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24 cgw m a r c h . a p r i l 2 0 1 7 AN OZ ODYSSEY VFX SEND A MODERN-DAY DOROTHY TO AN OZ LIKE NONE SEEN BEFORE BY KAREN MOLTENBREY T here have been a number of se- quels and adaptations over the years of the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, based on the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, including a radio play, the Broadway play "The Wiz," the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," the musical "Wicked," and more. Even the Muppets got in on the act with a TV film. Most recently, NBC provided a modern-day spin on the story with unique interpretations of the main characters and their backstories, along with stunning visual effects, in a series called Emerald City. "It's probably the most beautiful art- directed and designed VFX work I have ever done for television," says Tom Horton, series VFX supervisor and producer. "The mantra of the show was to make it look visually stunning first and then real." In the series, a tornado engulfs a police car with Dorothy from Kansas inside, sending her crashing down on the Mistress of the Eastern Wood. Believing East dead, a tribe of woods people with mystical powers banishes Dorothy, believing her to be a witch, too, since only a witch can kill a witch. Ojo, the tribe leader, sends Dorothy on a journey to Oz, through the Prison of the Abject, created by East to hold magic- practicing prisoners within its muddy pit. On her way, Dorothy encounters East, who had not perished. The witch finds Dorothy's gun and, unfamiliar with the object, points it at herself and fatefully pulls the trigger. In this series, the original Oz characters and their traits and stories can be loosely recognized throughout. For instance, there are many other witches, and it is uncertain if they are good or evil. There is an amne- siac soldier with dirt and grass sticking to his body, trussed up in a barren landscape, who becomes Dorothy's companion and lover – though it turns out he is the witch Glinda's husband. There's a boy whose badly broken body is mended with technol- ogy and mechanical parts by a scientist in the steampunk-style city of Ev. There is an assassin covered in a lion's skin. The wizard is a rogue scientist who had been trans- ported to the land years earlier, where he has since used his knowledge and skills to take control of Oz and its people. And Toto Images ©2017 NBC Universal