Some Where Overlooked Rainbow
Voice talents of Liza Minnelli; Milton Berle; Mickey Rooney; Ethel Merman; Paul Lynde; Mel Blanc: Herschel Bernardi; Paul Ford; Danny Thomas; Margaret Hamilton; (opera star) Rise Stevens; Jack E. Leonard with songs by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen; Preston Blair designs, layouts and in some cases animation and directed by Hal Sutherland, Produced by Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer, Written by Norm Prescott and Fred Ladd, how come I have never seen this fully animated feature before?
Yesterday I was in North Hollywood for a CFO screening of 2 Oz animations by invite of my friend Fred Ladd who worked on both features. The very rare Toho 1982 Wizard of Oz was okay but the 1972 Filmation Journey back to Oz was the film of the day.
You don`t often think of Disney style full animation and Filmation in the say breath. (Okay there are some in camera in cycle dissolves and other experimental optical tricks in the green elephant attacks that were a little hard on the eyes but mostly is was just a good solid fully animated feature)
The elephant designs were a cross between the pink elephants on parade of Dimbo and the Jungle Book elephant march. Also in the fun character design department was the Ethel Merman character of Mombi, The design was a dead ringer for the Evil Witch Democracy in the German school lesson in Disney`s Education For Death.
The 15-year-old Liza Minnelli sounds so much like her mother in the 1939 MGM film that it is eerie. There isn`t a standout hit song like Somewhere Over the Rainbow but then how could there be when the film is so unknown. Politics of the studio kind deprived it of a premiere and proper release. Sad.
A special edition DVD was released on October 24, 2006. This DVD features a feature-length audio commentary, interviews with creators Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Fred Ladd, behind the scenes photo gallery, image galleries featuring poster art and animation cels, a sing-a-long feature, the Bill Cosby interstitials used in the TV version (presented separately from the original theatrical version contained on the disc), and the first draft script and storyboards.
Sadly missing is Norm Prescott who died in 2005 before the project. As Fred will tell you it was Norm`s project from the beginning. Available at Amazon
Yesterday I was in North Hollywood for a CFO screening of 2 Oz animations by invite of my friend Fred Ladd who worked on both features. The very rare Toho 1982 Wizard of Oz was okay but the 1972 Filmation Journey back to Oz was the film of the day.
You don`t often think of Disney style full animation and Filmation in the say breath. (Okay there are some in camera in cycle dissolves and other experimental optical tricks in the green elephant attacks that were a little hard on the eyes but mostly is was just a good solid fully animated feature)
The elephant designs were a cross between the pink elephants on parade of Dimbo and the Jungle Book elephant march. Also in the fun character design department was the Ethel Merman character of Mombi, The design was a dead ringer for the Evil Witch Democracy in the German school lesson in Disney`s Education For Death.
The 15-year-old Liza Minnelli sounds so much like her mother in the 1939 MGM film that it is eerie. There isn`t a standout hit song like Somewhere Over the Rainbow but then how could there be when the film is so unknown. Politics of the studio kind deprived it of a premiere and proper release. Sad.
A special edition DVD was released on October 24, 2006. This DVD features a feature-length audio commentary, interviews with creators Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Fred Ladd, behind the scenes photo gallery, image galleries featuring poster art and animation cels, a sing-a-long feature, the Bill Cosby interstitials used in the TV version (presented separately from the original theatrical version contained on the disc), and the first draft script and storyboards.
Sadly missing is Norm Prescott who died in 2005 before the project. As Fred will tell you it was Norm`s project from the beginning. Available at Amazon
posted by Larry Loc @ 7:51 AM
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