Who was the Wizard of Oz, Really? Find out in Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful… Ok, I’m not usually much of a fan of my favorite childhood classics being remade, or new movies based off of the original stories. As a child, you grow so attached to the characters, that it’s hard sometimes to watch any new imaginings of them, you know? But this new film – from the producer of “Alice in Wonderland”, and the director of the “Spiderman” trilogy, doesn’t remake anything – what it does is give us a background story of one of the more elusive characters in the original movie – the Wizard of Oz himself.

“Oz The Great and Powerful” opens in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2013

Here’s a little hint of what’s to come… “Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.” Want to see a sneak peek? Check it out:

How awesome is this?

I can remember watching cartoons on a black and white TV when I was a little girl. We grew up pretty darn poor, and it was awhile before my mom was able to upgrade us from our fuzzy little black and white box to a big full sized color TV. I remember one of the first movies that we watched on it was Wizard of Oz… I was SO mad when it started out in black and white! Heck, we just got a color TV, I didn’t want to watch movies that were black and white on purpose! But my mom told me to just hold on, be patient, and to keep watching, and that I’d be happy I did. And like mothers always are – she was right. When Dorothy arrived in Oz, and everything suddenly brightened into vivid color – I knew just how she felt, finally seeing things in color like that :)

So – I am just super excited to see this when it arrives in theaters!

I spent hours as a little girl reading my Wizard of Oz books, playing with the Dorothy and Glinda the Good Witch dolls that mom had sewed for me, and dreaming about a wonderful world of Oz. And it’s now one of Abby’s favorite movies too! She watched it for the first time months ago with Grandma and I – she cried “Oh no!!! Come back!!!” when Toto runs away, when he’s scared of the storm. She was frightened of the witch and the flying monkeys, and simply delighted by the singing munchkins and the funny scarecrow. It was seriously wonderful to watch it with both of them, and relive that feeling of being a kid. I can’t wait to see how this new story, telling how the Wizard of Oz came to be, brings more depth to my old favorite. This is going right onto my serious MUST-WATCH list!