Sunday, October 14, 2018

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Family Matters

It's Family Day in Oz, so Dorothy and the gang head over to Munchkinland to pick up a Family Day cake from the Lollipop Guild. There, they also encounter the Woozy, who's not celebrating because he's the only Woozy in Oz, and thus doesn't have a family. Dorothy decides that her latest mission is to find a family for the Woozy (well, she would)! Since he's vaguely feline, they first look for the Woozy's relatives in Purrville, where they meet up with Eureka and her family again, but the Woozy is so big that he trashes the place, and then turns out to be allergic to cats! Okay, scratch that idea, and back to Munchkinland. It's looking so sad, the Woozy starts to cry, flooding the town and sweeping everything away, including himself with Dorothy and her friends on his back. As they near a waterfall (yes, this is the kind of cartoon that has a freakishly improbable high waterfall), Scarecrow and Tin Man talk about jumping off and heading to shore, but Dorothy says she's not going to leave the Woozy, because he's family. This cheers the Woozy up, he makes it to shore, and the floodwaters recede. It may not be a family of Woozies, but he's happy having Dorothy, Ozma, and their friends as his family.

Like they do in the Oz books, these Ozians will celebrate just about anything at the drop of a hat! He may not be our version of the Woozy, but this one gets some nice character development and stuff to do, and I think he's a great addition to Oz. But I think the show lost a great opportunity here to explain what happened to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry! After all, they're Dorothy's actual family. (Or is Dorothy just dreaming this whole show? That's certainly one long nap if she is!)

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