[4] The film is a screen adaptation of the 1939 children's novel of the same name by the Soviet writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, based on a reworking of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The cast also includes Yuri Kolokolnikov as the Tin Woodman, Yevgeny Chumak as the Scarecrow, Artur Vakha voiced the Cowardly Lion, who was completely computer-generated imagery, and Svetlana Khodchenkova as the evil sorceress Bastinda.

The Wizard of the Emerald City premiered at the Karo 11 October at Arbat Square in Moscow on December 18, 2024,[5] and was theatrically released in Russia on January 1, 2025.

Suddenly, an evil witch named Gingema conjured a hurricane that carried the girl and her dog to the land of Munchkins, where she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, with whom she must go to the Emerald City to find the Wizard who can fulfill their dreams.

[7] Voice cast Other cast members The production of the film began back in April 2022, when the project was presented to senior officials at the Russian Minister of Culture, with the aim of getting them interested in financing the film, and the project received government funding.

One of the most difficult was the casting for the role of the Tin Woodman, but in the end the team decided to settle on the candidacy of Yuri Kolokolnikov.

The Wizard of the Emerald City had its world premiere at their “Karo 11 October” cinema center on New Arbat Avenue in Moscow on December 18, 2024, and was theatrically released by Central Partnership in the Russian Federation on January 1, 2025.

[8] It was given restrained praise by the authors of the publications KinoPoisk ("The finale, flavored with a solid battle scene on a dilapidated bridge, is capable of touching even the most callous audience"),[9] Film.ru ("The infectious chemistry and organic charm of the quartet of friends and Ellie Smith become an antidote to boomer grumbling"), assessed skeptically by the publications Kommersant ("Beautiful pictures replace each other on the screen, but the characters move from one to another completely mechanically"), Mir Fantastiki ("A film for viewers who are not too picky, for whom colorful pictures and a good message will be enough"), and was crushed by the publications Gazeta.Ru ("Voloshin’s film naturally turns out to be an extremely boring spectacle.