Dunno who I'd cast in an ADAPTATION of Baum's original book, but there would be some significant adjustments in the physical appearance of the main characters, since I would start it out in the present day instead of during the Dust Bowl, it absolutely would NOT be a musical, and Dorothy would actually be transported to an alternate universe instead of it all being a dream:
* Dorothy Gale would have to be high school age, and a Goth chick, with colored hair, heavy eyeshadow, the works. In other words, Dorothy would be unpleasant to look at and be so full of hatred and disgust for being trapped in Kansas that she's not a very nice young person. Toto would be a Chihuahua and they'd drive around in a camper which she uses as part of a mandatory job-service sentence. Who to cast, I can't say.
* The Witch would be a green-skinned sexpot in black leather that could bring James Kirk to his knees. The reason for making Dorothy ugly and the Witch attractive is meant to make the Witch terrifying psychologically: the Witch has everything that Dorothy wants in life - she's what Dorothy could end up becoming if she doesn't get her priorities straightened out and her head screwed on right. Catherine Zeta-Jones, maybe?
* The Scarecrow would be pretty basic, patched together on a farm outside Munchkinville: John Deere ballcap, flannel shirt, coveralls and dockers. The makeup detail would be fun for the artists since it would involve sewn-together burlap skin, a shock of straw hair, and acorn eyeballs with buttons sewn on for the pupils. He's also the only one I'd have a definite pick to play: Owen Wilson.
* The Tin Man would take a cue from Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover; he transforms into a motorcycle and sidecar, meaning CGI in a few scenes, but it offers a means of expediating the story (since Omaha is the nearest city to me, I imagine Emerald City to be 30 miles from Munchkinville). He's also a dark, tragic figure with nasty hatchet-fighting skills...maybe go with Wesley Snipes.
* The Lion would probably need to be CGI in places, too, but mostly I'd want to stick with animatronics. Also, I'd take a line from the MGM film, when he tells them to check out the circles under his eyes and that he hasn't slept in weeks - make his hair frayed and askew, his fur patchy and disheveled, heavy bags under his eyes, and his tail all chewed up from him biting it nervously so much. I'd say Brad Garrett for the voice.
* Glinda I don't quite know what to do with. Maybe make her very businesslike, wearing expensive suits, always has a cell-phone on her...you don't get many as high-class as her out in the likes of Munchkinville, and not the kind of person to show up first at the scene of a camper being dropped onto a Wicked Witch. I'd pick someone who can be tough but kind - I keep thinking along the lines of Alfre Woodward.
There'd be other touches I'd have to add to make this version interesting: Munchkinville is like any other modern small town, only built at 1/2 scale - including the gas station and local jail; Emerald City, by contrast, would be the Ultimate Futuristic City, and every hue would be shades of green, yellow or blue; the Witch's home would fall somewhere between Tim Burton's Gotham City and Biff's 1985 from BTTF II; the flying monkeys would be gorillas with bat wings dressed like Nazis; the Wizard would fail to take Dorothy back to Kansas for a VERY different and very shocking reason other than the balloon leaving without her; the poppies would play a similar role but in a completely different and definitely controversial context; there would be Kalidahs all over the Yellow Brick Road; oh, yeah...and enough violence to warrant a PG-13 rating.
