Video Review: Tin Woodman Of Oz

Hash Inc. has come out with a feature-length online computer animated movie based on the tweflth Oz book, Tin Woodman Of Oz. It adapts L. Frank Baum's novel, but is done slightly out of order from the original story.

The movie starts out with the Winkie boy Woot visiting Tin Woodman and Scarecrow in the Tin Palace. TW tells Woot his origin about how he was originally a woodchopper, but the Wicked Witch of the East's curse on his axe cut his body up, and because of it he never got to marry his love, Nimmie Amee. This causes him to reflect on leaving her, so the trio set out to find her. Along the way, they meet the strange balloon-like Loon people, and eventually make it to the tinsmith Ku-Klip who gave Tin Woodman his new body. Ku-Klip them that he took most of Tin Woodman's remaning human parts and assembled them(along with a metal arm)into a new body he called Chopfyt. Ku-Klip directs them to where Nimmie now lives. Once there, Tin Woodman is shocked to find that she is already happily married to Chopfyt, even if he is henpecked by her. Our crew leave with Tin Woodman feeling depressed, but accidently wander into the house of the evil magic-using giantess, Ms. Yoop. She turns Tin Woodman into a tin owl, Scarecrow into a teddy bear, and Woot into a green monkey. Yoop then keeps them as prisioners, but they are set free with the help of the tin girl, Nimee Aimie. She was a substitute that Ku-Klip made for the Wicked Witch in place for Nimmie Amee, but was later on enslaved herself by Yoop. Despite his new owl form, Tin Woodman takes a real shining to the tin girl, and the four escapees make their way across Munchkinland. Luckily, Ozma(who here seems alot older and looks more like Glinda)shows up and transforms them back into their normal selves. Tin Woodman and Nimee fall in love, and the two go back to the Tin Palace along with Scarecrow.

There's alot of differences in the original version of the book and this movie. For one was the absense of the Tin Soldier character, and the addition of the Tin Girl. This did make for a slightly happier ending at least for Tin Woodman, despite the fact that the Tin Girl's character wasn't in the book. Also left out were the regular Oz characters: Dorothy, Jinjur, and Polychrome. Plus, Ms. Yoop gave off the appearance of a large dragon-woman as opposed to a human giantess. The sequential order was shifted around too, like Tin Woodman reuniting with Nimmie being near the beginning where as in the original it was more at the end. The animation is pretty good for a totally independent production, although not up on the Pixar level, and it makes for a good flick for the kids. The movie is currently online(check out this playlist for the proper order)along with some out-takes and deleted scenes. Hash Inc. is planning on releasing it on DVD soon, as well as doing a sequal to it adapted from the ninth Oz novel, Scarecrow Of Oz(see some test videos), to come out in 2010-2011.