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. He was never able to recapture the success of his original work. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued the series with nineteen more stories, and other authors wrote additional books. 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 and write about the land of Oz as if it actually existed.
The classic Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress inspired the characters and dangers described in the Wizard of Oz.[1]
"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. [2]
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 sepia tone, then switching to color for the scenes set in Oz.
The film was successful and well reviewed and won two Academy Awards (for its score, and for the song Over the Rainbow.) When it was released, the New York Times called it "a delightful piece of wonderworking," and said "not since Disney's Snow White has anything quite so fantastic succeeded half so well," but complained about the special effects: "With the best of will and ingenuity [they cannot], without a few jolts and split-screen overlappings, bring down from the sky the great soap bubble in which the Good Witch rides and roll it smoothly into place."[3] During its production and following its release, it was thought to be a very good film, but nothing extraordinary: just part of the stream of fine, professional product that "the industry" in Hollywood knew how to manufacture. Not until it began to be shown on television did it rise to the status it now enjoys. It was first shown on CBS in 1956, then in 1959, then annually as a holiday event. (Viewers then had to be cautioned about the sepia tone opening reel lest they fear their color television sets were malfunctioning).
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.
Trivia
- In 2009, the movie will celebrate its 70th anniversary.
- The movie can supposedly be synched with Pink Floyd's classic album The Dark Side of the Moon. [4]
- A "yellow brick road" can be found in Liberal, Kansas.
- Many parodies of it have been made. Recently, one such was The Wizard of Ha's on Veggie Tales, with changes to match the Story of the Prodigal Son.
Notes and references
- ↑ http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-08-31&view=View
- ↑ http://home.earthlink.net/~jcorbally/eng218/rcross.html
- ↑ Nugent, Frank S. (1939), "The Screen in Review: 'The Wizard of Oz, Produced by the Wizards of Hollywood, Works Its Magic on the Capitol's Screen—March of Time Features New York," The New York Times, August 18, 1939, p. 16
- ↑ http://www.ingsoc.com/waters/info/oz.html
