Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Hmm. My own favorite movie with "Oz" in the title would have to be "The Dreamer of Oz," the 1990 made-for-TV biography of Baum. To me, every flaw in every film based on any Oz book (or combination thereof) has been directly traceable to departures from canon. In the case of the MGM musical, although the substitution of "ruby slippers" for "silver shoes," purely for the sake of technicolor, is an annoyance, the truly FATAL flaw was resolving the reality/dream ambiguity in the first five books in favor of "Oz was a dream" (in the sixth book, Baum resolved it, once and for all, in favor of "Oz is a reality"). The serious flaws in Disney's "Return to Oz" were (1) multiple unnecessary nods to MGM, (2) conflating the second and third books, (3) a far darker tone than any of the books (why am I suddenly thinking of Bakshi's LotR?), and (4) conflating Mombi with Langwidere, in the process combining the worst characteristics of both. I haven't yet seen "Great and Powerful"; I haven't decided one way or the other whether to do so. As to an Oz area the big question is where would they find room it?
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Hmm. In BTR. Well, I suppose that would work, given that it could take some real estate from Circle D Ranch, and could also absorb the former FL skyway station.
Originally Posted By Captain Neo >> As well as being public domain with an MGM minefield buried in it. Never gonna happen, says me. Too much of a PITA. (The same thing I said about the Nemo Subs.) <<< What MGM Minefield? Disney has full access to the Oz books and the 2 movies they made. The only thing they would need to get MGM permission for is if they wanted to reference the ruby slippers or the songs from the old film however nobody will think twice or care if they don't.
Originally Posted By crazycroc Imagine if you will, an attraction where you are submerged up to your neck in vomit, inside a skyway bucket. A Cast Member emerges with a bucket of snot to throw at your head. You are given the choice of ducking into the vomit or allowing the bucket of mucous to hit you in the face. I would rather go on that attraction, than an attraction based on "Oz, the Great and Powerful".
Originally Posted By kennect why such hatred? remember it's just a bad rumor at the moment and will probably stay that way.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I would rather go on that attraction, than an attraction based on "Oz, the Great and Powerful".<< Wait ... I thought that attraction WAS based on "Oz the Great and Powerful".
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<While I won't spill details...>> Baxter Manor is no secret. Members and their guests of Carolwood Pacific Historical Society received small guided tours of Tony's house back in May 2005. And The Disney Magazine's Fall 2004 issue featured a photo spread of Tony at home in Anaheim Hills. None of this is classified info. <<... when I visited there was a room taken up with a replica of an EXTREMELY famous vehicle from a seminal science fiction movie.>> That's in the magazine article. It's the H.G. Wells Time Machine. <<And what about the scale model of DL's last great E ticket attraction he has and proudly showed me?>> Eddie Sotto mentioned this model on another Disney discussion board recently, which was also featured in the magazine article. It was one of several ride layout models of the original Indiana Jones Adventure, created by the late Imagineer, John Stone. John was one of WDI's most talented modelers, who worked closely with Tony on many projects. <<While I know he is a MASSIVE Oz fan(he outlined to me a scenario for an as yet unproduced Indiana Jones 4 that actually wove in.....well, never mind!)and he has a fantastic prop from that film that, when I visited took centre stage in one room, these mentioned above are just three of the things that spring to my mind upon immediate consideration.>> Yeah, yeah, yeah... we all know about the hourglass from Wizard of Oz. Three were created for the film and Tony has one of them. And if I remember correctly, it's the one that the Witch raises above her head to throw before the camera cuts away. She doesn't actually throw that particular hourglass, so it was never destroyed. And now it belongs to Tony.
Originally Posted By crazycroc That's the spirit, gang! If someone is going to make up blatantly 10000000 billion percent false rumors (um, to drive traffic to their website), I will be there with grossly, graphically descriptive comments to kill the thread. Call me THREAD KILLING GRAPHICALLY DESCRIPTIVE REVOLTING MAN!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Meh... Carsland initially got much the same reaction here. Guess you got fooled on that one.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Yup, exactly RT. Not sure why all the Oz hate. Must be a guy thing, because it looks like most of the people complaining are dudes. On second thought maybe because it's a another expansion based on a children's tale. The again, a lot of people didn't like the Star Wars idea either, and that appeals to adults and boys.
Originally Posted By Brad Skinner - fair enough - but I wasn't going to be the one to divulge details. Tony was kind enough to invite me to his home and show me around. That was in 2002. I have no knowledge(or interest)in who saw it after that.
Originally Posted By Captain Neo I would like to hear more about this concept of Indiana Jones visiting Oz please
Originally Posted By Brad It wasn't actually that - For more details, you will have to ask Tony. It is not my story to reveal.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Members and their guests of Carolwood Pacific Historical Society received small guided tours of Tony's house back in May 2005.>> Oh his property has been a constant Open House for just about anyone that asked. He is more than happy to be tour guide for any sycophantic fanboi. I don't know any other imagineer that does such things - although I also don't know any others that have such a Ripley's Believe It or Not! type of feel to their houses. Museum artefacts belong in museums IMHO - but whatever floats your boat.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Eddie Sotto mentioned this model on another Disney discussion board recently, which was also featured in the magazine article. It was one of several ride layout models of the original Indiana Jones Adventure, created by the late Imagineer, John Stone. John was one of WDI's most talented modelers, who worked closely with Tony on many projects.>> He still holding court on WDW Magic? Wow. We lost two great ones recently in John and Eric Heschong. I think Eric often got overlooked due to the presence of John Horny but he was an incredible concept artist. Sadly he ended up at evil Landmark and very little of his conceptual work actually got built (Tony Christopher's mob haven't had much luck in the theme park world since their IoA days). John Stone was an awesome maquette artist. He was a very genuine guy. He would regularly make additional models for folks. I've a couple from some of our failed HKDL ideas. I think he made a number of Splash Mountain models for the imagineering leads on the project. I missed John's memorial as we didn't get info until too late and I gather that his illness meant that his family have used up all of their savings which is a tremendous shame.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Not sure why all the Oz hate.>> I'm no Oz historian so I don't know where the "look" of Oz comes from (i.e. book illustrations, movie etc.). It does little for me - it isn't a look that I feel would translate for a Disneyland-style park. Uni Osaka did a reasonable job on their Oz mini-land but it just felt very artificial.
