The Appraiser is the secondary antagonist in the 2014 animated film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return.
He was voiced by Martin Short, who also played The Jester in the same film, Huy in The Prince of Egypt, Ooblar in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Preminger in Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper, Jack Frost in Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Mr. Wiloughby in The Wiloughbys.
Role in the film[]
In Kansas, after the events of the original film, the Appraiser first appeared with his short henchman when they arrived at the Gale farm residence after it was damaged by a tornado, and after doing some 'investigations', he declares it a danger-zone and told Dorothy's family that they have until sunset to evacuate from the house and meet him in town to sign up for paperwork, otherwise they will be evicted. It is also shown that several more of the citizens has received eviction notices from the Appraiser and that have started up packing their things and heading down the road to find new homes. However, Dorothy refused to accept this, but Auntie Em and Uncle Henry declared that they have no choice but to leave, much to Dorothy's despair.
In the end, following Dorothy's return back to Kansas after defeating the Jester, Dorothy ran into town, where she spots the Appraiser having several citizens to sign up some paperwork. Defying his words, Dorothy attempts to convince the people not to sell away their homes. It was until Toto finally grabbed the Appraiser's wallet after a brief scuffle between Dorothy and the Appraiser, and Dorothy finds multiple fake IDs ranging from state to state, realizing that the Appraiser is really nothing but a conman who is trying buy the town by driving people out of their homes and capitalize it on real estate prices. When Dorothy shows this to the local sheriff, he puts the Appraiser under arrest for fraud, larceny, and obtaining property under false pretenses. As the Appraiser's aide start to run off while being chased by Toto, the Appraiser attempts to put the blame on him and tells the sheriff that he is making a big mistake, but the sheriff is not fooled by this, telling the Appraiser, "You can tell that to the judge." As such, the Appraiser is presumed to face charges for his felonious crimes and receive a life sentence in prison.
Trivia[]
- He's sort of a stand-in for Miss Almira Gulch from the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz movie. However, they are vastly different as Miss Gulch is female, a landlord and while generally unpleasant, isn't a criminal while The Appraiser is male, a con-artist and is completely antagonistic.
