The Wizard of Oz is an absolute classic, but the dramatic transformation it just underwent has people up in arms.
Featured VideoThe Sphere offers an AI Wizard of Oz experience
On August 28, the Las Vegas venue The Sphere will screen the movie on a 160,000-square-foot wraparound LED screen.
As reported by CBS Sunday Morning, a team of 2,000 people is utilizing AI to enhance the film’s resolution and expand its footage beyond the frames shot during the 1930s.
AdvertisementFor instance, Turner Classic Movie presenter Ben Mankiewicz described how, with the help of AI, “a grainy close-up of Dorothy becomes richly detailed, and then through a process called outpainting — though it seems like magic — we see the rest of the Scarecrow, the Yellow Brick Road, and the mountains of Oz.”
“Our standard on this was not to modify the film at all but to try and bring you into the film, as if you were in the studio when it was shot,” Sphere Entertainment CEO James Dolan adds.
Erasing key movie details and making up the rest
Segments from the movie have now gone viral online, and netizens are nothing short of outraged.
AdvertisementThe Oz Archive, a Wizard of Oz fan account on X, is especially vocal about this new cut. They share comparison screenshots of Judy Garland as Dorothy, with the modified version showing her with more realistic skin as opposed to the graininess 1930s movies are known for.
They write, “Over 90% of the film has been ‘touched up’ with AI to create this new version of the film. Personally, I find this to be disgraceful.”
In another post, they share a scene from when Dorothy was in Kansas. You’ll notice the area is much longer, utilizing generative AI to fit the sphere screen:
AdvertisementThe expanded scene also featured an actor standing in the corner of the room before walking to get closer to Dorothy. The sequence was entirely made with AI.
“Maybe the most insulting aspect about ‘The Wizard of Oz at Sphere,’ and I don’t mean to sound so harsh, but this has bothered me, is the generation of new performances by actors who are not here to consent to this portrayal,” they add.
Fellow netizen Di found an issue with this same scene. They write, “I thought this was just about removing the grainy look, which is awful enough, but they also changed the aspect ratio of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, changed the frame, removed the pan, created a walk that the actor never did? Who tf do these vandals think they are?”
AdvertisementX user @subwiredesire echoed these comments, writing, “If you think the people who worked on The Wizard of Oz would’ve ever wanted it to look this garishly ugly, you are unbelievably stupid.”
Social media users hate the idea
Film critic Stephen Whitty adds, “Disappointing to see anyone from @TCM lending their name to this. This classic isn’t being ‘reimagined,’ it’s being desecrated, a long and ugly tradition that goes back to the butchering of ‘Greed.’ Film lovers protested colorization and pan-and-scan. They need to protest this.”
AdvertisementIn another fatal blow, X users like @poddtadre mock the project, writing, “‘You don’t understand, they HAVE to use AI to defile the Wizard of Oz or else it won’t look right on the Sphere screen!’ Wow, sounds like they shouldn’t be screening the movie there then.”
Meanwhile, user @DuckHonkin took an alternate approach. They include a screenshot of Adobe Premiere’s latest update, writing, “I’d argue that low-key filler content that most likely goes unnoticed is more depressing and insidious. It seems obvious that it will be absolutely everywhere if it isn’t already.”
AdvertisementNeedless to say, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore…
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