14 Best Movie and TV Shows Based on 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'
From live-action to animation to spinoffs, Moviefone counts down the best movies and TV Shows of all time based on 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'.
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in 'Wicked', directed by Jon M. Chu.
1939's 'The Wizard of Oz', which is based on L. Frank Baum's novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', has become one of the most beloved movies in cinematic history.
While the 1939 film is the movie most associate with the book, it was not the first attempt at adapting the source material to the big screen and had previously been made into a silent film in 1925 and a Canadian animated short in 1933.
And since the release of the classic movie starring Judy Garland, the book has been adapted into sequels, prequels, spinoffs and new interpretations on both film and TV including 1978's 'The Wiz', 1985's 'Return to Oz', 2013's 'Oz the Great and Powerful', and the TV series 'Tin Man' and 'Emerald City'.
The latest movie to be set in the world of Oz is 'Wicked', which is based on the popular Broadway musical and opens in theaters on November 22nd. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the new film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and is the first act from the musical, with the second act adapted for the sequel that will be released next year.
In honor of the new film, Moviefone is counting down the best of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' adaptions on both the big screen and TV, including 'Wicked'.
Let's begin!
14. 'Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz' (2017 - 2020)
2017's 'Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz'. Photo: Warner Bros. Animation.
With her friends by her side and her ruby slippers on her feet, Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road toward magical mischief and embarks on exciting adventures that only a land like Oz can bring.
13. 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' (1986)
1986's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. Photo: Discotek Media.
A young girl named Dorothy has gone to live with her grandparents on their small farm. One day when Dorothy is left alone in the house a tornado appears. Dorothy fails to get to the basement in time, and the entire house is picked up and transported to a magical land, falling on and killing a wicked witch. There she is informed by a good witch that she must travel to the Capital of Emerald and meet a great magician who may be able to help her find a way home. Along the way she makes some incredible friends and sees many strange and fantastic things.
12. 'Lost in Oz' (2015 - 2018)
2017's 'Lost in Oz'. Photo: Amazon Prime Video.
When 12-year-old Dorothy Gale discovers her mother's mysterious journal in her Kansas home, she and her dog, Toto, are transported into a bustling, modern Emerald City. Disoriented and determined to get home, Dorothy embarks on an epic journey with West, a young witch, and Ojo, a giant Munchkin, to seek the magic she needs - as Oz faces its greatest magic crisis. Based on L. Frank Baum's books.
11. 'The Witches of Oz' (2011)
The Witches of Oz follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale (Pauline Redding), now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her.
10. 'Oz the Great and Powerful' (2013)
2013's 'Oz the Great and Powerful'. Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.
Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus illusionist and con-artist, is whisked from Kansas to the Land of Oz where the inhabitants assume he's the great wizard of prophecy, there to save Oz from the clutches of evil.
Oz the Great and Powerful
9. 'The Wiz Live!' (2015)
2015's 'The Wiz Live!' Photo: Universal Television.
Executive Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have assembled a Tony-winning creative team, the imaginative Cirque du Soleil Theatrical and a diverse cast of showstoppers designed to create an eye-popping new take on the musical unlike anything ever seen.
8. 'The Wizard of Oz' (1925)
1925's 'The Wizard of Oz'. Photo: Chadwick Pictures.
A farm girl learns she is a princess and is swept away by a tornado to the land of Oz.
7. 'Emerald City' (2017)
2017's 'Emerald City'. Photo: NBC.
In the blink of a tornado’s eye, 20-year-old Dorothy Gale (Adria Arjona) and her K9 police dog are transported to another world, one far removed from our own — a mystical land of competing kingdoms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy. This is the fabled Land of Oz in a way you’ve never seen before, where wicked witches don’t stay dead for long and a young girl becomes a headstrong warrior who holds the fate of kingdoms in her hands.
6. 'Tin Man' (2007)
2007's 'Tin Man' series. Photo: Sci Fi Channel.
The miniseries is a continuation of the classic story 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', with science fiction and additional fantasy elements added. It focuses on the adventures of a small-town waitress named DG (Zooey Deschanel) who is pulled into a magical realm called the O.Z., ruled by the tyrannical sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson). Together with her companions Glitch (Alan Cumming), Raw (Raoul Max Trujillo), and Cain (Neal McDonough), DG journeys to uncover her lost memories, find her true parents, and foil Azkadellia's plot to trap the O.Z. in eternal darkness.
5. 'Return to Oz' (1985)
1985's 'Return to Oz'. Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.
Dorothy (Fairuza Balk), saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams, and makes delightful new friends, and dangerous new enemies.
Return to Oz
4. 'The Muppets' Wizard of Oz' (2005)
2005's 'The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'. Photo: The Jim Henson Company.
A young woman named Dorothy Gale (Ashanti) dreams of becoming a singer but is unable to pursue her dreams. After being swept up by a tornado with her pet prawn Toto, Dorothy embarks on a journey to meet the Wizard of Oz, the person who both Dorothy and the citizens of Oz believe can help make her dream come true.
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
3. 'The Wiz' (1978)
1978's 'The Wiz' Photo: Universal Pictures.
Dorothy Gale (Diana Ross), a shy kindergarten teacher, is swept away to the magic land of Oz where she embarks on a quest to return home.
The Wiz
2. 'Wicked' (2024)
(L to R) Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Granda is Glinda in 'Wicked', directed by Jon M. Chu.
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), an ostracized but defiant girl born with green skin, and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera), a privileged aristocrat born popular, become extremely unlikely friends in the magical Land of Oz. As the two girls struggle with their opposing personalities, their friendship is tested as both begin to fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and The Wicked Witch of the West.
Wicked
Elphaba, a young woman misunderstood because of her green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat gilded by privilege, become unlikely friends in the fantastical... Read the Plot
1. 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
1939's 'The Wizard of Oz'. Photo: MGM.
Young Dorothy (Judy Garland) finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion (Bert Lahr), a scarecrow (Ray Bolger) and a tin man (Jack Haley) as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard (Frank Morgan) and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) is the only thing that could stop them.
The Wizard of Oz
