Mila Kunis was the worst part of this
Of all the actresses that Disney could have gone for to cast the Wicked Witch of the West before she went evil, they picked the absolute worst actress to do it. Mila Kunis can't act to save her life unless she's basically playing herself.
I remember writing extensively about it on Quora, but I'll leave the Cliff Notes version here:
- since when do fantasy princesses who grew up in another realm behave exactly like modern, Southern Californian fangirls when they go goo-goo-eyed over a handsome stranger?
- why on earth does a fantasy princess have a different accent than the two sisters she grew up with? It makes no sense whatsoever.
- Was Theodora really that stupid as to not notice red flags from Eudora's behavior over the years? Surely she could tell something was up with her older sister both before and after their dad died.
- could Theodora really have been so stupid as to not notice how selfish and uncaring Oscar was towards the less-fortunate? I mean, he neglected the little monkey right in front of her!
- using a green apple to transform Theodora into the wicked witch was not only cliche for Disney, it was DISGUSTINGLY cliche--you guys lazily took that poisoned apple right from Snow White!
- Mila did okay when Theodora turned into the Wicked Witch, but frankly, her previous "Princess Theodora" persona ruined both the character and the story, so the wicked witch performance was tainted as a result
Moral of the story: do not cast someone who can only play half of the role required, and do a shitty job with the other half.