Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Violet MacMillan | ... | Ojo, a Munchkin Boy | |
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Frank Moore | ... | Unc Nunkie, Ojo's Guardian |
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Raymond Russell | ... | Dr. Pipt, the Crooked Magician |
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Leontine Dranet | ... | Margolotte, his wife, who makes the Patchwork Girl (as Haras Dranet) |
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Bobbie Gould | ... | Jesseva, his daughter, betrothed to Danx |
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Marie Wayne | ... | Jinjur, a Maid in the Emerald City |
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Richard Rosson | ... | Danx, a Noble Munchkin (as Dick Rosson) |
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Frank Bristol | ... | The Soldier with the Green Whiskers (Omby Amby) |
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Fred Woodward | ... | The Woozy, a Quaintness / The Zoop, A Mystery / Mewel, who is Everybody's Friend |
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Todd Wright | ... | The Wizard of Oz |
Bert Glennon | ... | The Scarecrow (as Herbert Glennon) | |
Hal Roach | ... | The Cowardly Lion / Tottenhot (as Al Roach) | |
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Dave Anderson | ... | The Hungry Tiger (as Andy Anderson) |
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Jessie May Walsh | ... | Ozma of Oz, the Ruler of the Emerald City |
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William Cook | ... | The Royal Chamberlain |
Ojo and Unc Nunkie are out of food, so they decide to journey to the Emerald City where they will never starve. Along the way, they meet Mewel, a waif and stray (mule) who leads them to Dr. Pipt, who has been stirring the powder of life for nine years. Ojo adds plenty of brains to Margolotte's Patchwork servant before she is brought to life with the powder. When Scraps does come to life, she accidentally knocks the liquid of petrifaction upon Unc Nunkie, Margolotte, and Danx (daughter Jesseva's boyfriend). So all go on separate journeys to find the ingredients to the antidote. (Of course Jesseva has Danx shrunken to take with her, which causes trouble with Jinjur.) Of course, no one ever told Ojo that some of the ingredients were illegal to obtain... Written by Scott Hutchins <scottandrewh@home.com>
A feast of quaint but super-hectic activity, presented before a solidly stationary camera (except for the effective concluding shot), this is a dated and none too interesting attempt by author L. Frank Baum himself to transfer his Oz from the printed page to the cinema. He is let down by the totally unimaginative direction (from well-known character actor J. Farrell MacDonald), the almost entirely stationary camera-work (though there are a couple of clever touches here and there) with its long, boring takes, and the inappropriately over-the-top enthusiasm of almost all the players.
As a curiosity, the movie would make a tolerable two-reeler, but 65 minutes of repetitious jumping, sliding, running, kicking, dancing, climbing, gallivanting, funning and frolicking, is, despite the picturebook tints and novel costumes of its picturebook illustrations brought to life, just far too much of a mediocre thing.
Now, if the highly imaginative original drawings by W.W. Denslow that accompanied Baum's first and most famous venture into the land of Oz, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), had been brought to life rather than the conventional Victoriana here displayed, the film would doubtless have captured an audience's interest far more than this ultimately wearisome parade. Unfortunately, there was no chance of that happy eventuality. Baum and Denslow had a falling out in 1901 when both men claimed that the instant success of Oz was primarily due to their own input. Therefore it's no surprise that producer Baum made it his business to ensure the movie's visuals were as far removed from Denslow's creations as possible.