The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Animation Collection

Customer Reviews:

Nostalgia Reigns!!.......2007-07-07

I watched this series as a kid every week day after school back in 1987! It was the best, I loved it! The music and characters have long since stayed in my memory, and when I discovered the entire series was out on DVD, well, I just had to add it to our library! And we continue to love it. Now, having a family of my own, my husband and 6 year old daughter sit down and watch it, enthralled by the magic and humor within these wonderful animated films. Ofcourse, it brings back tons of memories too, all good ones. I can only give it the top most rating.

Not Bad: Close But No Cigar.......2007-06-05

These are the movie versions of the Japanese animated series Oz no Maho Tsukai from 1984. The series ran fifty-two episodes in its original format and covers four of the Baum Oz books: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, and the Emerald City of Oz. When it was dubbed for the American market its Japanese origin was expunged by the American release company right down to the fact that none of the Japanese animators were listed in the end credits. Yes it has Margot Kidder and a fairly good dub cast, but it is too much to ask that this series be released with the Japanese animators being given the credit they so justly deserved. Not a bad adaption of Baum with some major alterations but none that would make me wince . Ironically this series was shown here in America before it was seen in Japan! This series is right up there with another fave of mine a little series called Peter Pan no Boken from 1989. Very good but a release of the episodes in Japanese with English subtitles would be appreciated......yeah and I'm dreaming.

Cant wait.......2007-03-24

This was my favourite show as a kid - i just ordered it - my first purchase of anything over the internet - cant wait!

very good.......2007-01-07

Was a very good treatment and also was quite fast. The conditions of the product were great.

Cinar's Oz Cartoon - From TV to Video to DVD.......2006-07-10

I remember watching this series on TV when I was little, along with many other animes, Oz and not, and I'm glad to have this japanese take of Oz on DVD. I used to borrow videos of 'Wonderful Wizard' and 'Emerald City' when the store/s were open, and of course they're gone now, but that's why I'm grateful for the DVD Collection, even in its *not so good* condition (I'm working on the reviews for the individual DVDs). One of the best things about this animation is that some of it not only goes back to the original books, but some of its characters' appearances pays homage/is modelled after previous Oz (e.g. Tin Woodman is fat just like Oliver Hardy in 1925, Scarecrow's arms are lined up just like Denslow, Lion resembles the costumes worn on stages and in the silent films, Emerald City is white because of the White City in 1893's World Columbian Exposition in Chicago which inspired Baum's Emerald City, etc. - the streets and houses are own the lower level, while the Palace is at the top). As for the designs for the Witches of Oz, they were GREAT!! Glinda (despite being pale and blue all over intsead of red-and-white) looks just like Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, which matches her personality perfectly, the Good Witch of the North and Mombi were both well thought up, the East Witch took up the dark cloak with pointy hat and the Wicked Witch of the West, possibly modelled after the 1973-4 Russian Stop-Motion animated version (which I wish I got the DVD of earlier), with her fingerless gloves, long bushy white hair with red streaks, thick black dress with occassional hood, long pointy red shoes and pale skin, was PERFECT!! I just wish that Dorothy's long brown hair was in braids, just like Denslow's drawings and that Ozma's design be a combination of Dorothy and Glinda, even if it would resemble Emma Ridley's portrayal of Ozma in 'Disney's Return to Oz'. As for the Magic Shoes: when the Wicked Witches have them, the shoes are big, brown, baggy and curly-toed, but when Dorothy has them then they are child-like, with straps, a white surface (possibly silver?) and not-so pointy toes, and they usually glow pink and/or white. More character design descriptions will be in the other DVD reviews.
And, in case you're wondering "Who is Margot Kidder, the Narrator?", she was LOIS LANE during the 1978-87 Christopher Reeve as 'Superman' Movies!! Although many of her lines are unnecessary - she sometimes says things we can already see for ourselves, and it makes the feature seem a bit more childish, it's still okay to listen to - her job possibly came onto the Video release rather than the actual TV Show itself. The fact that there was a lot of editing would explain the gaps and strange bits on the English Videos/DVDs and any deleted bits get a little mention. All 4 DVDs have the same Main Menu Set-up and the same 'Special Features':
* (Main Menu Set-Up) "Searching for a Dream" breifly plays as the (opening) tornado-with yellow-bricks, etc. creates the title of the 'movie', which then minimizes in the top left corner, allowing room for 'Play All', 'Chapters', 'Additional Titles' and a starry-circle that plays stills from the feature to appear on the screen. Except for 'Wonderful Wizard', the Oz DVDs have the opening song play in the main menu - 'Land of Feelings' plays on both 'Emerald City' and 'Wonderful Wizard' menus. The Menus for the Scenes and Additional Titles are silent.
* There are only 12-13 Chapters, having titles that could be from the actual TV Episode titles, although the packaging unfortunately makes some spelling mistakes (Glenda, Dorothy Magic Powers, etc.)
* (Additional Titles) This menu has a look at other Lightyear Entertainment Videos/DVDs, and is on every DVD. These are "People: A Musical Celebration", "My First DVD" and "Stories to Remember", which is animation for families and little children.
Another thing I should point out is the Logo. If I recall the video correctly, 'Wonderful Wizard' had a sneal peak at 'Emerald City', and that started with this 'disco-like' music playing as colourful lights shot across the screen forming a little shooting star. This time on the DVD before the Menu sets up, there is a 'Beating of Drums' as a black page turns over to yellow, as 'Lightyear Entertainment (and its site name)' appear in flashes. Except for the music, it does the same thing at the end of the movies.
These features would be a lot more enjoyable if there had been a bit of better writing, and the videos being cut into 1 hr 45 mins instead of 1 hr 30-5 mins - therefore, we might have been able to have a bit more of the original book bits. Despite having no sub-titles, the same old sneak peaks and not so good picture quality, I am grateful to at least have these to keep.
A GREAT site to visit is 'landvanoz . com' (starts with small 'L', without the spaces), which has a comic strip of the series, showing bits rarely seen in English.
*BUT* . . . if you REALLY WANT to get the COMPLETE EPISODES, then you may be interested to know that the TV versions are avaialble on two different 2-Boxed DVD sets: in French (at 'Manga Distribution' under "Le Magicien d' Oz") and Chinese/Japanese (at 'Yesasia . com' - which is better, because unlike Manga, the online store is in English!). I have the C/J version and therefore the following information: Each box set has a DVD with 2 disks with 5 episodes lasting over 2 hrs. All Disks have the same cover design as the Box-Set they come in, the same Menu (only difference is the volume number) and the same options of looking at other Chinese/Japanese DVDs. Each DVD plays as follows: opening, tile & episode and next ep. preview with end credits. The Disk automatically plays Chinese Audio and Subtitles, but you can change the audio to Japanese. But just like the English DVDs, the picture quality on the Chinese/Japanese DVDs change: sometimes one shot can be excellent, while another can be dark/dim and another can be quite bright. Even in a foreign language I could make out what a character was saying, quite a few bits (e.g. names) sound close to english and easy to hear on the first time. Box Set 1 has 2 DVDs, therefore 4 disks each with 5 episodes, while Box Set 2 has 3 DVDs with 6 disks, but with the last DVD having 6 episodes on the last 2 Disks, resulting in over 2 1/2 hrs. The foriegn music certainly is different to that of the English and sometimes sounds better while a few other times isn't as good, and if you had this collection, you wouldn't be able to watch even 1 minute without finding something cut-out, replaced, moved to somewhere else or even 2 episodes put together. I do wish that 4 of the individual DVD covers had the same pictures as 4 Japanese Cinar Oz videos I saw in the 'landvanoz' fan site as well as having Englsih sub-titles. BUT I do have the original TV Show, and that's all that matters . . . although, having English DVDs of the FULL TV-animation or even 3-4 hr versions would be nice . . .

Average customer rating:

(Most of) The Original Book Comes to Life!!
Anime of the 80's..
The best Oz cartoon that has ever been made
One of my favorite takes on the WIZARD OF OZ!
Very good but...

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Starring: Margot Kidder , Morgan Hallet , George Morris , Neil Shee , and Richard Dumont
Director: Tim Reid (VII) , and Gerald Potterton
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001O3YUI
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Customer Reviews:

(Most of) The Original Book Comes to Life!!.......2006-08-02

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'.

Anime of the 80's.........2003-09-25

I remember this verison well from back in the day when it was on tv. I think it may have run on the Disney channel in the form of a series but I am not sure. In this telling of the tale Dorothy has curly brown hair and Toto is a loveable ball of fur drawn in a 70's style anime way.The Scarecrow in this adapton is very loveable and skinny looking as well. The other two films in this series are entitled "The Wonderfull Wizard Of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". These films are somewhat "darker" than some tellings of the stories but are very true to the books in that way.

The best Oz cartoon that has ever been made.......2003-03-26

This cartoon is the best oz cartoon ever made. The music is great, the story is presented wonderfully and the characters are fantastic. I thought the wicked witch of the west was the best, she was scary, powerful, and different from usaul witches you find in cartoons. I really hope one day I will be able to buy this video again. I may be older now but its still my favourite cartoon and oz movie!

One of my favorite takes on the WIZARD OF OZ!.......2002-02-23

Margot Kidder is the narrator of this wonderfully spectactular animated film of the Wizard of Oz. This movie is the first part of an Oz series based on the books. The animated movies were released as a miniseries on the Showcase channel. This has been one of my favorite children's movies ever. Definitly a five-star movie. Also watch the Marvelous Land of Oz, narrated by Margot Kidder. That is probably one of my favorites of the series.

Very good but..........2001-12-27

This 1987 animated version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is good but is often referd to the book.If you havent read the L Frank Baum book you probably wouldnt under stand the whole story.The voices of the characters are very good and so is the picture. I think you will enjoy it.

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