The Wizard of Oz LaserDisc
Showing posts with label Billie Burke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Billie Burke. Show all posts
May 17, 2026
May 15, 2026
Lyman Frank Baum ~ A Wiz of a Wiz
~
Thursday, May 15, 1856, was the day the author of children's books, Lyman Frank Baum was born. He wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series; in addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels (not
including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200
poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his
works to the stage and screen.
The book was written in 1900 with the following introduction:
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as “historical” in the children’s library; for the time has come for a series of newer “wonder tales” in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
Having this thought in mind, the story of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900.
A free eBook version is available at the Gutenberg Project with all twenty-four chapters linked individually (link below).
The fantasy tale was made into a film in 1939 and starred Judy Garland as Dorthy with an amazing cast of actors; Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, and Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion.
Of course, it also featured Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North . . .
I didn't see the film until the 1949 re-release. I was a little
kid and had seen the ads about the "Glorious" color of the film. I
remember being very excited about going to see the film then
watching it start and being bitterly disappointed that it
was in sepia not color. I felt cheated; that's what had been promised!!!!! (link below) Interesting that even as a kid I was aware of color quality!
Baum was born and raised in Chittenango, New York. He started writing early in life, possibly prompted by his father buying him a cheap printing press. His younger brother Henry (Harry) Clay Baum, helped him in the production of The Rose Lawn Home Journal.
The brothers published several issues of the journal, including
advertisements from local businesses, which they gave to family and
friends for free. By the age of 17, Baum established a second amateur journal called The Stamp Collector, printed an 11-page pamphlet called Baum's Complete Stamp Dealers' Directory, co-written by Henry Clay Baum and William Norris, and started a stamp dealership with friends.
When he was 20, Baum took on the national craze of breeding poultry. He specialized in raising the Hamburg chicken, a Dutch breed. In March 1880, he established a monthly trade journal, The Poultry Record and, in 1886, when Baum was 30 years old, his first book was published: The Book of the Hamburgs: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing, and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs.
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Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in Aberdeen, South Dakota,
and he edited and published a newspaper called The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. They then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked as a newspaper
reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900. While continuing his writing, among his final projects he sought to establish a film studio in Los Angeles, California.
Baum's description of Kansas in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is based on his experiences in drought-ridden South Dakota.
In 1897, he wrote and published Mother Goose in Prose, a collection of Mother Goose rhymes written as prose stories and illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. Mother Goose
was a moderate success and allowed Baum to quit his sales job (which
had had a negative impact on his health). In 1899, Baum partnered with
illustrator W. W. Denslow to publish Father Goose, His Book, a collection of nonsense poetry. The book was a success, becoming the best-selling children's book of the year.
Viewfinder links:
The Wizard of Oz LaserDisc
Net links:
Biography ~ L. Frank Baum & Ruth Plumly Thompson
Good Reads ~ L Frank Baum Quotes
imdb ~ L Frank Baum
Literary Hub ~ The Wizard of Oz at 125 Years
Literary Traveler ~ The Man Behind The Curtain
Mental Floss ~ Things You Might Not Know About L. Frank Baum
Project Gutenberg ~ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz eBook Smithsonian ~ Ruby Slippers Dancing Down the Hall
Washburn Edu ~ L. Frank Baum
YouTube links:
Building the Yellow Brick Road (13 min., 25 secs.)
“Everything has to come to an end, sometime.”
~ L. Frank Baum
August 15, 2018
1,001 LaserDiscs 5: The Wizard of Oz
On August 15, 1939, The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
The film made Judy Garland a megastar when she sang the movie's song, Over the Rainbow, and as they say, the rest is history.
I first saw Oz on the 1949 re-release of the film. I was a little kid and had seen the ads about the "Glorious" color of the film. I remember being incredibly excited about going to see the film then watching the film start and being bitterly disappointed and mad that it was not in color. I felt cheated; that's what had been promised!!!!! (link below)
Then Dorothy opens the door and this flood of color overwhelmed me like a tsunami and I remember the feeling of the hackles on my neck rising. It WAS Glorious and I've been hooked ever since!
All of the Oz sequences were filmed in Three-strip Technicolor. The opening and closing credits, as well as the Kansas sequences, were filmed in black and white and colored in a sepia-tone process. Sepia-toned film was also used in the scene where Aunt Em appears in the Wicked Witch's crystal ball.
photo by Carol Highsmith
The film made Judy Garland a megastar when she sang the movie's song, Over the Rainbow, and as they say, the rest is history.
I first saw Oz on the 1949 re-release of the film. I was a little kid and had seen the ads about the "Glorious" color of the film. I remember being incredibly excited about going to see the film then watching the film start and being bitterly disappointed and mad that it was not in color. I felt cheated; that's what had been promised!!!!! (link below)
"Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's TECHNICOLOR TRIUMPH!"
Then Dorothy opens the door and this flood of color overwhelmed me like a tsunami and I remember the feeling of the hackles on my neck rising. It WAS Glorious and I've been hooked ever since!
All of the Oz sequences were filmed in Three-strip Technicolor. The opening and closing credits, as well as the Kansas sequences, were filmed in black and white and colored in a sepia-tone process. Sepia-toned film was also used in the scene where Aunt Em appears in the Wicked Witch's crystal ball.
LaserDisc front cover
photo of cover by Styrous®
Originally a book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, was named by him from a library shelf labled "O to Z". The film is one of the towering film greats of Hollywood. It was released near the end of the Great Depression and may have helped people survive it.
The original producers thought that a 1939 audience was too sophisticated to accept Oz as a straight-ahead fantasy; therefore, it was re-conceived as a lengthy, elaborate dream sequence.
The original producers thought that a 1939 audience was too sophisticated to accept Oz as a straight-ahead fantasy; therefore, it was re-conceived as a lengthy, elaborate dream sequence.
The Wizard of Oz is legendary for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters (link below), it has become an icon of American popular culture. This edition of the film is a gatefold album so there are more images from the film.
photo of cover by Styrous®
The songs were written by Edgar "Yip" Harburg (lyrics) and Harold Arlen (music). The musical score and incidental music were composed by Herbert Stothart.
Because of a perceived need to attract a youthful audience through
appealing to modern fads and styles, the score had featured a song
called The Jitterbug (link below). The tune was sung by Dorothy, together with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion;
it was a jazzy development of the plot and a nod to the then-popular
bobby-soxer dance craze. However, the segment was cut from the film.
The only film footage of the segment that exists is a grainy home movie shot by the film's composer Harold Arlen, taken during dress rehearsal from behind the scenes. The actual footage for the film was destroyed. The Arlen footage is included in this LaserDisc edition.
The Wicked Witch of the West makes reference to this number in the finished film, telling the leader of the monkeys that she had sent "a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them", a line that is perhaps the most obvious continuity error in the film.
A recording of the song was featured as the B-side of the original 78 RPM 1939 single, Over the Rainbow, released by Decca.
The only film footage of the segment that exists is a grainy home movie shot by the film's composer Harold Arlen, taken during dress rehearsal from behind the scenes. The actual footage for the film was destroyed. The Arlen footage is included in this LaserDisc edition.
The Wizard of Oz, The Jitterbug scene
The Wicked Witch of the West makes reference to this number in the finished film, telling the leader of the monkeys that she had sent "a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them", a line that is perhaps the most obvious continuity error in the film.
A recording of the song was featured as the B-side of the original 78 RPM 1939 single, Over the Rainbow, released by Decca.
photo by Styrous®
One of my favorite songs from the film, Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead, is joyously performed by the Munchkins, denizens of Munchkinland (link below) after her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, has been squashed when the house, with Dorothy in it, lands on her. Klaus Nomi (link below) did a fantastic new wave/disco cover of the song (link below) in the early eighties.
The Wicked Witch of the West receives her just rewards when Dorothy accidentally splashes water on her and she melts (link below). I remember hearing the kids in the audience whooping and cheering when it happens.
The Wicked Witch of the West receives her just rewards when Dorothy accidentally splashes water on her and she melts (link below). I remember hearing the kids in the audience whooping and cheering when it happens.
back cover detail
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
The songs by each of Dorothy's conpanions are a joy to watch. There is the Scarecrow, portrayed by Ray Bolger, who sings, If I Only Had a Brain (link below).
Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow
There is Jack Haley in the role of the Tin Woodman who sings the same song except he desires to have a heart so he can feel emotions but especially love (link below).
Jack Haley as the Tin Man
And, last but not least, the adorable, Bert Lahr, who is the Cowardly Lion and wishes more than anything to have courage, If I Only Had the Nerve. His version is my favorite of the three. Later he sings, If I Were King of the Forest and the ending is hysterical (link below).
Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion
Of course, when they all finally get their wishes it turns out each of them had want they wanted in the first place.
The double roles of Miss Almira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West, are delightfully, wickedly portrayed by Margaret Hamilton, and is one of the stellar performances of the film. She and Darth Vader are two of the gods at the top of my Pantheon of villians.
LaserDisc album back cover detail
detail photo of back cover by Styrous®
Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) - right
The
film was considered a critical success when released in August 1939 but
failed to make a profit for MGM until the 1949 re-release, earning
only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget, not including promotional costs,
which made it MGM's most expensive production to that time.
The 1956 television broadcast premiere of the film on the CBS
network reintroduced the film to the public; watching it became an
annual tradition and, according to the Library of Congress, it is the
most seen film in movie history. It was among the first 25 films that inaugurated the National Film Registry list in 1989. It is also one of the few films on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The film is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.
Not that there is any connection nor resemblance to the movie, Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all 56 of the series episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons; the series finale aired February 23, 2003. The series catapulted Christopher Meloni to stardom and reenforced the already impressive career of Rita Moreno.
There have been two stage musical versions of the movie, The Wiz, released in 1974, and Wicked, released on May 28, 2003, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. I saw both; The Wiz was brilliant; I especially loved the Tornado Dance. A ballerina came out pirouetting on pointe in a black body suit that completely covered her from head to toe. Her headdress was an enormous black fabric that was anchord to the Fly system over the stage; as she pirouetted around the stage the fabric twisted and flared out at the top. It was extremely effective!
Wicked didn't make it for me!
Not that there is any connection nor resemblance to the movie, Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all 56 of the series episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons; the series finale aired February 23, 2003. The series catapulted Christopher Meloni to stardom and reenforced the already impressive career of Rita Moreno.
Oz TV series logo
There have been two stage musical versions of the movie, The Wiz, released in 1974, and Wicked, released on May 28, 2003, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. I saw both; The Wiz was brilliant; I especially loved the Tornado Dance. A ballerina came out pirouetting on pointe in a black body suit that completely covered her from head to toe. Her headdress was an enormous black fabric that was anchord to the Fly system over the stage; as she pirouetted around the stage the fabric twisted and flared out at the top. It was extremely effective!
Wicked didn't make it for me!
front cover detail
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
The American musical adventure fantasy film The Wiz, based on the stage play rather than the 1939 movie. produced by Universal Pictures and Motown Productions, was released by Universal Pictures on October 24, 1978.
It featured an entirely African-American cast which starred Diana Ross (Dorothy), Michael Jackson (Scarecrow), Nipsey Russell (Tin Man), Ted Ross (Cowardly Lion), Richard Pryor (The Wiz), Lena Horne (Glinda the Good Witch), and many more wonderful performers.
The interpretatons of the songs were brilliant, such as, Follow the Yellow Brick Road became Ease On Down the Road (links below).
The interpretatons of the songs were brilliant, such as, Follow the Yellow Brick Road became Ease On Down the Road (links below).
In January 1938, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights to the L. Frank Baum novel from Samuel Goldwyn, who had toyed with the idea of making the film as a vehicle for Eddie Cantor, who was under contract to the Goldwyn studios and whom Goldwyn wanted to cast as the Scarecrow.
back cover detail
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
The novel by Baum was first made into a movie in the twenties, released on April 13, 1925. One of the actors in the film was Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy fame. It was filmed again in Canada and released in 1933.
In the fifties, there was a half-hour television adaptation with puppets directed by Burr Tillstrom, famous for creating the TV show Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
An anime feature film version from Japan, directed by Fumihiko Takayama, was released on October 6, 1982. In the 1980s, a re-edited version of the Takayama film was released in Czechoslovakia. The film was dubbed into the Slovak language
except for the songs, which were performed by Japanese singers (from
the original Japanese music version). Some other foreign dubs, such as
the Italian and Greek versions, had this premise edit as well. The complete Italian version is on YouTube (link below).
In the ninties, there was a Wizard of Oz (TV series), which premiered on ABC, starting on September 8, 1990. The series also aired on YTV from 1990 to 1995 in Canada. Reruns aired on Toon Disney from 1998 to 2002.
In 1993, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game which is loosely based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It was developed by Manley & Associates and published by SETA Corporation on October 5, 1993. The object in the game is to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West that is trying to take Dorothy's ruby slippers so that Dorothy can return to Kansas.
detail photo by Styrous®
One of my favorite scenes from the film is, "Who Rang That Bell?" uttered by the doorman at the gate of Oz (link below).
detail photo by Styrous®
The Wizard of Oz was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to the other film great produced that year, Gone with the Wind. Oz won two categories, Best Original Song for Over the Rainbow and Best Original Score by Stothart.
The phrase Wizard of Oz (originally OZ Paradigm) has come into common usage in the fields of experimental psychology, human factors, ergonomics, linguistics, and usability engineering
to describe a testing or iterative design methodology wherein an
experimenter (the “wizard”), in a laboratory setting, simulates the
behavior of a theoretical intelligent computer application (often by
going into another room and intercepting all communications between
participant and system). Sometimes this is done with the participant’s
a-priori knowledge and sometimes it is a low-level deceit employed to
manage the participant’s expectations and encourage natural behaviors.
In the field of human–computer interaction, a Wizard of Oz experiment is a research experiment in which subjects interact with a computer system that subjects believe to be autonomous, but which is actually being operated or partially operated by an unseen human being.
detail photos by Styrous®
LaserDisc sleeve
photos by Styrous®
Net links:
The Wizard of Oz ~
Cast Music
YouTube links:
The Wizard of Oz ~
~ Munchkin Welcome ~ The Jitterbug [outtake]
~ If I Only Had a Brain
~ If I Only Had a Heart
~ If I Were King of the Forest
~ Follow the Yellow Brick Road
~ I'm Melting! ~ If I Only Had a Heart
~ If I Were King of the Forest
~ Follow the Yellow Brick Road
~ Wizard of Oz Outtake
~ "Who Rang That Bell?"
Klaus Nomi ~ Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead
The Wiz ~ Ease On Down the Road
History of The Wizard of Oz
Bizarre Things That Happened On The Set Of The Wizard Of Oz
Behind The Scenes
Angelica e o Magico de Oz - (The Wizard of Oz) (1982)
front cover detail
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
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