Only a Scarecrow Would Fall for This: The AI Wizard of Oz Scam

The Wizard of Oz is one of the greatest achievements in film history. Released in 1939, the film tells the story of Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas who is transported to the fantastical world of Oz. Along the way, she encounters a cast of unforgettable characters while searching for a way home. Generations later, the film remains timeless. Its music is still catchy, its cinematography still striking, and its emotional core still resonates: the experience of being lost in a strange place and slowly finding friendship and belonging.

Because of that timelessness, altering the film in any significant way often feels like sacrilege. Remasters and restorations already walk a fine line. Done poorly, they strip away the texture and intention of the original, smoothing over details simply to appear “cleaner” or “sharper” for modern audiences. Yet what has recently been done to The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is not a cautious update. It is something much worse.

Marketed as a “new experience,” The Wizard of Oz at Sphere transforms the film into a spectacle dominated by artificial intelligence. The screen stretches across the venue, with AI-generated backgrounds replacing the original settings. Scenes are reimagined, while the original cinematography becomes almost irrelevant. The price tag adds insult to injury: tickets start at $100 and can climb to $350.

Make no mistake, this is not preservation. It is mutilation. The AI-crafted visuals clash with the film’s natural grain, leaving an uncanny mismatch between the authentic and the artificial. Large sections of the original picture are cut, leaving viewers with fragments instead of the whole. Which raises the question: why do this at all? The 4K release of the film is currently available on Amazon for $15. If audiences truly want to experience the film, why pay exponentially more for what is essentially a distorted copy? The answer is uncomfortable but simple. This is not an artistic endeavor. It is a product.

And that distinction matters. The Wizard of Oz at Sphere illustrates how modern entertainment often treats films less as complete works and more as endlessly exploitable intellectual property. A classic film is no longer allowed to remain as it is. Instead, it must be reintroduced, repackaged, and expanded to sustain a cycle of novelty and revenue. Studios no longer seem content with stories that stand on their own. Every piece of “lore” must be preserved, expanded, and recontextualized. Fans are told they must keep up with every update, no matter how unnecessary, to truly “experience” the story.

This is why the Sphere event feels so egregious. It is not merely a restoration, like the controversial Star Wars Special Editions, which at least claimed to represent a director’s vision. It is instead a wholesale reimagining of a film that was never meant to be seen this way. The studio’s justification is simple: because they can. It is “new,” it is “different,” and that novelty alone is meant to carry the experience. If it clashes with the original’s artistic intent, if it reduces a cinematic classic to AI-generated filler, so be it. The studio assumes audiences will not care. As long as the most iconic moments remain recognizable, the thinking goes, audiences will pay to see them again.

The result is an experience that looks and feels like what it is: AI nonsense. A soulless novelty presented under the guise of innovation.

Ultimately, The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is not a celebration of film history. It is another lazy attempt to squeeze profit from an intellectual property rather than investing in original work. It caters to nostalgia while disrespecting the source, hoping audiences will mistake familiarity for artistry. And perhaps they will. If audiences continue to pay for this kind of spectacle, then perhaps they deserve the hollow experiences that follow.