The Muppets' Wizard Of Oz
''The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' is a 2005 musical fantasy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher, and the third television film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Ashanti, Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino, David Alan Grier, Queen Latifah, as well as Muppet performers Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, and Eric Jacobson. A contemporary adaptation of the 1900 novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, the story follows young Dorothy Gale, who works in her Aunt Em's diner, but dreams of becoming a singer somewhere beyond her small Kansas town. Swept up by a tornado, in her trailer home with pet prawn Toto, she lands in Oz and embarks on a journey to meet the Wizard who can help make her dreams come true. Following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of the rights to the Muppets in 2004, pre-production took place throughout February 2004, and principal photography began seven months later. ''The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' was co-produced by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with running gags taking place backstage and in other areas of the venue. ''The Muppet Show'' is known for its uniquely designed characters, burlesque nature, slapstick, sometimes absurdist and surreal humour, and parodies. Within its context, Kermit the Frog (performed by Henson) acts as showrunner and host, who tries to maintain control of the overwhelming antics of the other Muppet characters as well as appease the rotating slate of guest stars. As ''The Muppet Show'' became popular, many celebrities were eager to perform with the Muppets on television and in subsequent films. Henson produced two pilot episodes for ABC in 1974 and 1975, but neither went forward as a series. While other networks in the United States rejected Henson's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brian Henson
Brian David Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963 in New York City, the third child of Jane Henson (née Nebel; 1934–2013) and Jim Henson (1936–1990). He has four siblings: Lisa (born 1960), Cheryl (born 1961), John (1965–2014) and Heather Henson (born 1970). As a child, Henson appeared in some of the filmed segments that his father produced for the PBS children's series ''Sesame Street''. As a teenager, he built the first Muppet penguin puppet for the opening " Lullaby of Broadway" segment of a Season 3 episode of ''The Muppet Show''. During his summer break from high school at the age of 17, Henson assisted in the production of '' The Great Muppet Caper'' (1981); skilled in the use of marionette puppets, he helped create and operate a special rigging device that allowed the Muppets to appear to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Toto (Oz)
Toto is a list of fictional dogs, fictional dog in L. Frank Baum's List of Oz books, ''Oz'' series of children's books, and works derived from them. He was originally a small terrier drawn by W. W. Denslow for the first edition of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). He reappears in later Oz books and in numerous adaptations, such as ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) and ''The Wiz (film), The Wiz'' (1978). Books The classic books Toto belongs to Dorothy Gale, the heroine of the first and many subsequent books. In the first book, he never spoke, although other animals, native to Oz, did. In subsequent books, other animals gained the ability to speak upon reaching Oz or similar lands, but he remained speechless. In ''Tik-Tok of Oz'', Continuity (fiction), continuity is restored: he reveals that he is able to talk, just like other animals in the Land of Oz, and simply chooses not to. In ''The Lost Princess of Oz'', he often talks continuously. Other major appearances include ''The Ro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, in turn named after the Kaw people, Kansa people. Its List of capitals in the United States, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its List of cities in Kansas, most populous city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita; however, the largest urban area is the bi-state Kansas City metropolitan area split between Kansas and Missouri. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Plains Indians, Indigenous tribes. The first settlement of non-indigenous people in Kansas occurred in 1827 at Fort Leavenworth. The pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the Slavery in the United States, slavery debate. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. governm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 10. She is married to Uncle Henry and the aunt of Dorothy Gale, who lives together with them on a farm in Kansas. In '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', she is described as having been a "young, pretty wife" when she arrived at Uncle Henry's farm, but having been " grayed" by her life there, implying that she appears older than her years. Baum writes that when Dorothy came to live with her, Em would "scream and press her hand upon her heart" when startled by Dorothy's laughter, and she appears emotionally distant to her at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, her true nature is seen: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses. There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: her request to the magic Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!" Oz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its sequels. She is also the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, '' The Wizard of Oz''. In later novels, the Land of Oz steadily becomes more familiar to her than her homeland of Kansas. Dorothy eventually goes to live in an apartment in the Emerald City's palace but only after her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have settled in a farmhouse on its outskirts. Dorothy's best friend Princess Ozma, ruler of Oz, officially makes her a princess of Oz later in the novels. Appearances In literature In the Oz books, Dorothy is raised by her aunt and uncle in the bleak landscape of a Kansas farm. Whether Aunt Em or Uncle Henry is Dorothy's blood relative remains unclear. Uncle Henry makes reference t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasses films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the Muppets were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004. The Muppets originated in the short-form television series ''Sam and Friends'', which aired on WRC-TV and in syndication from 1955 to 1961. Following appearances on late-night talk shows and in advertising during the 1960s, the Muppets began appearing on ''Sesame Street'' (1969–present) during their formative years in the early-mid 1970s and attained Celebrity, celebrity status and international recognition through ''The Muppet Show'' (1976–1981), their flagship sketch comedy t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestrial television, terrestrial or Cable television, cable television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for initial showing in movie theaters, Direct-to-video, direct-to-video films made for initial release on home video formats, and films released on or produced for Over-the-top media service, streaming platforms. In certain cases, such films may also be referred to and shown as a miniseries, which typically indicates a film that has been divided into multiple parts or a series that contains a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Origins and history Precursors of "television movies" include ''Talk Faster, Mister'', which aired on WABD (now WNYW) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fantasy Film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, Wonder (emotion), wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Subgenres Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in fantasy literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are high fantasy and sword and sorcery. Both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, and may also be more character-oriented or thematically complex. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Musical Film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers". The musical film was a natural development of the musical theater, stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if a live audience were watching. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegesis, diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. With the Sound film, advent of sound in the late 1920s, musicals gained popularity with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. ABC is headquartered on Riverside Drive in Burbank, California, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Team Disney – Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network maintains secondary offices at 77 66th Street (Manhattan), West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, which houses its broadcast center and the headquarters of its news division, ABC News (United States), ABC News. Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. The youngest of the "Big Three (American television), Big Three" American ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ABC Signature
ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's banner was also used by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for its distribution of the studio's shows on home video starting in 2008. Established in 1950 as the television unit of the company under the name Walt Disney Productions, it was renamed Walt Disney Network Television in 1983 and was merged with a separate studio known as the first incarnation of Touchstone Television, which was established in 1985. Disney rebranded the studio as ABC Studios in 2007 in an in-house push to drop secondary brands. It was then renamed to ABC Signature on August 10, 2020, after it merged with another separate studio, ABC Signature Studios. It was dissolved on October 1, 2024 and folded into 20th Television, which had been acquired by Disney i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |