Wicked is now in theaters and the Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande starring musical adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name has brought fresh interest to the world first created by L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as well as the 1939 MGM classic, The Wizard of Oz. But while Wicked is popular and The Wizard of Oz is a beloved classic, they aren’t the only adaptations of Baum’s novel series to exist in film and television. In the more than 100 years since the publication of the first book, there have been numerous adaptations across various types of media including, film, television, stage, and even animation with adaptations transcending cultures as well.
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With a wealth of Oz-related adaptations to enjoy — with the first live-action take going back as far as 1908 with now-lost film The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays — there really is something for everyone. Oz fans both new and old have their pick of projects to enjoy, each offering a slightly unique take on the source material. With this in mind, we’re ranking the best of these adaptations. Some are going to be better known than others, but they are all interesting and unique in their own way. Of course, before we dive into our rankings just a note: this list is by no means comprehensive. There are quite literally countless adaptations available for dedicated fans, as well as some that have simply been lost to history. This list is meant to represent some of the most common adaptations and the most accessible so if your favorite didn’t make the cut, it’s not meant to be a slight. Now, onto the list.
9. Oz the Great and Powerful
Released in 2013, this live-action film released by Disney is meant to be something of a spiritual prequel to MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. The film, which is set 20 years before the events of that story, stars James Franco as the Wizard, telling the story of Oscar Diggs, a shady magician who finds himself in Oz where he encounters three witches (Theodora played by Mila Kunis, Evanora played by Rachel Weisz, and Glinda played by Michelle Williams) and finds himself recruited to restore order to an Oz in crisis. The film performed well at the box office, but less so with critics who felt like it had some inconsistency issues. More than a decade on, however, the film is largely forgettable for most Oz fans — though fans of director Sam Raimi certainly appreciate it
[RELATED: Why Is The Wizard of Oz Considered a Christmas Movie (And Should It Be?)]
8. Dorothy and the Witches of Oz
Released in 2012 as a film — as well as in 2011 as a television miniseries — Dorothy and the Witches of Oz is a slightly unusual entry in the Oz adaptation list. It told the story of an adult Dorothy Gale, a children’s author who discovers that her books are actually repressed childhood memories of her time in Oz. She finds herself swept back into things when the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square. The project notably starred Christopher Lloyd as the Wizard as well as Sean Astin, Ethan Embry, Mia Sara and more. The miniseries version of the story was poorly received by critics and audiences, but the film version fared a bit better and received praise for its contemporary twist.
7. Emerald City
Consider this one Game of Thrones meets Wizard of Oz. Emerald City ran for just one season on NBC in 2017 and followed 20-year-old Dorothy Gale (Adria Arjona), a nurse from small town Kansas who finds herself in Oz where she makes her way to Emerald City to find the Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio) as she tries to make her way home. However, unbeknownst to Dorothy, she’s set to fulfill a prophecy that will have major consequences for everyone. The series was a dark, edgier take on the source material and brought in elements from later books in Baum’s series as well. Unfortunately, the series not only didn’t perform especially well with critics, but it also went over poorly with fans. The series premiered to low ratings and continued declining through the season, ending its run as one of NBC’s lowest rated series of 2017.
6. Tin Man
Released in 2007, Tin Man was a SYFY miniseries reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that added science fiction and even more fantasy to the story. The story followed DG (Zooey Deschanel) as a small-town waitress who ends up in O.Z. (Outer Zone) when a sorceress sends soldiers to kill her via a “travel storm”. The series is wildly inventive and serves something as a sequel in that the series reveals that DG is a descendant of Dorothy Gale among other elements of the fanciful story. The series, which also starred Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough, and Richard Dreyfuss, was well-received generally by audiences and while it wasn’t a huge success with critics, the series did get nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2008.
5. The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz
Is there nothing the Muppets can’t do? In 2005, The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz hit television with the film being a contemporary adaptation of Baum’s novel, just with Muppets incorporated in the story — for example, Pepe the King Prawn is Toto. The film starred Ashanti as Dorothy, Queen Latifah as Aunt Em, David Alan Grier as Uncle Henry, Jeffrey Tambor as the Wizard, and even Quentin Tarantino shows up offering ideas to Kermit the Frog’s Scarecrow of how to deal with the Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Piggy) with violence. Sure, the film didn’t get great reviews and its ratings weren’t great but it’s The Muppets. You can never go wrong with The Muppets.
4. Return to Oz
If we could give a four-way tie for the top of this list, we probably would — and Return to Oz is definitely a top-tier Wizard of Oz adaptation. Theatrically released by Disney in 1985, the dark fantasy film is an unofficial sequel to 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, this time taking largely from Baum’s 1907 novel, Ozma of Oz, The story sees Dorothy return to Oz only to find it conquered by the Nome King and Princess Mombi with it up to Dorothy and her new friends (which includes a talking chicken, Billina) to restore the land. The film has some moments of absolute nightmare fuel — there’s a whole head-swapping moment that comes to mind — and wasn’t exactly a box office success and also had mixed reviews but has since gone on to be a cult classic. Bonus: it was Fairuza Balk’s feature film debut.
3. The Wiz
Opening in theaters in 1978, The Wiz is technically an adaptation of an adaptation — specifically an adaptation of the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name. The Wiz featured an African American cast and told the story of Dorothy, a teacher from Harlem who is transported to an urban fantasy Oz. Outside of the urban elements of the story, The Wiz is a pretty close adaptation of The Wizard of Oz and has a fantastic soundtrack, too. The film starred Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as Tinman, Ted Ross as Cowardly Lion, Richard Pryor as the Wiz, and Lena Horne ad Glinda. While the movie is a classic now, it was a box office bomb and at the time, critics didn’t think that the film’s casting was particularly great or that the movie worked on screen as compared to the stage. That said, the film today is a cult classic — and the music is still great.
2. Wicked
Yes, you are probably shocked to see the newly released Wicked in the number two spot, but don’t take that as an indicator of how great this movie is. Like The Wiz, Wicked is an adaptation of an adaptation — Wicked was a Broadway musical first — and isn’t exactly a The Wizard of Oz adaptation either; Wicked is actually based on a prequel novel inspired by Baum’s stories which makes Wicked pretty unique. Beyond that, however, with its story of Oz before Dorothy Gale, following Elphaba’s origin story of becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, the film is an incredible addition to the overall Oz world. Still actively in theaters at the time of this article’s writing, the movie is a massive box office it and is a hit with critics and audiences alike, with both praising Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s performances as Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda respectively.
1. The Wizard of Oz
There was no other movie or television show that was going to make it to the top spot on this list. The 1939 classic starring Judy Garland is and always will be the best adaptation. When it was first released, the film received pretty much universal critical acclaim and was a huge box office hit for its day — though the film actually registered as a loss for the studio until it was re-released in 1949. The film’s special effects were a particular marvel for the time — though some of the elements used in making the film were questionable, including the snow used for the scene in which Dorothy falls asleep in the poppy field. That snow effect was created by using gypsum — though during the 1930s, National Gypsum incorporated asbestos into some of their materials. Still, the film has become an enduring classic and is in many ways the metric all other adaptations are held up to. You simply cannot go wrong with this one.
Wicked is in theaters now.
