No Place Like Home is a 2007 internet film VERY loosely adapting The Wizard of Oz, directed and produced by Ryan Murphy and Patrick Ryan, written by Murphy, Ryan, and Neil Cicierega, and starring Murphy, Ryan, Cicierega, Kevin James, J.L. Carrozza, Sean Murphy, and Lauren Mack, with music by Cicierega and Jake Quilty-Dunn.
A vagrant drunkard named Tom stops into a bar, gets hammered, and wakes up to find his shoes gone and the place empty, except for a pair of red sneakers on the ground. As soon as he puts them on and heads out the door, the bar vanishes, and he finds himself in a strange land... that sucks, so he seeks the help of a wizard to send him literally anywhere else. Along the way, Tom meets a few new friends who also seek various forms of aid from the wizard, but he also makes a powerful and mysterious enemy....
The cast:
- Patrick Ryan as Tom
- Neil Cicierega as the Scarecrow/Drunk
- Kevin James as the Robot/Bartender
- J.L. Carrozza as the Cowardly Lion/Drunk
- Sean Murphy as the Wizard
- Lauren Mack as Glinda the Good Witch/Munchkin
- Jake Quilty-Dunn as Jake/Minion
- And "introducing" Ryan Murphy as the Wicked Witch
Features the following tropes:
- Absolute Xenophobe: The Munchkins aren't fond of humans trespassing on their turf.
- Adapted Out: Toto (unless you count Tom's flask), Uncle Henry, Auntie Em, Miss Gulch, the Witch of the East (Tom just finds the shoes on the ground), and Professor Marvel.
- All Just a Dream: Per the movie.
- Anvil on Head: How Glinda sends Tom back from Oz after the shoes fail.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Discussed in the Scarecrow's case.
- But You Were There, and You, and You: Subverted. The actors playing Scarecrow, Robot, Lion, and the Witch's Minion all appear in the bar scenes, but Tom doesn't recognize any of them as their Oz-ian counterparts when he comes to at the end.
- Diegetic Switch: "Yellow-Brick Road", the opening credits song, turns out to be played by Jake in the bar as Tom walks in.
- Dirty Coward: Nope, not the Lion. It's the Wizard.
- Everything's Better with Samurai: The Cowardly Lion is actually a wandering Rōnin.
- Exact Words/Literal Genie: "There's no place like home" kinda only works if you have a home.
- Hong Kong Dub: Parodied with (almost) all of the Cowardly Lion's dialogue.
- Informed Flaw: The Lion's cowardice. He's incredibly brave & stoic throughout his entire screen time, being far more proactive than any other character in fighting the villains.
- It Was with You All Along: Metaphysically speaking. Metaphorically speaking, too. It's all good. (Special mention to the Lion, though, who never at any point shows any signs whatsoever of cowardice.)
- Incredibly Lame Pun: "You may call me the Cowardly Lion, so named for the cowardice which lines my very heart."
- Kill It with Water: Subverted. Dousing the Witch with water appears to have no effect other than being annoying. It does keep the Witch distracted long enough for the Lion to slice his head off, though.
- Magic Feather: To represent the Scarecrow's brains, a General Equivalency Diploma. To upgrade the Robot's operating system so he can process emotions, a copy of Windows XP. To reward the Lion's courage, a bowling trophy. And absolutely nothing at all for Tom, because this Wizard is even less magical than the original.
- Mundane Made Awesome: "Joy! Rapture! I have a G.E.D.!"
- No More for Me: Tom after he returns from Oz. Too bad the barkeep doesn't have anything non-alcoholic.
- Nonindicative Name: The Cowardly Lion is neither.
- Off to See the Wizard: Natch.
- Playing with Fire: The Witch's henchmen's power.
- Reality Warper: Seemingly the Witch's power.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: The end credits thank "Frank L. Baum."
- Shout-Out:
- Tom is blatantly an Expy of Tom Waits.
- The score when Tom is first wandering through Oz is based on The Dark Side of the Moon.
- The Witch's song sequence is an homage to Tim Curry's number in The Worst Witch.
- The Witch's song also borrows random clips from the Care Bears, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and the Peanuts Flashbeagle special.
- When the Wizard is making up new tasks for the heroes, he mentions the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Tom has a filthy, filthy mouth.
- The Man Behind the Curtain: Or, at least, under a blanket.
- There's No Place Like Home: ...if you have one.
- Visual Pun: The Wizard leaves Tom holding the bag.
