The Muppets' Wizard of Oz Reviews

Muppets and munchkins make strange bedfellows in this umpteenth retelling of Frank L. Baum’s immortal story. Dorothy Gale (singer Ashanti) believes that there’s more to life than dishing out grits in the Kansas greasy spoon owned by her Aunt Em (Queen Latifah) and Uncle Henry (David Alan Grier). After showing up late for a audition held by the touring Muppets, Dorothy encounters a tornado and dashes inside the family trailer. Whisked skyward with her pet prawn, Pepe (voice of Bill Barretta), Dorothy and her humble abode fly over the rainbow and execute a crash landing on the Wicked Witch of the East (Miss Piggy, voice of Eric Jacobson). When she confides her show biz aspirations to a pack of ratty munchkins, they point her toward the yellow brick road to Oz. Glinda the Good Witch (also Miss Piggy) advises Dorothy to add the dead witch’s slippers to her ensemble. En route to petitioning the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy invites a brainless Scarecrow (Kermit the Frog, voice of Steve Whitmire), a heartbroken Tin Man (Gonzo, voice of Dave Goetz) and a Cowardly Lion (Rowlf, voice of Bill Barretta) to share her journey. Cheated out of her rightful shoe inheritance, the Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Piggy once again) impedes the hopeful travelers with sleeping potions and Harley hogs. Although the Diva-Witch fails to prevent Dorothy from taking a meeting with the Wizard (Jeffrey Tambor), he proves a bit of a charlatan. In exchange for granting his visitors their hearts’ desires, he stipulates that they must retrieve the all-seeing glass eye of the Wicked Witch of the West. Despite the risk, Dorothy and her new friends give it their all. To give credit where it’s due, this hip-hoppy remake is far more entertaining than THE WIZ (1978). But while Miss Piggy is in top form, Ashanti is underwhelming – and Toto as a pet prawn?