OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Production ... - Visual Hollywood

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (2013)
PRODUCTION NOTES
The Story
"This is a story of how the wizard came to be the wizard; of how a smalltime carnival magician--a
faker, a charlatan--came to a fantastic world and was just the thing that they needed to save the
day. It's the tale of how an average man who was selfish became a great wizard who is selfless." --
Sam Raimi, director
L. Frank Baum, who wrote 14 novels between 1900-1920, all set in the Land of Oz he so vividly
created, never fully portrayed the wizard character's background in any of his books. Producer Joe
Roth found that fact fascinating. "I love origin stories and I liked the idea of how the wizard came
to be," says Roth. "So, going back to Baum's books to research and imagine his beginnings seemed
like a great idea."
"L. Frank Baum wrote a series of adventures with multiple characters in Oz," states Raimi's longtime
producing partner, Grant Curtis. "I think the beauty of what Mitchell Kapner originally did,
along with producer Joe Roth and executive producer Palak Patel, was that they took some of the
adventures throughout these books and brought them together into one concise story that depicts
how Oz became the great wizard."
Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire's imaginative screenplay follows Oscar Diggs, a smalltime
circus magician with dubious ethics, who is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant
Land of Oz. There, Oscar thinks he's hit the jackpot--fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is
until he meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, 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, along with some ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry--Oscar transforms himself
not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well.
"It begins with a circus con artist who gets caught up in a tornado in a hot-air balloon and lands in
this magical Land of Oz," screenwriter Mitchell Kapner elaborates about the original story inspired
by the works of author L. Frank Baum. "Because his name is Oz, his arrival coincides with a prophecy
that states that a new and great leader is forthcoming. Because the Wicked Witch has taken over
the land, the people look to this stranger as this great Wizard. They bow down to this mere mortal
when they see his name on the side of his balloon.
"This is a guy, bluffing his way through life because he doesn't have real magic powers like these
witches do, who can become their leader and get Emerald City back from the Wicked Witch," the
screenwriter resumes about the story. "I liked the dynamic that people expected him to be this powerful
wizard, which he knows he's not. Yet, he can claim this throne, and essentially be the King, if
he convinces enough people. Along the way, he realizes it's not just about him. He has to do it to
save these people."
"What I love most about this character of Oz is that he is such a dastardly heel," says coscreenwriter
David Lindsay-Abaire about the film's unlikely hero. "But, he also craves something
greater, both from his life and for himself as a person. He wants to do great things, and, in the beginning,
it's only about money and power and riches. By the end of the story, he finds out it's actually
about finding love and friendship. It's a very human story."
Before Lindsay-Abaire joined the project, Roth sought a director to bring Kapner's story to life before
the cameras. In choosing the acclaimed Sam Raimi, no stranger to Hollywood's arena of epic
© 2013 Walt Disney Pictures
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