The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed Hathaway's performance here. She ably delivers a spectrum of voices. However, even she seems incapable of a Cowardly Lion that doesn't channel the performance of Bert Lahr. Overall I now place this brief, episodic just-so tale as one of the few times I know of a film (MGM, 1939) that I like better than the book. They trimmed the fat, like green-colored glasses and numerous petty perils, for a more succinct and successful adventure story. on movie treatments, this reading helps me understand (but not appreciate) Oz: The Great and Powerful . I understand this now as an amplification of Oz's back story and a chance to experience on screen some elements of Baum's vision that MGM chose to forgo, such as Dainty China Land. I also feel an anti-establishment undercurrent to Baum's work: would-be government functionaries can only idly talk and Dorothy's China damage is inconsequential as it is only a cow leg and a church.
Parts of the original movie that did not hold to the book I actually like better, such as the final gifts and lopping off setting up Tin Man and The Lion as kings. Also, the Tin Man's backstory is much gorier than I would have thought for such a work.
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