The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2021 film)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an upcoming 2021 CGI animated fantasy family film, based on the novel of the same name by L. Frank Baum. The film focuses on a nine-year-old girl named Dorothy, and her journey through a whimsical fantasy world. It features the voice talents of Bailee Madison, Jim Carrey, John Cleese, and John Goodman.

Plot
In 1898, nine-year-old Dorothy Gale (voiced by Bailee Madison) lives in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. The fields aren't producing enough crops to support the family financially, and Uncle Henry begins to worry that Dorothy might not be able to live with them anymore if they lose too much money. One day, a tornado unexpectedly rips through the prairie, forcing the family to flee to the storm cellar. Dorothy is delayed when looking for her pet dog Toto, and is unable to reach the storm cellar before the tornado picks up the house and carries her and Toto away with it.

Realizing that she'll likely die when the house lands, Dorothy crawls into her bed to take one last rest, but is surprised to survive the fall completely unscathed. Dorothy exits the house to discover that she has been carried by the tornado into a magical world called the Land of Oz, and that her house has crushed the Wicked Witch of East, the tyrannical ruler of the Country of the Munchkins in the east of the Land of Oz. The Munchkins, believing Dorothy to be a powerful sorceress, send a call to Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, who lives in the Country of the Gillikins in the north of Oz, to investigate the situation. The Munchkins conclude that Dorothy has come to save them, much to Dorothy's annoyance, and she is gifted with the magical Silver Shoes of the Wicked Witch.

Unable to return home because of a dangerous enchanted desert surrounding the entire Land of Oz, Dorothy is sent by Locasta to the Emerald City in the center of the land to seek advice from the great Wizard who rules in the palace there. Accompanied by nobody but Toto, and carrying a basket filled with bread, Dorothy follows the road that leads to the Emerald City, which is paved with yellow bricks. Stopping for the night at the house of a rich Munchkin named Boq, Dorothy discovers that only witches and sorceresses wear white in the Land of Oz, but is unable to change clothes due to only having two dresses (a red one with white lace, and gingham blue and white one). The next day, she meets a living Scarecrow (voiced by Jim Carrey) who has been placed on a pole two days prior. Feeling sympathy for his boring life just stuck there, she helps him down and encourages him to see the world. The Scarecrow decides that he will accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard for a brain (having learned of the concept of brains from a snooty old crow just the day before).

Seeking shelter in what appears to be an abandoned cabin in the forest, Dorothy and Scarecrow discover the next morning that the cabin is home to Nick Chopper (voiced by John Cleese), a woodman made of tin who has been rusted solid due to rainstorm for over a year. After oiling him to help him move again, Nick tells the two about how he used to be a Munchkin in love with a girl, but the Wicked Witch of the East didn't want him to marry her, and cursed his axe to chop off his body parts, forcing him to get tin prosthetics until finally he was made entirely of tin with no internal organs, thus no longer having a heart to love the girl with. He decides that, after years of grumpily living alone, he will accompany the two to see the Wizard himself in hopes of getting a new heart.

The three soon encounter a Lion (voiced by John Goodman) who initially seems frightening, but reveals his true nature as a shy creature after Dorothy slaps him. Believing himself to be a coward, the Lion accompanies them hoping to get courage from the Wizard. Along the way, the gang prove themselves to Dorothy to actually have what they're seeking all along, with Lion bravely leaping over a chasm to get the gang across and facing down two fierce creatures called Kalidahs, Scarecrow using his wits to save the gang from the creatures, and Nick showing great care when building a raft to cross a river and bursting into tears when the Scarecrow almost falls into the river.

Meanwhile, the evil ruler of the Winkie Country, the Wicked Witch of the West, a former student of the the Wicked Witch of the East, learns of Dorothy's arrival in the Land of Oz, and states her fears that Dorothy may eventually overpower her. She tries to scare the gang to death with a dark cloud of Fear, but the cloud is unable to do much damage from so far away, and Dorothy and her friends are brave enough to get through it safely, which makes the Witch more fearful.

Reaching the Emerald City at last, Dorothy and her friends seek the council of the Wizard, and are each allowed in one at a time. Dorothy goes first, and his greeted by a giant, disembodied head, who tells her that her wish will not be granted until the Wicked Witch of the West is destroyed. The Scarecrow goes next, and is greeted by a winged fairy, who tells him the same thing. The Wizard appears as a frightening beast for Nick, and also gives him this same information. The Lion vows to fight the Wizard and change his mind, but encounters a ball of fire that he can't fight and is forced to give up.

The gang decides that the only thing to be done is to travel to the Country of the Winkies, even if they won't be able to bring themselves to kill the Witch. After throwing many obstacles into their path without success, the Witch uses the final wish of a magical Golden Cap she has stolen from an old magician long ago to summon the Winged Monkeys to capture the Lion and destroy the rest of the gang. The Monkeys are unable to destroy Dorothy however, as she is protected by a charm given to her by Locasta, and they bring her the Witch's castle along with Toto and the Lion.

Realizing that nothing she has done has gotten rid of the threat to her rule, and that she has wasted the final wish of the Golden Cap for nothing, the Witch concludes that the only way to defeat Dorothy and rule the Land of Oz forever is to get hold of the Silver Shoes. Dorothy, however, won't give them up, fearing what power the Witch could harness with them in her possesion. Consulting with the Winkie slaves, Dorothy discovers that the Witch isn't as powerful as she makes herself out to be, and Dorothy and the Winkies formulate a plan to overthrow her over the next few weeks. Their victory is cut short however, when the Wicked Witch trips Dorothy with an invisible bar and takes one of the Silver Shoes. Believing the plan to have failed, Dorothy prepares to give up the other shoe to get the pain over with, but spies a bucket of water close by and throws it at the Witch in hopes of distracting her long enough to steal the shoe back. The water turns out to be the Witch's weakness, and she melts away in pain and defeat.

(to be continued...)

Voice Cast

 * Bailee Madison as Dorothy Gale
 * ??? as Uncle Henry
 * ??? as Aunt Em
 * ??? as Locasta
 * ??? as the Wicked Witch of the East
 * ??? as Munchkins
 * ??? as Boq
 * Jim Carrey as the Scarecrow
 * ??? as the Snooty Crow
 * John Cleese as Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman
 * John Goodman as the Cowardly Lion
 * ??? as the Stork
 * ??? as the Wicked Witch of the West
 * Bruce Campbell as the Guardian of the Gate
 * ??? as Omby Amby, the Solider with the Green Whiskers
 * ??? as Jellia Jam, the servent girl
 * ??? as Winkies
 * ??? as Winged Monkeys
 * ??? as Wolves
 * ??? as Crows
 * Christopher Lloyd as the Wizard
 * ??? as Glinda

Sequels
The film is intended to be followed by sequels based on the other Oz books.