Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Beware the Woozy

Lost in Oz isn't the only new Oz cartoon around right now. Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, originally part of Boomerang's streaming service, is now also being broadcast on Boomerang's cable channel, so the DVR is full of episodes right now. The basic premise appears to be that Dorothy, having found the Ruby Slippers, has come back to Oz, and is living in the palace with Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cawardly Lion, andher new BFF, Queen Ozma. These cartoons are a lot shorter, and are aimed at a younger crowd than Lost in Oz. Also, DatWoO (to use an awkward abbreviation) seems to go more for comedy than adventure. So, let's dive in! The first story (and the only on that you can watch for free on Boomerang's website is "Beware the Woozy". That title alone ought to excite fans of the books! Ozma receives her newest potion from the Potion of the Month Club, a perfume of petrification. While the Scarecrow is looking for the directions, Dorothy spritzes it on her, turning Ozma into a statue! Whoops! Fortunately, the Scarecrow finds the antidote, and a six-leafed clover (!), bark from a Fighting Tree, and a Daisy from Munchkinland (and not, as the Scarecrow discovers, a Munchkin named Daisy) are quickly gathered, but the final ingredient, three hairs from a Woozy's tail, is tougher to find, as the only Woozy is enclosed in a pen. Dorothy uses the Ruby Slippers to get them over the fence, and the big, furry, friendly, yellow (!) Woozy gives them three hairs. (No, the design of the Woozy is not even anywhere near what he's like in the books, one of the few drawbacks I've seen in this show.) Meanwhile, while all this is going on, the Nome King decides to take over the throne of Oz, and orders the people of the Emerald City to paint the castle yellow. Some kind of magic barrier keeps the Ruby Slippers from taking everyone out of the Woozy's barrier, so they eventually rig up the Tin Woodman as a steam-powered rocket that carries them all back to the Emerald City, where Dorothy tricks the Nome King into whispering to the Woozy. Since whispering drives the Woozy into fits of anger with fire flashing out of his eyes, he manages to drive off the Nome King, giving Dorothy a chance to brew the antidote and restore Ozma. The Woozy is welcomed, and the palace gardens are made a no whispeing zone.

Phew! That's a lot to pack into only eleven minutes! Anyway, if you step in with the right mindset, this is harmless fun, and lots of Ozziness abounds. This Oz is a mashup of The Movie and aspects of the books, which ought to appeal to many. Besides the Woozy (who's actually pretty chill when nobedy's whispering), Ozma, and the Nome King, we're also introduced to the Tin Woodman's hollow chest of many things, which has all kinds of useful things in it (we'll see more of this in later episodes).