The Wizard of Oz

The books

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. This was part of his effort to create a body of American literature in the fairy tale genre. It was a great success and he followed it with thirteen more books set in the land of Oz. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued the series with nineteen more, and other authors wrote more. The Land of Oz was one of the earliest of what fantasy fans now call "fictional universes." Like the Sherlock Holmes stories it has attracted a large number of devoted fans, who like to discuss them as if the world actually existed.

"Oz" is the abbreviation for "ounce," and it has been suggested that Baum was making a political allusion to bimetallism, a hot political topic of the day.

The film adaptation

It was loosely adapted into a 1939 motion picture, The Wizard of Oz, which has over the course of years become one of the most beloved movies of all time. It was released when Technicolor was still a relatively new process—the three-strip process having been introduced in 1932. It plays on the novelty of color by presenting the first reel, when Dorothy is awake and in the real world of Kansas, in black-and-white, then switching to color for the scenes set in Oz.

In 2009, the movie will celebrate its 70th anniversary. The plot of both the book and movie revolve around a little girl named Dorothy who, along with her dog Toto,finds herself transported into a world called Oz. Along the way, she befriends the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion. Often considered a classic of children's literature, The Wizard of Oz deals with friendship, courage, and resourcefulness.