Honestly, looking back at the oz the great trailer from 2012, it’s kinda wild how much Disney was betting on nostalgia to sell a movie that was basically trying to be Avatar meets The Wizard of Oz. You remember the hype, right? It was everywhere. Comic-Con was buzzing. People were genuinely curious if Sam Raimi—the guy who gave us the original Spider-Man and those terrifying Evil Dead movies—could actually pull off a family-friendly prequel to one of the most beloved films in history.
The trailer starts in black and white. It’s a deliberate nod to the 1939 classic. We see James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with "dubious ethics" (Disney's words, not mine), getting swept away in a Kansas tornado.
Then? Boom.
The screen expands. The color bleeds in. It’s that saturated, neon-green, over-the-top Technicolor vibe that defined early 2010s blockbuster CGI. It was a massive visual flex. But behind the flying monkeys and the yellow brick road, there was a lot more going on in that marketing push than just pretty colors.
The Mystery of the Three Witches
One of the biggest talking points when the oz the great trailer first dropped was the "Who is the Wicked Witch?" mystery. Disney was playing a very specific game. They showed us three sisters:
- Theodora (Mila Kunis), looking innocent in a red hat.
- Evanora (Rachel Weisz), looking regal and slightly suspicious in emerald green.
- Glinda (Michelle Williams), who we all knew was the "Good Witch."
The trailers were very careful to hide which of the other two would eventually turn green and start cackling. If you watch the trailers closely now, the clues are all there—the shadows on the wall, the specific pitch of a cackle that sounded suspiciously like Mila Kunis—but at the time, it kept the forums on fire. People were dissecting every frame of the teaser like it was a Christopher Nolan movie.
It was a smart play. By focusing on the "origin" of the villain, the trailer promised a story with more weight than just a simple retelling. It tapped into that Wicked energy that was (and still is) massive in pop culture.
Sam Raimi’s Visual Fingerprints
If you’re a film nerd, you probably noticed the oz the great trailer didn’t just look like a Disney movie. It looked like a Raimi movie. Even in a PG-rated trailer, you could see his love for Dutch angles and frantic camera movements.
The flying baboons? Legitimately creepy.
The China Girl? A technical marvel for the time.
Raimi used 3D technology in a way that most directors today have completely abandoned. He didn't just use it for depth; he used it to throw things at the audience. Fireworks, spears, monkeys—the trailer was designed to make you feel like you were being attacked in the best way possible.
The production designer, Robert Stromberg, had just come off Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. You can see that influence in every frame. It’s a "mash-up" world. You’ve got the art deco vibes of the Emerald City clashing with the organic, bioluminescent look of the Dark Forest. It felt expensive because it was. Disney threw roughly $215 million at this thing.
Why the Marketing Still Matters Today
Looking at the oz the great trailer now, in a world of 2026 cinema where we're drowning in prequels and "legacy sequels," it’s interesting to see how well it holds up. It didn't rely on "Easter eggs" as much as modern trailers do. It relied on a specific feeling of wonder.
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Sure, some people found the CGI a bit much. Some critics, like those at The Film Experience, worried it would be as "garish" as Tim Burton's Alice. But the trailer succeeded in one major way: it made the Land of Oz feel like a place worth visiting again, even without Dorothy.
It also reminded us that James Franco was, for a brief moment, the go-to guy for "charming rogue" roles. Whether he actually fit the shoes of the Wizard is a debate that still happens in film circles today, but the trailer sold him as the ultimate huckster.
Key Takeaways from the Oz Campaign
If you're looking back at this for a film project or just a hit of nostalgia, here’s what made that trailer work:
- The Aspect Ratio Shift: Using the 4:3 black-and-white opening to build contrast with the widescreen color of Oz was a masterclass in visual storytelling.
- The "Wicked" Hook: Hiding the identity of the main villain created a "whodunit" atmosphere that kept fans engaged for months.
- The Score: Danny Elfman’s music in the trailer provided a whimsical yet slightly dark edge that separated it from the 1939 original while still feeling like part of the family.
- The Sidekicks: Introducing Finley (the flying monkey voiced by Zach Braff) and the China Girl early on gave the movie a heart that the "con man" protagonist lacked.
How to Revisit the World of Oz
If the oz the great trailer has you feeling nostalgic, there are a few ways to dive back into that world properly.
First, watch the 1939 original again. It's the foundation for everything Raimi did. Then, try to find the "behind the scenes" footage of the set in Pontiac, Michigan. They actually built massive sections of the Yellow Brick Road in an old General Motors plant. Seeing the physical sets versus the final CGI in the trailer is a trip.
Finally, check out the original L. Frank Baum books. The movie actually pulls more from the "Dark Forest" and "China Country" descriptions in the books than the Judy Garland movie ever did. It’s a much weirder, more complex world than the trailers often let on.
Whether you think the movie lived up to the hype or not, that first full-length trailer remains a perfect example of how to sell a "legacy prequel" without losing the soul of the source material.