Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site topaz.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!columbia!topaz!binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA From: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: The Oz canon and the film Message-ID: <2373@topaz.ARPA> Date: Tue, 25-Jun-85 10:48:31 EDT Article-I.D.: topaz.2373 Posted: Tue Jun 25 10:48:31 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 02:01:33 EDT Sender: daemon@topaz.ARPA Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 92 From: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Wherever you go, there you are.) > ...credit is given to Baum, as it is declared that the movie "Return to Oz" > is based on /The Land of Oz/ and /Tik-Tok of Oz/. (At least it so declares > in the movie ads. I have not inspected the book.) Actually, the film credits say /The Land of Oz/ and /Ozma of Oz/ -- the plot of the film follows TLoO fairly closely, with only touches from OoO. If you are a Baum fan, GO SEE THE FILM. It's delightful; the Disney people did a very good job of capturing the feeling of Oz as envisaged by Baum, with the characters modelled after the drawings by John R. Neill, who did all the Baum books except the first one. Don't take VERY small children to see it - there are a couple of rather intense moments. Baum, who was called the Royal Historian of Oz, wrote 14 Oz books: 1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (reissued as The Wizard of Oz) 2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (reissued as The Land of Oz) 3. Ozma of Oz 4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz 5. The Road to Oz 6. The Emerald City of Oz 7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz 8. Tik-Tok of Oz 9. The Scarecrow of Oz 10. Rinkitink in Oz 11. The Lost Princess of Oz 12. The Tin Woodman of Oz 13. The Magic of Oz 14. Glinda of Oz Ruth Plumly Thompson, who I believe was Baum's daughter, wrote 19 more: 15. The Royal Book of Oz 16. Kabumpo in Oz 17. The Cowardly Lion of Oz 18. Grampa in Oz 19. The Lost King of Oz 20. The Hungry Tiger of Oz 21. The Gnome King of Oz (Baum, never a scholar, spelled it 'Nome'!) 22. The Giant Horse of Oz 23. Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz 24. The Yellow Knight of Oz 25. Pirates in Oz 26. The Purple Prince of Oz 27. Ojo in Oz 28. Speedy in Oz 29. The Wishing Horse of Oz 30. Captain Salt in Oz 31. Handy Mandy in Oz 32. The Silver Princess in Oz 33. Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz John R. Neill, who had illustrated Baum's works, did three: 34. The Wonder City of Oz 35. Scalawagons of Oz 36. Lucky Bucky in Oz Jack Snow, about whom I know nothing, did two: 37. The Magical Mimics in Oz 38. The Shaggy Man of Oz Rachel R. Cosgrove did one: 39. The Hidden Valley of Oz Finally, Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren McGraw Wagner did one: 40. Merry Go Round in Oz The titles, naming various characters as they do, belie the fact that many of the characters, including Tik-Tok, Ozma, and Jack Pumpkinhead, were introduced in TLoO. The Oz canon, if it may be called such, is thus set at 40 books. Baum also wrote a stage play about Oz, which was produced to rave reviews, and several silent screenplays, which were filmed by his own production company. The Disney Studios bought the film rights to Baum's books, excepting only the first, which was already owned by MGM. Disney actually started production of a musical called "The Rainbow Land of Oz" in the '50s, but Walt himself stopped it when he realised that it wasn't even going to approach the appeal of the Judy Garland film. Cheers, Dick Binder (The Stainless Steel Rat) UUCP: { decvax, allegra, ucbvax... }!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dosadi!binder ARPA: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA Tue 25-Jun-1985 09:40 Eastern Daylight Time