Sunday, December 13, 2020

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Ojo's Treasure Hunt

Ojo pays a visit to Dorothy, announcing he's on a treasure hunt. But the Scarecrow points out that it goes through some of the most dangerous parts of Oz. Dorothy offers to come along, but Ojo thinks finding the map has turned his luck around, and doesn't want to share in the fame to follow. (Gee, so why did he go to see Dorothy and tell her about the map in the first place?) Dorothy decides to follow along, out of sight, just to make sure he's safe and doesn't come to any harm. First up is the Fighting Trees, whom Dorothy tries to convince to leave Ojo alone. It doesn't work, and they chase the gang around while Ojo passes through their forest, unmolested, never noticing what's distracted the trees. Next, Ojo is chased by an angry swarm of thunder-and-lightningbugs, but the Tin Woodman uses his vacuum attachment to discretely remove them from the scene (but getting electrified himself for his trouble). Ojo's next obstacle is to cross the impassable Deadly Desert (here clearly not surrounding Oz) to the Marshlands, but he's come prepared with a magic carpet. Ojo is so intent on his journey that he doesn't notice the giant purple tentacle that's set to grab him before Dorothy and the boys whack it. The tentacle turns its attention to them, but finally stops when Toto bites it. They ruby slipper out of there, but fail to notice Frank and Lyman in a banana tree. They head off to tell the witches about the treasure. In the Marshlands, a freak whirlwind snatches the map out of Ojo's hands, and he fails to notice his friends assisting him as he gives chase. Then the Wicked Witch and Wilhelmina turn up, intent on grabbing the map for themselves. The whirlwind finally dies down, and a little subterfuge by the Scarecrow leads Ojo to it. Finally, Ojo reaches the cave with an X-shaped entrance, but as he approaches a boulder rolls into his path. Sure enough, it's a magic gate, but Ojo tries to outrun it. Once again, he fails to notice Dorothy and her friends stopping the boulder, but they all fail to notice the witches slipping into the cave, too! Ojo finds the treasure, but the witches are right behind him, and they tussle over who gets it. By this time, Dorothy and the boys have turned up, revealing themselves at last. The witches win, but all they find upon opening the chest is a cowhorn bugle, so they leave in disgust. Ojo, however, notes how lucky cowhorn bugles are to Munchkins, and gleefully blows it repeatedly. Sure enough, each bleat reveals another treasure chest, each larger than the one before it, filled with gold and jewels. Ojo only wants the bugle, and Dorothy doesn't need any treasure in the Emerald City, so they decide to take it all to Munchkinland to show how lucky Ojo now is. But how to get the treasure out? Ojo piles it all on the magic carpet, of course, and they overtake the witches on the wayback. They are nonplussed.

This one was a fun little romp, but wow, what a lot of plot holes! Why didn't Ojo use the magic carpet for the entire trip? Why didn't he notice Dorothy and her friends were always so near? (Yeah, this is a slapstick staple, but it was not particularly well executed here.) Why were the witches even involved, as they weren't in it much at all? Oh, well, it is what it is. Let's hope Ojo stays lucky from now on, but he's certainly lucky to have Dorothy as a friend.

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