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==July 2, 2018: ''The Baum Bugle'' Spring 2018==
==December 11, 2023: Judge Dismisses Dorothy Dress Ownership Lawsuit==
[[File:Bbspring18.jpg|right|400 px]]The latest issue of the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, ''The Baum Bugle'', is now heading out to Club members. The first issue under new editor Sarah Krotzer, it suffered a small setback when first class and international mailings lacked the planned inserts, including a set of Oz finger puppets. (This should not affect the vast majority of American members who receive their issues by third class mail. Affected members will receive their inserts as a separate mailing.)
a dress worn by Judy Garland during production of ''The Wizard of Oz'' may soon be up for auction now that a federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit by the niece of a priest who once worked at the school where it was found. The Catholic University of America, where the dress was found in 2021. It had been given to Father Gilbert Hartke, chairman of the university's drama department, by actress Mercedes McCambridge, a friend of Garland. When the late Father Hartke's niece, Barbara Hartke, heard about the dress and the plan to auction it off, she sued to take ownership of the dress. In dismissing the suit, Judge Paul Gardephe noted that Barbara Hartke had not established that she was the executor of her uncle's estate or had any other standing in the case. Furthermore, as a Dominican, Father Hartke had taken a vow of poverty and renounced ownership of "temporal goods", and thus had not been the owner of the dress in the first place.


In this issue:
Barbara Hartke has ten days to amend her lawsuit and establish standing. Otherwise, the dress will belong to Catholic university, which can then go through with plans to auction aff the dress. The auction has been on hold for over a year while the case worked its way through the system.
*
 
(Information courtesy [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/11/wizard-of-oz-dorothy-dress-lawsuit-auction.html CNBC].)
 
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==October 17, 2023: Dorothy House Miniature Auctioned Off==
A miniature of the Gale farmhouse from the famous 1939 movie adaptation of ''The Wizard of Oz'', used in the tornado scene, was auctioned off today by [https://www.studioauctions.com/ Studio Auctions]. The final sale price was $537,000, well above the pre-auction estimate.
 
(Information courtesy of [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-of-a-kind-wizard-of-oz-and-top-gun-memorabilia-command-premium-prices-at-studio-auctions-event-301959541.html PR Newswire].)
 
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==October 14, 2023: Piper Laurie, 1932-2023==
[[File:piper-laurie.jpeg|center]]
Piper Laurie, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress who was also nominated for three Academy Awards and a BAFTA, passed away today. She was 91. Born in Detroit in 1932, Rosetta Jacobs changed her name to Piper Laurie when she signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1949. She made her screen debut in ''Louisa'' opposite Ronald Reagan, and also co-starred with actors such as Donald O'Connor, Tony Curtis, and Rory Calhoun. But she soon moved back to New York to appear on stage and in television. Hollywood beckoned again with a part in ''The Hustler'' opposite Paul Newman, which garnered her first Oscar nomination. The parts she was offered did not improve, however, so she went back to New York. Her next film was ''Carrie'' in 1976, where she played Margaret White, Carrie's mother, in another Oscar-nominated role. She continued to appear in movies (including ''Children of a Lesser God'', for which she received her third Oscar nomination), on television, and on stage for the rest of her career. Other notable roles include the television movie ''Promise'', for which she won a Emmy; ''Twin Peaks'', which netted her a Golden Globe; and the 1978 television biopic about Judy Garland, ''Rainbow'', in which she played Ethel Gumm, Judy's mother. She is best known to Oz fans, however, for playing Aunt Em in the 1985 Disney movie ''Return to Oz''.
 
(Information courtesy of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Laurie Wikipedia] and [https://ew.com/celebrity/piper-laurie-dead-carrie-twin-peaks-actress/ ''Entertainment Weekly''].)
 
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==October 13, 2023: Martin Changes Plea to Guilty in Theft of Ruby Slippers==
Terry Jon Martin, the Minnesota resident charged with the 2005 theft of a pair of Ruby Slippers used during the production of ''The Wizard of Oz'', has changed his plea to guilty. As part of a plea deal entered in federal court in Duluth, Minnesota, Martin, 78 years old and suffering from OCPD, will face no jail time.
 
(Information courtesy of the Associated Press via [https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-charged-stealing-wizard-oz-050856664.html Yahoo! News]. More information is also available from [https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/guilty-plea-wizard-of-oz-stolen-slippers-case-terry-jon-martin/89-11bfe056-be8e-42b9-807f-3f271d19c6c8 KARE11.com].)


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==June 6, 2018: Jerry Maren 1920-2018==
==July 30, 2023: Betty Ann Bruno, 1931-2023==
[[File:Jerry Maren 1939.jpg|left|]] Veteran character actor Jerry Maren died today at his home in San Diego. He was 98 years old. Born Gerard Marenghi in Boston, Jerry took to show business early, taking dance lessons and getting noticed. (Contrary to popular belief, Maren did not appear in the all-little people Western musical, ''The Terror of Tiny Town''.) He was finally beckoned to Hollywood to appear as a Munchkin in ''The Wizard of Oz'' after graduating high school, thus beginning his acting career. He garnered worldwide fame as the middle member of the Lollipop Guild, dressed in green, who handed the lollipop to Dorothy. While ''The Wizard of Oz'' may have been his most famous role, his career was just warming up. His next part was opposite the Marx Brothers in ''At the Circus'', and he also worked with ''Our Gang'' and Hope and Crosby (as a chimpanzee) in ''Road to Morocco''. He was also a walking "body double" for both Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, and other stunts and doubles through the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was also one of the titular aliens in the Superman serial, ''Superman and the Mole-Men'', with George Reeves. When television took off, Jerry was all over the place, as a regular on ''The Andy Williams Show'' and a guest star on such shows as ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', ''Star Trek'', ''Bewitched'', ''The Wild, Wild West'', ''Julia'', ''Get Smart'', ''The Odd Couple'', and ''Here's Lucy''. He also played a child ape in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' and many characters on Sid & Marty Krofft shows. In advertising, he played Buster Brown, Little Oscar the chef for Oscar Meyer, and many denizens of McDonaldland. He never quite got away from Oz, often guest-starring in stage productions, and appearing as Munchkins in both ''Under the Rainbow'' and a ''The Dreamer of Oz'', as well as appearing at Oz festivals and conventions around the country. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Elizabeth. He was the last surviving little person who portrayed a Munchkin.
Betty Ann Bruno, the long-time San Francisco news anchor whose show business career began as a Munchkin in ''The Wizard of Oz'', passed away today at the age of 91. Born Betty Ann Ka'ihliani in Hawai'i on October 1, 1931, she grew up in Hollywood and had an uncredited part in 1937's ''The Hurricane'' before playing one of the female background Munchkins in ''The Wizard of Oz'' at the age of seven. Acting was not in her blood, however, and she went on to graduate from Stanford before becoming a news anchor at KTVU in San Francisco in 1971, a job she held for over twenty years. She won three news Emmys for her work there. After retiring, she went on to become a hula instructor and founder of the dance troupe Hula Mai. She was named Sonoma Treasure Artist in 2020, and appeared on ''To Tell the Truth'' in 2022 in a segment on her time as a Munchkin. During the COVID lockdown, she wrote her memoir, [https://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Diary-Personal-Yellow-Brick/dp/1736205609/ ''The Munchkin Diary: My Personal Yellow Brick Road'']. She is survived by her husband, Craig, and her three sons.
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[[File:Jerry Maren 2000s.jpg|center]]
(Information courtesy [https://deadline.com/2023/07/betty-ann-bruno-dead-wizard-of-oz-munchkin-tv-reporter-1235451821/ Deadline] and [https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-reporter-wizard-of-oz-child-actor-dies-18270928.php SFGate].)


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==May 13, 2018: Margot Kidder 1948-2018==
==July 29, 2023: The 2023 Winkie Award and Oz Club Awards==
[[File:Margot Kidder.jpg|center|400 px]]
The International Wizard of Oz Club presented its annual awards tonight, alongside the Winkie Award, as part of the 2023 OzCon International in Pomona, California. The awards were:
<br>Margot Kidder, the actress best known for her iconic portrayal of Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeves as Superman in four movies in the 1970s and '80s, passed away today at the age of 69. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, a trip to New York City set her on her career path when she saw a performance of ''Bye Bye Birdie''. She worked extensively in both Canada and the United States, but her big break was playing Lois Lane in the first ''Superman'' movie, released in 1978. Her career stalled in the '90s, however, as she struggled with personal problems and mental illness, but she managed to turn herself around and kept working, even after becoming an American citizen in 2005 and moving to Montana. Among her many credits, Oz fans remember her as the narrator of the movie compilation versions of the Cinar animated series ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''.
* First of [https://www.ozclub.org/about/oz-club-contests/2022-oz-club-contests/ the Club's annual writing and art contest winners], the Fred Otto Prize for Fiction:
** First place to J. L. Bell for "The Missing Key".
** Second place, also to J. L. Bell, for "The Piglets and the Tin Soldier".
* The C. Warren Hollister Prize for Non-fiction:
** First place to J. L. Bell (him again?) for "Inspiring Maps of Oz".
** Second place to Jem Abbas for "Technicolor at the Theatrical Premiere of ''The Wizard of Oz''".
* The Rob Roy MacVeigh Award for Art went to David Valentin for "Mombi's Magic".
* The Winkie Award, voted on by member of OzCon International for contributions to the convention, went to Freddy Fogarty.
* The L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the most prestigious prize in Oz fandom, went to Blair Frodelius for his many contributions to spreading the word about Oz online over the years.


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==April 23, 2018: ''The Baum Bugle'' Winter 2017 issue==
==July 17, 2023: ''The Baum Bugle'' Spring 2023 Issue==
[[File:Bbwinter17.jpg|right|400 px]]The latest issue of ''The Baum Bugle'', and the final issue for the 2017 membership year, has been sent out to members of the International Wizard of Oz Club. The final issue of John Fricke's placeholder year as editor, he goes out with a bang with this 76-page bumper issue that includes the following items:
[[File:Bbspring23.jpeg|right|500 px]]
The Spring 2023 issue of ''The Baum Bugle'', the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, has made its way back from the printers and is on its way to members' mailboxes right now. This issue emphasizes the first word in the name of the club, with articles about how Oz is expressed in countries outside of the United States.
 
In this issue:
* The front cover reproduces the cover art for the ''Oz'' game from Gen X Games.
* The inside front and back covers reproduce art by Leonid Vladimirsky for postcards based on ''Волшебник Изумрудного Города'' (''The Wizard of the Emerald City'', the Russian version of ''The Wizard of Oz'').
* In letters, Jane Albright writes her final column as President of the International Wizard of Oz Club, while Editor-in-Chief Sarah K. Crotzer takes the readers through the process of this becoming a truly international issue.
* In "The Bugle Bulletin":
** ''The Wiz'' gets [https://wizmusical.com/ a new production and nationwide tour] with the aim of making it to Broadway next year.
** The ''Wicked'' movies get new cast members (Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Ethan Slater as Boq, Bowen Yang as Pfannee), and part 1 gets its release date moved up to November 2024. [''No doubt part 2's release also moving, to November 2025, will make it into the next issue.'']
** The animated short [https://www.tinwoods.com/ ''The Tin Woods''] will premiere at [http://www.ozconinternational.com/ OzCon International].
** Online story platform Land of Tales now has an adaptation of [https://landoftales.com/book/p3487-hickory-dickory-dock "Hickory, Dickory, Dock"], a story from ''Mother Goose in Prose'' by L. Frank Baum.
** Ozzy backdrops from a 1941 Mardi Gras ball have been rediscovered and cataloged by [https://nolatabs.com/ NOLA Tableaux]. The program [https://catalog.hnoc.org/en-US/web/arena/collections-search#/entity/thnoc-archive/2018.0313.3/athenians-1941-program has been digitized] as well.
** A new opera based on the second Oz book, ''Marvelous'', is gearing up for its world premiere.
** "Across the Shifting Sands" remembers two notable Ozians who recently passed away: Romona Carlin, former First Lady of Kansas who organized an Oz-themed event in Topeka; and artist Shawn Maldonado.
** "Through the Tube!" only presents one video from YouTube instead of its usual three, but it's a good one: Artist Leonid Vladimirsky on Russian television in 1989 celebrating fifty years of Magic Land. (Don't worry, it has English subtitles.)<br><html><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_8I6jeLS5bk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></html>
* Jane Albright and Sara K. Crotzer interview the daughter of ''Magic Land'' illustrator Leonid Vladimirsky in "The Map to Magic Land: Aia Vladimirsky Remembers Her Fathre".
* Want to collect the art of a ''Magic Land'' illustrator? Well, "An Initial Checklist of the Works by Leonid Vladimirsky" is a good place to start.
* A Strange Post-Soviet Union" by Atticus Gannaway looks at an unusual pairing of recent Russian translations in one volume: L. Frank Baum's ''Queen Zixi of Ix'' and John R. Neill's ''The Wonder City of Oz''!
* Dave Ward looks at the first British stage production of ''The Wizard of Oz'' in "London, 1942".
* Nick Campbell gives an overview of British editions of the Oz books in "Following Wonder: A History of British Publishing in Five Oz Books".
* The creator of the new ballet ''The Lost Princess of Oz'' (reviewed last issue) is interviewed in "Faith: Gabriel Chajnik's Journey to Find a ''Lost Princess''".
* The creator of the new [https://genxgames.es/producto/oz/ ''Oz'' card game] is interviewed in "Walk the Road: An Interview with Óscar Arévalo" (with art and additional comments by Lorena Azpiri).
* Sarah K. Crotzer looks at one particular word in the name of the organization when she asks, "How International Was the Early International Wizard of Oz Club?"
* Reviewed in "Oz in the Arts":
** ''The Land of Oz'' at the Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, December 2022.
** ''Claus: The Musical'' (based on ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus''), The Lowry, Salford, England, December 2022.
** ''The Wizard of Paws, or There's No Place Like a Furever Home'', Englewood Arts Center, Independence, Missouri, April 2023.
* Reviewed in "The Bugle Review":
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-oracle-of-maracoor-gregory-maguire/18273094?ean=9780063094017 ''The Oracle of Maracoor'' by Gregory Maguire], reviewed by Alan Wise.
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/can-you-survive-the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-a-choose-your-path-book-ryan-jacobson/17992501?ean=9781940647715 ''Can You Survive The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?'' by Ryan Jacobsen], reviewed by Atticus Gannaway.
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/oz-and-the-musical-performing-the-american-fairy-tale-ryan-bunch/18812410?ean=9780190843144 ''Oz and the Musical: Performing the American Fairy Tale'' by Ryan Bunch], reviewed by Dina Schiff Massachi.
** [https://genxgames.es/producto/oz/ The new Spanish card game ''Oz'' by Óscar Arévalo and Lorena Azpiri], reviewed by Sarah K. Crotzer.
* And the inside back cover reproduces four cover images from British editions of the Oz books.


* A newly colored slide from the 1939 release of ''The Wizard of Oz'', done by [https://www.instagram.com/hollywood_stars_in_color/ Victor Mascaro], on the cover.
Also included in this issue:
* Outgoing editor John Fricke looks back on his year in charge and ahead to the future in "From the Editor".
* The craft is a cut-out Russian nesting doll, based on the Magic Land art of Leonid Vladimirsky.
* Oz Club President Jane Albright thanks those who help the Club and announces [https://shop.ozclub.org/main.sc the re-opening of the Club's online store] in "Thanks Due in Oz".
* In ''The Emerald City Mirror'', the newsletter aimed at younger Oz fans (no matter what their actual ages are):
* In "Oz and Ends":
** It seems Princess Toodee, who temporarily took over for Ozma, was just a paper doll being used by the usurper who just took over Oz: The Nome King!
** "The Oz Trading Post" is [https://www.facebook.com/groups/504831379909496/ reborn on Facebook], and an Oz International server has opened on [https://discordapp.com/ Discord].
** Editor-in-chief the Scarecrow reports from where everyone is hiding out from the new king, the Emerald City Library. (Since the Nome King doesn't read books, he probably won't find them there!)
** ''Wizard of Oz'' songwriters Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg are [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0190467347/thewonderwizardo/ celebrated in a new book about "Over the Rainbow"] and two concerts celebrating Harburg in December of 2017.
** A reprint from the archives looks at just who the Nome King is, anyway.
** How Oz influenced [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442497564/thewonderwizardo/ the end of Margaret Peterson Haddix's ''Missing'' series].
** The Nome King's many schemes from the Oz books are recounted, along with a look at various eggs and a few of the Nome King's more colorful quotes.
** A record turnout for a showing of The Movie in Park Ridge, Illinois.
** Oz Club member on assignment Katie Jones reports from San Francisco, where reports of fantastic beings appearing there include a dragon!
** The Speakeasy Society of Los Angeles' /latest immersive experience, [https://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/392212 ''The Kansas Collection''], based on the Oz books.
** And two contests: Guess the answer to "What Did the Wogglebug Say?" and draw a picture of the Cowardly Lion to celebrate the centennial of ''The Cowardly Lion of Oz''.
** The new [https://wizardsofthewest.com/collections/wizard-of-oz-collection ''Wizard of Oz''-based clothing line] from Wizards of the West.
** The latter-day Oz stories by Roger S. Baum, L. Frank Baum's great-grandson, are being developed as a possible series for Amazon.
** The new animated movie adaptation of the comic book series [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07BC2Y6QJ/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Steam Engines of Oz''].
** A new series in development for Netflix, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7504628/ ''Dorothy and Alice''].
** A collection of photographs of Ozcot, the Baum family home in Hollywood, is now in the hands of the California History Section collection of [http://cslfdn.org/ the California State Library Foundation].
** Father and son authors [http://www.kentucky.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article180889571.html John and Jessee Donaldson], who are descendants of L. Frank Baum.
** A new slot game, ''Land of Ozz'', from [https://inbetgames.com/en.html InBet Games].
** The restaurant [https://www.facebook.com/oscardiggslex/ Oscar Diggs], named for the Wizards' real name, in Lexington, Kentucky.
** The Play Station Virtual Reality console game [https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/run-dorothy-run-ps4/ Run, Dorothy, Run].
** [https://youtu.be/EbBu-J0ppAk ''The Oz Medley''] mashes up songs from ''The Wizard of Oz'', ''The Wiz'', and ''Wicked''. (There's also a [https://youtu.be/B9SJ_yClTLg behind-the-scenes video].)
** Miranda Lambert's song [https://youtu.be/q8ryrDjnriM ''Tin Man''] has [https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a45574/miranda-lambert-tin-man-meaning/ surprising connections to Oz] (besides the obvious).
* To celebrate fifteen years of ''Wicked'' on Broadway, actors Tiffany Haas and Michael McCorry Rose look back at their time in the show in "Glinda and Fiyero on Broadway: ''Wicked''-ly 'Cheek to Cheek'".
* Authors Kent Drummond, Aronstein, and Terri Rittenburg adapt part of [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3319931059/thewonderwizardo/ their forthcoming book about ''Wicked''] in "'My Daughter and I Were Overcome by Emotion': Consumer Responses to ''Wicked''".
* Long thought to have concluded with ''Tik-Tok of Oz'', Michael Patrick Hearn discovers that the 1930s comic strip ''The Wonderland of Oz'' ran even longer in some papers with an adaptation of the eleventh Oz book in "A 'Lost Princeess' Found"—as well as reprinting sixteen installments of the strip!
* The four current living charter members of the International Wizard of Oz Club sit down for a collective interview in "Anniversary Recollections: Sixty Years in the Oz Club".
* Michael Gessel reports on the events to honor the fourth Royal Historian, whose grave was previously unmarked, in "A Headstone for a Royal Historian: Honoring Jack Snow".
* Bill Thompson discusses the creation and evolution of [https://shop.ozclub.org/product.sc?productId=428&categoryId=1 his latest book] in "The Making of…''Bibliographia Oziana''—The Book!"
* John Fricke brings his survey of big-time Oz productions up to date in "Magical, Musical Muny (Part Three): How a Blend of Baum and MGM First Came to theStage…and Endured".
* "Adventures in Oz" profiles:
** Actress Ruby Rakos, who plays Judy Garland in the play [https://chasingrainbowsmusical.com/ ''Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz''].
** Autograph hound Steven Damm.
** Long-time Oz fan and southern California convention chair Robyn Knutson.
** Oz memorabilia collector Barry Patraw.
** Kindergarten student Rylan Andrews.
* Reviewed (or at least mentioned) in "The Oz Bookshelf":
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/148146972X/thewonderwizardo/ ''Gabriel Gale's Ages of Oz, Volume 1: A Fiery Friendship'' by Lisa Fiedler, illustrated by Sebastian Giacobino], reviewed by Joe Bongiorno.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1451609957/thewonderwizardo/ ''Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult'' by Bruce Handy], reviewed by Angelica Carpenter.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1610881990/thewonderwizardo/ ''Black-Eyed Susan'' by Elizabeth Leiknes].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0980119065/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Prophecy of Oz: The Victory of Dorothy, the Spirit of the Americas'' by Rick Spaulding].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1981101047/thewonderwizardo/ ''Ruby Slips and Poker Chips: The Modern Tale of Dorothy Gale'' by Heather Kindt].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0008252564/thewonderwizardo/ ''Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz'' by Michael Morpurgo].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1976524008/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wicked Hot Wizard of Oz'' by Mark Pace].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1979262632/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wizard of AAAHHS!'' by C. T. Henderson].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1510729240/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wizard's Cookbook: Magical Recipes Inspired by Harry Potter, Merlin, The Wizard of Oz, and More'' by Aur&eacute;lia Beaupommier].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1780554362/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Colouring Book'' by Ann Kronheimer].
* "Oz in the Spotlight" looks at the following dramatic productions:
** [http://www.thebuildersassociation.org/prod_oz.html ''Elements of Oz'' by the Builders Association].
** The British touring pantomime adaptation of [http://www.enchantedentertainment.co.uk/wozuktour2017/].
** The Harlem Repertory Theatre's production of [http://www.harlemrepertorytheatre.com/current_season.html ''The Wizard of Oz''].
** The new Boomerang cartoon series [https://watch.boomerang.com/shows/dorothy-franchise/series/dorothy-series ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz''].
* "The MGM Scrapbook" presents more articles, ads, clippings, and other ephemera relating to the original 1939 release of The Movie.
* The latest laureate of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, Scott Cummings, is officially enshrined in the roster of previous winners.
* C. J. Hinke remembers George van Buren, his collaborator on [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0859677230/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Classical Wizard: Magus Mirabilis in Oz''] (the Latin translation of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'') in "In Memoriam".
* "The Magic Picture" reports on 2017's two big Oz conventions:
** Erica Olivera on OzCon International in Portland, Oregon, in "The Wonderful Convention of Oz: A Newcomer's Report".
** Ralph Bunch from Chicago in "Oz—The National Convention".
* The rear cover is a montage of Tiffany Haas and Michael McCorry Rose, both on stage and off, in their roles on Broadway in ''Wicked''.


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==March 8, 2018: Dorothy Barrett 1917-2018==
==July 15, 2023: SAG-AFTRA Strike Delays ''Wicked'' Production==
Dorothy Barrett, a long-time contract player during the Golden Age of Hollywood, died today in Studio City, California. She was 101 years old. In 1939, while working at MGM, she appeared in ''Gone with the Wind'', ''The Women'', and as a manicurist in the Wash and Brush Up Co. in the Emerald City in ''The Wizard of Oz''. She was performing on vaudeville circuits at the age of seven, and appeared in many shows on Broadway before Hollywood beckoned. Later in life, she became a dance and performance teacher, and worked with many students. As late as 2016, she was active in the Studio City performing arts community. She will be interred at Forest Lawn in Glendale.
Among the many movie and television projects put on hold by the SAG-AFTRA strike is the movie adaptation of ''Wicked''. Word is that the main production only had ten days and one major musical number ("One Short Day") to go. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, and Bowen Yang are among the ''Wicked'' stars posting support for the actors' strike. When production can resume, and if the delay will affect the release dates for the two films, will likely depend on the length of the strike.
 
(Information courtesy [https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Update-WICKED-Movie-Shuts-Down-Production-Following-SAG-AFTRA-Strike-20230714 ''Broadway World''].)


(Information courtesy [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/05/25/dorothy-barrett-actress-wizard-oz-obituary/ ''The Telegraph''] and [https://www.legacy.com/funeral-homes/obituaries/name/dorothy-barrett-obituary?sid=105905790&v=forestlawn&pid=188410825&view=guestbook Legacy.com].)
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==June 20, 2023: ''Wicked'' Part 2 Release Moved Up==
After the release of the first part of the ''Wicked'' movie adaptation was moved up to November earlier this year, it should come as no surprise that the release of part two was also moved up today. Originally scheduled for Christmas 2025, it will now come out on November 26, 2025. This will move it away from the same release window as ''Avatar 3'', and also give it more time to build an audience over the holidays. (Both parts will now come out the day before Thanksgiving in the United States.)
 
(Information courtesy [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/wicked-part-two-moves-up-release-in-theaters-1235519568/ ''The Hollywood Reporter''].)
 
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==June 1, 2023: Accused Ruby Slipper Thief Enters Plea==
Terry Jon Martin, the man accused of stealing the Ruby Slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005, entered his plea today. He has pled not guilty to one count of Theft of a Major Art Work.
 
(Information courtesy of [https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/man-who-allegedly-stole-judy-garlands-ruby-slippers-enters-not-guilty-plea/ KSTP Minneapolis/St. Paul].)


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==December 4, 2017: ''Lost in Oz'' Nominated For Annie Award==
==May 17, 2023: An Arrest in the Ruby Slipper Theft==
Nominations for the Annie Awards, the highest honor given in the animation industry, were announced today. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z89MYTI ''Lost in Oz''], the Amazon Prime series that has already won three Emmy awards, was nominated as Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children. It's competition is ''Buddy Thunderstruck'', ''Niko and the Sword of Light'', ''Tangled: The Series'', and ''We Bare Bears''. You can see the entire list of nominees at http://www.annieawards.org/nominees. The forty-fifth Annie Awards will be presented February 3, 2018 in Los Angeles.
<html><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2nPQz4p0Qbo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></html>
Terry Martin, 76, has been indicted in the 2005 theft of a pair of Ruby Slippers, originally worn by Judy Garland in the famous 1939 film adaptation of ''The Wizard of Oz''. The Slippers were recovered in 2018. The investigation has been ongoing, and Martin has been charged with one count of theft of a major artwork. The charge was filed by federal prosecutors in North Dakota. The Ruby Slippers at the time belonged to collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. They were stolen in 2005, and Shaw eventually received a settlement from his insurers. A man contacted the insurers about the Slippers in 2017, setting off an investigation and eventual FBI sting operation. Nobody was charged at the time of the Slippers' recovery. Martin lives just south of Grand Rapids, but otherwise does not appear to have any connection to the museum or Garland. This is still an ongoing investigation, and it's possible other indictments may come later.


(UPDATE: February 3, 2018: The Annie for Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Children went to ''We Bare Bears''.)
(Information courtesy of [https://apnews.com/article/solen-ruby-slippers-wizard-of-oz-5d142469ad5f052f6af053d20dbf20c4 The Associated Press]. Video courtesy of [https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ WCCO CBS News Minnesota].)


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==November 7, 2017: ''The Baum Bugle'', Autumn 2017 and ''Oziana'' 2017==
==March 14, 2023: ''Wicked'' Part 1 Movie Release Date Changed==
[[File:Bbugleautumn17.jpg|left]]The latest issue of ''The Baum Bugle'', the International Wizard of Oz Club's journal, is making its way to members now. This issue looks back at ''The Lost Princess of Oz'', celebrating its centennial this year; and the recent television series ''Emerald City'' and ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz'', among other topics.
Universal has moved up the release date of the first half of the movie adaptation of ''Wicked'', the long-running Broadway and West End musical. Originally announced for Christmas 2024, they moved the date up to November 27, 2024, to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday season it the United States. Since ''Avatar 3'' and ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' are also coming out on Christmas, changing ''Wicked'' to the earlier holiday weekend is probably a wise move.
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In this issue:
(Information courtesy [https://variety.com/2023/film/news/wicked-movie-release-date-thanksgiving-1235553635/ ''Variety''].)
* The front cover features the Fab Five as depicted in the new series ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz'', [https://www.boomerang.com/shows/dorothy-franchise/series/dorothy-series now streaming on the Boomerang website].
* Interim editor John Fricke talks about the issue and what he's been doing this year, including aiding the Smithsonian Institution in [http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/help-reunite-dorothy-and-scarecrow restoring and preserving the Ruby Slippers] in his "From the Editor" column.
* New Club President Jane Albright outlined her relationship to Oz and the Club in her first column, "Oz Is Us", which includes:
** The appointment of Sarah Crotzer as the new ''Bugle'' editor, starting with the Spring 2018 issue.
** The publication of [http://shop.ozclub.org/category.sc;jsessionid=4CBF3C1F0488B027D3FF7CEFD0F4DCCC.p3plqscsfapp001?categoryId=6 ''Bibliographia Baumiana''], a bibliographic compendium of L. Frank Baum's non-Oz works (that has been in the works for a couple of decades now).
* Among the latest treasures and tidbits uncovered by Jay Davis for "Oz and Ends":
** Funko's Vynl line includes [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B073YD35BS/thewonderwizardo/ a set of Dorothy and the Scarecrow].
** LEGO minifigs of the Wicked Witch of the West and two flying monkeys are part of [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B06XRX1GQX/thewonderwizardo/ ''The LEGO Batman Movie'' Ultimate Batmobile Kit] (!!!).
** Organic Studios' [http://www.organicsstudio.com/our-inks/the-masters-of-writing-series/ Masters of Writing series of author-inspired inks] introduces L. Frank Baum Emerald Green.
** The Nickelodeon series ''Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn'' has an Oz-themed episode, [http://www.organicsstudio.com/our-inks/the-masters-of-writing-series/ "The Wizard of Quads"].
** The 1987 anime series ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B072ZPQ421/thewonderwizardo/ available in episode format on home video] at last!
** The closure of the Great Movie Ride, with its Wicked Witch of the West and other Oz characters, at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios park.
** ''Wicked'' surpassing ''The Phantom of the Opera'' to become Broadway's second highest grossing musical ever (only ''The Lion King'' is ahead of it).
** New Oz stage productions:
*** ''The Wizard of Oz'' from Starlight Village Players in Orinda, California.
*** ''The Bricklayers of Oz'' by the Dance Crash Company of Chicago.
*** ''West End Bares'' Oz-themed nude revue ''Ruby Strippers'' in London's West End.
** Judy Garland's children, Liza Minnelli and Lorna and Joey Luft, fulfilled a promise made to their mother by having her body reinterred in a new pavilion at the [http://www.hollywoodforever.com/ Hollywood Forever cemetery] in Los Angeles. Judy had been at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
** Big Fish unveils their latest Oz-themed computer game, [https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/18170/bridge-to-another-world-escape-from-oz/?pc ''Escape from Oz''], for the Mac and PC.
* "''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz…please meet Lyman, Frank, and Wilhelmina" looks behind the scenes at [https://www.boomerang.com/shows/dorothy-franchise/series/dorothy-series Boomerang's new Oz cartoon] (which the ''Bugle'' will review in the Winter 2017 issue).
* The original art for the newspaper syndication of ''The Lost Princess of Oz'' is discussed in "Behind the Ink: ''The Wonderful Stories of Oz'' Artwork".
* Peter E. Hanff looks back at this year's centennial Oz book in "The Mystery of ''Three Girls in Oz''…and the Revisited Pleasures of a ''Lost Princess''".
* "Oz Under Scrutiny" looks at contemporary reviews of ''The Lost Princess of Oz'' from 1917.
* Scott Cummings may have discovered the inspiration for the Herkus in a 1921 report from the ''Los Angeles Herald'' on athlete Gilbert Neville in "The Little Strong Man of Oz".
* John Fricke looks back at another lost princess of Oz, as portrayed on television in 1960, in "'Lost' Princess—Different Adventure: Remembering Shirley Temple's ''The Land of Oz''".
* Sarah Crotzer interviews the creator of the latest television version of Oz in "Scary, Bizarre, Weird, and Wonderful! Matthew Arnold Talks ''Emerald City''—and about Bringing Baum's Oz to a New Generation".
* ''Bugle'' readers offer their comments on the show in "''Emerald City'' Redŭ".
* "Adventures in Oz" profiles five Club members and how Oz has influenced their lives.
* In "Multi-MediOz", Atticus Gannaway reviews [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01MPYHA0V/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', performed by Jon Koons and Danielle Manente].
* "The MGM Scrapbook" looks at ads and clippings from The Movie's premiere in 1939, as well as Hedda Hopper's column on her first visit to the set, when Buddy Ebsen was still playing the Tin Man.
* "Oz in the Spotlight" features Sarah Crotzer's review of "''Lost in Oz'': Season One".
* "The Oz Bookshelf" reviews or acknowledges the publication of several recent books:
** The final two books in Danielle Paige's ''Dorothy Must Die'' series, [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062423835/thewonderwizardo/ ''Dorothy Must Die Stories Volume 3''] and [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062423770/thewonderwizardo/ ''The End of Oz''], both reviewed by Dee Michel.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0692680950/thewonderwizardo/ ''Toto's Story: My Amazing Adventures with Dorothy in Oz'' by Steve Metzger], reviewed by Ron Baxley, Jr.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1608106845/thewonderwizardo/ ''The leadership Secrets of Oz'' by B. J. Gallagher and Ken Balnchard].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1138942057/thewonderwizardo/ ''Revisiting Imaginary Worlds''], a collection of essays with two Oz-themed entries.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442278048/thewonderwizardo/ ''1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year'' by Thomas S. Hischak].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1544292619/thewonderwizardo/ ''Baum Ass Stories 2: Gayle Force'', edited by Roma Gray] (and yes, there is also a [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1519340478/thewonderwizardo/ volume 1]).
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1521371288/thewonderwizardo/ ''Behind the Emerald Door—The Wizard of Oz: The Untold Truth'' by Christopher Clay Lord].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452152527/thewonderwizardo/ ''Cozy Classics: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', adapted by Jack and Holman Wang].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486812529/thewonderwizardo/ ''Crochet Stories: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by Pat Olski].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0998706906/thewonderwizardo/ ''From Oz to Om: The Spiritual Journey Home'' by Tracy Flynn Bowe].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0722G7VXT/thewonderwizardo/ ''Getting Back to Oz 1: Winnie's Courage'' by Jess Reece].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1548090352/thewonderwizardo/ ''Haunting Fairy Tales 4: Wicked Witch'' by R. L. Weeks].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/9627866229/thewonderwizardo/ ''Hong Kong Fairy Tales'' by Larry Feign].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0515157724/thewonderwizardo/ ''Kate and Mim-Mim: Kate in Oz'' by Lana Jacobs].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594749604/thewonderwizardo/ ''Literary Yarns: Crochet Products Inspired by Classic Books'' by Cindy Wang].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1522703659/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Marvelous Wonderland of Oz''] and [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1543274218/thewonderwizardo/ ''Peter of Oz''], volumes 4 and 5 of Greg Gick's Oz-Wonderland series.
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1544237413/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Prankster of Oz'' by John R. Rose].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1548331503/thewonderwizardo/ ''Return from Oz'' by Gregory Espy].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888160942/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Swagger of Dorothy Gale and Other Filthy Ways to Strut'' by Sea Sharp].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1542868971/thewonderwizardo/ ''Trump versus Glinda: The Secret of Everything #Post-Truth'' by Scott W. Webb].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1492635995/thewonderwizardo/ ''Wanted'' by Betsy Schow].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1604337060/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Wizard of Oz Coloring Book'' by Charles Santore].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0984067876/thewonderwizardo/ ''The "Wonderful" Wizard of Futhermucking Oz'' by Matt Youngmark].
* "The Magic Picture" reports on recent Oz events around the country, including:
** Oz on the Bayou 2017 in Houma, Louisiana, reported by Karen Diket.
** Croppin' in Oz, an Oz-themed scrapbooking event in Sulphur, Louisiana, also reported on by Karen Diket.
** Oz-Stravaganza 2017 in Chittenango, New York, reported by David Moyer.
* Many Oz Club members shared their stories of Oz Club supemember Robin Olderman, who passed away in April, in "Robin Remembered".
* And the back cover features a portrait of Adria Arjona as Dorothy in ''Emerald City'', wearing the Ruby Gauntlets.


<br>[[File:Oziana_2017.jpeg|right]]Also available today is the 2017 edition of ''Oziana'', the International Wizard of Oz Club's literary magazine. In this issue:
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* David Bishop provides the front cover illustration, entitled "On the Shores of Skeezer Lake".
* Jack Pumpkinhead is having a bad day in "Angry Jack" by Sara Philips, illustrated by Emilee Philips.
* A stream-of-consciousness recollection of Scraps entitled "Patchworked Memory", written and illustrated by Grace Willey.
* Dorothy learns more about her first trip to Oz in "The Road Not Taken" by E. J. Hagadorn, with illustrations by Dennis Anfuso.
* Red Reera the Yookoohoo doesn't want another visit from Ervic in "Unsociable" by S. A. Samuelson, illustrated by David Bishop.
* Grace Willey's back cover is entitled "Button Bright Finds a Peach Pit".
Unlike ''The Baum Bugle'', which is sent only to Club members, anyone can buy ''Oziana'' [http://www.lulu.com/shop/l-frank-baum/oziana-2017/paperback/product-23400178.html just by going right here].


==February 25, 2023: ''The Baum Bugle'', Winter 2022 Issue==
[[File:Bbwinter22.jpg|left|500 px]]
The latest issue of ''The Baum Bugle'', the journal of [https://www.ozclub.org/ the International Wizard of Oz Club], is now making its appearance in members' mailboxes. (Yes, technically it's now 2023, but it's still the same winter season, which historically is still very good for the ''Bugle''.) This issue celebrates the centennial of ''Kabumpo in Oz'', the first Oz book to go out exclusively and definitively under the authorship of Ruth Plumly Thompson.
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In this issue:
* All of the covers have to do with Dick Martin's 1961 cover design for the new ''Kabumpo in Oz'' dust jacket. The front cover is the finished product, the inside front cover shows the color separations, the inside back cover is a different color sketch, and the back cover is the original art.
* In "Letters", Oz Club President gives her impressions of the twice-postponed 2022 National Oz Convention, while ''Bugle'' editor-in-chief Sarah K. Crotzer remembers her encounters with Kabumpo as she discusses the creation of this issue.
* News items discussed in "The Bugle Bulletin":
** The discovery and auction of the original art by W. W. Denslow for two of the color plates from ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', both selling for over $100,000.
** The 2022 [https://www.tdf.org/for-the-makers/tdf-costume-collection-programs/tdf-irene-sharaff-awards-and-past-winners/ TDF/Irene Sharaff Memorial Tribute] honored Caroline F. Siedle, the costume designer for the 1903 stage extravaganza version of ''The Wizard of Oz''. (Also honored, but not mentioned in the ''Bugle'', was Eugene Lee, designer for ''Wicked'', among other shows.)
** The 2022 winner of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the highest honor bestowed by the International Wizard of Oz Club, is Sean P. Duffley.
** Jeff Goldblum is cast as the Wizard in the ''Wicked'' movie adaptations.
** "Beyond the Shifting Sands" remembers two Oz luminaries who recently passed away: Jules Bass, one half of the famed Rankin/Bass animation studio whose works included ''Tales of the Wizard of Oz'', the 1961 TV special ''Return to Oz'', and the 1985 holiday program ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus''; and Angela Lansbury, whose long and storied Hollywood career includes presenting and narrating the 1990 documentary ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic''.
* In "Kerumberty Bumpus! The Joy of Oz as Series Fiction", Sarah K. Crotzer and Nick Campbell look at the proper introduction of Ruth Plumly Thompson as a Royal Historian of Oz and how her work was presented and received over the years as a part of the greater Oz series.
* In "Oz Under Scrutiny", Scott Cummings presents contemporary review of ''Kabumpo in Oz''.
* Garrett Kilgore comes to the defense of one of his favorite characters in "J'Accuse Kabumpo: Justice for the Curious Cottabus".
* Scott Cummings discovers a previously unknown dramatic adaptation of ''Kabumpo in Oz'' from Pittsburgh in 1943 in "Unearthing the Gnome King".
* "Coming and Going: ''Kabumpo in Oz''" sees Nick Campbell and Sarah K. Crotzer give brief summaries of some ideas about aspects of the book, including how it serves as a template for other Thompson Oz books, how it may have been influenced by Lewis Carroll and ''Alice in Wonderland'', and how ''Kabumpo'' may have, in turn, influenced Norton Juster and his classic story ''The Phantom Tollbooth''.
* Ryan Bunch presents the sheet music for "The Tin Woodman's Song" from Ruth Plumly Thompson's playlet ''A Day in Oz''.
* J. L. Bell reports on the first two big post-pandemic gatherings of Oz fans, OzCon International 2022 and Oz: The National Convention <s>2020</s> <s>2021</s> 2022.
* Michael Patrick Hearn introduces a Christmas play from the December 1917 issue of ''St. Nicholas Magazine'', "The Man Who Didn't Believe in Christmas" by Mary Austin, which includes the Wizard of Oz as a character.
* "Oz in the Arts" reviews [https://vimeo.com/682070569 ''And Toto, Too''] (FRIGID New York Fringe Festival, February 18-26, 2022, reviewed by Atticus Gannaway), [https://youtu.be/aK9RJY51iGE ''The Lost Princess of Oz''] (Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater, August 19-28, 2022, reviewed by Robert Lamont), and ''American Classics Presents Journey to Oz'' (November 18 and 20, 2022, reviewed by J. L. Bell).
* Books and games examined in "The Bugle Review":
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-interactive-minalima-edition-illustrated-with-interactive-elements-l-frank-baum/14786866?ean=9780063055735 ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by MinaLima] (reviewed by Peter E. Hanff).
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0B14MBLCD/thewonderwizardo/ ''The Boy Baronet in Oz'' by Phyllis Ann Karr].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/can-you-survive-the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-a-choose-your-path-book-ryan-jacobson/17992501?ean=9781940647715 ''Can You Survive The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? A Choose Your Path Book'' by Ryan Jacobson].
** [http://thewizardofoz.info/wiki/Dunkiton_Press ''Dunkiton Press'' #30: Yuletide #2, compiled by Ruth Berman].
** [https://www.etsy.com/listing/1313112590/friends-of-dorothy?click_key=09f0745834b4985ddb829adca109fb76e85b948c%3A1313112590&click_sum=7cceb78b&ref=shop_home_active_3 ''Friends of Dorothy: A Tale of Homophobic Buffoonery'' by Kieran Teare-Thomas].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-love-magnet-of-oz-alan-lindsay/18590786?ean=9781574330502 ''The Love Magnet of Oz'' by Alan Lisdsay].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/oz-a-fantasy-role-playing-setting-andrew-kolb/18257754?ean=9781524873776 ''Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting'' by Andrew Kolb].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/oz-and-the-musical-performing-the-american-fairy-tale-ryan-bunch/18812410?ean=9780190843144 ''Oz and the Musical: Performing the American Fairy Tale'' by Ryan Bunch].
** [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1678120677/thewonderwizardo/ ''Pastoria's Daughter'' by Karen Deal Robinson].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadows-over-oz-founded-on-and-continuing-the-famous-oz-stories-by-l-frank-baum-david-keyes/18693508?ean=9798500154637 ''Shadows Over Oz'' by David M. Keyes].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/sherlock-holmes-in-oz-gary-lovisi/18241117?ean=9781479470273 ''Sherlock Holmes in Oz'' by Gary Lovisi].
** [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wizard-s-illusion-a-conversation-from-oz-with-sallie-mcfague-and-others-katherine-abetz/18514330?ean=9781666736021 ''The Wizard's Illusion: A Conversation from Oz with Sallie McFugue and Others'' by Katherine Abetz].
** The [https://www.x-decks.com/product/adventures-in-oz-metalluxe-collector-poker-playing-cards/ Adventures in Oz] and [https://kingswildproject.com/products/wizard-of-oz-standard-edition?_pos=1&_sid=042978b83&_ss=r The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] playing card decks, reviewed by Sarah K. Crotzer.


==August 5, 2017: The L. Frank Baum Memorial Award==
Other inserts that come with this issue of ''The Baum Bugle'':
This evening, the International Wizard of Oz Club presented it's highest award, the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, to Scott Cummings. Cummings served as editor of the Club's journal, ''The Baum Bugle'', for many years, producing some of its most memorable issues. He is also a tireless researcher who keeps finding out new things about Oz, and frequent con chair (including this year's National Oz Convention in the Chicago area). Congratulations, Scott!
* An ad for [https://www.lulu.com/shop/bob-baum-and-david-skipper-and-dave-kelleher-and-irwin-terry/oziana-2022/paperback/product-pv4dmd.html?q=Oziana+2022&page=1&pageSize=4 the 2022 edition of ''Oziana''], the annual literary journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club.
* A registration form for [http://www.ozconinternational.com/ the 2023 edition of OzCon International], July 28-30 in Pomona, California.
* The craft project for this issue is a color, cut, and assemble Emerald City Palace. Perhaps you can perch it jauntily on your head as you cosplay Ruggedo from ''Kabumpo in Oz''.
* The "Oz Live 2022" insert reported on Oz events around the country, including Oz on the Bayou (Gray, Louisiana, March 4-5), QuadCon (April 29-30, Tulsa, Oklahoma), Wizard of Oz Days (May 14-15, Chesterton, Indiana, and a second edition in Hannibal, Missouri, October 22), OzStravaganza! (Chittenango, New York, June), Judy Garland's 100th Birthday Celebration (Grand Rapids, Minnesota, June 9-12), the Michigan Wizard of Oz Festival (Ionia, Michigan, September 30-October 1), Autumn in Oz (Banner Elk, North Carolina, September weekends), The Ohio Wizard of Oz Expo (Aurora, Ohio, October 15-16), The Illinois Oz Festival (Mapleton, Illinois, August 13), and Oztoberfest (Wamego, Kansas, October 1).
* And in ''The Oz Gazette'', the newsletter for younger Oz fans (no matter what their actual age is):
** Kabumpo celebrates his one hundredth birthday.
** "A Letter form the Editor" sees the Scarecrow expounding on the issue and encouraging its readers to contribute.
** "The Emerald City Book Report" gives facts and information on ''Kabumpo in Oz''.
** "Meet an Oz Club Youth Member" interviews its youngest subject yet, five-year-old Julian from Florida.
** Glinda flips the pages of the Great Book of Records back one hundred ears to see what else happened in 1922.
** The latest actions of the enigmatic temporary new ruler of Oz, Princess Toodee, are recorded.
** "The Woggle-Bug's Contest" presents another puzzler for readers to unravel.
** American correspondent-at-large Katie Jones' "The Ozzity Report" continues her search for Ozma in all parts of our world where Oz creatures are sighted.
** And Billina the yellow hen has mysteriously been transformed into a penguin!


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==July 26, 2017: June Foray, 1917-2017==
==February 8, 2023: Eugene Lee, 1939-2023==
Perhaps the greatest and most prolific of voice actors, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Foray June Foray] passed away today at the age of 99 (only 54 days short of her 100th birthday). Although still working well into her nineties, Foray had been in declining health the last two years, particularly after a 2015 auto accident. Anyone who has ever watch cartoons probably has heard her voice. Among [http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/June-Foray/ her many, many roles] were Lucifer the Cat in ''Cinderella'' (her first voiceover job) and Grandmother Fa in ''Mulan'' for Disney; Granny, Witch Hazel, and Miss Prissy for Warner Bros.; Splinter and Knothead in the ''Woody Woodpecker'' cartoons; Cindy Lou Who in ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas''; and stints in shows ranging from ''Mr. Magoo'' to ''The Simpsons''. She was even [https://youtu.be/s_evUn1c7bQ the voice of Betty Rubble in the original pilot for ''The Flintstones''], and Talky Tina in the "Living Doll" episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' (a take-off on her earlier work as the voice of the original Chatty Cathy doll). She will probably be best known, however, for her work with Jay Ward, where she voiced Nell in ''Dudley Do-Right'', Ursula in ''George of the Jungle'', Marigold in ''Tom Slick'', and Rocky the Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in ''The Bullwinkle Show''. Among her credits was the 1967-68 MGM anthology series [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_to_See_the_Wizard ''Off to See the Wizard''], in which June was the voice of Dorothy (as seen in the clip below) and the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside fellow voiceover icons Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, and Don Messick.
[[File:Eugene_Lee.jpeg|center]]
<html><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9c0twUIh67c?ecver=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></html>
Television and Broadway set designer Eugene Lee passed away today in his home in Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 83. He was the set designer for ''Saturday Night Live'' from its 1975 premiere until the present day except for a handful of seasons in the 1980s, and also for ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' and ''Late Night with Seth Meyers''. On Broadway, he designed many shows, and won Tony Awards for his work on ''Candide'', ''Sweeney Todd'', and ''Wicked''. He is survived by his wife, Brooke, and two children.
Among her other achievements, she started the Hollywood chapter of the Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (which later made her the recipient of its first June Foray Award); helped create [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Award the Annie Awards], which she later won two of; lobbied the Oscars to include a category for animated features; and has won the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Inkpot Award, and both an Emmy and the Governor's Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.


She was often compared to the equally prolific Mel Blanc, but the legendary cartoon producer Chuck Jones (who was in charge of the animated segments of ''Off to See the Wizard'') said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is the male June Foray."
(Information courtesy [https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-Winning-Set-Designer-Eugene-Lee-Passes-Away-20230208 Broadway World] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Lee_(designer) Wikipedia]. Photograph courtesy of [https://sports.yahoo.com/eugene-lee-snl-set-designer-185905185.html Yahoo!])


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There is now a release date for the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical version of ''Wicked'': December 20, 2019. This is still subject to change, but an announced date is a good sign. Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book of the play, is working on the script, and the composer, Stephan Schwartz, is arranging the music (and probably writing a new song or two). No casting announcements have been made yet.
The latest Oz projects to be announced in Hollywood: ''Cheshire Crossing'', the graphic novel by Andy Weir and Sarah Anderson, optioned by Amblin Partners (see [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/amblin-michael-de-luca-tackling-martian-author-s-fantasy-graphic-novel-cheshire-crossing-1255011 this report]); and an animated musical adaptation of the book ''Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz'', where the story is told from Toto's point of view, to be produced at Warner Bros. (see [https://deadline.com/2020/10/toto-the-dog-gone-amazing-story-of-the-wizard-of-oz-animated-pic-in-the-works-at-warner-bros-1234596757/ this source]).
 
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Reports of Jerry Maren's death on February 29, 2016, are false. The last little person to play a Munchkin in The Movie, he is still alive and kicking and, unlike the reports saying it, does not have cancer.


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Latest revision as of 07:55, 19 December 2023

(I will update this page when there is news to tell. Any news older than a year is dropped at the next update. If you have news to report, please e-mail me.)

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(For more Oz news, check out The Daily Ozmopolitan. For the latest Oz not-quite-news, see the Rumor Control section of this page.)

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December 11, 2023: Judge Dismisses Dorothy Dress Ownership Lawsuit

a dress worn by Judy Garland during production of The Wizard of Oz may soon be up for auction now that a federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit by the niece of a priest who once worked at the school where it was found. The Catholic University of America, where the dress was found in 2021. It had been given to Father Gilbert Hartke, chairman of the university's drama department, by actress Mercedes McCambridge, a friend of Garland. When the late Father Hartke's niece, Barbara Hartke, heard about the dress and the plan to auction it off, she sued to take ownership of the dress. In dismissing the suit, Judge Paul Gardephe noted that Barbara Hartke had not established that she was the executor of her uncle's estate or had any other standing in the case. Furthermore, as a Dominican, Father Hartke had taken a vow of poverty and renounced ownership of "temporal goods", and thus had not been the owner of the dress in the first place.

Barbara Hartke has ten days to amend her lawsuit and establish standing. Otherwise, the dress will belong to Catholic university, which can then go through with plans to auction aff the dress. The auction has been on hold for over a year while the case worked its way through the system.

(Information courtesy CNBC.)


October 17, 2023: Dorothy House Miniature Auctioned Off

A miniature of the Gale farmhouse from the famous 1939 movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, used in the tornado scene, was auctioned off today by Studio Auctions. The final sale price was $537,000, well above the pre-auction estimate.

(Information courtesy of PR Newswire.)


October 14, 2023: Piper Laurie, 1932-2023

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Piper Laurie, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress who was also nominated for three Academy Awards and a BAFTA, passed away today. She was 91. Born in Detroit in 1932, Rosetta Jacobs changed her name to Piper Laurie when she signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1949. She made her screen debut in Louisa opposite Ronald Reagan, and also co-starred with actors such as Donald O'Connor, Tony Curtis, and Rory Calhoun. But she soon moved back to New York to appear on stage and in television. Hollywood beckoned again with a part in The Hustler opposite Paul Newman, which garnered her first Oscar nomination. The parts she was offered did not improve, however, so she went back to New York. Her next film was Carrie in 1976, where she played Margaret White, Carrie's mother, in another Oscar-nominated role. She continued to appear in movies (including Children of a Lesser God, for which she received her third Oscar nomination), on television, and on stage for the rest of her career. Other notable roles include the television movie Promise, for which she won a Emmy; Twin Peaks, which netted her a Golden Globe; and the 1978 television biopic about Judy Garland, Rainbow, in which she played Ethel Gumm, Judy's mother. She is best known to Oz fans, however, for playing Aunt Em in the 1985 Disney movie Return to Oz.

(Information courtesy of Wikipedia and Entertainment Weekly.)


October 13, 2023: Martin Changes Plea to Guilty in Theft of Ruby Slippers

Terry Jon Martin, the Minnesota resident charged with the 2005 theft of a pair of Ruby Slippers used during the production of The Wizard of Oz, has changed his plea to guilty. As part of a plea deal entered in federal court in Duluth, Minnesota, Martin, 78 years old and suffering from OCPD, will face no jail time.

(Information courtesy of the Associated Press via Yahoo! News. More information is also available from KARE11.com.)


July 30, 2023: Betty Ann Bruno, 1931-2023

Betty Ann Bruno, the long-time San Francisco news anchor whose show business career began as a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, passed away today at the age of 91. Born Betty Ann Ka'ihliani in Hawai'i on October 1, 1931, she grew up in Hollywood and had an uncredited part in 1937's The Hurricane before playing one of the female background Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz at the age of seven. Acting was not in her blood, however, and she went on to graduate from Stanford before becoming a news anchor at KTVU in San Francisco in 1971, a job she held for over twenty years. She won three news Emmys for her work there. After retiring, she went on to become a hula instructor and founder of the dance troupe Hula Mai. She was named Sonoma Treasure Artist in 2020, and appeared on To Tell the Truth in 2022 in a segment on her time as a Munchkin. During the COVID lockdown, she wrote her memoir, The Munchkin Diary: My Personal Yellow Brick Road. She is survived by her husband, Craig, and her three sons.

(Information courtesy Deadline and SFGate.)


July 29, 2023: The 2023 Winkie Award and Oz Club Awards

The International Wizard of Oz Club presented its annual awards tonight, alongside the Winkie Award, as part of the 2023 OzCon International in Pomona, California. The awards were:

  • First of the Club's annual writing and art contest winners, the Fred Otto Prize for Fiction:
    • First place to J. L. Bell for "The Missing Key".
    • Second place, also to J. L. Bell, for "The Piglets and the Tin Soldier".
  • The C. Warren Hollister Prize for Non-fiction:
    • First place to J. L. Bell (him again?) for "Inspiring Maps of Oz".
    • Second place to Jem Abbas for "Technicolor at the Theatrical Premiere of The Wizard of Oz".
  • The Rob Roy MacVeigh Award for Art went to David Valentin for "Mombi's Magic".
  • The Winkie Award, voted on by member of OzCon International for contributions to the convention, went to Freddy Fogarty.
  • The L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the most prestigious prize in Oz fandom, went to Blair Frodelius for his many contributions to spreading the word about Oz online over the years.

July 17, 2023: The Baum Bugle Spring 2023 Issue

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The Spring 2023 issue of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, has made its way back from the printers and is on its way to members' mailboxes right now. This issue emphasizes the first word in the name of the club, with articles about how Oz is expressed in countries outside of the United States.

In this issue:

  • The front cover reproduces the cover art for the Oz game from Gen X Games.
  • The inside front and back covers reproduce art by Leonid Vladimirsky for postcards based on Волшебник Изумрудного Города (The Wizard of the Emerald City, the Russian version of The Wizard of Oz).
  • In letters, Jane Albright writes her final column as President of the International Wizard of Oz Club, while Editor-in-Chief Sarah K. Crotzer takes the readers through the process of this becoming a truly international issue.
  • In "The Bugle Bulletin":
    • The Wiz gets a new production and nationwide tour with the aim of making it to Broadway next year.
    • The Wicked movies get new cast members (Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Ethan Slater as Boq, Bowen Yang as Pfannee), and part 1 gets its release date moved up to November 2024. [No doubt part 2's release also moving, to November 2025, will make it into the next issue.]
    • The animated short The Tin Woods will premiere at OzCon International.
    • Online story platform Land of Tales now has an adaptation of "Hickory, Dickory, Dock", a story from Mother Goose in Prose by L. Frank Baum.
    • Ozzy backdrops from a 1941 Mardi Gras ball have been rediscovered and cataloged by NOLA Tableaux. The program has been digitized as well.
    • A new opera based on the second Oz book, Marvelous, is gearing up for its world premiere.
    • "Across the Shifting Sands" remembers two notable Ozians who recently passed away: Romona Carlin, former First Lady of Kansas who organized an Oz-themed event in Topeka; and artist Shawn Maldonado.
    • "Through the Tube!" only presents one video from YouTube instead of its usual three, but it's a good one: Artist Leonid Vladimirsky on Russian television in 1989 celebrating fifty years of Magic Land. (Don't worry, it has English subtitles.)
  • Jane Albright and Sara K. Crotzer interview the daughter of Magic Land illustrator Leonid Vladimirsky in "The Map to Magic Land: Aia Vladimirsky Remembers Her Fathre".
  • Want to collect the art of a Magic Land illustrator? Well, "An Initial Checklist of the Works by Leonid Vladimirsky" is a good place to start.
  • A Strange Post-Soviet Union" by Atticus Gannaway looks at an unusual pairing of recent Russian translations in one volume: L. Frank Baum's Queen Zixi of Ix and John R. Neill's The Wonder City of Oz!
  • Dave Ward looks at the first British stage production of The Wizard of Oz in "London, 1942".
  • Nick Campbell gives an overview of British editions of the Oz books in "Following Wonder: A History of British Publishing in Five Oz Books".
  • The creator of the new ballet The Lost Princess of Oz (reviewed last issue) is interviewed in "Faith: Gabriel Chajnik's Journey to Find a Lost Princess".
  • The creator of the new Oz card game is interviewed in "Walk the Road: An Interview with Óscar Arévalo" (with art and additional comments by Lorena Azpiri).
  • Sarah K. Crotzer looks at one particular word in the name of the organization when she asks, "How International Was the Early International Wizard of Oz Club?"
  • Reviewed in "Oz in the Arts":
    • The Land of Oz at the Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, December 2022.
    • Claus: The Musical (based on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus), The Lowry, Salford, England, December 2022.
    • The Wizard of Paws, or There's No Place Like a Furever Home, Englewood Arts Center, Independence, Missouri, April 2023.
  • Reviewed in "The Bugle Review":
  • And the inside back cover reproduces four cover images from British editions of the Oz books.

Also included in this issue:

  • The craft is a cut-out Russian nesting doll, based on the Magic Land art of Leonid Vladimirsky.
  • In The Emerald City Mirror, the newsletter aimed at younger Oz fans (no matter what their actual ages are):
    • It seems Princess Toodee, who temporarily took over for Ozma, was just a paper doll being used by the usurper who just took over Oz: The Nome King!
    • Editor-in-chief the Scarecrow reports from where everyone is hiding out from the new king, the Emerald City Library. (Since the Nome King doesn't read books, he probably won't find them there!)
    • A reprint from the archives looks at just who the Nome King is, anyway.
    • The Nome King's many schemes from the Oz books are recounted, along with a look at various eggs and a few of the Nome King's more colorful quotes.
    • Oz Club member on assignment Katie Jones reports from San Francisco, where reports of fantastic beings appearing there include a dragon!
    • And two contests: Guess the answer to "What Did the Wogglebug Say?" and draw a picture of the Cowardly Lion to celebrate the centennial of The Cowardly Lion of Oz.



July 15, 2023: SAG-AFTRA Strike Delays Wicked Production

Among the many movie and television projects put on hold by the SAG-AFTRA strike is the movie adaptation of Wicked. Word is that the main production only had ten days and one major musical number ("One Short Day") to go. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, and Bowen Yang are among the Wicked stars posting support for the actors' strike. When production can resume, and if the delay will affect the release dates for the two films, will likely depend on the length of the strike.

(Information courtesy Broadway World.)


June 20, 2023: Wicked Part 2 Release Moved Up

After the release of the first part of the Wicked movie adaptation was moved up to November earlier this year, it should come as no surprise that the release of part two was also moved up today. Originally scheduled for Christmas 2025, it will now come out on November 26, 2025. This will move it away from the same release window as Avatar 3, and also give it more time to build an audience over the holidays. (Both parts will now come out the day before Thanksgiving in the United States.)

(Information courtesy The Hollywood Reporter.)


June 1, 2023: Accused Ruby Slipper Thief Enters Plea

Terry Jon Martin, the man accused of stealing the Ruby Slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005, entered his plea today. He has pled not guilty to one count of Theft of a Major Art Work.

(Information courtesy of KSTP Minneapolis/St. Paul.)


May 17, 2023: An Arrest in the Ruby Slipper Theft

Terry Martin, 76, has been indicted in the 2005 theft of a pair of Ruby Slippers, originally worn by Judy Garland in the famous 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The Slippers were recovered in 2018. The investigation has been ongoing, and Martin has been charged with one count of theft of a major artwork. The charge was filed by federal prosecutors in North Dakota. The Ruby Slippers at the time belonged to collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. They were stolen in 2005, and Shaw eventually received a settlement from his insurers. A man contacted the insurers about the Slippers in 2017, setting off an investigation and eventual FBI sting operation. Nobody was charged at the time of the Slippers' recovery. Martin lives just south of Grand Rapids, but otherwise does not appear to have any connection to the museum or Garland. This is still an ongoing investigation, and it's possible other indictments may come later.

(Information courtesy of The Associated Press. Video courtesy of WCCO CBS News Minnesota.)


March 14, 2023: Wicked Part 1 Movie Release Date Changed

Universal has moved up the release date of the first half of the movie adaptation of Wicked, the long-running Broadway and West End musical. Originally announced for Christmas 2024, they moved the date up to November 27, 2024, to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday season it the United States. Since Avatar 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are also coming out on Christmas, changing Wicked to the earlier holiday weekend is probably a wise move.

(Information courtesy Variety.)


February 25, 2023: The Baum Bugle, Winter 2022 Issue

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The latest issue of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is now making its appearance in members' mailboxes. (Yes, technically it's now 2023, but it's still the same winter season, which historically is still very good for the Bugle.) This issue celebrates the centennial of Kabumpo in Oz, the first Oz book to go out exclusively and definitively under the authorship of Ruth Plumly Thompson.
In this issue:

  • All of the covers have to do with Dick Martin's 1961 cover design for the new Kabumpo in Oz dust jacket. The front cover is the finished product, the inside front cover shows the color separations, the inside back cover is a different color sketch, and the back cover is the original art.
  • In "Letters", Oz Club President gives her impressions of the twice-postponed 2022 National Oz Convention, while Bugle editor-in-chief Sarah K. Crotzer remembers her encounters with Kabumpo as she discusses the creation of this issue.
  • News items discussed in "The Bugle Bulletin":
    • The discovery and auction of the original art by W. W. Denslow for two of the color plates from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, both selling for over $100,000.
    • The 2022 TDF/Irene Sharaff Memorial Tribute honored Caroline F. Siedle, the costume designer for the 1903 stage extravaganza version of The Wizard of Oz. (Also honored, but not mentioned in the Bugle, was Eugene Lee, designer for Wicked, among other shows.)
    • The 2022 winner of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the highest honor bestowed by the International Wizard of Oz Club, is Sean P. Duffley.
    • Jeff Goldblum is cast as the Wizard in the Wicked movie adaptations.
    • "Beyond the Shifting Sands" remembers two Oz luminaries who recently passed away: Jules Bass, one half of the famed Rankin/Bass animation studio whose works included Tales of the Wizard of Oz, the 1961 TV special Return to Oz, and the 1985 holiday program The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus; and Angela Lansbury, whose long and storied Hollywood career includes presenting and narrating the 1990 documentary The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic.
  • In "Kerumberty Bumpus! The Joy of Oz as Series Fiction", Sarah K. Crotzer and Nick Campbell look at the proper introduction of Ruth Plumly Thompson as a Royal Historian of Oz and how her work was presented and received over the years as a part of the greater Oz series.
  • In "Oz Under Scrutiny", Scott Cummings presents contemporary review of Kabumpo in Oz.
  • Garrett Kilgore comes to the defense of one of his favorite characters in "J'Accuse Kabumpo: Justice for the Curious Cottabus".
  • Scott Cummings discovers a previously unknown dramatic adaptation of Kabumpo in Oz from Pittsburgh in 1943 in "Unearthing the Gnome King".
  • "Coming and Going: Kabumpo in Oz" sees Nick Campbell and Sarah K. Crotzer give brief summaries of some ideas about aspects of the book, including how it serves as a template for other Thompson Oz books, how it may have been influenced by Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland, and how Kabumpo may have, in turn, influenced Norton Juster and his classic story The Phantom Tollbooth.
  • Ryan Bunch presents the sheet music for "The Tin Woodman's Song" from Ruth Plumly Thompson's playlet A Day in Oz.
  • J. L. Bell reports on the first two big post-pandemic gatherings of Oz fans, OzCon International 2022 and Oz: The National Convention 2020 2021 2022.
  • Michael Patrick Hearn introduces a Christmas play from the December 1917 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine, "The Man Who Didn't Believe in Christmas" by Mary Austin, which includes the Wizard of Oz as a character.
  • "Oz in the Arts" reviews And Toto, Too (FRIGID New York Fringe Festival, February 18-26, 2022, reviewed by Atticus Gannaway), The Lost Princess of Oz (Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater, August 19-28, 2022, reviewed by Robert Lamont), and American Classics Presents Journey to Oz (November 18 and 20, 2022, reviewed by J. L. Bell).
  • Books and games examined in "The Bugle Review":

Other inserts that come with this issue of The Baum Bugle:

  • An ad for the 2022 edition of Oziana, the annual literary journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club.
  • A registration form for the 2023 edition of OzCon International, July 28-30 in Pomona, California.
  • The craft project for this issue is a color, cut, and assemble Emerald City Palace. Perhaps you can perch it jauntily on your head as you cosplay Ruggedo from Kabumpo in Oz.
  • The "Oz Live 2022" insert reported on Oz events around the country, including Oz on the Bayou (Gray, Louisiana, March 4-5), QuadCon (April 29-30, Tulsa, Oklahoma), Wizard of Oz Days (May 14-15, Chesterton, Indiana, and a second edition in Hannibal, Missouri, October 22), OzStravaganza! (Chittenango, New York, June), Judy Garland's 100th Birthday Celebration (Grand Rapids, Minnesota, June 9-12), the Michigan Wizard of Oz Festival (Ionia, Michigan, September 30-October 1), Autumn in Oz (Banner Elk, North Carolina, September weekends), The Ohio Wizard of Oz Expo (Aurora, Ohio, October 15-16), The Illinois Oz Festival (Mapleton, Illinois, August 13), and Oztoberfest (Wamego, Kansas, October 1).
  • And in The Oz Gazette, the newsletter for younger Oz fans (no matter what their actual age is):
    • Kabumpo celebrates his one hundredth birthday.
    • "A Letter form the Editor" sees the Scarecrow expounding on the issue and encouraging its readers to contribute.
    • "The Emerald City Book Report" gives facts and information on Kabumpo in Oz.
    • "Meet an Oz Club Youth Member" interviews its youngest subject yet, five-year-old Julian from Florida.
    • Glinda flips the pages of the Great Book of Records back one hundred ears to see what else happened in 1922.
    • The latest actions of the enigmatic temporary new ruler of Oz, Princess Toodee, are recorded.
    • "The Woggle-Bug's Contest" presents another puzzler for readers to unravel.
    • American correspondent-at-large Katie Jones' "The Ozzity Report" continues her search for Ozma in all parts of our world where Oz creatures are sighted.
    • And Billina the yellow hen has mysteriously been transformed into a penguin!

February 8, 2023: Eugene Lee, 1939-2023

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Television and Broadway set designer Eugene Lee passed away today in his home in Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 83. He was the set designer for Saturday Night Live from its 1975 premiere until the present day except for a handful of seasons in the 1980s, and also for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers. On Broadway, he designed many shows, and won Tony Awards for his work on Candide, Sweeney Todd, and Wicked. He is survived by his wife, Brooke, and two children.

(Information courtesy Broadway World and Wikipedia. Photograph courtesy of Yahoo!)


Rumor Control

(Because of the many questions I am asked about possible forthcoming Oz projects or other bits of pseudo-news, I have added this section to answer some of these inquiries.)


The latest Oz projects to be announced in Hollywood: Cheshire Crossing, the graphic novel by Andy Weir and Sarah Anderson, optioned by Amblin Partners (see this report); and an animated musical adaptation of the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, where the story is told from Toto's point of view, to be produced at Warner Bros. (see this source).


Okay, yes, word has leaked out that Warner Bros. tried to talk Robert Zemeckis into directing a remake of The Wizard of Oz, using the same screenplay as the famous 1939 Judy Garland version. Zemeckis already rejected the idea. This probably puts the idea on the back burner for a while, and based on the extreme negative reaction the idea got, I suspect it will stay there. Rumors of this have surfaced again, but appear to be the result of someone finding the old story and running it again.


It's getting harder and harder to keep up with all of the currently planned Oz movie and television projects. Bear in mind that at this stage, most of it is speculation and/or not even in pre-production, or possibly even a game of "Telephone". But here are some of the current Oz movies that could be coming to your local theater in the next few years:

  • The Road to Oz, a movie biopic about the life of L. Frank Baum and how he created Oz, starring Eddie Redmayne as Frank. (See reports here and here.)
  • Dark Oz 3-D, based on the old Caliber comic book.
  • A non-musical, faithful adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from New Line and Temple Hill.
  • The Oz Wars, which would have the witches fighting for control of the Emerald City while the Wizard leads the resistance.
  • John Boorman's animated adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz seems to be on track for release — in France. Once it's released, an English-language release will likely come out soon afterwards. (However, in a recent interview, Boorman admitted that the project has stalled due to lack of funding.)
  • Oz: Return to the Emerald City was one of two possible competing projects at Warner Bros. This original sequel may now be shopped around to other studios, or turned into a novel.
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a low-budget independent production from Barnyard Studios and Used Productions. This is very much a shoestring production, which is looking for money and actors. But its Kickstarter campaign to raise the last money it needed was a success, so it may be finished soon.
  • Legend of Oz, a modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz from Valley Wind Productions in Ottawa.
  • Oz, a new telling of The Wizard of Oz.
  • A still unnamed horror movie set in the 1920s with Dorothy meeting Alice in Bedlam Asylum.
  • Young Santa., based on L. Frank Baum's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and directed by Sean McNamara.
  • How the Wizard Came to Oz, based on two books by Donald Abbott.
  • Not entirely Oz, strictly speaking, but the Judy Garland biography Get Happy may be made into a movie, featuring Anne Hathaway as Garland.

And it's not limited to movies any more. In development for television:

  • Red Brick Road, a television series continuation of The Wizard of Oz in the style of Game of Thrones. The latest word is that this is being developed for the Lifetime channel.
  • Dorothy, an Oz-themed medical drama in development at CBS
  • Dorothy Must Die, in which Dorothy has returned to Oz and become a dictator, in development at the CW. This would be based on the book series of the same name.
  • Warriors of Oz, a post-apocalyptic version in development at Syfy.
  • A Wicked television miniseries, based on the original book (not the stage musical). Salma Hayak was attached to this as a producer. When last heard of, it was under development at ABC.

No, Peter Jackson is not producing or directing a billion-dollar all-CGI remake of The Wizard of Oz for Warner Bros. How do stories like this get started? Oh, maybe in stories like this...


In recent years, there have been proposals for other Oz or related projects, none of which now appear that they will get off the ground. Among them:

  • Lost in Oz, a series that was to feature Melissa George as a Kansas university student who is whisked to Oz sixty years after the events of The Wizard of Oz (The Movie) and helping to spearhead a rebellion against the new Wicked Witch of the West. Although developed for the WB and a pilot film produced, it was never picked up, nor the pilot shown. (But keep an eye out on auction sites, as a bootleg DVD sometimes shows up…)
  • A telelvision miniseries based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked, with Demi Moore in the title role. (There are stories that the people developing this version later pushed their involvement into the musical version now playing on Broadway and elsewhere.)
  • The O. Z., a hip-hop flavored re-telling of The Wizard of Oz for Fox. Among the rumored Dorothy's at one point were Brandy, Mya, and the late Aaliyah. Justin Timberlake, John Leuizamo, and Little Richard were mentioned for other parts.
  • Surrender Dorothy. Drew Barrymore as Dorothy's great-granddaughter coming to Oz, and battling the Wicked Witch of the West's granddaughter. (Rumors of this recently resurfaced, but were quickly squelched. This project is dead.)
  • Somewhere starring Elizabeth Taylor as Dorothy, now a grandmother, returning to Oz. The deaths of both Taylor and developer Rod Steiger means this is unlikely to ever happen.
  • Pamela West, where the Wicked Witch is the innocent victim and Dorothy (with Toto as a pit bull) is the evil interloper.
  • The Land of Oz (not based on the book of the same name), produced by Hallmark for NBC. This eventually became the basis for the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Tin Man.
  • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus from Circa Pictures. It's no longer listed on their website.
  • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus from Hyde Park Entertainment and Toonz Entertainment.
  • A Bollywood adaptation of The Wizard of Oz in India.
  • A movie version of American McGee's (later cancelled) Oz video game.
  • Geoff Ryman's Was.

If progress is made on any of these projects, such as actually going into production or a release date announced, the news will be posted as quickly as possible on this page. But at this stage, any of these going into production is very unlikely. (However, Tin Man was part of this list for some time before its eventual completion and broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.)

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