10 Movies Influenced By The Wizard Of Oz

Dorothy and friends standing before the Wizard of Oz

By Shawn S. Lealos Published 23 minutes ago

Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more.

Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre.

To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net.

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Wicked: For Good ends the story of the alternate vision of the classic L. Frank Baum novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the original 1939 adaptation of that story. Based on the Broadway musical Wicked, this movie tells the story from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view. It takes everything from the story and recontextualizes it.

This also isn't the first time that a filmmaker has taken the story from The Wizard of Oz and retold it in a different manner. Some of the films are straight copies of The Wizard of Oz, but with a twist, similar to what Wicked did. However, there are also some movies with new stories influenced by the story from this magical land.

The Muppets' Wizard Of Oz (2005)

Ashanti with the Muppets in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

The Muppets have parodied almost everything imaginable. Their best movies involve them taking on heist movies (The Great Muppet Caper) and novels in movies like Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, and, yes, even The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

While The Muppet's Christmas Carol was the best of the bunch, all the movies had the charm and delight of the Jim Henson creations. Released in 2005 as a made-for-TV movie, this film had everyone from Ashanti to Quentin Tarantino, David Alan Grier, and Queen Latifah in the human cast with the Muppets.

Ashanti plays Dorothy while Jeffrey Tambor is the Wizard. Meanwhile, Dorothy's companions are Muppets, as is the Wicked Witch of the West. While the critical rating was lower, at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, it received a large audience and is a great Muppets movie geared towards mostly younger audiences.

Oz (1976)

The rock band from Oz (1976)

Oz is an Australian film released in 1976 that re-imagines The Wizard of Oz by transferring the action to 1970s Australia. It makes sense, in a way, since Australia's nickname is "Oz," which gives the story double meaning. It also changes the story to something more geared toward young adults.

Joy Dumnstan is a 16-year-old traveling with a rock band, and when the van she is in wrecks, and she is knocked unconscious, she then wakes up in a gritty, realistic fantasy world where a gay clothier named Glin the Good Fairy gives her some red shoes and sends her to see the Wizard's final concert.

This is not a Wizard of Oz-influenced movie to watch with the kids, though. There is some intense violence, the bad guy wants to do more than just kill Dorothy, and the travelers she meets are a surfer, a heartless mechanic, and a tough biker. Despite its adult themes, it received four AFI Award nominations and earned positive reviews.

Return To Oz (1985)

Fairuza Balk aas Dorothy with the characters in Return To Oz (1985)

Released in 1985, Return To Oz was a very different movie, a sequel based on The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) and Ozma of Oz (1907), which were L. Frank Baum's follow-up novels to his original fantastical tale. However, this movie was much darker than The Wizard of Oz, at least as far as the original film is concerned.

In this story, Dorothy returns to Oz, only to find that the wicked Nome King and his ally Princess Mombi have conquered the land. Dorothy has new friends here, although none as charming as the original three, with her teaming with Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the Gump.

Return to Oz was a box office failure, as it was in no way a kids' movie, and many slammed it at the time for its dark, scary subject matter. However, it received mixed to positive reviews and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. This also introduced Fairuza Balk to the world, as she played Dorothy Gale.

The Wiz (1978)

Diana Ross as Dorothy with her friends in The Wiz

For many years, The Wiz was the most famous of The Wizard of Oz's remakes, and that is because of the names behind the musical movie. Oscar-nominated director Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon) cast an African American cast to play the roles of Dorothy and her companions, and it ended up as a flop.

However, it has a legacy behind it, thanks in large part to the cast. Iconic soul singer Diana Ross played Dorothy, while Michael Jackson starred in his only lead film role as the Scarecrow. Comedian Richard Pryor took on the role of The Wiz. Based on the 1974 Broadway musical, the movie has become a cult classic.

Retrospective reviews have pointed out that The Wiz was as much a look at the Black experience in America as it was an adaptation of the L. Frank Baum story. It really focused on the undertones of slavery and the danger found in a seemingly beautiful land. It also earned four Oscar nominations.

The Chronicles of Narnia (2005-2010)

Susan, Peter, and Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia is where things move into more of an "influenced by" category rather than a straight adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The movie is based on the novels written by C.S. Lewis between 1950 and 1956. It is essential to understand that Lewis's influences were more on deep myths than Baum's stories.

However, when looking at Oz and Narnia, it is easy to see the similarities, from the magical beasts and talking animals to young kids on a quest. However, it is also interesting to note that, while Oz might have slightly influenced Lewis, he took the idea and magnified it dramatically, making an entire world out of it, rather than a single city.

The Wizard of Oz helped influence many movies and novels over the years, but this is also true for The Chronicles of Narnia. It was the C.S. Lewis novels that helped influence fantasy franchises like The Golden Compass, Harry Potter, and many more.

Spirited Away (2001)

Chihiro on the train in Spirited Away

Spirited Away remains one of Hayao Miyazaki's masterpieces at Studio Ghibli. The film tells a story very familiar to fans of The Wizard of Oz. A young girl is traveling with her family, and they come across a magical land. After arguing with her parents, she soon finds that they are missing, and she is trapped in this new fantastical land.

However, in this movie, her goal is not only to escape back to her "home" but also to rescue her parents, who were turned into pigs and abducted into the fantasy land. As with The Wizard of Oz, young Chihiro meets some fantastical characters and creatures, some friends and some foes, along her journey.

Spirited Away was a monstrous success and is still regularly screened theatrically for Studio Ghibli. It also has an exemplary 96% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and it remains one of the most respected anime movies ever made.

Coraline (2009)

Coraline crawling through a portal

The main theme from The Wizard of Oz plays out in Coraline, which is a much scarier story about a girl who has to find her way back home. In tnhis story, Coraline is a little girl whose parents move to a new town where the girl has no friends and finds herself alone and wanting to escape to somewhere more exciting.

However, what she finds is a portal to another world where her parents are much more attentive and interested in her, and where all her wants and desires are granted to her. However, with all the additional attention and love comes a great danger. Soon, Coraline has to find her way back home before it is too late.

The movie, based on the Neil Gaiman novel, was directed masterfully by Henry Selick, using stop-motion animation and 3D technology. It remains one of the best stop-motion movies ever made, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.

Oz: The Great And Powerful (2013)

James Franco as Oz in The Great and Powerful

Oz: The Great And Powerful is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, showing how the Wizard ended up in the land and how he acquired his position there. James Franco plays Oscar Diggs, a stage magician and conman who arrives in Oz and meets three witches there. He then has to help restore order amidst the witch's power struggle.

Directed by Sam Raimi, the movie is colorful, exciting, and full of danger, yet it remains a family-friendly film at heart. It was a considerable box office success, making almost $500 million worldwide, which was the most ever for any Oz-related film until Wicked broke those records years later.

It was also a slight critical success, with mixed to positive reviews, with praise going to the direction and humor. Mila Kunis also went on to win the MTV Movie Awards honor for Brst Villain for her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wild At Heart (1990)

Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart

It might seem strange to know, but David Lynch made Wild at Heart as a homage to The Wizard of Oz. Lynch was always a Wizard of Oz fan, and he added countless allusions to that classic story and movie in this neo-noir black comedy crime film.

Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern star as Sailor Ripley and Lula Fortune, a young couple who are on the run from Lula's mother and the men she has hired to kill Sailor. In the film, Lynch added references to a "yellow brick road" and Sailor's role as a rebel with a big dream also fit the themes from The Wizard of Oz.

Wild at Heart earned Diane Ladd an Oscar nomination, and it remains known as one of Lynch's masterpieces.

Wicked (2024)

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked Movie

The most successful movie influenced by The Wizard of Oz is Wicked. The movie, and its 2025 sequel Wicked: For Good, are based on the Broadway stage play that retells the story from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West. In this version, it is the Wizard who is the villain, not the Wicked Witch.

The first movie tells the story of how the two main witches, Glinda and Elphaba, were friends and both good, but the manipulations by the Wizard drove them apart. The second movie follows up with Elphaba fighting for her life and the freedom of the kingdom from the evil Wizard, just as Dorothy Gale arrives in Oz.

Wicked was the most successful box office hit based on The Wizard of Oz, making over $759 million. It was also a critical success and earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Cynthia Erivo), and best Supporting Actress (Ariana Grande).

Movies
The Wizard of Oz

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