The Great Wishy Woz, Part 1
John 14:6
“The Great Wishy Woz, Part 1” is episode #453 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written and directed by John Fornof, and originally aired on October 28, 2000.
Summary
Kids' Radio features a story about a young girl named Dotty who is transported to a strange land.
Plot
KIDS Radio presents a familiar story with a new twist. After being thrown into a new land by a tornado, Dotty and her dog Nono try their best to get back home and meet many new friends along the way, including Manny Kin (played by Tom Riley), Metal Guy (played by Bernard Walton), and Mystic Mountain Lion (played by Jack Allen). They follow the "Big Fat Road"; from Little Land to the Really, Really Green and Environmentally Correct City. There the Great Wishy Woz sends them on a quest to four items. They face dangers from the Wicked and Mean and Generally Not Very Nice Woman, rusty hinges, and even burnt fur! Will they make it back to the Wishy Woz and get their wishes granted?
- This plot section is too short and should be expanded. »
Discussion Questions
- What was Manny Kin looking for on his quest?
- How about Metal Guy?
- And Mystic Mountain Lion?
- The Fairy Oddmother told Dotty that she should follow the Big Fat Road. Was that good advice?
- Why do you think that she didn't want Dotty talking to the fisherman?
Cast
Notes
VERSION DIFFERENCE: [view]
- This show was originally more than eleven minutes over the broadcast time, so significant cuts had to be made:
- Fairy Oddmother tries to give Dotty some glass slippers for her trip before she realizes that it's the wrong story
- Mystic Mountain Lion nearly hyperventilates when he realizes that he isn't scary
- Metal Guy has quite a few more smart remarks
- However, a few scenes were able to remain intact for the album version, even though they had to be cut from the broadcast version:
- Extended laugh scenes in Little Land
- A full version of Follow the Big Fat Road by the Littles
- More jokes by the Fairy Oddmother
- A few more lines in the scenes where Metal Guy and Mystic Mountain Lion are introduced
- Trivia
- This two-part episode is unique in many ways, especially since it's a musical. John Beebee wrote the song lyrics and came up with the tunes. He then sang them for John Campbell over the phone, who scored the songs and provided scratch tracks, or tapes of the music for the actors to practice with ahead of time. The songs include:
- Though Mandy's family was still very much intact at this time in AIO, the premise of Dotty's parents divorcing foreshadowed the trouble Mandy's parents would go through later on.
- Allusions
- This entire two-part episode is a parody of The Wizard of Oz. E.g., Dotty is Dorthy, Nono is Toto, Little Land is Munchkin Land, etc.
- This show was John Beebee's directorial debut.
- The name Aunt Bea from this episode is a reference to the character of the same name on the The Andy Griffith show, on which the original Whit actor Hal Smith played Otis.
- Metal Guy's line from this episode "I'm looking for love -- in all the wrong places apparently," is a reference to the Johnny Lee song "Lookin' for Love."
- Fairy Oddmother's warning to Dotty in this episode about being back before 12 ("from the wrong story") is a reference to Cinderella.
- The inverted word order of Mystic Mountain Lion's dialogue heard in these episodes is most likely based on the similar language heard from the character of Yoda in the Star Wars movies.
- See main article: List of Star Wars references
- Audio
- The "Follow the Big Fat Road" song from this episode contains a few bars from the Christmas song Deck the Halls.
- Reviews
Quotes
Dotty: Oh! How Curious!
Metal Guy: Now isn't that just peachy keen. So I'm a road-side curiosity now, huh?
Mystic Mountain Lion: And so, my question this ponder; what is truth? For truth, truly true truth, is found in the cow, in the strawberry, and the giant tooky-tooky bird. In all of us is found truth. In our left earlobe, it is found. In our bellybutton, it is found.
Metal Guy: Alright already! Can we talk about something more pleasant? Like maybe in-grown toenails?
Great Wishy Woz: Silence! I am the Great Wishy Woz! And you are little pip-squeaks.
Metal Guy: I'm looking for love. In all the wrong places, apparently.
Manny Kin: I don't have a brain in my head. See?
Dotty: Oh my, you don't?
Manny Kin: Nope. Some folks are out of their mind, but my mind is out of me.
Manny Kin: One day? Well that's only 22 hours. I don't know how we're gonna do it!
Dotty: Thank you! (But they're really not my color...)
Fairy Oddmother: You're welcome! (Deal with it.)
Manny Kin: I guess I could have figured out a way to get my legs back on myself. But after all, I'm just a dummy!
Great Wishy Woz: Mystic Mountain Lion! What do you want?
Mystic Mountain Lion: I want my mommy...
- Episodes aired 13 times
- Episodes in Album 35: The Big Picture
- 2000 Season Episodes
- Episodes sorted alphabetically
- Episodes sorted chronologically
- Episodes hosted by Chris Anthony
- Episodes written by John Fornof
- Episodes directed by John Fornof
- Episodes produced by Rob Jorgensen
- Episodes with sound design by Rob Jorgensen
- Episodes with music by John Campbell
- Episodes recorded at Marc Graue Recording Studio
- Episodes engineered by Rob Jorgensen
- Episodes executive produced by Paul McCusker
- Episodes in 10 CD Collector’s Edition
- Episodes in Platinum Collection
- Episodes in The Great Wishy Woz (sampler album)
- Episodes with Normal intro
- Episodes with Character (Whit) intro
- Episodes with Previews intro
- Episodes with Narration wraps
- Episodes with Normal wraps
- Episodes with theme of Humanism
- Kids' Radio Episodes
- Musical Episodes
- Adaptation Episodes
- Episodes with references from John
- Episodes with promos
- Episodes with samples
- Episodes on CBD
- Episodes on iTunes
- Episodes on Amazon
- Episodes on AIOHQ
- Episodes on the Odyssey Library
- Episodes on the Odyssey Scoop
- Episodes on the Soda Fountain
- Episodes with Bernard Walton
- Episodes with Jack Allen
- Episodes with John Whittaker
- Episodes with Mandy Straussberg
- Episodes with Tom Riley
- Episodes with version differences