Main Page: Difference between revisions

From OzWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 65: Line 65:
<center>[[Oz News|'''The Latest Oz News''']]</center>
<center>[[Oz News|'''The Latest Oz News''']]</center>
[[File:news.jpg|center|link=Oz News]]
[[File:news.jpg|center|link=Oz News]]
<center><small>Illustration by John R. Neill from ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'', © 1913 L. Frank Baum.</small></center>
All the latest news about Oz, updated whenever there is something to add. News is archived for the past year.


<center>[[File:Colorbar.gif]]</center>
<center>[[File:Colorbar.gif]]</center>

Revision as of 20:28, 10 July 2018

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website
Wizard title page.jpg

Welcome to the incredible world of Oz. There is much to know about this wonderful land, and on these pages I hope to tell you a lot about it, and help you find out where to find out more. Oz first started as a book, which grew into an entire series. They were first written by one man, but others wrote more books after him, and more books are being added to the series even now. There have also been many movies (maybe you've seen one of them on television?), plays, television productions and videos, toys, games, dolls, clothes, conventions, clubs, and an international fan following. I hope all Oz fans and those who want to learn more can find something they like here. Just scroll down to see what is available for you.

This site is maintained by me, Eric Gjovaag, and is a continuous work-in-progress. Therefore, I will be changing and adding things all the time. Please keep coming by to see what I've done.

This is a wiki, but not one available to the public. Only users authorized by myself are allowed to update this website.

All material on this site and the code to create it are copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Eric P. Gjovaag. All rights reserved.

Colorbar.gif
Direct Links
For those who already know where they're going.
[The International Wizard of Oz Club] [Questions and Answers] [Links] [The Hanging Man] [The Meaning of Oz]
Colorbar.gif
Join the International Wizard of Oz Club
Ozclublogo.jpg

The International Wizard of Oz Club has been uniting and educating Oz fans around the world since 1957. Members receive three annual issues of the Club's journal, The Baum Bugle, plus deals on the Club's literary journal, Oziana, and other publications, and news on Club conventions and other events. Come join your fellow Ozmatologists!

Colorbar.gif
Frequently Asked Wizard of Oz Questions
Cottabus2.gif
Illustration by John R. Neill from Kabumpo in Oz, © 1922 The Reilly and Lee Co.

Who wrote the Oz books? What was Dorothy's last name? Can you really see a man hanging himself in the movie? These and many, many other questions are answered here, in an extremely comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about The Wizard of Oz—and their answers as well. If you have an Oz question, this is the place to look first!

Colorbar.gif
Links to Other Oz Sites
Roads.gif
Illustration by John R. Neill from The Road to Oz, © 1909 L. Frank Baum.

Here you can find other Wizard of Oz and related websites that I have found and that I hope you will enjoy. If your question isn't answered in the question-and-answer section above, maybe someone else has an answer for you here. Click on the picture to visit some of them. This is also the place to look for sites devoted to Oz pictures, Oz sounds, Oz shopping, Oz personal pages, Oz fun, online Oz books...

Colorbar.gif
The "Hanging Man"
Hanging.jpg
Image from the movie The Wizard of Oz, © 1939 Loews, Inc., © renewed 1966 MGM.

Far and away, this is the most frequently asked question I get from those who view this page: Is there a man (or Munchkin) hanging himself in the background in The Movie? In fact, I got so sick and tired of answering this question that I wrote my FAQ and set up this website mostly so I wouldn't have to explain it all the time! Yet even though the answer is readily available here on my website, people continue to ask me. Many were the days when I had more than one note asking me about this in my e-mail inbox. Well, to satisfy all of you who have sought out this website just to ask me this question, this link to the question and answer in my FAQ should make the answer clear. For other points of view, you can check out any of the links listed below.

[Link 1] [Link 2] [Link 3] [Link 4] [Link 5] [Link 6] [Link 7: Part 1Part 2Rebuttal]

Since I feel that these links adequately answer the question, any questions I receive pertaining to this topic will no longer be answered.

Colorbar.gif
The Meaning Behind The Wizard of Oz
Politics.jpg
Cartoon by Herblock, first appeared in the Utica Observer Dispatch, August 31, 1939.

Now that the issue of the hanging man has been dealt with, this is the next biggest question I get asked about: What is the meaning behind The Wizard of Oz? Is it a fantasy quest where the goal is to get out of the fantasy? Is it a search for courage, intelligence, and passion, or a search for the true self? Is it the story of fraudulent politics in a media age, or a coming of age story where a girl finds her real power in her shoes? Is it the story of incomplete men in a post-feminist age, or a quest for home, for wholeness, for magic—things we already have but just don't see? The most gripping answer, which most people seem to have heard about, seems to be that Baum wrote it as some sort of political manifesto—except no one can agree as to which turn-of-the-century politics the story is talking about! The answers, such as they are, are here in this website, but below are some additional links.

[From the FAQ] [Link 1 (the article that started it all] [Link 2] [Link 3] [Link 4] [Link 5] [Link 6]

Any questions I now receive dealing with this topic will not be answered.

And in case you were wondering about the above cartoon, it's considered to be the very first cartoon to use the characters from The Movie in a political context. The Tin Woodman is France, the Cowardly Lion is Great Britain, the Scarecrow is Poland, Dorothy is European Civilization, the Wicked Witch is Adolf Hitler, and the Winged Monkey is Benito Mussolini. The Monkey is saying, "Hey, Boss—Maybe that lion isn't so cowardly!"

The long list of interpretive questions above is taken from an episode of the radio show Connections, copyright © 1998 WBUR, Boston, Massachusetts.

Colorbar.gif
The Latest Oz News
News.jpg
Illustration by John R. Neill from The Patchwork Girl of Oz, © 1913 L. Frank Baum.

All the latest news about Oz, updated whenever there is something to add. News is archived for the past year.

Colorbar.gif
Events Page
Shaggyman.gif
Colorbar.gif
The Wonderful Blog of Oz
DorothyWrites.gif
Colorbar.gif
Online Wizard of Oz Bookshop
Bookbuying.gif