document_title: Tales from the Borderlands

question_text: where does tales from the borderlands take place

root

text: Tales from the Borderlands

text: Gameplay[edit]

text: Tales from the Borderlands is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure comedy video game similar to Telltale's other games. It was released in five episodes. The player is able to move their player-character around the world's environment, interacting with objects and initiating conversation trees with non-player characters. Choices made by the player influence story elements in future episodes. The game also includes some degree of the shooter elements, featured in the Borderlands series, particularly the procedurally-generated guns and loot generation.[7][not in citation given] The game is confirmed to include an exclusive unlockable item for use in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

tag: p

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Setting[edit]

text: Tales takes place in the Borderlands universe, primarily on the planet Pandora. Long-standing fables of a Vault containing vast treasures on Pandora has drawn numerous "Vault Hunters" to the planet, as well as the corporate interests of the Hyperion corporation who maintain military-like control of the planet from an orbiting base named Helios. The game occurs after the events of Borderlands 2. It has been discovered that there are numerous other Vaults scattered throughout the galaxy, leading to a search for more Vault Keys that can open these new Vaults.

text: Characters[edit]

text: The player separately controls the story's two protagonists Rhys (Troy Baker) and Fiona (Laura Bailey). Rhys is a Hyperion employee, who has been working with his co-worker and best friend Vaughn (Chris Hardwick) to get promoted into the higher ranks of the company but is stymied by his new boss and rival Hugo Vasquez (Patrick Warburton). Fiona is a con artist working on Pandora along with her sister Sasha (Erin Yvette), both who learned under their adoptive mentor Felix (Norman Hall). The story explores how the characters came together, showing common events from the perspective of both characters in a manner called the "Big Fish version of what happened" by Telltale's Kevin Bruner.[7][8] Other new characters in the game include Rhys and Vaughn's co-worker Yvette (Sola Bamis), the ruthless black market fencer August (Nolan North), the bandit leader Bossanova (Jason Topolski), and a mysterious stranger (Roger L. Jackson) shown during in medias res scenes during the episodes. Episode 2 introduces two new characters, the hooligans Finch (Dave Fennoy) and Kroger (Adam Harrington). Episode 3 introduces the gang lord Vallory (Susan Silo), the Atlas scientist Cassius (Phil LaMarr), and the robot Gortys (Ashley Johnson).

text: In addition to original characters, the game also features returning characters from the main Borderlands games (voiced by the same actors from the original games) including Handsome Jack (Dameon Clarke), businesswoman Mad Moxxi (Brina Palencia), gun salesman Marcus (Bruce DuBose), the Hyperion Loader Bot (Raison Varner), madman Shade (Brad Jackson), Hodunk clan leader Tector (Joel McDonald), and Vault Hunter Zer0 (Michael Turner). Episode 2 features the appearance of mechanic Scooter (Mikey Neumann), junkdealer Janey Springs (Catherine Moore), and ex-Atlas assassin Athena (Lydia Mackay). Episode 3 features the appearance of the Vault Hunters Brick (Marcus M. Mauldin) and Mordecai (Jason Liebrecht). Episode 5 features the appearance of the robot Claptrap (David Eddings).

text: Development[edit]

text: The concept of Tales bore out from the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards, according to Telltale's Steve Allison. Telltale and Gearbox had already worked together previously to bring Borderlands' Claptrap robot to Telltale's Poker Night 2.[9] Representatives from both Telltale and Gearbox were present at the ceremony at adjoining tables, and over the course of the event, the idea of combining their respective talents on a project came out. Following the ceremony, Telltale and Gearbox began to explore the possibilities, realizing that the Borderlands universe had a large number of characters with interesting stories that Telltale could build upon, as well as continuing to explore fan-favorite characters that the series had developed.[10] Gearbox noted that with the three prior Borderlands games, they had created an interesting universe but as a first-person shooter, the player's interaction with characters in that world was limited, and saw the potential in having Telltale expand upon their universe in a meaningful manner.[11]

text: Voice actors from the previous Borderlands games returned to voice characters in this game, including Dameon Clarke as Handsome Jack. Troy Baker (originally Sam Witwer) and Laura Bailey voice the two main protagonists, Rhys and Fiona. Additional voice actors include Nolan North as August, Patrick Warburton as Hugo Vasquez, Chris Hardwick as Vaughn, and Erin Yvette as Sasha.[12][13]

text: While Tales was critically well-received, the title had not met management's expectations for financial returns compared to its other properties like The Walking Dead. According to co-director Nick Herman, about halfway through the series' release, Telltale's management considered pulling the series so that they could reassign the staff to more lucrative projects, but the project leads worked out a deal to retain a skeleton staff to see the game out through its final episodes. Eurogamer's Jeffrey Matulef noted that the last episodes of the series seemed to be the best work that Telltale's done, likely as a result of those most committed to the project staying on as the skeleton staff. Because of the poor financial performance, Herman does not anticipate there will be a sequel to the series.[14] Telltale's head of creative communications Job Stauffer refuted the sales figures and said that the sales were not disappointing and Telltale didn't lose money on the project but the sales were not on the same level as The Walking Dead and Minecraft.[15]

text: Episodes[edit]

text: The game was separated into five episodes, released in intervals. A physical disc-based release containing all five episodes was released on April 26, 2016 for personal computer and console versions.[16]

text:
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date

1
"Zer0 Sum"
Nick Herman
Pierre Shorette and Adam Hines
November 25, 2014 (2014-11-25)[1]

The game opens in medias res: a stranger kidnaps Rhys and Fiona, who have an antagonistic relationship, and forces them to tell their shared story of the Gortys Project. Rhys, a Hyperion employee on its moon base Helios, is demoted by Hugo Vasquez. Overhearing that Vasquez is purchasing a Vault Key from August, Rhys and Vaugh take a stolen briefcase of money to Pandora to buy it first. However, Rhys, Vaughn, and August discover the Key is a fake created by con artists Fiona and Sasha and their mentor Felix. The money is stolen, and Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha, and Felix form a reluctant alliance to recover it. Rhys installs a Hyperion ID chip he found into his cybernetics, hoping it will help locate the briefcase; he loses consciousness, but nothing else happens. Ultimately, they locate the money in an Atlas facility, and Felix takes it for himself. He triggers the briefcase's explosive lock, either dying or escaping depending on the player's choices. The others discover the Gortys core inside a secret chamber in the Atlas base. A hologram of Handsome Jack appears to Rhys and announces they found the Gortys Project, which leads to a Vault.

2
"Atlas Mugged"
Jonathan Stauder
Pierre Shorette, Jeremy Breslau, Chuck Jordan, and Eric Stirpe
March 17, 2015 (2015-03-17)[3]

To learn more about the Gortys Project, the group sets off in Fiona and Sasha's caravan for another Atlas facility. They are attacked, and Rhys and Vaughn fall off the damaged caravan. Rhys and Vaughn are cornered by Vasquez, and they escape with help from Jack and Loader Bot. Fiona and Sasha detour to Hollow Point to have the mechanic Scooter repair the caravan. They visit Felix's home and discover Felix betrayed them to protect them from August's boss Vallory. Despite this, Fiona and Sasha must evade Vallory's thugs and the Vault Hunter Athena to regroup with the others. At the Atlas facility, the group is ambushed by Vasquez and August, who force Fiona and Rhys to construct the Gortys unit. Rhys accidentally triggers the facility's security, and the player must choose between trusting Fiona or trusting Jack to get Fiona and Rhys to safety.

3
"Catch a Ride"
Ashley Ruhl
Eric Stirpe, Pierre Shorette, and Anthony Burch
June 23, 2015 (2015-06-23)[4]

Regardless if the player chooses to trust Fiona or chooses to trust Jack, the group successfully escapes August and Vasquez. However, they are cornered by Vallory outside the facility. She kills Vasquez and tries to kill everyone else, but she, August, and their gang are forced to retreat by Athena. Athena reveals she was secretly hired by Felix to protect and mentor Fiona and Sasha. Fiona activates the Gortys unit, and it becomes a small robot. The robot, called Gortys, explains that Atlas created her to locate the teleporting Vault of the Traveler. However, Athena killed all of Atlas' employees, leaving Gortys incomplete. They take Gortys to her next upgrade in another Atlas facility. They successfully retrieve it but are again captured by Vallory. Depending on the player's choices, Vaughn either escapes capture or is captured only to escape later. Athena is defeated and taken away by two other Vault Hunters. Gortys is forced to reveal that her next upgrade is on Helios in Jack's office.

4
"Escape Plan Bravo"
Martin Montgomery
Jeremy Breslau, Pierre Shorette, and Anthony Burch
August 18, 2015 (2015-08-18)[5]

Vallory forces Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Loader Bot, and Gortys to retrieve the upgrade from Jack's office on Helios; she sends August and her thugs to go with them. The caravan is converted into a spaceship to make the journey. Scooter accompanies them to Helios, but before they arrive, he sacrifices himself to prevent the caravan from exploding. Rhys infiltrates Helios disguised as Vasquez and learns that Yvette was working with Vasquez. Though initially the plan is that Fiona infiltrates Jack's office, the security lockdown is accidentally triggered, forcing Rhys to enter it through a trapdoor. He successfully retrieves the upgrade. Jack offers Rhys control of Hyperion, which Rhys either accepts or declines depending on the player's choices. If the player accepts, Rhys uploads Jack into Helios, and Jack announces Rhys as president of Hyperion; if the player declines, Jack forcibly uploads himself into Helios and seizes control himself.

5
"The Vault of the Traveler"
Nick Herman
Pierre Shorette, Anthony Burch, and Zack Keller
October 20, 2015 (2015-10-20)[6]

Jack attempts to take control of Rhys' body by grafting a robotic endoskeleton into Rhys. Fiona, Sasha, and Gortys take the upgrade to the hanger. If the player rejected Jack's offer, they tell Rhys they will to wait for him; if the player accepted Jack's offer, they abandon Rhys. To kill Jack, Rhys sends Helios on a collision course with Pandora. In the hangar, Vallory's thugs reveal they planned to take only Gortys back to Pandora. August changes the plan, but Fiona is still left behind. Rhys witnesses the caravan leaving, falsely believing or learning he was abandoned. Fiona escapes in a shuttle, and Loader Bot sacrifices himself to ensure Rhys also escapes. In the wreckage of Helios, Jack downloads himself into Rhys' cybernetics and attempts to kill him. However, Rhys removes his cybernetics, destroying Jack or imprisoning him in Rhys' eye implant. Vallory has Gortys open the Vault, but the monster protecting it kills Vallory. Gortys instructs Fiona and Sasha to destroy Gortys, closing the Vault and banishing the monster. In the present, Vaughn captures the stranger, revealed to be Loader Bot. Loader Bot witnessed Gortys' destruction and, feeling betrayed, rebuilt himself with Jack's endoskeletion to seek the truth. He asks the group to rebuild Gortys, destroy the monster, and free Gortys of her programmed mission. With aid from former associates, the monster is destroyed. Rhys and Fiona enter the Vault; together, they open a chest and are teleported to an unknown location.

tag: table

text: Reception[edit]

text:
Aggregate review scores

Game
Metacritic

Episode 1 – Zer0 Sum
(PC) 84[17]
(PS4) 80[18]
(XONE) 82[19]

Episode 2 – Atlas Mugged
(PC) 78[20]
(PS4) 81[21]
(XONE) 78[22]

Episode 3 – Catch a Ride
(PC) 81[23]
(PS4) 83[24]
(XONE) 65[25]

Episode 4 – Escape Plan Bravo
(PC) 79[26]
(PS4) 78[27]

Episode 5 – The Vault of the Traveler
(PC) 86[28]
(PS4) 90[29]

A Telltale Games Series
(PC) 85[30]
(PS4) 86[31]
(XONE) 88[32]

text: Tales from the Borderlands received critical acclaim. Critics have praised it for its story, characters, action sequences, humor, choice driven gameplay, and faithfulness to the source material while criticism was mainly directed towards the game's graphical glitches.

text: Episode 1 – Zer0 Sum[edit]

text: Episode 1 – Zer0 Sum received "generally positive" reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 84/100 based on 43 reviews,[17] the PlayStation 4 version 80/100 based on 15 reviews[18] and the Xbox One version 82/100 based on 8 reviews.[19] The first episode was an honorable mention for Best Narrative for the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards.[33]

text: Episode 2 – Atlas Mugged[edit]

text: Episode 2 – Atlas Mugged received "generally positive" reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 78/100 based on 38 reviews,[20] the PlayStation 4 version 81/100 based on 11 reviews[21] and the Xbox One version 78/100 based on 5 reviews.[22]

text: Episode 3 – Catch a Ride[edit]

text: Episode 3 – Catch a Ride received "generally positive" reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 81/100 based on 24 reviews,[23] the PlayStation 4 version 83/100 based on 12 reviews[24] and the Xbox One version 65/100 based on 6 reviews.[25]

text: Episode 4 – Escape Plan Bravo[edit]

text: Episode 4 – Escape Plan Bravo received "generally positive" reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 79/100 based on 27 reviews[26] and the PlayStation 4 version 78/100 based on 9 reviews.[27]

text: Episode 5 – The Vault of the Traveler[edit]

text: Episode 5 – The Vault of the Traveler received "critical acclaim". Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 86/100 based on 32 reviews[28] and the PlayStation 4 version 90/100 based on 7 reviews.[29]

text: Awards[edit]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Award
Category
Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

The Game Awards 2015
Best Narrative
Tales from the Borderlands
Nominated
[34]

Hardcore Gamer's Best of 2015
Best Story
Tales from the Borderlands
Won
[35]

Best Licensed Soundtrack
Won
[35]

Best Voice Acting
Won
[35]

Best Surprise
Won
[36]

Best Adventure Game
Won
[37]

Best New Character
Gortys
Won
[38]

Best New Character
Loader Bot
Runner-Up
[38]

Game of the Year
Tales from the Borderlands
Won
[39]

2015 NAVGTR Awards
Writing in a Comedy
TBD
Won
[40]

Game, Franchise Adventure
Noah Hughes
Nominated

Performance in a Comedy, Lead
Troy Baker
Won

Original Light Mix Score, Franchise
Jared Emerson-Johnson
Won

Performance in a Comedy, Supporting
Erin Yvette
Won


document_title: Clint Eastwood filmography

question_text: what was the last movie clint eastwood directed

text: Clint Eastwood filmography

text: Filmography[edit]

text:
Year

Film

Functioned as

Notes

Director

Producer

Music

Actor

Role

1955

Revenge of the Creature

Yes

Lab Technician Jennings

Uncredited; Minor role

Francis in the Navy

Yes

Jonesy

Minor role

Lady Godiva of Coventry

Yes

First Saxon

Uncredited; Minor role

Tarantula

Yes

Jet Squadron Leader

Uncredited; Minor role

1956

Never Say Goodbye

Yes

Will

Uncredited; Minor role

Star in the Dust

Yes

Tom

Uncredited; Minor role

Away All Boats

Yes

Marine Medic

Uncredited; Minor role

The First Traveling Saleslady

Yes

Lt. Jack Rice

Minor role

1957

Escapade in Japan

Yes

Dumbo Pilot

Uncredited; Minor role

1958

Lafayette Escadrille

Yes

George Moseley

Minor role

Ambush at Cimarron Pass

Yes

Keith Williams

Secondary role

1964

A Fistful of Dollars

Yes

Joe

Lead role

1965

For a Few Dollars More

Yes

Monco

Lead role

1966

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Yes

Blondie

Lead role

1967

The Witches

Yes

Carlone/Charlie

Secondary role

1968

Hang 'Em High

Yes

Jed Cooper

Lead role

Coogan's Bluff

Yes

Walt Coogan

Lead role

Where Eagles Dare

Yes

Lt. Schaffer

Secondary role

1969

Paint Your Wagon

Yes[I]

Yes

Pardner

Secondary role

1970

Two Mules for Sister Sara

Yes

Hogan

Lead role

Kelly's Heroes

Yes

Pvt. Kelly

Lead role

1971

The Beguiled

Yes

John McBurney

Lead role

Dirty Harry

Yes

Harry Callahan

Lead role

Play Misty for Me

Yes

Yes

David Garver

Lead role

1972

Joe Kidd

Yes

Joe Kidd

Lead role

1973

High Plains Drifter

Yes

Yes

The Stranger

Lead role

Breezy

Yes

Yes

Man in Crowd on Pier

Uncredited; Cameo role

Magnum Force

Yes

Harry Callahan

Lead role

1974

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

Yes

John 'Thunderbolt' Doherty

Lead role

1975

The Eiger Sanction

Yes

Yes

Jonathan Hemlock

Lead role

1976

The Outlaw Josey Wales

Yes

Yes

Josey Wales

Lead role

The Enforcer

Yes

Harry Callahan

Lead role

1977

The Gauntlet

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ben Shockley

Lead role

1978

Every Which Way but Loose

Yes

Yes

Philo Beddoe

Lead role

1979

Escape from Alcatraz

Yes

Frank Morris

Lead role

1980

Bronco Billy

Yes

Yes[I]

Yes

Bronco Billy McCoy

Lead role

Any Which Way You Can

Yes[I]

Yes

Philo Beddoe

Lead role

1982

Firefox

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mitchell Gant

Lead role

Honkytonk Man

Yes

Yes

Yes[I]

Yes

Red Stovall

Lead role

1983

Sudden Impact

Yes

Yes

Yes

Harry Callahan

Lead role

1984

Tightrope

Yes

Yes

Wes Block

Lead role

City Heat

Yes[I]

Yes

Lt. Speer

Lead role

1985

Pale Rider

Yes

Yes

Yes

Preacher

Lead role

1986

Heartbreak Ridge

Yes

Yes

Yes[II]

Yes

Gunnery Sgt. Thomas 'Gunny' Highway

Lead role

1988

The Dead Pool

Yes

Harry Callahan

Lead role

Bird

Yes

Yes

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

Yes

1989

Pink Cadillac

Yes

Tommy Nowak

Lead role

1990

White Hunter Black Heart

Yes

Yes

Yes

John Wilson

Lead role

The Rookie

Yes

Yes

Nick Pulovski

Lead role

1992

Unforgiven

Yes

Yes

Yes

William 'Will' Munny

Lead role

1993

In the Line of Fire

Yes

Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan

Lead role

A Perfect World

Yes

Yes[III]

Yes

Texas Ranger Red Garnett

Secondary role

1995

The Bridges of Madison County

Yes

Yes

Yes[III]

Yes

Robert Kincaid

Lead role

The Stars Fell on Henrietta

Yes

Casper

Yes

Himself

Uncredited; Cameo role

1997

Absolute Power

Yes

Yes

Yes[III]

Yes

Luther Whitney

Lead role

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Yes

Yes

1999

True Crime

Yes

Yes

Yes[II]

Yes

Steve Everett

Lead role

2000

Space Cowboys

Yes

Yes

Yes

Frank Corvin

Lead role

2002

Blood Work

Yes

Yes

Yes

Terry McCaleb

Lead role

2003

Mystic River

Yes

Yes

Yes[IV]

2004

Million Dollar Baby

Yes

Yes

Yes[IV]

Yes

Frankie Dunn

Lead role

2006

Flags of Our Fathers

Yes

Yes

Yes[II][IV]

Letters from Iwo Jima

Yes

Yes

2007

Grace Is Gone

Yes[II][IV]

2008

Changeling

Yes

Yes

Yes[IV]

Gran Torino

Yes

Yes

Yes[II]

Yes

Walt Kowalski

Lead role

2009

Invictus

Yes

Yes

2010

Hereafter

Yes

Yes

Yes

2011

J. Edgar

Yes

Yes

Yes[IV]

Kurosawa's Way

Yes

Himself[5]

2012

Trouble with the Curve

Yes

Yes

Gus Lobel

Lead role

2014

Jersey Boys

Yes

Yes

American Sniper

Yes

Yes

Yes

Church Goer

Uncredited cameo

2016

Sully

Yes

Yes

2017

Indian Horse

Yes

2018

The 15:17 to Paris

Yes

Yes

2019

The Mule

Yes

Yes

Yes

Earl Stone

Lead role, Post-production

text:
^ I Credited for performing a song in the film
^ II Credited for writing song(s) for the film
^ III Credited for composing song(s) for the film
^ IV Credited for original score

text: Television[edit]

text: At the early stages of his acting career, Eastwood played several small roles in episodes for several television shows. This list includes appearances in various episodes of fictional shows, and excludes appearances as himself on talk shows, interview shows, ceremonies, and other related media.

text:
Year

Title

Credited as

Series

Notes

Director

Actor

Role

1955

Allen in Movieland

TV film

Yes

Orderly

1955

Highway Patrol

1 episode: "Motorcycle A"

Yes

Joe Keeley

1956

Death Valley Days

6 episodes

Yes

John Lucas

1957

The West Point Story

1 episode: "White Fury"

Yes

1958

Navy Log

1 episode: "The Lonely Watch"

Yes

Burns

1959

Maverick

1 episode: "Duel at Sundown"

Yes

Red Hardigan

1959–1965

Rawhide

217 episodes[6]

Yes

Rowdy Yates

1962

Mister Ed

1 episode: "Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed"

Yes

Himself

1985

Amazing Stories

1 episode: "Vanessa in the Garden"[7]

Yes

2003

The Blues

1 episode: "Piano Blues"[8]

Yes

2009

Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me[9]

Yes

Himself, also executive producer


document_title: Lee Ridley (comedian)

question_text: how did the lost voice guy lose his voice

text: Lee Ridley (comedian)

text: Biography[edit]

text: Early Life[edit]

text: Ridley was originally from Consett, County Durham.[2] At the age of six months he was diagnosed with a neurological form of cerebral palsy, brought about by a brain infection that left him in a coma for two months,[5] which affected his movement and rendered him unable to speak.[3][6] His disability in early life made it difficult to communicate with people, until the age of eight when he received his first communication device,[5] while his education at a school for disabled children was aided by supportive teachers.[5] Between 1999 – 2002, he studied journalism and online journalism at the University of Central Lancashire,[7] achieving an undergraduate degree in the former, and a Masters Degree in the latter. In 2006, he worked as a journalist with the BBC and local newspapers,[8] before taking on the role of online content manager for the city of Sunderland in 2007.[9]

text: Career[edit]

text: Ridley began performing comedy in 2012,[10] having grown up with a love for it, including standup performances.[5] His decision to perform standup himself came in the aftermath of a gig conducted by Ross Noble, in which Ridley encountered the comedian and challenged him on the quality of Noble's impersonation of Stephen Hawking,[6] claiming he could do a far better impersonation of the renowned physicist. To formulate his routines, Ridley purchased an iPad voice synthesizer app called Speak It!, which he pre-programmed with sentences based on material he created.[11][12] Following his first show, Ridley adapted his routine by selecting material that had received favourable audience reaction, and adopting a style of improvisation in which he occasionally created new material onstage through his synthesizer in real-time.[6] His first successful show was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013,[11] although he was forced to cut this short after he developed pneumonia.[13]

text: In 2014, Ridley  won the BBC Radio New Comedy Awards,[14] and by 2015, he began to pursue a professional comedy career,[15] performing a new show entitled Disability for Dunces, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe that year. The following year, he performed a sequel of the show, entitled "Volume 2", and in 2017, launched a new show entitled Inspiration Porn, which made fun of "inspirational" videos and memes about disability.[16] After winning the award, he was contacted by The Sequal Trust, who asked him to come on board as a patron of their communication disability charity, a title he still holds today.

text: In 2018, Ridley took a starring role on Radio 4 sitcom Ability, which he co-wrote with Sony-nominated writer and comedian Katherine Jakeways.[16] His role involved him playing as the disabled 'Matt', who moves out from his parents' home to share with his best friend from school, who refreshingly treats him as an equal but is not the influence Matt's concerned parents are looking for.[17][18] In June 2018, Ridley won the 12th series of Britain's Got Talent after successfully making it through the audition stages, and winning the show by the public vote.[19][4][20]


document_title: List of NBA champions

question_text: who has won back to back nba championships

text: List of NBA champions

text: Champions

text: Numbers in parentheses in the table are NBA Finals appearances as of the date of that NBA Finals, and are used as follows:

text: Winning team and losing team columns indicate the number of times that team has appeared in an NBA Finals as well as each respective teams' NBA Finals record to date.

tag: ul

text:
Year
Winning team
Coach
Games
Losing team
Coach
Ref

1947
Philadelphia Warriors (1, 1–0)
Gottlieb, EddieEddie Gottlieb
4–1
Chicago Stags (1, 0–1)
Olsen, HaroldHarold Olsen
[14]

1948
Baltimore Bullets (1, 1–0)
Jeannette, BuddyBuddy Jeannette
4–2
Philadelphia Warriors (2, 1–1)
Eddie Gottlieb
[15]

1949
Minneapolis Lakers (1, 1–0)
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
4–2
Washington Capitols (1, 0–1)
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
[16]

1950
Minneapolis Lakers (2, 2–0)
John Kundla
4–2
Syracuse Nationals (1, 0–1)
Cervi, AlAl Cervi
[17]

1951
Rochester Royals (1, 1–0)
Harrison, LesLes Harrison
4–3
New York Knicks (1, 0–1)
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick
[18]

1952
Minneapolis Lakers (3, 3–0)
John Kundla
4–3
New York Knicks (2, 0–2)
Joe Lapchick
[19]

1953
Minneapolis Lakers (4, 4–0)
John Kundla
4–1
New York Knicks (3, 0–3)
Joe Lapchick
[20]

1954
Minneapolis Lakers (5, 5–0)
John Kundla
4–3
Syracuse Nationals (2, 0–2)
Al Cervi
[21]

1955
Syracuse Nationals (3, 1–2)
Al Cervi
4–3
Fort Wayne Pistons (1, 0–1)
Eckman, CharlesCharles Eckman
[22]

1956
Philadelphia Warriors (3, 2–1)
Senesky, GeorgeGeorge Senesky
4–1
Fort Wayne Pistons (2, 0–2)
Charles Eckman
[23]

1957
Boston Celtics (1, 1–0)
Red Auerbach
4–3
St. Louis Hawks (1, 0–1)
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum
[24]

1958
St. Louis Hawks (2, 1–1)
Alex Hannum
4–2
Boston Celtics (2, 1–1)
Red Auerbach
[25]

1959
Boston Celtics (3, 2–1)
Red Auerbach
4–0
Minneapolis Lakers (6, 5–1)
John Kundla
[26]

1960
Boston Celtics (4, 3–1)
Red Auerbach
4–3
St. Louis Hawks (3, 1–2)
Macauley, EdEd Macauley
[27]

1961
Boston Celtics (5, 4–1)
Red Auerbach
4–1
St. Louis Hawks (4, 1–3)
Seymour, PaulPaul Seymour
[28]

1962
Boston Celtics (6, 5–1)
Red Auerbach
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers (7, 5–2)
Schaus, FredFred Schaus
[29]

1963
Boston Celtics (7, 6–1)
Red Auerbach
4–2
Los Angeles Lakers (8, 5–3)
Fred Schaus
[30]

1964
Boston Celtics (8, 7–1)
Red Auerbach
4–1
San Francisco Warriors (4, 2–2)
Alex Hannum
[31]

1965
Boston Celtics (9, 8–1)
Red Auerbach
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers (9, 5–4)
Fred Schaus
[32]

1966
Boston Celtics (10, 9–1)
Red Auerbach
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers (10, 5–5)
Fred Schaus
[33]

1967
Philadelphia 76ers (4, 2–2)
Alex Hannum
4–2
San Francisco Warriors (5, 2–3)
Sharman, BillBill Sharman
[34]

1968
Boston Celtics (11, 10–1)
Russell, BillBill Russell
4–2
Los Angeles Lakers (11, 5–6)
van Breda Kolff, ButchButch van Breda Kolff
[35]

1969
Boston Celtics (12, 11–1)
Bill Russell
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers (12, 5–7)
Butch van Breda Kolff
[36]

1970
New York Knicks (4, 1–3)
Holzman, RedRed Holzman
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers (13, 5–8)
Mullaney, JoeJoe Mullaney
[37]

1971
Milwaukee Bucks (1, 1–0)
Costello, LarryLarry Costello
4–0
Baltimore Bullets (1, 0–1)
Shue, GeneGene Shue
[38]

1972
Los Angeles Lakers (14, 6–8)
Bill Sharman
4–1
New York Knicks (5, 1–4)
Red Holzman
[39]

1973
New York Knicks (6, 2–4)
Red Holzman
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers (15, 6–9)
Bill Sharman
[40]

1974
Boston Celtics (13, 12–1)
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn
4–3
Milwaukee Bucks (2, 1–1)
Larry Costello
[41]

1975
Golden State Warriors (6, 3–3)
Attles, AlAl Attles
4–0
Washington Bullets (2, 0–2)
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
[42]

1976
Boston Celtics (14, 13–1)
Tom Heinsohn
4–2
Phoenix Suns (1, 0–1)
MacLeod, JohnJohn MacLeod
[43]

1977
Portland Trail Blazers (1, 1–0)
Ramsay, JackJack Ramsay
4–2
Philadelphia 76ers (5, 2–3)
Gene Shue
[44]

1978
Washington Bullets (3, 1–2)
Motta, DickDick Motta
4–3
Seattle SuperSonics (1, 0–1)
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens
[45]

1979
Seattle SuperSonics (2, 1–1)
Lenny Wilkens
4–1
Washington Bullets (4, 1–3)
Dick Motta
[46]

1980
Los Angeles Lakers (16, 7–9)
Westhead, PaulPaul Westhead
4–2
Philadelphia 76ers (6, 2–4)
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham
[47]

1981
Boston Celtics (15, 14–1)
Fitch, BillBill Fitch
4–2
Houston Rockets (1, 0–1)
Harris, DelDel Harris
[48]

1982
Los Angeles Lakers (17, 8–9)
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–2
Philadelphia 76ers (7, 2–5)
Billy Cunningham
[49]

1983
Philadelphia 76ers (8, 3–5)
Billy Cunningham
4–0
Los Angeles Lakers (18, 8–10)
Pat Riley
[50]

1984
Boston Celtics (16, 15–1)
K. C. Jones
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers (19, 8–11)
Pat Riley
[51]

1985
Los Angeles Lakers (20, 9–11)
Pat Riley
4–2
Boston Celtics (17, 15–2)
K. C. Jones
[52]

1986
Boston Celtics (18, 16–2)
K. C. Jones
4–2
Houston Rockets (2, 0–2)
Bill Fitch
[53]

1987
Los Angeles Lakers (21, 10–11)
Pat Riley
4–2
Boston Celtics (19, 16–3)
K. C. Jones
[54]

1988
Los Angeles Lakers (22, 11–11)
Pat Riley
4–3
Detroit Pistons (3, 0–3)
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly
[55]

1989
Detroit Pistons (4, 1–3)
Chuck Daly
4–0
Los Angeles Lakers (23, 11–12)
Pat Riley
[56]

1990
Detroit Pistons (5, 2–3)
Chuck Daly
4–1
Portland Trail Blazers (2, 1–1)
Adelman, RickRick Adelman
[57]

1991
Chicago Bulls (1, 1–0)
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers (24, 11–13)
Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy
[58]

1992
Chicago Bulls (2, 2–0)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Portland Trail Blazers (3, 1–2)
Rick Adelman
[59]

1993
Chicago Bulls (3, 3–0)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Phoenix Suns (2, 0–2)
Westphal, PaulPaul Westphal
[60]

1994
Houston Rockets (3, 1–2)
Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich
4–3
New York Knicks (7, 2–5)
Pat Riley
[61]

1995
Houston Rockets (4, 2–2)
Rudy Tomjanovich
4–0
Orlando Magic (1, 0–1)
Hill, BrianBrian Hill
[62]

1996
Chicago Bulls (4, 4–0)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Seattle SuperSonics (3, 1–2)
Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl
[63]

1997
Chicago Bulls (5, 5–0)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Utah Jazz (1, 0–1)
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan
[64]

1998
Chicago Bulls (6, 6–0)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Utah Jazz (2, 0–2)
Jerry Sloan
[65]

1999
San Antonio Spurs (1, 1–0)
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–1
New York Knicks (8, 2–6)
Van Gundy, JeffJeff Van Gundy
[66]

2000
Los Angeles Lakers (25, 12–13)
Phil Jackson
4–2
Indiana Pacers (1, 0–1)
Bird, LarryLarry Bird
[67]

2001
Los Angeles Lakers (26, 13–13)
Phil Jackson
4–1
Philadelphia 76ers (9, 3–6)
Brown, LarryLarry Brown
[68]

2002
Los Angeles Lakers (27, 14–13)
Phil Jackson
4–0
New Jersey Nets (1, 0–1)
Scott, ByronByron Scott
[69]

2003
San Antonio Spurs (2, 2–0)
Gregg Popovich
4–2
New Jersey Nets (2, 0–2)
Byron Scott
[70]

2004
Detroit Pistons (6, 3–3)
Larry Brown
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers (28, 14–14)
Phil Jackson
[71]

2005
San Antonio Spurs (3, 3–0)
Gregg Popovich
4–3
Detroit Pistons (7, 3–4)
Larry Brown
[72]

2006
Miami Heat (1, 1–0)
Pat Riley
4–2
Dallas Mavericks (1, 0–1)
Johnson, AveryAvery Johnson
[73]

2007
San Antonio Spurs (4, 4–0)
Gregg Popovich
4–0
Cleveland Cavaliers (1, 0–1)
Brown, MikeMike Brown
[74]

2008
Boston Celtics (20, 17–3)
Rivers, DocDoc Rivers
4–2
Los Angeles Lakers (29, 14–15)
Phil Jackson
[75]

2009
Los Angeles Lakers (30, 15–15)
Phil Jackson
4–1
Orlando Magic (2, 0–2)
Van Gundy, StanStan Van Gundy
[76]

2010
Los Angeles Lakers (31, 16–15)
Phil Jackson
4–3
Boston Celtics (21, 17–4)
Doc Rivers
[77]

2011
Dallas Mavericks (2, 1–1)
Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle
4–2
Miami Heat (2, 1–1)
Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra
[78]

2012
Miami Heat (3, 2–1)
Erik Spoelstra
4–1
Oklahoma City Thunder (4, 1–3)
Brooks, ScottScott Brooks
[79]

2013
Miami Heat (4, 3–1)
Erik Spoelstra
4–3
San Antonio Spurs (5, 4–1)
Gregg Popovich
[80]

2014
San Antonio Spurs (6, 5–1)
Gregg Popovich
4–1
Miami Heat (5, 3–2)
Erik Spoelstra
[81]

2015
Golden State Warriors (7, 4–3)
Kerr, SteveSteve Kerr
4–2
Cleveland Cavaliers (2, 0–2)
Blatt, DavidDavid Blatt
[82]

2016
Cleveland Cavaliers (3, 1–2)
Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue
4–3
Golden State Warriors (8, 4–4)
Steve Kerr
[83]

2017
Golden State Warriors (9, 5–4)
Steve Kerr
4–1
Cleveland Cavaliers (4, 1–3)
Tyronn Lue
[84]

text: Results by teams

text:
Teams
Win
Loss
Total
Year(s) won
Year(s) lost

Boston Celtics
17
4
21
1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2008
1958, 1985, 1987, 2010

Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers
16
15
31
1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010
1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 2004, 2008

Chicago Bulls
6
0
6
1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
—

Philadelphia/San Francisco/Golden State Warriors
5
4
9
1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017
1948, 1964, 1967, 2016

San Antonio Spurs
5
1
6
1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014
2013

Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers
3
6
9
1955, 1967, 1983
1950, 1954, 1977, 1980, 1982, 2001

Fort Wayne/Detroit Pistons
3
4
7
1989, 1990, 2004
1955, 1956, 1988, 2005

Miami Heat
3
2
5
2006, 2012, 2013
2011, 2014

New York Knicks
2
6
8
1970, 1973
1951, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1994, 1999

Houston Rockets
2
2
4
1994, 1995
1981, 1986

St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks
1
3
4
1958
1957, 1960, 1961

Baltimore/Washington Bullets/Washington Wizards
1
3
4
1978
1971, 1975, 1979

Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder
1
3
4
1979
1978, 1996, 2012

Cleveland Cavaliers
1
3
4
2016
2007, 2015, 2017

Portland Trail Blazers
1
2
3
1977
1990, 1992

Milwaukee Bucks
1
1
2
1971
1974

Dallas Mavericks
1
1
2
2011
2006

Baltimore Bullets (original) (folded in 1954)[a]
1
0
1
1948
—

Rochester/Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City/Sacramento Kings
1
0
1
1951
—

Phoenix Suns
0
2
2
—
1976, 1993

New Orleans/Utah Jazz
0
2
2
—
1997, 1998

New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets
0
2
2
—
2002, 2003

Orlando Magic
0
2
2
—
1995, 2009

Chicago Stags (folded in 1950)
0
1
1
—
1947

Washington Capitols (folded in 1951)
0
1
1
—
1949

Indiana Pacers
0
1
1
—
2000

Buffalo Braves/San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers
—
—
—

Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats
—
—
—

Denver Nuggets
—
—
—

Minnesota Timberwolves
—
—
—

New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans
—
—
—

Toronto Raptors
—
—
—

Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies
—
—
—

text: Notes

text: Jump up ^ Not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards who were known as the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets from 1963 to 1997.

tag: ol


document_title: Oz the Great and Powerful

question_text: who played the good witch in oz the great and powerful

text: Oz the Great and Powerful

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1905 Kansas, Oscar Diggs works as a magician in a traveling circus. As a storm approaches, the circus strongman learns Oscar has flirted with his wife and threatens him. Oscar escapes in a hot air balloon, but is sucked into a tornado that takes him to the Land of Oz. There he encounters the beautiful yet naïve witch Theodora, who believes him to be a wizard prophesied to become King of Oz by destroying the Wicked Witch who killed the previous king; the idea of being an immensely wealthy monarch makes Oscar immediately accept. En route to the Emerald City, Theodora falls in love with Oscar, though he does not reciprocate her feelings. They encounter the flying monkey Finley, who pledges a life debt to Oscar when he saves him from a lion. Oscar reveals his deception to Finley, forcing him to maintain the lie that he is a wizard.

text: At the Emerald City, Oscar meets Theodora's beautiful older sister, Evanora, who tells him that the Wicked Witch resides in the Dark Forest and can be killed by destroying her wand. Oscar and Finley are joined en route to the forest by China Girl, a young, living china doll whose village and family were destroyed by the Wicked Witch. The three reach the forest and, upon retrieving the wand, discover the "Wicked Witch" is Glinda the Good Witch, who identifies herself as the late king's daughter and Evanora as the true Wicked Witch. Evanora sees this with her crystal ball and tricks Theodora into thinking he is trying to court all three witches at once. She offers Theodora a magic apple she says will remove her heartache; Theodora bites it and turns into a hideous green-skinned Wicked Witch.

text: Glinda brings Oscar's group to her domain to escape Evanora's army of Winkies and flying baboons. She confides in Oscar that she knows he is not a wizard, but still believes he can help stop Evanora. He reluctantly takes charge of an "army" of Quadlings, Tinkers, and Munchkins. Theodora enters Glinda's domain and angrily reveals her new, hideous appearance to Oscar before threatening to kill him and his allies with the Emerald City's well-prepared army. Oscar despairs at his chances of victory, but after telling China Girl about the exploits of his hero Thomas Edison, he conceives a plan that relies on trickery and makes preparations with Glinda and his group.

text: Glinda and her subjects mount a fake attack on the Emerald City using a pulley-rig army of scarecrow puppets hidden by thick fog. The witches are tricked into sending their flying baboons through a poppy field that puts them to sleep. However, two baboons manage to capture Glinda, who is brought to the city square and chained. Meanwhile, Oscar infiltrates the Emerald City with his allies, but appears to abandon them in a hot air balloon loaded with gold, which Theodora destroys with a fireball. As the wicked sisters prepare to execute Glinda, Oscar appears before his friends, having faked his betrayal and death. Using a hidden smoke machine and image projector, he presents a giant image of his face as his "true" form, and a fireworks display to intimidate the Wicked Witches. Evanora fearfully hides in her castle while Theodora flees on her broom, unable to hurt the "invincible" wizard; Oscar calls to Theodora, offering her to return should she overcome her wickedness, which is met with defiance from Theodora, who flies away to the West while cackling evilly, leaving Oscar saddened. China Girl frees Glinda, who engages Evanora in a magical duel. During the fight, Glinda destroys Evanora's emerald necklace, revealing she's an old hag, and banishes her. Evanora is carried off by the two remaining flying baboons as she vows revenge.

text: Oscar, now ruler of Oz, uses his projector to sustain the belief he is a powerful wizard. He also presents gifts to his friends: Master Tinker, who helped build his machines, receives Oscar's camping-tool jackknife; Knuck, the grumpy Munchkin herald, receives a mask with a smiley face; the long-suffering Finley receives Oscar's friendship along with his top hat; and China Girl accepts her friends as her new family. Finally, Oscar takes Glinda behind the curtains of his projector, thanking her for making him a better person, and they kiss.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
James Franco as Oscar Diggs, or "Oz", a philandering con artist, a stage magician, and a barnstormer[8] who is part of a traveling circus in the Midwest. He is whisked in a hot air balloon by a tornado to the Land of Oz, where he is believed to be a wizard destined to bring peace to the land, forcing him to overcome his dubious ethics to convince his peers he is the hero needed by the people of Oz. He eventually becomes what is known as the Wizard of Oz.
Michelle Williams as Glinda, the daughter of the late king. She rules and protects a peaceful kingdom in Oz inhabited by kind Quadlings, tinkers, and Munchkins. Oscar originally believed her to be the Wicked Witch responsible for terrorizing the land. She guides Oscar to achieve his destiny of defeating Evanora, becoming his love interest in the process.

Michelle Williams also plays Annie, an old flame of Oscar's and the future mother of Dorothy Gale.[9]

Rachel Weisz as Evanora, the protector of the Emerald City. Being the Wicked Witch of the East, she has a hideous form which she hides by wearing a necklace that gives her the appearance of a young woman. She deceives Oscar by framing Glinda for the King's murder and telling Oscar that Glinda is the Wicked Witch rather than herself.
Mila Kunis as Theodora, a naïve good witch who has the Land of Oz's best interests at her heart. She believes that Oscar is the wizard prophesied to defeat the seemingly evil Glinda from the Dark Forest, developing an attraction to him in the process. Evanora gradually manipulates Theodora into thinking Oscar has betrayed her for Glinda, ushering her transformation into the Wicked Witch of the West.[10]
Zach Braff as the voice of Finley, a winged monkey who pledges an irrevocable life debt to Oscar, believing him to be the prophesied wizard, for saving him from the Cowardly Lion.[11] He quickly regrets his decision when Oscar reveals he is not a wizard, but nonetheless becomes his loyal ally.

Braff also plays Frank, Oscar's long-suffering yet loyal assistant in Kansas.

Bill Cobbs as the Master Tinker, the leader of the tinkers who are ruled by Glinda. He would later build the Tin Woodman.
Joey King as the voice of China Girl, a young, living china doll from China Town where everything, including its inhabitants, is made of china. Her home is destroyed by Evanora, leaving her its only survivor when she is found by Oscar, with whom she forms a strong friendship after he uses glue to fix her legs.

King also plays a girl in a wheelchair visiting Oscar's magic show in Kansas.

Tony Cox plays Knuck, the quick-tempered herald and fanfare player of Emerald City who is allied with Glinda.

text: Stephen R. Hart and Bruce Campbell play Winkie guards at the Emerald City.[12] Abigail Spencer plays May, Oscar's temporary magic assistant in Kansas and one of his several fleeting loves in the film.[12] Tim Holmes plays the strongman who attacks Oscar for trying to court his wife (played by Toni Wynne), prompting Oscar to take the hot air balloon that sends him to the Land of Oz.

text: Raimi, who often casts friends and actor-regulars in cameo roles, cast his brother Ted Raimi as a small-town skeptic at Oscar's magic show who yells "I see a wire!", two of his former teachers—Jim Moll and Jim Bird—as Emerald City townspeople, and the three actresses from his 1981 directorial debut The Evil Dead—Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly— as Quadling townspeople.[13]

text: Continuity[edit]

text: Oz the Great and Powerful features several artistic allusions, homages, and technical parallels to Baum's novels and the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Wizard of Oz.

text: The film's opening sequence is presented in black and white. When Oscar is caught up in the tornado, the audio switches from monaural to stereo and eventually surround sound.[14] The film shifts to full color when Oscar arrives in Oz; additionally, the aspect ratio gradually widens from 4:3 Academy ratio to 2.35:1 widescreen.[15][16] As in the 1939 film, Glinda travels in giant bubbles, and the Emerald City is actually emerald; in the novel, characters wear tinted glasses to make it appear so. However, during the battle preparations sequence Oz can be seen wearing emerald goggles. The iconic green look of the Wicked Witch of the West is closer to her look in the classic film, as the Witch is a short, one-eyed crone in the novel. The Wicked Witches are portrayed as sisters, an idea which originated in the 1939 film. Also from the 1939 film is that several actors who play Oz characters make cameos in the Kansas segments, such as Frank (Zach Braff), Oscar's assistant whom he refers to as his "trained monkey" (Frank's "Oz" counterpart is the winged monkey Finley) and a young girl in a wheelchair (Joey King) who serves as the Kansas counterpart to China Girl (in Kansas, Oscar is unable to make the wheelchair-bound young girl walk, and gets a chance to do so when he repairs China Girl's broken legs). Annie (Michelle Williams), a woman wearing a gingham dress who inspires Oscar to be a good and great person, informs him that she has been proposed to by John Gale, presumably hinting at Dorothy Gale's parental lineage (Annie's "Oz" counterpart, Glinda, also inspires Oscar to be a better person).[17] Theodora (Mila Kunis), who became the Wicked Witch of the West after suffering from a "broken heart" caused by Oscar's "betrayal", has no Kansas counterpart. However, an unnamed woman who worked as Oscar's assistant at the time and suddenly left after suffering from a "broken heart", may be a possible reference to the existence of Theodora's unknown counterpart. The character of Miss Almira Gulch, who did not exist in Baum's novel, is the Kansas counterpart of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film.

text: Other referenced characters include the Scarecrow, who is built by the townspeople as a scare tactic, and the Tin Woodman, whose creator is the Master Tinker that can build "anything".[11] Similarly, various other races of Oz are depicted besides the Munchkins; the Quadlings, the china doll inhabitants of Dainty China Country, and the Winkies (who went unnamed in the classic film). Similarly, Glinda is referred to by her title in the novel (the Good Witch of the South), unlike the 1939 film, where her character's title is "Good Witch of the North" (due to her character being merged with the Good Witch of the North). Glinda is also the daughter of the late King of Oz, though in the novels, Ozma is the King's daughter. Theodora's tears leave streaks of scars on her face, reflecting her weakness to water in the original novel/film. This can also be seen at the beginning of the film when a flying baboon chase both Oscar and Theodora and they hide in a cave behind a waterfall, you see a scene where Theodora's boots almost touch the water. Also, Oz is presented as a real place as it is in the novel, and not as a possible dream as the 1939 film implies.[18] Finally, the lion that attacks Finley but was warded off by Oz is a reference to the Cowardly Lion in the original novel/film.

text: Production[edit]

text: Disney's history with Oz[edit]

text: After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Walt Disney planned to produce an animated film based on the first of L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Roy O. Disney, chairman of the Walt Disney Productions, was informed by Baum's estate that they had sold the film rights to the first book to Samuel Goldwyn, who re-sold it to Louis B. Mayer in 1938.[19] The film was ironically approved due to the success of Snow White.[20] The project was developed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer into the well-known musical adaptation released the following year.

text: In 1954, when the film rights to Baum's remaining thirteen Oz books were made available, Walt Disney Productions acquired them[21] for use in Walt Disney's television series Disneyland which lead to the live-action film Rainbow Road to Oz, which was abandoned and never completed.[22] Disney's history with the Oz series continued with the 1985 film Return to Oz, which performed poorly, both critically and commercially,[23][24][25] but has developed a cult following since its release.[26][27] After Return to Oz, Disney lost the film rights to the Oz books and they were subsequently reverted to the public domain.[28]

text: Development[edit]

text: Screenwriter Mitchell Kapner was intrigued by the prospect of exploring the origins of the Wizard of Oz character which he discussed in many meetings. After Wicked came out, Kapner felt he missed his window of opportunity.[29] In 2009, Kapner met with Joe Roth, who turned down his current pitches, request any other ideas he had. The discussion turned to what Kapner was reading which he indicated he was reading the Oz series to his kids. Roth was interested as he only knew about the first book. Kapner went through the plot of the novels, when Roth stopped him on the sixth novel in the series, The Emerald City of Oz, which had some of back story of the Wizard.[30] Producer Joe Roth became involved for nearly the same reason as Kapner, stating that "... during the years that I spent running Walt Disney Studios -- I learned about how hard it was to find a fairy tale with a good strong male protagonist. You've got your Sleeping Beauties, your Cinderellas and your Alices. But a fairy tale with a male protagonist is very hard to come by. But with the origin story of the Wizard of Oz, here was a fairy tale story with a natural male protagonist. Which is why I knew that this was an idea for a movie that was genuinely worth pursuing."[30] Kapner and co-writer Palak Patel presented the idea to Sony Pictures but were turned down.[29] In 2009, the project was set up at Walt Disney Pictures when the studio's president of production, Sean Bailey commissioned Oz the Great and Powerful under the working title Brick during the tenure of then Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook, who was succeeded by Rich Ross and later Alan Horn, a succession in management that a major studio release is rare to survive.[29] David Lindsay-Abaire was later hired to do a re-write.[28]

text: Roth initially sought out Robert Downey Jr. for the titular role of the Wizard in April 2010.[31] By summer of that year, Sam Raimi was hired to direct the film from a shortlist that reportedly included directors Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman.[31] In January 2011, Raimi met with Downey, but did not secure his casting.[29] With Downey's disinterest acknowledged, Johnny Depp was then approached due to his previous collaboration with the studio in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Alice in Wonderland.[32] Depp liked the role but declined involvement, citing his commitment to another Disney tentpole film, The Lone Ranger.[29] The film was without a lead until February when James Franco entered final negotiations to star in the film (including a $7 million salary), five months before filming was scheduled to begin.[29] Franco and Raimi had previously worked together on the Spider-Man trilogy.[33] Franco received training with magician Lance Burton to prepare for the role.[29]

text: Screenwriter Kapner adopted information about the Wizard from L. Frank Baum's novels to conceptualize an original story. Raimi made sure that the film would also "nod lovingly" to the 1939 film and inserted several references and homages to that film.[34] Disney wanted to reduce the film's production budget to be approximately $200 million.[33] Casting calls were put out for local actors in Michigan.[35]

text: In June 2011, composer Danny Elfman was chosen to score Oz the Great and Powerful, despite Elfman and Raimi having had a falling-out over Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Elfman declaring that they would never again work together.[36]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography for Oz the Great and Powerful began July 25, 2011, at Raleigh Michigan Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, employing 3D cameras.[37]

text: Raimi opted to use practical sets in conjunction with computer-generated imagery during filming.[38] Physical sets were constructed so the actors could have a visual reference, as opposed to using green screen technology for every scene. Chroma key compositing was only used for background pieces.[37] Zach Braff and Joey King were on set, recording their dialogue simultaneously with the other actors, whenever their CG characters were present in a scene. Puppetry was employed for a physical version of the China Girl to serve as a visual key-point for actors to manipulate.[39] Braff wore a blue motion capture suit to create Finley's movements and had a camera close to his face for the flying sequences to obtain facial movements.

text: Art director Robert Stromberg, who worked on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, drew inspiration from the films of Frank Capra and James Wong Howe to achieve the Art Deco design he envisioned for the Emerald City. Stromberg contrasted the colorful tonal qualities of Oz with the restrained appearance of Alice, affirming that although both films explore similar fantasy worlds, the overall atmosphere and landscape of each "are completely different."[40] In 2011, Stromberg and his team visited the Walt Disney archives during the pre-production phase to reference production art from Disney's animated films such as Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, drawing from designs and textures, in order to give certain settings in the film an affectionate nod to the classic Disney style.[41] Costume designer Gary Jones focused on authenticity with his wardrobe designs: "We started by doing a lot of research and having ideas of the ways (costumes) should look in order to be (historically accurate) but as we went on, we really began creating a whole new world."[42]

text:
My first instinct was, there are such iconic images in the Wizard of Oz movie, it would be wrong for us to re-create the Yellow Brick Road or the Emerald City in a different way. We had to go 180 degrees in the other direction. We're just going to have to make our own Oz.

Sam Raimi on recreating the Land of Oz under legalities.[29]

tag: div

text: The film was technically a prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Wizard of Oz, but it was not allowed to be considered as such. The filmmakers had to toe a fine line between calling the film to mind but not infringing upon it. To that end, they had a copyright expert on set to ensure no infringement occurred. The production team worked under the constraint of abiding by the stipulations set forth by Warner Bros., the legal owner of the rights to iconic elements of the 1939 film (via its Turner Entertainment subsidiary which purchased the MGM film library in 1986), including the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland. Therefore, Disney was unable to use them nor any character likenesses from that particular film.[43] This extended to the green of the Wicked Witch's skin, for which Disney used what its legal department considered a sufficiently different shade dubbed "Theostein" (a portmanteau of "Theodora" and "Frankenstein").[44] Additionally, the studio could not use the signature chin mole of Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West, nor could they employ the yellow brick road's swirl design for Munchkinland.[39] The expert also ensured that the Emerald City was not too close in appearance to the Emerald City in the 1939 film.[citation needed]

text: While WB and Disney did not engage in copyright battle, they did file rival trademarks. Disney filed a trademark on "Oz the Great and Powerful." One week later, WB filed its own trademarks for "The Great and Powerful Oz." The US Patent and Trademark Office suspended WB's attempt at a trademark because Disney had filed basically the same one a week earlier.[citation needed]

text: In addition to the legal issues, the film was also faced with delays when several cast members went on hiatus due to unrelated commitments and circumstances. Rachel Weisz left halfway through the shoot to film her entire role in The Bourne Legacy, Michelle Williams was required to promote the release of My Week with Marilyn, and Franco's father died during production. Roth compared the task of managing overlapping schedules to "being an air-traffic controller."[29] Mila Kunis's makeup and prosthetics were supervised by Greg Nicotero and demanded four hours to apply and another hour to remove, with Kunis taking nearly two months to fully recover from the subsequent removal of the makeup from her skin.[29][45] Raimi had to edit the frightening nature of several scenes to secure Disney's desired PG rating from the MPAA.[29] Sony Pictures Imageworks was contracted to create the film's visual effects.[46]

text: Music[edit]

text: Composer Danny Elfman noted that the film's score was accessibly quick to produce, with a majority of the music being written in six weeks.[47] Regarding the tonal quality of the score, Elfman stated, "We're going to take an approach that's old school but not self-consciously old-fashioned. Let the melodrama be melodrama, let everything be what it is. I also think there's the advantage that I'm able to write narratively, and when I'm able to write narratively I can also move quicker because that's my natural instincts, I can tell a story in the music."[48]

text: American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey recorded a promotional Pop single called "Almost Home" written by Carey, Simone Porter, Justin Gray, Lindsey Ray, Tor Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen (a.k.a. Stargate) for the soundtrack of the film. The single was released on February 19, 2013 by Island Records.[49]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The original soundtrack to Oz the Great and Powerful was released digitally and physically by Walt Disney Records on March 5, 2013.[50] The physical CD release was in association with Intrada Records.[51]

text:
Oz the Great and Powerful (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Film score by Danny Elfman

Released
March 5, 2013 (2013-03-05)

Recorded
2012

Studio
Sony Scoring Stage

Genre
Film score

Length
1:06:19

Label
Walt Disney

text: All music composed by Danny Elfman.

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"Main Titles"
2:57

2.
"A Serious Talk"
2:23

3.
"Oz Revealed"
1:58

4.
"A Strange World"
1:48

5.
"Where Am I?/Schmooze-A-Witch"
2:05

6.
"Fireside Dance"
1:19

7.
"Meeting Finley"
1:57

8.
"The Emerald Palace"
0:47

9.
"Amanece, Amanece / Dios de Pactos"
2:56

10.
"China Town"
3:07

11.
"A Con Job"
1:47

12.
"Glinda Revealed"
1:43

13.
"The Munchkin Welcome Song"
0:41

14.
"Bad Witch"
4:32

15.
"The Bubble Voyage"
2:48

16.
"Great Expectations/The Apple"
4:58

17.
"Meeting the Troops"
1:18

18.
"What Army"
0:29

19.
"Theodora's Entrance/Puppet Waltz"
1:51

20.
"A Threat"
2:07

21.
"Bedtime/The Preparation Montage"
7:00

22.
"Call to Arms"
2:13

23.
"Destruction"
2:38

24.
"Oz the Great and Powerful"
1:25

25.
"Fireworks/Witch Fight"
1:39

26.
"Time for Gifts"
5:54

27.
"End Credits from Oz"
1:59

Total length:
1:06:19

text: Release[edit]

text: In May 2011 before filming began, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures gave Oz the Great and Powerful a March 8, 2013 North American theatrical release date.[52] The film had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood on February 14, 2013.[12] Disney opened the film in wide release in 3,912 theaters.[53]

text: To promote the film, Disney partnered with the IMAX Corporation and HSN to coordinate a hot air balloon campaign across the United States beginning in California at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, stopping at four locations; the El Capitan Theater during the world premiere, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, the Daytona International Speedway in Florida and Central Park in New York City.[54] Disney also promoted the film through its theme parks; Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival featured a multi-purpose garden and play area themed to the film and Disney California Adventure hosted sample viewings inside the Muppet*Vision 3D theatre.[55][56] The estimated marketing campaign cost upwards of $100 million.[29]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Oz the Great and Powerful was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD and digital download on June 11, 2013.[57] The film is Disney's first home media release to exclude a physical digital copy disc and instead provides only a digital code for the download.[58] Oz the Great and Powerful debuted at number one in its first week of home media release in overall disc sales with 46% of its first week sales from Blu-ray disc.[59] The film has earned $52 million in sales.[60]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Oz the Great and Powerful earned $234.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $258.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $493.3 million.[3] Worldwide, it was the thirteenth highest-grossing film of 2013.[61] Calculating in all expenses, Deadline.com estimated that the film made a profit of $36.4 million.[62] It topped the box office on its worldwide opening weekend with $149 million.[63] Before its theatrical release, several media outlets reported that Oz the Great and Powerful was expected to duplicate the box office performance of 2010's Alice in Wonderland.[64][65][66] However, Oz accumulated less than half of Alice's worldwide gross.[67]

text: Preliminary reports had the film tracking for an $80–$100 million debut in North America.[68] The movie earned $2 million from 9 p.m. showings on Thursday night.[69] For its opening day, Oz the Great and Powerful grossed $24.1 million, the fourth-highest March opening day.[70] During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $79.1 million, the third-highest March opening weekend.[71] Despite the film's solid debut, which was larger than nearly all comparable titles, it clearly lagged behind Alice in Wonderland's opening ($116.1 million). The film's 3-D share of the opening weekend was 53%. Females made up 52% of the audience. Surprisingly, though, families only represented 41% of attendance, while couples accounted for 43%.[71] The film retained first place at the box office during its second weekend with $41.3 million.[72]

text: Outside North America, the film earned $69.9 million on its opening weekend from 46 territories. Among all markets, its highest-grossing debuts were achieved in Russia and the CIS ($14.7 million), China ($9.06 million)[73] and France and the Maghreb region ($5.77 million).[74] The film's openings trailed Alice in Wonderland in all major markets except Russia and the CIS.[75] It retained first place at the box office outside North America for a second weekend.[76] In total grosses, Oz's largest countries are Russia and the CIS ($27.4 million), China ($25.9 million) and the UK, Ireland and Malta ($23.4 million).[74]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Oz the Great and Powerful received an approval rating of 59% based on 247 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It suffers from some tonal inconsistency and a deflated sense of wonder, but Oz the Great and Powerful still packs enough visual dazzle and clever wit to be entertaining in its own right."[77] On Metacritic the film holds a score of 44 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".[78] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[79]

text: Kim Newman, writing for Empire, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "If there are post-Harry Potter children who don't know or care about The Wizard Of Oz, they might be at sea with this story about a not-very-nice grownup in a magic land, but long-term Oz watchers will be enchanted and enthralled ... Mila Kunis gets a gold star for excellence in bewitchery and Sam Raimi can settle securely behind the curtain as a mature master of illusion."[80] Critic Alonso Duralde also admired the movie: "That Oz the Great and Powerful is so thoroughly effective both on its own terms and as a prequel to one of the most beloved movies ever made indicates that this team has magic to match any witch or wizard."[81] Leonard Maltin on IndieWire claimed that "No movie ever can, or will, replace 1939's The Wizard Of Oz, but taken on its own terms, this eye-filling fantasy is an entertaining riff on how the Wizard of that immortal film found his way to Oz."[82] IGN rated the film 7.8 and said, "The film is expansive and larger-than-life in scope and so are the performances, overall. Franco in particular hams it up and is often playing to the balcony ... The 3D is utilized just as it should be in a children's fantasy epic such as this – overtly, but with skill. Snowflakes, music boxes and mysterious animals all leap through the screen towards the audience as the story unfolds."[83]

text: Justin Chang of Variety had a mixed reaction, writing that the film "gets some mileage out of its game performances, luscious production design and the unfettered enthusiasm director Sam Raimi brings to a thin, simplistic origin story."[84] He also compared the film's scale with the Star Wars prequel trilogy adding, "In a real sense, Oz the Great and Powerful has a certain kinship with George Lucas' Star Wars prequels, in the way it presents a beautiful but borderline-sterile digital update of a world that was richer, purer and a lot more fun in lower-tech form. Here, too, the actors often look artificially superimposed against their CG backdrops, though the intensity of the fakery generates its own visual fascination."[84] /Film rated the film 7 out of 10, saying it had "many charms" while considering it to be "basically Army of Darkness: (Normal guy lands in magical land, is forced to go on quest to save that land.) But just when you see Raimi's kinetic, signature style starting to unleash, the story forces the film back into its Disney shell to play to the masses. We're left with a film that's entertaining, a little scarier than you'd expect, but extremely inconsistent."[85]

text: Richard Roeper, writing for Roger Ebert, noted the film's omnipresent visual effects but was largely disappointed by the performance of some cast members; "... to see Williams so bland and sugary as Glinda, and Kunis so flat and ineffectual as the heartsick Theodora ..."[86] Marshall Fine of The Huffington Post was unimpressed, writing, "Oh, it's exciting enough for a six-year-old; anyone older, however, will already have been exposed to so much on TV, at the movies and on the Internet that this will seem like so much visual cotton-candy. Even a sophisticated grade-schooler will find these doings weak and overblown."[87] Similarly, Todd McCarthy criticized the characterization, writing that the film's supporting cast "can't begin to compare with their equivalents in the original ... so the burden rests entirely upon Franco and Williams, whose dialogue exchanges are repetitive and feel tentative."[88] Entertainment Weekly agreed, giving the film a C+ and saying that the "miscast" Franco "lacks the humor, charm, and gee-whiz wonder we're meant to feel as he trades wisecracks with a flying monkey ... and soars above a field of poppies in a giant soap bubble. If he's not enchanted, how are we supposed to be?" and complaining that "while Raimi's Oz is like retinal crack, he never seduces our hearts and minds."[8] Alisha Coelho of in.com gave the movie 2.5 stars, saying "Oz The Great and Powerful doesn't leave a lasting impression, but is an a-ok watch."[89]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Awards

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipient and nominees
Result

Costume Designers Guild[90]
February 22, 2014
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche
Nominated

Golden Trailer Awards[91]
May 5, 2013
Best Animation/Family
"Witches"
Nominated

Best Animation/Family TV Spot
"Super Hybrid"
Nominated

"Music Box"
Nominated

Kids' Choice Awards[92]
March 29, 2014
Favorite Movie

Nominated

Favorite Movie Actress
Mila Kunis
Nominated

MTV Movie Awards[93]
April 13, 2014
Best Villain
Mila Kunis
Won

People's Choice Awards[94]
January 8, 2014
Best Family Film

Nominated

Phoenix Film Critics Society
December 17, 2013
Best Live Action Family Film

Won

Best Production Design
Robert Stromberg
Nominated

Satellite Awards[95]
February 24, 2014
Best Visual Effects
James Schwalm, Scott Stokdyk, Troy Saliba
Nominated

Best Art Direction and Production Design
Nancy Haigh, Robert Stromberg
Nominated

Best Costume Design
Gary Jones
Nominated

Saturn Awards
June 2014
Best Fantasy Film

Nominated

Best Music
Danny Elfman
Nominated

Best Production Design
Robert Stromberg
Nominated

Best Costume
Gary Jones
Nominated

Teen Choice Awards
August 11, 2013
Choice Movie – Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Nominated

Choice Movie Actor – Sci-Fi/Fantasy
James Franco
Nominated

Choice Movie Actress – Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Mila Kunis
Nominated

Michelle Williams
Nominated

Visual Effects Society
February 12, 2014
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Troy Saliba, In-Ah Roediger, Carolyn Vale, Kevin Souls for "China Girl"
Nominated

text: Sequel[edit]

text: On March 7, 2013, Variety confirmed that Disney has already approved plans for a sequel, with Mitchell Kapner and Joe Roth returning as screenwriter and producer respectively.[96] Mila Kunis said during an interview with E! News, "We're all signed on for sequels."[97] On March 8, 2013, Sam Raimi told Bleeding Cool that he has no plans to direct the sequel, saying, "I did leave some loose ends for another director if they want to make the picture," and that "I was attracted to this story but I don't think the second one would have the thing I would need to get me interested."[98] On March 11, 2013, Kapner and Roth have said to the Los Angeles Times that the sequel will "absolutely not" involve Dorothy, with Kapner pointing out that there are twenty years between the events of the first film and Dorothy's arrival, and "a lot can happen in that time."[99]