Do you remember Sam Raimi’s take on the land of Oz? Kevthewriter does.

Everyone loves The Wizard of Oz. Sam Raimi has a successful franchise and many cult movies under his belt. And everyone loves Disney’s movies, as a company not as much. Still you’d think the three things put together would produce a very popular and beloved movie. But no one talks about this movie anymore. Why? I mean it made almost $500 million dollars, there’s gotta be an audience for it somewhere.

Well I hate to put my personal opinion in here and feel like I’m talking for everyone but maybe it’s because it is a surprisingly forgettable movie. Despite being a Disney movie about “The Wonderful Land of Oz” from the Director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man movies, Oz the Great and Powerful failed to live up to expectations. I mean there are some elements that stick out for being good (it’s pretty) and some elements that stick out for being awful (Mila Kunis and James Franco are both wildly miscast) but…there’s just not much to it for the most part.

Think about the most popular things that take place in this franchise. The 1939 classic is well-known for its songs, story, characters, and everything about it. Wicked is popular for the same things, and The Wiz is well-known for having an African-American cast. Then there’s Return to Oz (also from Disney – maybe the mouse should stay out of Oz, huh?), which has gained a cult following, and is definitely a memorable movie for how creepy it is.

But Oz The Great and Powerful? There’s just not much to it. Not much to really remember it by besides some annoying flaws and some things that worked. For the most part it’s just…fine. It lacks the quirkiness of Sam Raimi’s best work and feels like he kinda just did it to fund projects he was more invested in (like Ash vs. Evil Dead). And it lacks anything special made by Disney to boot!

And, while I can’t say for sure, I guess most people just felt the same way. It probably just didn’t make that much of an impact on most people. In fact, most of its money was probably made on brand recognizability and a lack of family friendly entertainment out at the time but, once people were drawn in by the name Oz and had their fix of something to entertain their kids, they probably forgot about it along with their kids and moved on to other things.

As a result, I know I’m probably putting my personal feelings for the movie here but I’m guessing it’s forgotten because…it’s forgettable. And, while I don’t know for sure, I’m guessing I wasn’t the only person who just didn’t find it that memorable.

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