Nick Willing was chosen as the director for the piece. He brought with him his experience in directing the 1999 reimagining of "Alice in Wonderland", and said that it was not his intention to have it be "The Wizard of Oz". They set out to use the science fiction elements to completely change the story. As Willing speaks about the characters' reflection of the originals, he writes that, "the witch is now running things, Toto is working for her, and Dorothy doesn't even know she's Dorothy."