5 best Oz movies to watch before 'Wicked'

Author L. Frank Baum wrote 14 novels about the fantastical land of Oz, which have been adapted for the screen numerous times, going back more than 100 years. Although versions of Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” are still the most recognizable, many of Baum’s other Oz stories have come to life onscreen, and creators have taken various liberties to develop their own Oz adventures.

One of those is “Wicked,” the hit Broadway musical that’s now a big-budget movie hitting theaters this week. “Wicked” provides a sympathetic origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West, with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the misunderstood outcast who ends up labeled a wicked witch, and Ariana Grande as her friend and eventual rival Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

If you’re planning to see “Wicked” this week, here are five movies to check out that will expand your Oz knowledge.

‘The Wizard of Oz’

The 1939 musical adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is not only the most famous Oz movie, but also one of the most famous movies of all time. Multiple generations have grown up watching Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, the Kansas girl who is transported to Oz must seek out the Wizard of Oz so that she can return home. Along the way, she befriends the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), while being pursued by the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).

The iconic songs are joyful and catchy, the sets and costumes are marvels of design, and the vibrant colors are still eye-popping. Thanks to its decades of pop-culture ubiquity, “The Wizard of Oz” remains comforting and familiar even for viewers who’ve never seen it all the way through.

Watch on Max

‘Return to Oz’

Disney’s 1985 quasi-sequel to “The Wizard of Oz” was a box-office flop, but it made an indelible impression on everyone who saw it, especially kids who were terrorized by director and co-writer Walter Murch’s dark vision. Drawing from two of Baum’s later Oz books, Murch begins with Dorothy (Fairuza Balk in her first onscreen role) back in Kansas and committed to a mental institution after telling her family about her journey to Oz.

Things get even more twisted from there, as Dorothy returns to a much-changed Oz that is now a bleak, rundown wasteland. There are no songs, and the tone is often grim and nightmarish. Murch offers a bracing, visually stunning counterpoint to the classic musical, and “Return to Oz” succeeds on its own terms as a fascinating achievement of hallucinatory fantasy.

Watch on Disney Plus

‘Oz the Great and Powerful’

Director Sam Raimi brings his offbeat style to this 2013 prequel about the early days of the Wizard of Oz, starring James Franco as a second-rate stage magician who finds himself embraced as a savior when he travels to Oz. Raimi knows his movie history, and he expertly evokes the spirit of vintage Hollywood in the movie’s opening segment, even mimicking the 1939 musical’s switch from black and white to color when the action shifts from Kansas to Oz.

Franco is a bit smarmy as the future Wizard of Oz, but Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz balance him out as the three witches who all have their own agendas for seeking his help. Within the framework of a large-scale blockbuster, Raimi keeps things lively and distinctive, putting his own stamp on the familiar material.

Watch on Starz

‘The Wiz’

Director Sidney Lumet’s ill-fated 1978 adaptation of the popular Broadway musical is a bit of a mess, starring Diana Ross as a surprisingly sour and morose Dorothy. But other aspects of it are quite appealing, and it now has a deserved cult following. Both the play and the movie transpose the story of “The Wizard of Oz” to Harlem, with Dorothy now a schoolteacher in her 20s.

Dorothy is still whisked away to Oz, where she still meets her three companions and must seek out the Wizard (Richard Pryor). Michael Jackson is especially charming as the Scarecrow, and most of the songs are memorable and fun. The sets, costumes and prosthetic makeup are all fantastic, and the movie pops with colors just as vibrant as in the 1939 version. It may be unwieldy, but it’s always enjoyable to watch.

Rent/buy at Apple or Amazon

‘The Patchwork Girl of Oz’

Baum himself co-founded a short-lived studio to bring his Oz stories to the screen, and this 1914 production is his most complete surviving feature. It’s the kind of deranged silent movie that feels like a transmission from an alternate universe, and it’s consistently mesmerizing even if it’s often inscrutable. Based on Baum’s 1913 novel, the movie stars Violet MacMillan as a young Munchkin who must free her uncle from a spell that has inadvertently turned him to stone.

Acrobat Pierre Couderc plays the title character, an alternately playful and terrifying creature brought to life by the magician Dr. Pipt (Raymond Russell), who causes mayhem as often as she provides assistance. There are some ingenious examples of early special effects, along with a cavalcade of bizarre figures who rival anything in later Oz movies made with modern techniques and resources.

Watch on MGM Plus

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