn't done so well. Considering how much more faithful the entire animated series was, 1 hr 33 mins is too short - 1 hr 45 mins would have been much better, especially since there are bits that should've been cut out of the video instead of the more important things. But what's impressive even in its short version is that a few shots look almost EXACTLY like a Desnlow picture from the ORIGINAL BOOK (e.g. Dorothy looking at Kansas, saving Toto from the cyclone cellar, etc.)! The following review shows what's on the final Video/DVD (*along with the major deleted scenarios from the TV Show *) . . . After the opening 'Searching for a Dream', Dorothy lives in Kansas with Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and Toto (*who was given to her by Uncle Henry*). A tornado appears just after Em and Henry go out, leaving Dorothy and Toto alone (again, just like most films). Toto's hiding underneath her bed causes them to be picked up, and after Dorothy saves Toto from being lost in the cyclone, they find themselves in Oz, where they see the Wicked Witch of the East under their house, the Munchkins happily set free and the Good Witch of the North trying to explain where they are and solve their problem (but not quite well). (*Aunt Em, unlike Uncle Henry refuses to believe that their beloved niece is gone forever *) Dorothy is magically given the shoes and sent off to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in hopes of getting back to Kansas. (* A Munchkin couple give Dorothy and Toto their hospitality. *) Soon Dorothy meets and frees Scarecrow, who has a problem with birds and brains, and joining them tells his story. They find (*an old wooden cottage for the night and *) a Tin Woodman rusted in the forest, and allow him to come along as they listen to his tragic love story. Lion scares them, but after Dorothy scolds him, his lack of courage gets him invited to see the Wizard too (* which is lucky because they encounter a ditch, and only Lion can get them across*). After camping in the forest at night, they came to a large(r) ditch with the Kalidahs behind them. Lion and Scarecrow distract them as Tin Woodman cuts down a tree for them to cross. After escaping the Kalidahs and the forest, Scarecrow gets caught in the middle of a river which cuts them off from the Yellow Brick Road, but luckily Mrs Crain saves him. A Deadly Poppy Field puts Dorothy, Toto and Lion to sleep, but they managae to escape (*thanks to some help from the Mouse Queen and her subjects after a rescue from a wildcat*). (*After meeting people in a town terrified of the Lion*) They arrive at Emerald City the next day, and the Good North Witch's kiss lets them in. A Soldier, not the Gate Guardian, can be briefly seen giving the friends a room before a Maid Girl calls them. The Wizard sees them one at a time, telling Dorothy as a Giant Head, Scarecrow (*Lovely Angel-Like Lady*), Tin Woodman (*Terrible Beast*) and Lion (*Fire Ball*) that they must kill the Wicked Witch of the West, and good thing too because she is (* forcing the Winkies *) build a new fortress which she will use to conquer Oz. She senses the friends coming, seeing them in a magic mirror (*and sends out wolves, crows and an Army of her Winkie Soldiers, which Dorothy's friends easily beat * - I definitely remember the Witch being shocked at her wolves' defeat). The friends meet an old Winkie, the former Mayor. The Witch uses her last command of the Golden Cap to call the Winged Monkeys, who manage in destroying the straw and tin men, capturing Lion but spare Dorothy & Toto thanks to the Good Witch's kiss. Dorothy is forced to be the Witch's slave, but Lion refuses to work (* who gets visited by the Witch and Dorothy *). As he escapes, the Witch plots to trick Dorothy in losing the shoes, but Lion inteferes. Later, there is a final confrontaion, and victory is gained, with a lot of (*extra*) help from Toto - just like the 1982 anime, Dorothy uses a large water jar/tank, and not a bucket, against the witch, which is much more effective and pleasing (* and all her evil work dies with her. The grateful Winkies then help Dorothy find her friends *). Soon the friends are together again and Dorothy takes the Golden Cap (*But Mombi, a bad witch from the North, wants and tries to steal it just as Dorothy finds out who to use it. During the Winkies' Celebration, the Tin Woodman is asked to stay and be their new Ruler. The friends make their way back to Emerald City, but instead get lost in a forest and struggle against a giant spider and after then the Winged Monkeys take the friends back *). They return to Emerald City to find the Wizard not only invisible but unwilling to grant their wishes. Toto reveals the Wizard hiding, who tells them his story (I Really Like how this version actually has Dorothy connect with the Wizard in their dilemma; the music is great too) and eventually decides to give the friends what they want (* as well as making Scarecrow King in his place *). Unfortunately when the Wizard tries to help Dorothy Toto chases a mouse (instead of a cat). Even the Winged Monkeys are unable to return her to Kansas, so then they go to see Glinda the Good in the South (* And in doing so they encounter a fighting tree, a living China Country, escape the Hammer-Heads by a dark cave of tiny mischievous Gnomes before reaching the South Quadling Country. *) Glinda (* after takes the friends around her palace as they tell her their story *) plans to make Dorothy a Princess, but then decides to not only return Dorothy and Toto home to Kansas, but also appoint her friends Scarecrow as the new King of the Emerald City of Oz, the Tin Woodman as the Ruler of the Winkies and Lion as the King of the Beasts in the forest. After so long and so much, Dorothy bids her friends good-bye, finally returns to her home in Kansas with Toto, and is reunited her beloved Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. (*Eventually, Dorothy and Toto are reunited with the Wizard at a circus!*) 'Searching for a Dream' plays again during the End Credits, clips from the movie replaying during the music. Out of the entire series of 52 epsiodes, 'Wonderful Wizard' took up 18 episodes, while only 14 of those adventures were edited onto the English Video/DVDs. The only thing I didn't like about this version is how 2 scenes imitate MGM: "These flowers (poppies) might be under a Witch's spell!" and "The Wicked Witch of the East was my sister!". Also the opening 'Searching for a Dream', although nicely animated, would have been better with the Original Japanese Opening (where the friends appear alongside the Yellow Brick Road, which can be seen in the 'land van oz' fan-site and the Chinese/Japanese Box Sets from YesAsia). CHANGES: There are just a few changes in bringing this animated adventure from video to DVD: 1st - the sneak peak of 'Emerald City' is not seen here; 2nd - the opening song, which had sound effects of a Kansas breeze and the tornado whirling, are no longer heard; and finally, when the Wicked Witch has Lion prisoner, her laugh has been almost completely muted out. Unless a Special Anniversary Collection is released of the Movies and ORIGINAL EPISODES or viewers can still see a video (at home or from a video-rent-out), these three bits will never be heard on DVD. "But Scarecrow is right: Dorothy and all her friends in Oz will meet again." . . . in 'Cinar's the Marvelous Land of Oz'.

[edit] The Marvelous Land of Oz (1987)

That review is incorrectly posted at the WRONG STORY!! That review refers to another stage musical of L. Frank Baum's second Oz book. Let me tell you this: What I have written is important: THE ABOVE PICTURE OF "The Marvelous Land of Oz" is the 1987, ANIMATED, NON-MUSICAL, DOROTHY IN OZ, NO WOGGLE-BUG Movie, sequel to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in the same year, 1987, which was animated, not a musical, and very close to the ORIGINAL book. This 'Land of Oz" movie picks where the first immediately stopped: Dorothy and Toto have returned to Kansas with the magic shoes and are reunited with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothy tells them of their adventure in Oz, and after being back in Kansas for a day, returns to Oz, without Toto or the magic shoes - by accident - meeting Tip, Mombi, Jack and afterwards Jinjur and her army. In this version, Glinda sends Dorothy home. Now that that's settled, carry on.

Now for my Actual Proper Review (2006): After the Opening "Listen to Your Heart" song (which sounds just as great as "Searching for a Dream", maybe even better), this animated Oz-2 takes up where 'Wonderful Wizard' ended, but with an extended sequence not seen before. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are nearly finished building their new farm-house (after the cylone) when a dog that looks very much Toto apeears, and soon after so does Dorothy - they're back!! Dorothy tells them of her adventures in Oz, but even though they find it hard to believe her, they're still glad she's back. Dorothy goes looking for one of her lost magic shoes (*but is unable to find it. Later, when the family goes shopping for supplies, a circus being prepared has Dorothy reunited with none other than the Wizard of Oz himself, although he seems reluctant to feel the same *). Aunt Em finds the other shoe, and Dorothy eagerly and carelessly uses both shoes to return to Oz, leaving Toto and the shoes in Kansas - and then do Aunt Em and Uncle Henry believe her. Dorothy meets up with Tip (*who first appeared in 'Wonderful Wizard' when Mombi wanted the Golden Cap*), who is making a pumpkin-man to scare Mombi. It works, but Mombi tries out the Come-Alive, and Jack Pumpkinhead comes to life! Mombi, thinking Dorothy a witch, schemes to steal her powers and turn them to stone, but the children and Jack escape, with Mombi chasing after them. Later, they come across a wooden saw horse and decide to bring it to life with Mombi's stolen Come-Alive Powder (* which later helps them get across a river*) and runs on ahead with Jack to Emerald City (*where he meets King Scarecrow of Oz*). Dorothy and Tip are left to meet General Jijnur who, with her All-Girl Army, plans to overthrow King Scarecrow and become Queen of the Emearld City! After the Gate-Guardian is defeated by Jinjur's army, Dorothy and Tip warn Scarecrow of the Invasion, and make their escape, just as Mombi arrives at Emerald City (the scenes of her at the gates are funny, getting knocked 3 times 3 different ways!). As Mombi joins General Jinjur, the friends go on to the West (*despite the Saw-Horse's broken leg accident*) and ask the Tin Woodman for help. Mombi uses her magic to surround the friends with a field of Sunflwoers, which thanks to Jinjur doesn't last long. The Mouse Queen is called upon to help her friends with their mission and gives them her Secret Weapon. (*After more magic tricks, like a giant cliff-like wall and a circle of fire*) the friends finally return to Emearld City and find it in bad shape (*all the men are doing the hard work while the women can do whatever they want, even the Gate-Guardian is looking after a baby *) the Soldier is cleaning up garbage. In the Throne Room Jinjur, Mombi and the Army surround Dorothy & her friends, but are no match for the Mouse Queen's Secret Weapon. Jinjur attempts to attack, while Scarecrow decides for them to ecape using the Come-Alive Powder. (*Jack uses the Wizard's old tricks to distract/scare the girls as his friends put together and bring to life a Moose-Bed*) Once everything is together, the friends narrowly escape and head off to Glinda in the South. (* But Mombi causes the Moose-Bed and its passengers to drift away into a valley of mist, mountains and cliffs, where they are encounter, are captured by and escape one of several giant flying lizards - instead of Jackdaws. *) They arrive at Glinda's Castle and Glinda is aware of their dilemma, but intends to put the True Ruler of Oz on the Throne: Ozma, baby girl heir of their last king who disappeard. Searching for information, they discover that only Mombi knows of Ozma's whereabouts (* Glinda terrifies and talks to Mombi, Jinjur and her army as Scarecrow inspires the Emerald City People to be good again, despite what Jinjur says. Afterwards Mombi and Jinjur's 'disguise' trick over the people doesn't last long *). At Jinjur's suggestion, the friends look for Mombi throughout the palace and, again due to Jinjur, find her. Jinur and Mombi argure with eachother, break off their 'teamwork', only to have Mombi transform herself into a dragon. Glinda appears and chases after the escaping Mombi-Dragon and easily triumphs over her. Using her magic, Glinda has Mombi reveal what she did to Ozma, restores the Princess to her Throne, prevents Mombi and Jinjur from causing anymore trouble and rewards the friends by returning them home. Jack and Ozma hope for Dorothy to return to Oz again soon as the End Credits play "Searching for a Deam", only this time playing clips from this adventure along with the later 'Ozma' and 'Emerald City'. Just like 'Wonderful Wizard', this English DVD goes for just over 1 hr 30 mins, when of course there were many scenes which would have made this a much more faithful presentation had it actually gone for 1 hr 45 mins or so. Out of the original 52 episodes, 'Marvelous Land' takes up 13, all of which are edited here ('Wonderful Wizard' actually has a few episodes entirely excluded from the english DVD/Video.) There's still some good things about this version even in its cut short presentation: If you thought that Glinda looked good in 'Wonderful Wizard' she looks and sounds more magnificent here, we see a lot more of the Soldier who was cut-out of (and appeared for only a few seconds) in the first adventure, even learning how (in this depiction) he's a Munchkin. The cover itself has the friends and background from a deleted scene, just before 'Mombi and Jinjur confront' the people - Scarecrow is not taller than the Tin Woodman, he's just been incorrectly moved around. Since Dorothy didn't appear in the original book's story (except for an illustration - pg 125 - and several references), she definitely joins in the adventure in this adapation, even though she doesn't really do much, but her appearance is better than having Mr. H.M. (Highly Magnified) Woggle-Bug, T. E. (Thoroughly Educated), who I think has no real importance in the story by slowing it down (14 pages!!) and getting into useless conversations with the main characters - therefore he's annoying. Ozma's design to some people isn't really that pleasing: she's smaller than Dorothy, has short brown curly hair, a cape connected to a ruffled collar and royal stockings, but I don't mind so much, considering that the design for Jinjur and her army are worse (baggy pants with capes and sleeveless tops, resembling Arabian Nights). The only thing I don't really like is how Tip is occasionally rude to Jack, telling him not to talk or call him 'dad'. And as you can read above the names for the Gump (which originally had 4 palm-leaf wings, two sofas and an elk-like head tied up with string in the original book - faithfully depicted in "Disney's Return to Oz" - now a bed, a moose-head and other materials put together in this animation) and Powder of Life have been altered. Despite these changes, it's still good to watch and much better than the next adventure of "Cinar's Ozma of Oz" . . .

[edit] Ozma of Oz

"Taste the Rain", an upbeat song, introduces Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, Dorothy and Toto sleeping peacefully in their Kansas beds. But Dorothy's Magic Shoes start glowing as the sound of clocks takes control of Dorothy's dreaming, causing the Shoes to FLASH and transport Dorothy (as well changing her nightgown into her gingham gown-with apron) (*leaving Toto & her Magic Shoes home alone* - a scene I knew I remembered) to the Land of Ev, where a trio of Wheelers rudely wakes up and accuses her of being a witch. Dorothy escapes the Wheelers, finds and winds up Tik-Tok a little Mechanical Robot, whose Secret Mission from Princess Lulu got him in trouble with the Wheelers. Rather than protect Dorothy, Dorothy defends Tik-Tok from the Wheelers and accompanied by him goes off to see Princess Lulu. Instead of heads, Lulu changes her hats, which 'matches' her moods and locks Dorothy and Tik-Tok in the dungeon. As Dorothy & Tik-Tok ask Mr Mouse to get help from Oz, Princess Lulu greets Ozma, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Jack Pumpkinhead. Mr Mouse gets Lion to come to Ev and inform his friends of Dorothy's imprisonment. It is then suggested that while Ozma (and Jack) will go back to Oz, Dorothy and Tik-Tok will accompany her friends to Nomeland and rescue Princess Lulu's brother the Prince of Ev from the Nome King. Dorothy's Reunion with her old friends is the best scene out of the entire 'feature'. Crossing a Dangerous Desert (*which consists of a sandstorm, funny looking plants, a giant beetle and only 1 oasis in the entire sandy waste*) they come across giant bones and a ship! Resting in the ship for the night has them meet Billina a Talking Hen (who acts like a Rooster), once the Nome King's former chicken and tells them the way to Nomeland, before giving Tik-Tok an egg. On the way to Nomeland, the friends travel through rocky caverns where they encounter (* and escape one of two Rock Giants and a Ruined City *) a cavern of wind, which Lion bravely helps them get through. They arrive at the Gateway which leads down into the Nome King's Underground Kingdom. After walking alongside a River of Flowing Lava (* as well as crossing over it and playing in a sparkling-dust pit *), they walk through an Ornament Hallway and meet the Nome King. Knowing why they are here he tells them of his power and that if they want the Prince, they have to play his Guessing Ornamnet Game. Afetr Tik-Tok mistakenly turns into an ornament first, Kaliko tricks Lion, Tin Woodman and Scarecrow in their guesses, turning them into ornamnets. Dorothy, however, tricks the two Nomes into revealing the Prince of Ev and restores her friends. But when they try to leave, they end up getting trapped where Nome King & Kaliko scare them with pouring giant-tubs of lava, until they see and are terrified by what Tik-Tok has secretly hidden. With the Prince of Ev, the friends try to leave, but the Nome King isn't going to make it easy for them (*he tries to drown them in a river of lava and catapults them with giant boulders*). When it is finally decided that they have to follow the underground river for the way out, the Nome King, Kaliko and the Nomes attack them again with flying boulders. Fortuanetly, this attack gives the friends an opening to at last escape thanks to the sun. They thank Billina for her help, but then the ship and the surrounding sand begins to sink by the Nome King again, but once Lion saves Scarecrow from being lost they are all FINALLY FREE & SAFE from the Nome KIng, despite his displeasure. The friends then decide that it is time to go home and "Searching for a Dream" plays in the End Credits, again playing clips from its adventure, 'Marvelous Land' and 'Emerald City' - 0ut of all the other times, 'Ozma's ending has teh best version of "Searching for a Dream". Once I reached the end of this animated feature, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Maybe because I knew what was going to happen next, or maybe because of how 'Ozma' had been attempted this time. L. Frank Baum's "Ozma of Oz" is a great book (and important too, which has Dorothy & Ozma meeting eachother and shows how Dorothy will come back to Oz and Kansas whenever she wants) and it's unfortunate that Cinar didn't really do a good job in adapting Oz Book 3 into their rewritten animation as they did before and after. Although there are a few good scenes: Dorothy's transportation to Ev, Reunion with Old Friends and Trapped!, the first 28 mins (2 episodes) are finely timed, the rest of the adventure is an annoying drag. Out of the entire 52 original episodes, this adventure took up 11 and most of those were spent (no, wasted) travelling to the Nome King, the Guessing Game and trying to escape Nomeland. As for when Dorothy first meets the Wheelers and Tik-Tok, she is animated horribly and looks extremely uncomfortable, until she meets Lulu & is back with her friends, then she looks MUCH BETTER. As you can tell from the above synopsis, many scenarios were looslely based, moved around and even left out, making this animated adventure sometimes resemble "Disney's Return to Oz" - I'm still trying to figure out which adapation is more faithful to the book as both films go in & out. The Nome King, designed as short and plump, is closer to Baum/Neil's orginal cheeky book version, except for the fact that he, Kaliko and the Nomes all have Tall pointy hats, which actually belongs to the 'traditional' Gnomes (not necessarily the same thing). I really did like how Lion has a big part in this adventure (since he didn't appear in 'Marvelous Land'), especially when he came to Dorothy's rescue, helped his friends across the Windy Cavern and saved Scarecrow from the sinking sand ship, and of course he had a few more heroics and carrying Dorothy/Prince Ev in the Deleted/Excluded Scenes. While the book originally had an Iron Giant with a Hammer, Princess Langwidere with her 30 Heads and the Queen of Ev with her 10 children, Cinar has two Rock Giants (which would've been better included here on DVD), Lulu (easier to say than 'Langwidere') with an obsession for hats and only 1 Prince of Ev. In the book Dorothy restored the youngest Ev Prince, Evring, and it was his oldest brother, Evardo 15th, who became King of Ev. Cinar's Prince is occasionally called "Prince Ev" and although younger than Dorothy, is slightly a combination of both. The Wheelers are changed from many mischievous well-dressed people with wheels-instead-of-hands-&-feet (Disney's "Return") to 3 little hairy cave-like men wearing beanies that move around on stone wheels like uni-cycle (think "Captain Caveman"), with short tempers and loud gruph voices. Even the appearance for Land of Ev itself has been changed: instead of Meal-Trees and lovely scenery, this strange place seems more like a Mountain-and-Cliff Realm, looking a bit Russian. The VHS-Video and DVD would both certainly have been a lot more enjoyable to watch had such scenes like the Rock Giants been included WITH the Windy cavern, maybe even the 'strange desert plants' being included more, the Guessing Game and Escape from Nomeland being PROPERLY Trimmed and edited, and finally having the Nome King's desire for going to Oz EXCLUDED from this DVD, since there will already be plenty of that in 'Emerald City'. Also, the Billina's design in this adventure is entirely different to the chicken briefly seen in the opening, so of course therefore they are not the same. The Major Change from the book is the Queen of Oz herself: Ozma! She does appear to consult on Prince Ev's rescue, but it's only for a few minutes, and even though she responsibly goes back to Emerald City and rule Oz, it would've been interesting (even better) had she journeyed to Nomeland with an ACTUAL ARMY and met the Nome King. I really hate the Front Cover Design, because both the characters and background are from "Emerald City". Even the synopsis on the back is incorrect, saying bits that are from the book (and Disney's movie) and not the actual animation itself (Ev and Oz are Entirely DIFFERENT PLACES!!!). And unlike the book, we don't actually see any part of Oz or even our favourite characters properly return to Oz, except for the "Mr. Mouse Goes to Lion in Oz" scene. Despite all the mistakes, it still has a few good scenes, and has the link/connection between what happened in "Marvelous Land" and what will happen in "Cinar's Emearld City" . . .

[edit] The Emerald City of Oz (1987)

The opening song to this 4th & final Cinar/Lightyear Entertainment version of Oz is "Land of Feelings". Despite Kaliko's distraction intentions, the Nome King is upset and furious at Dorothy and her friends for defeating and escaping his power before and he seeks REVENGE!! Meanwhile, Dorothy is in Oz (in this twist she has not returned to Kansas yet) and with Scarecrow's help has been chasing Ozma around the Emerald City (* up a tree and along a river *), which takes them into a Secret Chamber. Even in the darkness, Ozma discovers a door which reveals to them the Heart of the Emerald City and the History of Oz, proving to Ozma that she must prepare a coronation to be Queen of Oz. Back at the Underground Kingdom of the Nomes, an Invasion Specialist named Guph suggests that in order to conquer Dorothy & the Emerald City they must make an underground tunnel which will take them to Oz. Along with Guph's Giant Dirt-Devouring Worm, the Nomes make the tunnel and pass underneath the 'Deadly' Desert (* A Deleted Scene I remembered well: In the meantime, Scarecrow discovers a small box in the Wizard's Chamber which transports Dorothy and Ozma into a world where they meet Miss Cuttenclip the Paper Queen and Mr. Fuddles the Puzzle Man who creates a door which returns the girls back to Oz . As everybody gets everything ready *) Dorothy and Ozma practise her magic powers by making a Giant Paper Bird come to life, so that they can ride it in the sky whenever they wish. Knowing the Nomes' fear and weakness, Guph also enlists the help of a Growleywog to ensure their victory. Practising for the Coronation, Ozma's magic reveals where to find the Fountain of the Water of Oblivion, an important part of the Coronation. Growleywog emerges in the West and starts devouring areas of the country. The terrified Winkies tell their King the Tin Woodman of the monster, and Dorothy also learns of the news. As the Tin Woodman battles Growleywog, Dorothy burrows the Magic Bird and tries to solve the problem without ruining any plans for Ozma. Underground, the Worm's failed attempt to go any further into Oz gets Guph and Nome King into an arguement-fight (funny!). (* Nome King & his Army attempt to charge Emerald City, but Scarecrow's wondering of where and looking for Dorothy forces them back into the tunnel. *) After Dorothy manages to find the Winkie Timsmith (*who first appeared and fixed the Tin Woodman in 'Wonderful Wizard'*) to help her rescue Tin Woodman from the Growleywog, Guph sneaks into the Emerald City, going along the many stairs and doors (also very funny!) only to lose his memory in the Palace. Dorothy meets a pleasant Guph the next morning and the Nome King is worried. Ozma's Coronation is a success - despite Dorothy's exhaustion - and afterwards Tin Woodman talks to Ozma, Lion and Scarecrow on how to deal with the monster/Growleywog, who at that time is rejoined by the Nomes. That night, Growleywog leads the Nomes in invading the Emerald City. As Tin Woodman thwarts some of the Nomes, Scarecrow tells Dorothy his plan for a rescue. The friends do their best in scaring (* and attacking *) the Nomes with eggs (*while Lion watches over Ozma in her room *), but their attempts are foiled and all seems lost for Dorothy and Scarecrpow, but a voice comforts Dorothy, promising that all will be well . . . . the next morning everybody is imprisoned by the Nome King and Dorothy wakes up to find herself alone in the Emearld City with the Growleywog and Guph, who has regained his memeory but still protects her. Ozma uses her magic to save her people and trick the Nome King and his followers into defeat. Back in Oz, Glinda appears and congratulates Ozma on a job well done as the Nomes, Growlewog and Worm return home. For Dorothy, it is now time for her to go back home to Kansas, but this won't be the last time she'll see Oz and her friends, because Ozma has the magic and power to do so. Saying good-bye to her friends, Dorothy returns to Kansas, knowing she can return when she pleases to the magical Land of Oz . . . Once again the End Credits play "Searching for a Dream" as clips from 'Marvelous Land', 'Ozma' and 'Emerald City' play. And that's the end of Cinar's 1987 animated Oz adventures. Out of the entire 52 episodes, 'Emerald City' took up the remaining 11. Readers of the Original Book will be well aware that Dorothy and Toto along with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry come and live in Oz from this moment on, but either way even though this Dorothy is back in Kansas, she will still have adventures in Oz. Sometimes I've imagined what it would've been like had Cinar animated 'Dorothy & the Wizard' and 'Road', and I also would've been interested to see how they would've attempted other Oz books like 'Patchwork Girl', etc. The Japanese and English versions of 'EC' are different, so if you've only read my review and don't have any of the Videos or DVDs (which despite many flaws, are still pretty good to watch), should expect a few scenes to be earlier or later. Near the end of the original 'Ozma' book Baum writes "Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the guest of the royal Ozma" - in this Cinar production those 'several very happy weeks' turn into avoiding the Wizard's return to Oz, the Journey from Kansas to Oz for Ozma's birthday and Uncle Henry's money trouble (which made the move to Oz) from the books and straight onto Nome King's revenge, which unlike the book actually succeeded for some of the time/was taken a step further. Since the original books have the Nomes all illustrated fat bodies with skinny arms & legs, Guph looks like a small Chinese man with long whiskers (in Ruth Plumly Thompson's "Royal Book of Oz") and the Growleywog, intead of an army of tall skinny but strong mailicious-looking men, Cinar designs him as one big fat growling monster looking a little bit similar to Superman's Parasite, along with devouring things by sucking air in. Ozma, unlike her previous appearances, finally wears a gown during her Coronation scene. Even though I rated 5 *s, there are a few things that didn't really please me (as well as puzzle me too). Jack Pumpkinhead and Saw-Horse have been neglected to appear (they should've appeared in this adventure! Saw-Horse in 'Ozma' too - Cinar's Tik-Tok and Billina stay in Ev instead, neighbour country to Oz), and although exciting, the scene where Growleywog sneak attacks Dorothy & Scarecrow is somewhat disturbing and I'm not too keen on the Growleywog and Dorothy scenes. Also, after Tin Woodman punches Growleywog, he eventually gets tired and pants - THIS HE CAN'T DO!! A Deleted Scene/episode/sceanrio from 'Wonderful Wizard' even had him sleeping while Mombi tried to steal the Golden Cap from Dorothy! I expected, and would have loved, to see an extra (uncut) scene between the enemies' defeat and the Throne Room (before Glinda appears) where we actually saw everything put right. The Japanese version (which can be purcahsed at YesAsia) has two more dissapointments and puzzlings: the music that ends the episode sounds a bit too sad and the close-up on Dorothy: in English her hair sways before Kansas appears, BUT in Japanese, her hair stays still!?!? Also, the English version should've had Dorothy say she misses Toto " . . . and I still have the Magic Shoes in Kansas." and have Ozma & Glinda (not just her 3 main friends) say Good-bye & Thank you etc. to Dorothy as she returned home. However, there are also some funny bits other than just the 'Fight in the Tunnel' and 'Guph in Emerald City' scenes: When Tin Woodman talks about how to trap Growleywog, Lion says "Hey Tin Man, you're on the ball!" I found that SO FUNNY!! Lion sounded like it was the 60s, Groovy baby!! And once agin, despite the mistakes and much editing, 'the Emerald City of Oz' is enjoyable to watch (more so than 'Ozma') and is one of the great endings to Oz (along with the short animated musical 'Dorothy in the Land of Oz' Thanksgiving Special).

[edit] Comparison with the source material

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