THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ Revisited After a Century

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and DVD from Arcana Studios, Cinedigm and direction Sean Patrick O’Reilly is a story of old friends meeting new heroes in the animated THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ.

It has been a century since Dorothy, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tin Man (Mathew Anderson) brought us all to Oz. Now, the Emerald City has been turned into metal mayhem and is ruled by a different Tin Man.

Victoria Wright (Ashleigh Ball) is a young engineer who has the gift to fix things below the city as needed but dreams of one day seeing the city. When a pack of flying monkeys swoops her up, she is introduced to the Queen of the North Locasta (Julianna Hough) in the Emerald Forest.

She learns that the Tin Man wants to destroy the forest with industry and needs to stop it. Along with Lion Magnus (Ron Perlman), Scarecrow (Geoff Gustafson), Oscar ‘Oz’ Diggs (William Shatner) and a band of munchkins, all of this can be turned around by finding the Tin Man’s missing heart.

When they band together, Victoria and her friends don’t just fight for the Emerald City but one another with friendship, loyalty and heart!

Ball as Victoria is a bright spot and is drawn in by everyone she meets, even if they don’t want to be. Hough as Locasta knows that Victoria is the one to make things right again and gives encouragement to the young girl.

Perlman as Magnus is perfect as he has the right vocal disposition for the part. Of course it is practically impossible not to recognize the voice of William Shatner who plays the great Oz himself.

Cinedigm is a leading distributor of amazing content in storefronts, digital platforms, Internet and Demand platforms for cable television. With an extensive library of over 52,000 films and television shows, Docurama films, next-gen Indies and Independent films. At its inception, Cinedigm has played a pioneering role in transitioning movie theatres from traditional film prints to digital distribution to advance worldwide cinema modernization. For more on what Cinedigm has to offer please visit http://www.cinedigm.com.

Arcana Studios owns one of the largest libraries of graphic novels and comics that include thousands of characters. Their high quality brand of entertainment is filled with stories that transcend gender, age, cultural and geographic boundaries. THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ is based on a graphic novel of the same name. To learn more about Arcana Studios please visit www.arcana.com.

THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ is definitely something different than what most of us have known about the Wizard of Oz. That’s actually what makes this story so unique because it is what has happened since our trip down the yellow brick road.

The Tin Man has lost the one thing that made him feel so much and becoming metal minded he is ruining what we all knew about the Emerald City. Young Victoria is the new face of saving Oz and rising up out of the basement, as it were; she sees what Oz has become.

It isn’t until she goes outside the city does Victoria realize how beautiful the Emerald City could be again. Finding those who see what is happening is challenging but finding the right those who believe in the Emerald City and Victoria is paramount.

The vibrant colors and animation of THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ is entertaining and the story challenges us all to think further on down the road. We’d all love for the Emerald City to stay the same but a century is a long time for that to happen. The stun is that the Tin Man would lose the one thing he fought so hard to get!

Victoria is a character that has such a giving heart and although it takes a little convincing, others believe she is the one to lead them. I really enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters as did my granddaughter.

In the end – it is about friendship, determination and love!