After the opening segment (a heavy-handed homage to
A New Hope…not accidental, but misdirection to get you in
Star Wars mode),
the entire middle of Skeleton Crew is The Wizard of Oz.
Not precisely note-for-note…but the core structure (boring life, whisked elsewhere, but finding there’s no place like home), character archetypes, plot elements, certain visual refs just for fun…it’s
completely that story, through a sci-fi filter. I mean, consider:
(See, this is why I was upset about Brutus. It was
his destiny to poke that eye out, but the story took a hard turn at that precise moment.)
Your mission, then, is to watch again and try to
spot all the hints, references and parallels. Just a few off the top of my head:
- Take a drink every time someone says “Wizard!”
- The Barrier / Emerald City (green)
- Jewels of the Old Republic / Emerald City (Oz books also included a Ruby City)
- Map: At Attin in center (again, Oz books, maps place Emerald City at center)
- Coordinate card from Kh'ymm’s computer / first brick on the road (yellow)
- Kids disguised to enter Skull Ridge Spa / characters disguised to enter the witches castle
- The parents’ message / Aunt Em in the crystal ball
- KB’s strained speech and subsequent repair / the oil can
And on. And on. And on. This isn’t just creepy fan theory, it’s
absolutely intentional.
My absolute favorite that I’ve noticed so far though:
where was Kh’ymm’s observatory located?
They worked in a
whole plot point of this. THE JOKE HAS LAYERS!
