First Look: New ‘Wizard of Oz’ Effects at Las Vegas Sphere

The Las Vegas Sphere has finally shown, not just teased, the upgrades coming to The Wizard of Oz when the refreshed production debuts next Friday (Sept. 25). Producer Ben Grossmann puts it plainly in a new preview video: “It’s not enough to just recreate the land of Oz. You have to feel like you’re inside of it.”

The logic is simple. A 75‑minute loop that people willingly sit through more than once needs fresh experiences. So the world’s most technologically advanced theater just made itself more technologically advanced.

It’s still the same movie experience—just with more of the room participating.

These six additions sit on top of the effects that have been running since opening day on Aug. 28, 2025: tornado winds, swirling debris, fog, haptic seats, fire bursts, falling apples, and the flying monkeys version 1.0.

1. Monkey Business 2.0

This is the marquee upgrade. In 2025, it was enough for physical monkeys to appear to fly off the screen and over your head. But more than 3.6 million people have already seen that stupid pet trick. The first-gen monkeys were 16-foot helium inflatables steered by drone operators. Their only motion, besides drifting forward, was wing-flapping. They floated more than they performed.

The new monkeys are animatronic. As shown in the video, they’re capable of moving their faces and bodies in menacing ways as they pass overhead during the witch’s attack. They also seem to be hanging from an overhead line, though the Sphere has not officially described the new flight system.

See for yourself…

2. Scented Scene Changes

Smell is the quietest upgrade but may be the most powerful. (Scent anchors memories more strongly than any other sense.) The new Oz adds more scents timed to scene changes. Expect the room to smell different when Kansas gives way to Oz, when the orchard turns hostile, and when the poppy field knocks everyone out.

3. Glinda’s Glitter Gulch

The original production already dropped artificial snow when Glinda broke the poppy spell. “Glinda’s Glitter” is the sparkle equivalent of that idea: a visible shower of goodness.

It will also double as a built-in alibi for any romantically involved conventioneer who mistakenly comes home with glitter on their clothes.

“Oh, didn’t I mention we saw the new Wizard of Oz, honey?”

4. More Hot Air

The upgrade adds fireworks that celebrate Dorothy’s originally intended exit home, safely heating the air between the seats and the screen as the hot-air balloon lifts off without her. (Sorry, did we really spoil that for you?)

Fire was already in the building. Columns of flame rose during the Wizard’s lion-terrifying chamber scene, and will continue doing so.

5. Apple of My Nose

Foam fruit has fallen from the rafters since opening night. People take them home and sometimes sell them for $20 a pop on eBay. The upgrade now is that they smell like apples.

6. Drones Flutter By?

Also shown in the video are butterflies that appear to be drones. Though these were not previously teased, butterflies were digitally added to the scene in which Dorothy exits her crashed house into Oz and the film turns from sepia to Technicolor.

It’s safe to assume that the drones will fly during the same scene.

What’s Not Coming

During a previous Sphere earnings call, Sphere chair Jim Dolan teased a “broomstick ride with a witch.”

That line got repeated as part of “Wizard 2.0,” with most media outlets assuming it was to be among the production’s new effects.

Our suspicion is that Dolan was referring to an immersive video simulator—likely intended for the lobby before the movie begins.

Either way, the idea was apparently delayed or scrapped.