The Wonderful Land of Oz

The world was first introduced to the land of Oz in 1900 when L. Frank Baum first introduced readers to a little girl from Kansas named Dorothy who was swept into a legendary tornado. This first book was followed by thirteen other books, some of them featuring Dorothy, some not. Once the story entered public domain, many other authors picked up the mantle of Oz to write back stories and continuing stories to the landmark classic. I admit to not reading any of these "non cannon" works, yet, but intend to get to them at some time in the future, but without further ado, what I do know about the wonderful land of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

And here, ladies and gentlemen, the book that started it all. The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy Gale from Kansas and her dog Toto who is magically transported to Oz in a tornado. After she accidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East with her house, she is set out on a quest to find the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City by the Good Witch of the North. What I find is interesting tidbit is that in these original stories the Good Witch of the North and Glinda are two separate people. Glinda is actually the Good Witch of the South and doesn't appear until the very end of the novel when she tells Dorothy how she can actually return to Kansas. The Good Witch of the North never seems to make a return appearance at all, at least not in the books I've read.

 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Perhaps the most memorable movie adaptation of Baum's work the 1939 movie stars Judy Garland as our Dorothy. It has great music and was up for best picture (it lost to Gone with the Wind). I think this is probably one of the first times that Glinda and the Witch of the North became the same person. Less confusion and people running around. They also had a groundbreaking technique, Kansas was all in black and white, Oz in living color so that the audience would know that they had stepped over the border into another world. It still remains one of my all time favorite movies.

 

The Return to Oz (1985)

Although this movie is one year older than me, I had never seen it in its entirety until recently. My parents believed that the idea of Mambi taking off her heads was too graphic for me as a child. The movie takes aspects of both the Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz which is the second and third books in the series. In it Dorothy must save the Princess of Ozma who has been captured by Mambi and restore her to the throne. It was not the commercial success of the original 1939 movie but is a good movie for what it's worth.

Tin Man (2007)

A contemporary view of the story this mini-series tells the story of DG, a lost princess of Oz that returns to her homeland after several years of exile in Kansas. She then has to battle the evil Azkadellia in order to stop her from bring the OZ into eternal darkness. The story is clever and enjoyable even if Zooey Deschanel is a little wooden (she plays DG). The rest of the actors more than make up for her performance. This is probably my favorite live action version outside of the 1939 movie.

 

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

I don't know if it's good or bad when you hate the protagonist for 90% of the movie and actually feel sorry for our main antagonist. One thing about it, they do channel the 1939 movie by having Kansas in black and white and Oz in color. This tells the story of the Wizard and how he came to Oz and managed to set himself up as ruler. His allies accept him for what he is and the movie was wonderfully executed, even if I hated Oz himself and felt eternally sorry for Theodora, the Witch of the West.

 

Dorothy in the Land of Oz (1980)

A cute story where Dorothy returns to Oz in order to save it from Tryone the Terrible Toy Tinker who has turned one of the Wizards turkey balloons into a real giant turkey that he is planning to use to wreck havoc in Oz. This was one of my favorite adaptations as a child.

The Lion of Oz (2000)

In this story the Lion that would become the Cowardly Lion lands in Oz and starts on a quest to regain his courage and find the Flower of Oz before the Wicked Witch of the East does it for him. The movie is amusing even if the songs leave something to be desired.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's return (2013)

In this version, Dorothy returns to Oz to battle the evil Jester who has turned everyone into puppets as he tries to take over Oz. The movie was adorable for what it's worth and is a worthy part of the Oz cannon.