Love 'Wicked'? Check Out These Other Twists On 'The Wizard Of Oz'!

The two Wicked films, adapting the musical of the same name, provide a previously unknown backstory for Oz's Witches, the 'Wicked' Witch Elphaba, and Glinda the Good, and have proven a hit with audiences. The success of the films has revived interest in the world of Oz on a larger scale. Thankfully, there's plenty to explore.

The first of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Oz novels, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, entered the Public Domain in 1956, and since then, numerous authors and screenwriters have taken advantage of this to put their own spin on the classic franchise. If you loved Wicked, check out some of these twists on the Wizard of Oz.

The Wiz

In 1975, musical The Wiz arrived on Broadway. The show reimagined The Wizard of Oz within the context of African-American culture at the time, and won seven Tony Awards. Similar to the original film, a young farm girl named Dorothy Gale is transported to the Land of Oz after a Tornado, with her House crushing the wicked witch Evermean to death. To get home, she is told to venture down the Yellow Brick road in search of the Emerald City, home to the all-powerful Wiz, all while avoiding Evermean's sister, Evillene.

A film adaptation of The Wiz was released in 1978, with an all-star cast including Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, and Richard Pryor as The Wiz. Having cast the slightly older Ross, the film re-imagines Dorothy as a school teacher, still living at home and struggling with her next step in life. The film was a box office failure and subject to mixed reviews at the time of it's release, but has since become a cult classic.

Return To Oz

Back in 1954, Walt Disney Productions purchased the rights to L. F Baum's unadapted Oz novels, with plans to use them as content for the Disneyland TV show. These plans didn't come to fruition for various reasons, but in 1980, to prevent their option on the books from expiring, Disney accepted director Walter Murch's proposal for a new Oz film. That film, Return to Oz, was released in 1985. While not an official sequel to 1939's The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz does make a few thinly veiled references to the early film. It is mostly adapted from the books The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.

The film begins with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em fearing Dorothy is delusional when she continues to speak of her adventures in Oz, and having her admitted to the local Sanatorium. Escaping from the Sanatorium during a storm, Dorothy falls into a river and is transported back to Oz. There, she discovers that Oz has been taken over by the evil Nome King and multi-faced witch, Mombi, and many of her friends, including the Tin-Man and Cowardly Lion, have been turned to stone, while the Scarecrow is missing. Dorothy must team up with some new friends, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and The Gump, to restore the people of Oz.

Return To Oz received mixed reviews at the time of it's release, with many critics praising the film's visual effects and the performance of the then 10 year old Fairuza Balk as Dorothy, but feared the film was too dark and creepy for young audiences. However, it is popular among fans who believe it to be closer to Baum's books, and like The Wiz, now has a large cult following.

Tin Man

First airing in 2007, three-part miniseries Tin Man moves the classic Oz story to a sci-fi setting. DG, a seemingly average waitress, feels out of place in her normal life in Kansas, regularly experiencing visions of another world. Her gut-feeling is proven right when she is suddenly attacked during a storm, and during her escape finds herself transported to The O.Z, a once peaceful world now ruled over by Azkadellia, a corrupted Princess of the O.Z.

DG, revealed to be a lost Princess sent away for protection, must team up with the broken cyborg Glitch, disgraced former O.Z law man Cain, and rescued slave creature Raw to save The O.Z. Late in the series, it is revealed that DG is named for her distant ancestor, Dorothy Gale, making Tin Man a distant sequel to The Wizard of Oz rather than just a reimagining. Though it received mived reviews upon airing, Tin Man has remained a fan favourite.

Oz the Great and Powerful

2013, Disney made a second attempt at an Oz-verse film, with Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel providing backstory on the Wizard. When con-man Oscar Diggs accidentally flies his hot air balloon into a tornado, he eventually crash lands in the magical land of Oz. He is discovered by a young witch, Theodora, who believes him to be a Wizard prophesised to take the throne of Oz by defeating the Wicked Witch who killed the previous King. Eager to be a King, Oscar goes along with the story.. until it turns out the truth is not quite as he had been told.

Oz the Great and Powerful received mixed reviews upon it's release, with some critics fearing younger audiences would lack the Wizard of Oz context needed to fully appreciate the film. However, it was a box office success, spending eleven years as the highest grossing Oz Film before it was dethroned by Wicked: Part One in 2024.

Emerald City

In 2017, NBC commissioned Emerald City, a new, modern day reimagining of Baum's Oz stories. Dorothy, this time a young nurse, is again transported to Oz by a Storm. Eager to return home, Dorothy, accompanied by an amnesiac young man, Roan, embarks on a pilgrimage to the Emerald City in search of the Wizard's help, all while avoiding the conflicts between various Witches and factions and her own potential role in an ancient Ozian prophecy.

Unfortunately, Emerald City failed to find a solid audience, and was cancelled after one season, but many remember it for it's surprisingly impressive cast, including Adria Arjona as Dorothy, who eventually went on to a critically acclaimed performance as Bix Caleen in the Star Wars series Andor.

With rumours of more films in the works to cash in on Wicked's success, we may well see more new twists on The Wizard of Oz in the future.