Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return judging from the terrible reviews was a film that I watched with low expectations, but as a fan of animation and think the voice cast to be very talented the film did deserve a fair chance. There are worse animated films out there and Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return isn't from personal view as terrible as has been said but it is not a particularly good film either and one of the weaker Oz incarnations(with only 1978's The Wiz being worse, the best of course being the timeless 1939 MGM classic), even when judged on its own merits rather than a direct comparison. There are a few glimpses of good detail in the animation, like the rainbow, Dainty China Country, Wiser's chest and the grainy colour for the tree. Toby Chu's score is pleasant and whimsical in the way that most of the songs are not; When the World is a catchy and beautiful song and by far the highlight of the soundtrack; credit should go to the writers for trying to give Jester a back-story(the closest we actually get to learning about the characters) and Toto is adorable and entertaining, the only character who is really likable. The voice cast are a mixed bag, with Martin Short the stand-out, he may be on autopilot at times and has lacklustre material but his maniacal and sometimes amusing voice-work is the most enthusiastic of the whole cast. Megan Hilty, Hugh Dancy, Jim Belushi and Kelsey Grammar are perfect as well for their characters too.
But others don't make the grade. Lea Michele's singing is amazing of course but her acting is rather unemotive and shrill and Dan Aykroyd and Patrick Stewart are wasted in under-written and dumbed-down roles(Aykroyd also came across as too abrasive and stern for a leader). Bernadette Peters would have been perfect for Glinda but compared to her delicate, benevolent character design she came across as too ambivalent and gravelly voiced(it also sounded like she was trying to put on a part-English part-French accent), while Oliver Platt may be unrecognisable but it did sound like he was channelling Dom DeLuise but wasn't really all that funny in doing so. It's not their fault though, because the dialogue is really inane with a lot of the humour, or what there is of it, very juvenile and forced and the characters are poorly realised, the most entertaining characters being Toto and China Princess and the blandest being Dorothy. Wiser the Owl to me was annoying and too cutesy with the worst of the humour coming from him; Scarecrow, TinMan and Cowardly Lion while having some enjoyable rapport are under-utilised(with an overdone leading-joke too) and little more than stooges and China Princess and Marshal Mallow's romance is somewhat cute but takes up too much of the film and wasn't all that necessary. Personally, also, the villain Jester is over-used and a missed opportunity, with despite Short's voice work, a cool entrance and his back-story the writers didn't seem sure whether to have him as a menacing villain or one played-for-laughs, often he seemed too silly to be a real threat to anyone and his plans seemed in the end under-developed and senseless.
The story didn't come across as very engaging, it meant well but was very charmless and brash and was lacking in any real brains, heart, charm or wonder. It's rather unimaginative and by-the-numbers stuff, as well as being very predictable, complete with an awkward mix of forced humour and a bleak surrealistic in alternative to magical atmosphere which makes one question whether the film had a clear idea at all which audience they were aiming at. There were a few nice details and bright colours but most of the animation was not very good, a lot of the characters are very robotic in movement and very hollow-eyed(ie. Dorothy) and the backgrounds are flat, garish and plastic computer-game looking most of the time. The Kansas scenes and final battle were especially embarrassing with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry suffering the worst of the stiff character designs. And of the songs only one really stood out(When the World), the others were forgettable and badly placed(some like Candy Candy coming right out of nowhere), the Jester's rock-opera-like villain song stylistically out of kilter with the rest of the songs and even the rest of the film too. Well actually Even Then was a nice song but made the mistake of grinding the film down to a complete stand-still. But how can you have Peters on board and not give her anything to sing, it's criminal considering that she has the most experience of any of the cast here in this regard? Overall, one of those animated films that is not completely terrible but from a very subjective personal opinion not good either, there are moments that are decent but much of it is lazy and charmless. 4/10 Bethany Cox
But others don't make the grade. Lea Michele's singing is amazing of course but her acting is rather unemotive and shrill and Dan Aykroyd and Patrick Stewart are wasted in under-written and dumbed-down roles(Aykroyd also came across as too abrasive and stern for a leader). Bernadette Peters would have been perfect for Glinda but compared to her delicate, benevolent character design she came across as too ambivalent and gravelly voiced(it also sounded like she was trying to put on a part-English part-French accent), while Oliver Platt may be unrecognisable but it did sound like he was channelling Dom DeLuise but wasn't really all that funny in doing so. It's not their fault though, because the dialogue is really inane with a lot of the humour, or what there is of it, very juvenile and forced and the characters are poorly realised, the most entertaining characters being Toto and China Princess and the blandest being Dorothy. Wiser the Owl to me was annoying and too cutesy with the worst of the humour coming from him; Scarecrow, TinMan and Cowardly Lion while having some enjoyable rapport are under-utilised(with an overdone leading-joke too) and little more than stooges and China Princess and Marshal Mallow's romance is somewhat cute but takes up too much of the film and wasn't all that necessary. Personally, also, the villain Jester is over-used and a missed opportunity, with despite Short's voice work, a cool entrance and his back-story the writers didn't seem sure whether to have him as a menacing villain or one played-for-laughs, often he seemed too silly to be a real threat to anyone and his plans seemed in the end under-developed and senseless.
The story didn't come across as very engaging, it meant well but was very charmless and brash and was lacking in any real brains, heart, charm or wonder. It's rather unimaginative and by-the-numbers stuff, as well as being very predictable, complete with an awkward mix of forced humour and a bleak surrealistic in alternative to magical atmosphere which makes one question whether the film had a clear idea at all which audience they were aiming at. There were a few nice details and bright colours but most of the animation was not very good, a lot of the characters are very robotic in movement and very hollow-eyed(ie. Dorothy) and the backgrounds are flat, garish and plastic computer-game looking most of the time. The Kansas scenes and final battle were especially embarrassing with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry suffering the worst of the stiff character designs. And of the songs only one really stood out(When the World), the others were forgettable and badly placed(some like Candy Candy coming right out of nowhere), the Jester's rock-opera-like villain song stylistically out of kilter with the rest of the songs and even the rest of the film too. Well actually Even Then was a nice song but made the mistake of grinding the film down to a complete stand-still. But how can you have Peters on board and not give her anything to sing, it's criminal considering that she has the most experience of any of the cast here in this regard? Overall, one of those animated films that is not completely terrible but from a very subjective personal opinion not good either, there are moments that are decent but much of it is lazy and charmless. 4/10 Bethany Cox
