Why I’m still spellbound by Oz
He would most probably have a huge smile on his face if he were alive today. Sadly, L (for Lyman) Frank Baum is no longer with us, so he doesn’t know what’s happened to his creation – unless he’s looking down from Heaven and seeing it all unfold yet again. If so, he’ll be laughing with glee.
I know many of you might be thinking, who’s she writing about now? Who on earth is this L Frank Baum? Well, he just happens to be the writer who created something so truly special over 113 years ago that it’s still as magical today. It was a children’s book, the first in a series of 14, all dealing with the same place and the same characters. And it’s title? The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.
The illustrated book became a bestseller in 1900. The rst musical stage version opened in Chicago in 1902 and a silent movie was made in 1925. And then came the unforgettable Technicolor version, The Wizard Of Oz, filmed by MGM in 1939 and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy – peculiarly pronounced, ‘Doorthy’ – in her ruby-encrusted slippers, dancing along the Yellow Brick Road with her little dog Toto.
Don’t we all remember those sparkling shoes and the very young Judy, slender and pig-tailed, accompanied by the Tin Man (played by Jack Haley), the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr)? And just think of the Emerald City glittering on the hill, with its witches, its wizard and its Munchkins. Even now, it is as vivid, as enchanting – and, quite frankly, as scary (who can forget the winged monkeys?) – as ever.
I watched the film again only recently on television and I felt like I was a child again. For that is what the film does. It transports you into a world of boundless imagination and play, where daydreams can build cities and everyday rules no longer apply.
It contains valuable lessons for us all. It teaches us that there are charlatans and conmen, but that there is plenty of magic, of one kind or another, too. It tells of redemption and overcoming adversity – and suggests that we need never just ‘put up’ with our lot in life. Every now and again, we should all try clicking our heels together – you never know where you might end up.
No wonder, then, that the spell that L Frank Baum cast so long ago has evolved into so many different forms. After the 1939 MGM hit came The Wiz, in 1978, starring Michael Jackson, with Diana Ross as Dorothy. In 1981, there was a new movie called Under The Rainbow, starring Chevy Chase, and 1985 saw an unofficial sequel, Return To Oz, made by Disney, with Fairuza Balk as Dorothy. Then, in 2003, I was enchanted by Wicked, a Broadway musical based on an unauthorised prequel by Gregory Maguire. It won three Tony awards, featured spectacular performances by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as the bad and good witches, and boasted special effects that were very, very special. I knew from its opening night that it was going to be a box-office winner.
And now there is yet another, this time 3D, prequel: Oz The Great And Powerful. It stars the popular young actor James Franco, as a magician living in Kansas who somehow gets himself flipped up through the clouds into Oz, where he meets the three witches, played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz. Just don’t expect to see Toto – remember, this lm is set in an age ‘before Dorothy’.
The movie has been received to mixed reviews – but that is no reflection on Oz itself. Ultimately, L Frank Baum created a place where all of our imaginations can run wild. And that isn’t something that we’re ever going to tire of.
Catch up with Barbara’s latest news at www.barbarataylorbradford.co.uk
I know many of you might be thinking, who’s she writing about now? Who on earth is this L Frank Baum? Well, he just happens to be the writer who created something so truly special over 113 years ago that it’s still as magical today. It was a children’s book, the first in a series of 14, all dealing with the same place and the same characters. And it’s title? The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.
The illustrated book became a bestseller in 1900. The rst musical stage version opened in Chicago in 1902 and a silent movie was made in 1925. And then came the unforgettable Technicolor version, The Wizard Of Oz, filmed by MGM in 1939 and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy – peculiarly pronounced, ‘Doorthy’ – in her ruby-encrusted slippers, dancing along the Yellow Brick Road with her little dog Toto.
Don’t we all remember those sparkling shoes and the very young Judy, slender and pig-tailed, accompanied by the Tin Man (played by Jack Haley), the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr)? And just think of the Emerald City glittering on the hill, with its witches, its wizard and its Munchkins. Even now, it is as vivid, as enchanting – and, quite frankly, as scary (who can forget the winged monkeys?) – as ever.
I watched the film again only recently on television and I felt like I was a child again. For that is what the film does. It transports you into a world of boundless imagination and play, where daydreams can build cities and everyday rules no longer apply.
It contains valuable lessons for us all. It teaches us that there are charlatans and conmen, but that there is plenty of magic, of one kind or another, too. It tells of redemption and overcoming adversity – and suggests that we need never just ‘put up’ with our lot in life. Every now and again, we should all try clicking our heels together – you never know where you might end up.
No wonder, then, that the spell that L Frank Baum cast so long ago has evolved into so many different forms. After the 1939 MGM hit came The Wiz, in 1978, starring Michael Jackson, with Diana Ross as Dorothy. In 1981, there was a new movie called Under The Rainbow, starring Chevy Chase, and 1985 saw an unofficial sequel, Return To Oz, made by Disney, with Fairuza Balk as Dorothy. Then, in 2003, I was enchanted by Wicked, a Broadway musical based on an unauthorised prequel by Gregory Maguire. It won three Tony awards, featured spectacular performances by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as the bad and good witches, and boasted special effects that were very, very special. I knew from its opening night that it was going to be a box-office winner.
And now there is yet another, this time 3D, prequel: Oz The Great And Powerful. It stars the popular young actor James Franco, as a magician living in Kansas who somehow gets himself flipped up through the clouds into Oz, where he meets the three witches, played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz. Just don’t expect to see Toto – remember, this lm is set in an age ‘before Dorothy’.
The movie has been received to mixed reviews – but that is no reflection on Oz itself. Ultimately, L Frank Baum created a place where all of our imaginations can run wild. And that isn’t something that we’re ever going to tire of.
Catch up with Barbara’s latest news at www.barbarataylorbradford.co.uk