Sam Raimi on Oz: The Great And Powerful

(dramatic music)

The Wizard Of Oz is one of my favorite movies of all time

and it terrified me and thrilled me

just like every other kid in America who saw it on TV.

This is a story of the Wizard in The Wizard Of Oz,

and how he got to the magical land of Oz,

and who he was and the people he met

and how he became the Wizard.

We tried to tell the story from a real straightforward way

of who James Franco's character, the Wizard, was,

what he wanted,

the sins that he was guilty of,

his character flaws,

and how once he went to Oz he got a second chance;

and sometimes failed but usually succeeded in becoming

a better person,

becoming a more selfless person.

(nails scratching)

It's a 3-D picture so visually we're really trying

to make use of the extra dimension that it offers

to create a fantastical place of the rainbow

that can hold all these magical and marvelous things.

There's a lot to the world of Oz.

A tremendous amount to the land of Oz.

There is Glinda's kingdom,

which is an entire universe unto itself,

and yes, that has its own colors and its own styles.

That's, I believe our production designer did that in

a French Nouveau,

and he's got more of a pastel thing going on there.

Whereas in the land of Oz it's much more cosmopolitan,

harder edged, much more light and shadow.

There are many worlds in Oz;

there's a Dark Forest which is all much sharper angles

and high contrast.

I don't have one look for the movie,

there's so many different worlds within the land of Oz

that each of them has their own looks.

It's a family film;

it's different than the films I've made before.

It's not a horror film like I've made a lot of.

Nor is it an action picture.

I just loved the script so much.

I love the story and the character.

I was moved by it emotionally,

I thought it was sweet and funny,

and I thought this is

an entertainment movie I'd really like to see.

And when I feel that,

that's when I know it's right for me to direct.

It's really a very different film than I've ever

had anything to do with.

I feel more like a conductor in this,

of great artists that I've assembled around me,

to pull off a very complex musical piece.