Just be thankful that the China princess wasn't an offensive Asian stereotype.

Yanno, I've always been a sucker for that "soldier in love with a princess" cliche. I'm sure if they changed some details and maybe make it live-action like the original movie (with modern CGI), it could've worked. Here's my take on this movie: After Dorothy returns from Oz, she tries to tell her family about what happened. They don't believe her, thinking she hit her head too hard. Oz becomes something of a dream. Eventually, Dorothy gets married and has children. Sometime later, her (great) granddaughter is born. She is coincidentally given the name Dorothy, but she goes by her middle name. In Oz, time has barely passed. The kingdom is in prosperity, lead by Glinda. Of course, every smaller kingdom has it's own ruler. She's overthrown by her court jester, who steals her wand and turns her into a puppet. Instead of being called the Jester, he calls himself the Puppet-Master. That way he isn't a Joker rip-off. The Puppet-Master begins to imprison the leaders of the kingdoms, wanting to be the only ruler of the land. The Scarecrow, The Tinman, and The Lion make a distress call, sucking Dorothy Jr. into a twister. Dorothy is placed exactly where her great-grandmother once was. The trio go to hug her, but they quickly realize she's not their Dorothy. She explains about all that happened, and how her grandmother had already passed away. The trio suck up their grief, knowing they had to save the kingdom. On the way back to the Emerald City, the trio are taken away by puppets. Dorothy fights off the puppets as best she can, but she ends up falling into a river. When she wakes up, The Owl is gently patting her cheeks. He tells her he pulled her out of the water, and she was lucky to be alive. He takes her to the Candy Kingdom, as that is the closest place they could get help. (They don't eat the candy because The Owl knows it's illegal.) She's stopped at the gates by marshmallow soldiers, who tell her to let or be thrown into a cell. This is where Marshall Mellow comes into play. He explains to Dorothy that the king and queen had been taken by the Puppet-Master. He agrees to go with the two to save his leaders. The continue along, but an obstacle keeps them from going straight to The Emerald City. So, they detour to the kingdom made of china. (I was going to call it Chinatown, but uh...) They are escorted to the palace, where they meet the China Princess. She tells them they can pass through, but only if they promise to bring her family back. Just before they leave, the puppets lead an attack on the kingdom. The China Princess escapes with the trio, knowing the puppets were after her. (Insert emotional scene of China Princess crying over her shattered citizens.) As they continue to Oz, Marshall Mellow attempts to comfort her. Perfect opportunity to strengthen their bond and set up the beginning of a relationship. They of course meet many challenges along the way, and they grow closer together. It's a mirror to the original Dorothy and her companions. When they reach the Emerald City, they notice the citizens are being treated like slaves. While trying to free them, the China Princess is captured and taken to the Puppet-Master. Marshall Mellow gets upset, of course, but the Owl and Dorothy encourage him to carry on. Dorothy continues into the palace while the other two try to gather an army. Que chase sequence with puppets and Dorothy. She meets the Puppet-Master in the room the Wizard was in. The Puppet-Master gets ahold of Dorothy, and prepares to turn her into a puppet. Marshall Mellow and the Owl come to her rescue, leading a revolution. They make it to a room where all the puppets are kept. Every leader is there, including the Wizard, Glinda, the china family, the Lion, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow. Dorothy starts breaking them out of their cases. The Puppet-Master catches up with them and turns every puppet against them. The remaining trio have to fight against their friends and rulers. The Owl steals back Glinda's wand and gets it to her. As soon as the wand is in her hand, she's freed. She finishes off (but not literally) the Puppet-Master. She brings everyone back to their normal self. Dorothy hugs the original trio, the China Princess reunites with her family, Marshall Mallow finds his king and queen. Everyone's happy. China Princess and Marshall Mallow have a moment. Once again, "Dorothy" saves the day. She's whisked back home, the end. (I haven't watched the original in awhile, so I apologise for details I may have missed or left out.)

Woody's sarcastic laugh gets me every time. :)

"There's no way you're going to make a rainbow look threatening to anybody but a FOX news anchor." Lol, nicely done.

You know, there's an interesting parallel between Marshal Mallow and the China Princess. One is a subordinate looking for a superior, the other has a superiority complex. If the movie had focused more on them (without a third character, or with a third character who complimented this theme somehow), and if the rest of the story was adjusted to fit, it could have been an interesting story about the unhealthy effects of one-sided power relationships, with the Princess and the Marshal only being able to find happiness or defeat the bad guy when they accept each other as equals, rather than subordinate and commander.

the sad thing is this movie had potential and would have been great if it had been done right. if they had wanted to place the sequel in modern time, they would have told a story about Dorothy's granddaughter, and Jester would have been a cool villain too. an evil clown, who turns people into marionettes? works well.

The Tom & Jerry Wizard of Oz sequel makes alot more sense than this film.

I kind of wish Bernadette Peters not being given a song could of been a sin, but knowing this movies music it probably would of just become a sin of wasting her talent in a weak song.

Ohhh, Bernadette Peters, no! She and Alan Cumming need to start a support group for talented actors whose agents have it in for them. :(

I feel like we're all going to get a lot of use out of that "whhOOOOOO CARES?" clip.

One thing: They cast Bernadette Peters as Glinda but they didn't let her SING?!

Personally, I liked how this movie had really dark moments, like puppet Glinda, and especially the tortures the jester put Dorothy's friend through. Each torture is really horrifying considering what they're made of (Tin man in water, essentially eating away at his skin, scarecrow being surrounded by fire on a spinning wheel, and cowardly lion in an ever shrinking cage). I wish these could be in a better movie that also explored the Jester's past instead of the marshmallow and chyna doll's relationship. Also, the china people were in literal shards and still completely sentient. Why didn't China princess say or move at all when she shattered?

Man, imagine going from one of the most iconic non-Disney animated musical villains ever, Preminger from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, (I said what I said) into a knockoff version of the Joker in a movie that was funded by scamming the elderly.

Just saying, The Jester looked like a failed Miraculous Ladybug villain.

The "Puppet Rulers" gimmick could've worked if, everywhere the heroes went, they were confronted by belligerence from people they thought they could trust, because they were being controlled by the Jester's magic 🙂

That opening bit with the lion, the tin man, and the scarecrow doesn't make any sense. The 3 of them said it has been years in Oz since Dorthy left. Even if they had gotten courage, a heart, and a brain as new presents instead of having those qualities all along, why don't they have control over them yet? They said it has been years!

Doesn't the movie already establish that the china people can be reassembled, thus rendering the scene where the princess is broken devoid of dramatic tension?

Why would you allow some of your citizens to be eaten just because the person who did it had killed a witch? Wouldn't that be more reason to put the serial killer on Death Row, since it shows that she's powerful?

You forgot to mention the greatest sin of all: Bernadette Peters doesn't sing in this movie.

Ok, the Meryl Streep "Who Cares?!" gag made me giggle XD

"She's one of the greatest heroes Oz has ever known! She is well above reproach!" That dude should've taken lessons from Korra. She's the Avatar, and she busted a shop while catching criminals, but here's something that happened that this movie failed to do: reality set in! Korra gets arrested and is told by the police chieftain that just because she's the Avatar doesn't mean she can dish out vigilante justice. Granted, Korra does calm down later in the series... Just an example, is all.

Is there ANY Wizard of Oz adaptation that is faithful to the Woodsman being named Nick Chopper and having dismembered himself, replacing his parts with tin substitutes until he was a fully Tin Man?

"That a rainbow wants to taste her." Sorry but that line just has me giggling.

Nice shout-out to the Unipiper (the one dressed as Darth Vader who rides on a unicycle while playing bagpipes). I love seeing Portland culture represented (I'm a native Oregonian). Here's a funny story. Last summer, I was in line with my dad to see Monty Python Live in movie theaters, and the Unipaper actually came out, playing bagpipes on his unicycle, this time dressed as King Arthur from Monty Python.

They built a boat out of a tree named Tug a “Tug boat” if you will... Cue the sarcastic Woody laugh!

At least I can give this SOME props, since (like Oz The Great And Powerful) it included the China Country from Baum's original novel, a neat little side trip that couldn't have been done with 1939 special effects.

Wait, at the beginning they're worried that Dorothy has forgotten about them? If I had been caught by a tornado, tossed into another world, met a bunch of singing gnomes, a scarecrow, a tinman, a lion and had killed a witch with a bucket of water because a giant green head wouldn't help me get home otherwise, chances are, I would remember it. I might end up thinking it was just a dream, but I would remember it!

"How do you think that will work for them, NESSA?" Ohhh, I love you! 😂

I have noticed, this movie manages that rare trick of both straying further from, and hewing closer to the source material. for instance, compared to the MGM film, they get the setting utterly wrong, but the tone is more similar. they exaggerate the qualities of the scarecrow, lion, and tin man, but they include details from the books like getting the colour of the scarecrow's clothes right, and giving the lion and tin man their kingdoms (or at least suggesting it). they include the china town, but forget that no-one can leave. it's infuriating, and a little bewildering, someone evidently read the books and it makes me wonder what made it go wrong.

I laughed a single "Ha" at the peeps joke....they were just too silly and bouncy i couldn't handle it.

13:59 Wow, the China Princess is a mass murderer!

The first thing that comes to my mind is that, if they want a sequel to _The Wizard of Oz_ , the original author wrote several.

17:41-17:46 "Using his sticky candy body....." GAH! The imagery! How did you not catch that?

ah yes the main antagonist of Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return *_Jevil Deltarune_*

Well at least Kelsey Grammer and Bernadette Peters made a good musical animated film together. And both got to sing! I'm referring, of course, to Anastasia.

Isn't the china princess breaking also just a retread of when the Scarecrow got torn to pieces by the flying monkeys? Also, pretty sure this would work better if it was like. Dorothy's granddaughter. Yeah the story wouldn't be all the way good with just that change but at least it wouldn't be a complete butcher of the original story.

8:21 No self-respecting villain rides a unicycle... Except this guy.

I always get a bit upset when they make a sequel to Oz ignoring all the books. :\

Poor AniMat. He has been a victim of Puppet Glinda.

"Can Narnia sue for universe infringement?" No, because TV Tropes has a whole page for examples of Year Inside, Hour Outside.

What, no Scooby-Doo joke? The villain would have gotten away w it too, if not for that meddling kid and her dog!!

"THAT'S. COMEDY!!!" -Martin Short, We're Back: A Dinosaur Story

Okay, the fact that they pretty much scammed people makes me like this movie less. And yeah, China Princess sucks. If I were Dorothy, I'd ditch her.

It is really distracting the the Jester has the same voice as The Cat In The Hat from The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That.

I am wondering why Glinda is smiling and laughing when she's brought captive before the Jester? Kinda takes all of the threat away from the villain...

You had Berrnadette Peters and didn't give her a song!!!!!!!???? FAILED!

Those Carole Brothers and Kaufman scammed those investors out of their nest eggs? Out of all the sleazy things in the industry, this is one of the worst.

Wiser: WInnie-The-Pooh he is not.

17:50 But he has a pretty singing voice.

I have learned three things today: - 'The Emoji Movie' is no longer the worst film Mr. Stewart has been in this decade. - 'Oz, The Great And Powerful' is no longer the worst thing based on the Oz Mythos this decade (nor does it have the most annoying China Girl). - That this Thing exists and I didn't know until now. Thanks, Diva!

I sense someone's a wicked fan. lord forbid they make a movie of that.

i have to agree if Glinda could send her back via rainbow why couldn't she do that the first time? Was Dorothy not rainbow compatible until she went to OZ the second time with a rainbow? then that would raise another question, Could Glinda have just sent her back with another tornado the first time? seriously its just makes no sense.

I dunno, Diva. Maybe it's just because I have an affinity for jesters in general, but I thought the Jester here was a cool antagonist. In fact, my real problem is with the realtor character... The Jester is portrayed as somewhat tragic, being mostly bitter because his sister cursed him. The realtor, on the other hand, is just a shallow, jerkface con man who exists only to be a "bad guy". Shouldn't "and you were there" characters be related to their fantasy counterparts? It would have been interesting if the realtor was also bitter, a guy who enjoys condemning houses because he hates people in general due to some incident in his past. But Dorothy tries to convince him that he doesn't HAVE to destroy houses, that they can be fixed. Maybe, unlike with the Jester, the realtor actually listens to her and has a change of heart. Wouldn't that make for a better ending?

"...while he uses his sticky candy body to patch the princess together." Wow, I can honestly say I never thought I'd ever hear that sentence.

If were a kid who had arguably the worst case of pupophobia, I would have been scared to death by this film, but I know a film that does a much worse job of sending kids to therapy. If you want a true terrifying puppet scene in a children's film, try Puppetino from Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. Now that was fricken scary and I have at least conquered the fear, but for a morbid price. I practically needed therapy after that traumatizing scene.

9:37 And I thought that Return to Oz was way more fucked up than this

And apparently this scam Is responsabile For Noah Centineo's career. WTF.

This time - it's personal! I loved all the L-Baum books, *loved* them, and both the MGM film and Disney's 'Return' with Fairuza Balk are permafavourites of mine. A good Oz adap or reference pushes my happy button, and a bad one gives me the red mists. Great episode as always. I'm pushing your stuff as hard as I can on anyone who'll sit still, because you definitely deserve more love. Stay awesome, Diva.

Why is Marshmallow dude a Canadian South Park character?

If you thought that puppet was creepy then you have not seen gravity falls

"Good thing that never happens in the real world! Imagine how many people would abuse their fame and power to get away with breaking the law!" ... *OOF.* Diva spitting hellfire. Also aww, poor AniMat

I was about to comment about the whole "trinity of old characters being changed by the Wizard's gifts"; while he still didn't change them in the book, the characters *thought* that he did. But then I noticed that the Tin Man has the heart-shaped clock in his heart, which was a movie-only thing (in the book, he got a heart-shaped plushie instead). This firmly sets Legends of Oz in the movie's continuity, where the characters understood the Wizard's meaning and were satisfied and happy knowing that they were always smart, emotional, and brave. So yeah, definitely a fuckup on the filmmakers' part.

did anyone else think of Super Mario R.P.G. when she said "mallow joins the party"?

Holy crap, I just noticed! The part where the voice actors are credited also shows items associated with the characters they portray!

I WAS gonna say have their entrepreneurial partner who owns a coffee shop be boiled in a large coffee pot for all eternity, but the fraud circle's idea of punishment sounds much more cathartic.

Watching this makes me wonder if the writers have read any of the other Oz books. L. Frank Baum wrote a total of fourteen Oz books (and Oz was continued by other authors after his death), and yet all the Oz sequels I see usually have nothing to do with what happens in the later Oz books. And in the books Oz is definitely real - it's not a dream like in the MGM film. Dorothy even moves there permanently in the sixth book, and so do Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. Other American kids go to Oz in the later books.

"...ahem." Look out--this demon be throwing some shade!

How did Bernadette Peters, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, and Kelsey Grammer get dragged into this mess?

The production history of this movie feels like it was written by Don Bluth

At the exact moment that Sin #5 appeared on my monitor, someone outside my apartment let out a terrified scream. I'm not as weirded out as I am amused and super weirded out.

Why couldn't Centineo take the mature route and blame his film's failure on some surface-level detail, like maybe say that audiences weren't interested in classic literature anymore or that light-hearted fantasy was a dead genre? (Or accept that his work failed on its own merits, but _nobody_ in the entertainment industry takes that route.)

Ever since I listen to the original book I really feel like the flying monkeys got shafted since in the original story they weren't evil just cursed to do the biding 3 times of whoever holds it.

I am surprised you did not do a Producers reference when talking about the shyster producers of this piss flick. Seriously, this is like a real-life springtime for hitler, if it had actually gone to plan (make a flop property and run with the money).

I only remember one scene from this movie. That scene where the China Princess is reassembled and she all of a sudden opens her eyes. Let's just say it gave me nightmares.

Remember back in the day, when 'Sesame Street' had an episode with the 'Wicked Witch' as a guest star; and all the parents called in to complain so much about her terrifying their kids, that the episode has never aired since then? Something tells me they would've been fine if they'd just used this film's antagonist instead.

13:07 "I should put you away where you can't kill or maim us, But this is L.A., and you're rich and famous!"

Dan Aykroyd's Scarecrow always reminds me of the SNL Coneheads.

Y'know, if they really wanted to play into being creepy, they could've taken one of my favorite scenes from when Dorothy went to China country from the books, where they come across a China Clown whose a more glue than porcelain, on account of him constantly trying (and failing) to stand on his head.

Aw, geez, Sir Patrick, you're better than this!!!

The voice of the jester is the same as the one who does the Cat in that new Cat in the Hat series, and it makes it even harder for me to take him seriously, after all the babysitting I've done.

Lol I guess Rachel Berry finally made it out of McKinley high. Where’s her gold star ⭐️

I wasn't expecting Animat to show up. It only makes this video even better!

Nobody: Literally Nobody: Not Even A Single Soul: Not Even Animat: Puppet Glinda: *hElLo dOrOtHy OwO* Animat: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

I blew up a water heater on accident and that house looked better than Dorothy's house from the outside. Definitely not livable is the point, lmao

The candy trip part reminded me of a My Little Pony Grimdark story called "Something Sweet to Bite". It's about a child whose body transformed into candy after they were forced to eat it constantly, but some magical alchemy was also involved that changed her into a mindless monster. Every year she torments people on Halloween before violently attacking and then eating them, sometimes alive. Her eyes are peppermint swirls and her hair is red licorice. So thanks for reminding me of that, Dorothy's Return.

I haven't seen the movie, but from what I saw, honestly I actually found the whole puppet thing more cool-creepy than OHGODKILLITNOW-creepy.

17:45 He mended the china princess with his sticky white stuff. ... I've got nothing.

The 1939 MGM movie is actually set in 1938 because if you look closely at the scroll the Coroner unravels it gives the day May 6, 1938. This would be nineteen years to that date since L. Frank Baum had passed away.

Okay, this film sucks, but I HAVE to admit that I found the jury of peeps pretty freaking adorable.

Wasn't wreck it Ralph out at this time? Seems like the candy court was a cheap knockoff of that.

16:11 I think the Jester could be more effective at making Dorothy worried this way... If he simply turned the trio into puppets, Dorothy might think it was too late to prevent him from harming them, and then she might not feel the same level of urgency.

9:06 That is most definitely my biggest gripe about anything Oz-related. Besides, wasn't it largely by dumb luck that Dorothy ended saving the land in the MGM film anyways? She accidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East, and even the killing of her sister is an accident too.

If they were going to set the Legend of Oz in modern times why not just go the "Dorothy Must Die" route (book by Danielle Paige) which is set in modern times and is about a girl who is transported to OZ and finds that Dorothy came back to OZ a long time ago and was an evil tyrant. I could believe that being set in modern times... this... the modern setting doesn't fit for being a 'direct' sequel of the original.

So I finally downloaded a copy of this (because screw the people who made it giving them any money), as someone who enjoys adaptions of the oz stories, and what I realised about this, was how despite all the cringeworthy aspects, the shady directors and producers, and some of the choices, I ended feeling like this movie actually had potential, yet it was just wasted. Concepts like the underdog villain having his day, the main protagonist meeting new friends on her journey, discovering new lands, a power struggle, an irredeemable villain the hero can't save, and even creepy imagery and concepts (let's face it return to oz already hit that mark showing oz can be creepy), this one had all potential to be good, it's just the direction, acting, animation and writing choices that failed it. I watched back in the 80s the anime oz series made by Panmedia (Japan-Canadian cross brand series) which explored 4 of the main oz books, so doing retellings of the oz stories is possible with effort and giving a shit enough to make it work. It just seems the makers of this movie only cared about the money more then the presentation and charm other adaptation had.

The China Princess being broken isn't even that dramatic, because we know that China People can repair themselves

I’ve been binging Musical Hells all week and I still laugh at and love every time the Meryl Streep “Whoooo cares?!” clip! 🥂

Thanks for inviting Ani-Mat to be in the video. Ani-mat was the first movie reviewer I have ever watched. Thanks.

17:48 Whoever was singing actually has a decent singing voice. The lyrics suck, but his voice is pretty good. I feel like I say that a lot about songs in awful movies.

Why bother bringing on Bernadette Peters if she's not gonna sing in a musical? Kept laughing at the Woody sarcastic laugh scenes.

Why can there be no oz sequel with scarecrow, tin man and lion as the co leads, they always get new accomplices, why can’t they just stick with the original characters