Rediscovering Children's Classics: Adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Adaptations of OZ

When beginning my inquiry on L. Frank Baum's (1900) novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it is most necessary to begin with adaptation. For as long as I can remember, The Wizard of Oz (1939) has been my favorite movie. It is a favorite movie of many people in fact. With so many adaptations of the book in to movies or the 1939 movie into other movies and plays, it is no wonder that people question:

What is the real story of the Wizard of Oz?

My copy of Oz for this project

Well, obviously it is the 1900 edition by Baum himself, but all the adaptations can really get one mixed up! Of all the adaptations I have been familiarized with, actually reading the book itself is my most recent experience with the story line, lets begin....

J.T. Barbarese, in his introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Barnes and Nobles Classics edition, calls it "The First American Children's Book." Published just a few years after Carroll's Alice, Carroll wanted to write a narrative that shared the journey of a young girl without "rambling and incoherent" style depicted in Alice. He wanted to make his travel narrative not an unconscious one (such as in Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole) but rather a physical one (through the twister and into OZ). With the 1939 Film, Dorothy's journey was depicted as a trauma victim who's mental state blurs fantasy and reality. In fact, there is a great amount of dissimilarity between the 1939 film and the novel.

Barbarese calls the 1939 film "a work of genius, but not Baum's genius."

The differences between Baum's version and the 1939 film version vary as much as the color of Dorothy's shoes, which are silver in the book! But I am not going to give away too much more than that, you will have to read for yourself.

Did you know The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is actually the first book in a 14 book series of Oz?

Other Adaptations

Wicked

Musical Poster for Wicked

Galinda and Elphaba

Gregory MaGuire's 4 book series that fractures the fairy tale of OZ

Movie Adaptations

The Wiz 1978

Return to Oz 1985

The Muppet Wizard of Oz 2005

Oz the Great and Powerful: March 2013

The most recent adaptation I have become familiar with is Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful, which came to theaters last month. I saw this movie the day I began reading the novel. Although the actors were great and the cinematography was awesome I was left with several questions. Such as, what is China Town (China Country)? Although this newest adaptation mainly follows the 1939 movie, there are references to the novel that I had never before seen in film adaptations. Regardless, all the different adaptations and versions of Oz, whether you base your knowledge in the 1939 film or the book, are simply wonderful.

Songs

(Just to name a few)