Oz News

(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.)

"There's no place like the home page."

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

March 20, 2013: Risë Stevens

Risë Stevens, the acclaimed mezzo-soprano who brought opera to the masses in the 1940s and '50s, died today at her home in New York City. She was 99 years old. Although she performed all over the world, Stevens was best remembered for her twenty-three seasons performing at the Metropolitan Opera. She was considered by many to be the definitive Carmen of her time, but also performed many other roles as well. For those who couldn't make it to see her in person, Stevens became known through records and radio and television appearances. She also acted in three movies: opposite Bing Crosby in Going My Way, with Nelson Eddy in The Chocolate Soldier, and as the voice of Glinda the Good in the animated feature Journey Back to Oz. Stevens is survived by her son and granddaughter.

(Information courtesy Scott Hutchins, Wikipedia, and The New York Times. Picture from Journey Back to Oz courtesy of The Everything Oz Club on Facebook].)

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November 27, 2012: The Baum Bugle, Autumn 2012

This year's Autumn issue of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, has now been published and is making its way to members' mailboxes now. This issue celebrates the centennial of Sky Island, L. Frank Baum's major fantasy story of 1912, and also the life of Martin Gardner, one of the founding members of what was originally called The Wizard of Oz Fan Club.

In this issue:

• The front cover reproduces one of the color plates from Sky Island.
• "From the Editor" sees current editor Scott Cummings writing about his reasons for becoming editor, and also why he's leaving the job; and Club President Carrie L. Hedges introduces the new editor, Craig Noble.
• The list of winners of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award gets its annual bylaws-mandated printing, with this year's winner, Atticus Gannaway, added to the list.
• In "Oz & Ends":
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was part of an exhibit at the Library of Congress, "The Books That Shaped America".
  • A flying monkey sculpture, made entirely from recycled metal, available at Modern Artisans.
  • Ruby Slipper socks
  • New Toto toys are available from Kohl's (which is also selling a new edition of the book) and Steiff (which is also selling a Dorothy teddy bear). (Bugle readers even get a code to receive a 10% discount code from Steiff!)
  • A new series coming to the E! network, Dorothy, about a girl from Kansas City falling for a man and moving to New York City to work at the Emerald Hotel.
  • The forthcoming children's opera, The Road to Oz, being developed in Camden, Maine.
  • A new soundtrack for the 1925 silent film version of The Wizard of Oz, performed earlier this year in Portland, Oregon.
  • A new production of The Wizard of Oz in Nagpur, India, in which a drunken Dorothy crushes a woman under the wheels of her car, then stumbling into a bar called the Land of Oz.
  • A new film adaptation of "The Box of Robbers", one of the stories L. Frank Baum wrote in his collection American Fairy Tales.
  • The latest rumors about a film based on the Wicked musical play, now with Stephen Daldry in the director's chair.
  • The announcement of the latest mural in Holland, Michigan, of L. Frank Baum daydreaming about writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at his summer home in nearby Macatawa.
  • The forthcoming conference in Manchester, Great Britain, "Returning to Oz: The Afterlife of Dorothy".
  • The Oz art of Australian illustrator Ben Wood and his exhibit earlier this year in Bendigo, Australia.
  • The auction of a rare British edition of L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose, which realized a price of $5,100.
  • The auction of two of John R. Neill's original illustrations for color plates for The Scarecrow of Oz, which sold for $10,625 (for the attempted burning of the Scarecrow) and $16,250 (Blinkie being carried away by Orks).
• An excerpt from Chapter 14 of Sky Island, to kick off the centennial celebration of that book.
• Mari Ness writes a critique of the book in "Fairylands in the Sky: L. Frank Baum's Sky Island".
• Richard Tuerk gives an overview of how the ruling classes do their job in the book in "'Suppose you jus' call yourself the Boss?' Governance in Sky Island".
• Scott Cummings edits and annotates some of the "Early Reviews of Sky Island".
• Mark I. West examines "Martin Gardner and His Contributions to the History of Oz".
• Scott Cummings provides "Martin Gardner's Oz Writings: A Checklinst".
• Kevin Thomas provides the transcript of a visit with Gardner in 2007 in "'I Grew Up on the Oz Books': An Interview with Martin Gardner".
• "The Hollow Men of Oz" by Michael Hernandez examines how Oz might have been an influence on T. S. Eliot and one of his most famous poems, "The Hollow Men".
• Blair Frodelius talks with one of the world's most renowned collectors of Judy Garland memorabilia in "Dress Rehearsal: A Conversation with Michael Siewert".
• In "The Oz Bookshelf":
  • Ozma of Oz, adapted for comics by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (available in both hardcover and paperback), reviewed by Ken Cope.
  • The Ozopolis comic book series by Kirk Kushin, reviewed by Blair Frodelius.
  • The Royal Historian of Oz graphic novel by Tommy Kovac and Andy Hirsch, reviewed by Dennis Anfuso.
  • A Bouquet for the Gardner: Martin Gardner Remembered (a collection of essays about Gardner, including several about Oz), and the new Dover edition of The Little Wizard Stories of Oz with a new introduction by Gardner, both reviewed by Scott Cummings.
  • And Toto, Too: The Wizard of Oz as a Spiritual Adventure by Nathan G. Castle, reviewed by Richard C. Rutter.
  • A new Vietnamese edition of The Wizard of Oz, reviewed by Rutter.
  • All-Action Classics No. 4: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, adapted and illustated by Ben Caldwell.
  • The Army Alphabet/The Navy Alphabet by L. Frank Baum (in hardcover and paperback).
  • The Art of the Darkside of Oz by Tommy Castillo.
  • Emeralds: Hearts in Oz by Jer Alford and Erin Ptah (available as a mini comic or .pdf download).
  • Everything Oz by Hannah Read-Baldrey and Christine Leech.
  • Fairy Tales on the Stage by L. Frank Baum, newly reprinted in a very limited edition.
  • Freud in Oz: At the Intersections of Psychoanalysis and Children's Literature by Kenneth B. Kidd.
  • The Hackers of Oz by Tom Mula.
  • A new edition of The Magical Mimics in Oz by Jack Snow.
  • Namesake: Book 1 by Isabelle Melançon and Megan Lavey-Heaton.
  • Northern Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road by Vincent J. Kelly.
  • Of Cabbages, Kings, and Even (Odd) Queens of Wonderland and Oz by Ron Baxley, Jr., and James C. Wallace II.
  • Operation Ruby Slipper by John Meyer.
  • The Oz Clan by Jeff Barstock.
  • Oz House by Alan Lindsay and Dennis Anfuso.
  • The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles series (Book 1, Book 2, and Prelude).
  • The Powder of Life by Paul Miles Schneider.
  • Professor Wogglebug and the Frogman of Oz by Cynthia Hanson.
  • The Red Gorilla of Oz by Richard Capwell.
  • The Royal Explorer of Oz series by Marcus Mébès, Jeff Rester, and Jared Davis — Book 1 (hardback and paperback) and Book 2 (hardback and paperback).
  • Santa Claus in Oz by Richard Capwell.
  • Shadow of Oz by Nick Damon.
  • A new edition of The Shaggy Man of Oz by Jack Snow.
  • A new edition of The Silver Princess in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson.
  • The Silver Tower of Oz by Margaret Baum (no relation).
  • Tales Told in Oz by Gregory Maguire.
  • Vampires and Oz by Nikki Kay Richardson.
  • The Witch Queens: The Hidden History of Oz, Book One (Volume 1) by Tarl Telford.
  • The Wizard of Oz ABC Coloring Book by Dennis Anfuso.
  • The Wizard of Oz as American Myth: A Critical Study of Six Versions of the Story, 1900-2007 by Alissa Burger.
• In "Oz Behind the Footlights", David Moyer looks at the summer 2012 production of The Wizard of Oz at the Haberdasher Theater in New York City.
• "The Magic Picture" looks back at the 2012 Winkie Convention (written by Frederick Wiegand) and the 2012 National Convention (written by John E. Cook).
• "In Memoriam" presents obituaries for Ray Bradbury, Evan McCord, Ginny Tyler, and Gore Vidal.
• As Martin Gardner was also a fan of Alice in Wonderland, the back cover reproduces the cover art for an issue of The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles comic book series.

Also included were notices sure to be of interest to all kinds of Oz fans:

• The registration form for the 2013 Winkie Convention.
• The 2013 Oz Club calendar can now be ordered from Peter Hanff, 1083 Euclid Avevenue, Berkeley, CA 94708. Enclose a check for $10 payable to IWOC.

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club — membership includes all three issues of The Baum Bugle for the year — is encouraged to go visit http://www.ozclub.org/Quadling_Country_Join.html. (And hey, current members, it's also time to think about renewing!)

August 17, 2012: The 2012 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award winner

Tonight, the International Wizard of Oz Club bestowed its highest award, the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, to Atticus Gannaway. Gannaway is a published author of several books, notably The Silver Sorceress of Oz. But his greatest contributions to Oz and the Club were as the editor in chief of the Club's journal, The Baum Bugle, for many years. It is a well-deserved honor!

July 28, 2012: The 2012 Winkie Award winner

During the awards ceremony at the Winkie Convention this evening, the Winkies gave their highest honor to Laura Gjovaag, for her editorship of the convention newsletter. Although she's not much of an Oz fan, she helps the Winkies out with the convention and communication throughout the year. It was a popular win!

May 17, 2012: The Baum Bugle, Spring 2012

File:Bbspring12.jpg

'Tis spring, and in years past, that would have meant that the previous year's Autumn issue of The Baum Bugle was due. But now that the International Wizard of Oz Club's journal has actually managed to stick to its own timetable, Club members should be finding the Spring 2012 issue arriving in their mailboxes any day now. (If you're not a member for 2012, it's not too late to join or renew, and your membership will include this issue.)

In this issue:

• The cover features Professor Nowitall, as illustrated by Pedro Moran, for the forthcoming Card Game of Oz.
• In "From the Editor", Scott Cummings discusses some topics that the Bugle hasn't explored, and encourages members to do so.
• Club President Carrie Hedges talks about the Club's special premium memberships, and their rewards, for 2012.
• In "Oz and Ends":
  • New Oz dolls by Mark Dennis.
  • An Oz Passport notebook.
  • The new Oz-themed Four Witches Brew beer from the New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, Michigan.
  • New audiobooks of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz read by Anne Hathaway, and the forthcoming (and long awaited) Colonial Radio Theater adaptations of The Emerald City of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
  • Moon Dream Art Studio's Tin Man sculpture (to go along with their previously released Scarecrow sculpture).
  • New Oz-themed cards: Oz Fluxx, The Card Game of Oz, and Classic Book Cards.
  • Dorothy and the Witches of Oz and its theatrical release.
  • Oz, the Great and Powerful, coming from Disney next spring.
  • The world premiere of the ballet Oz— The Wonderful Wizard in Berlin, combining elements of both Oz and Volkov's Magic Land.
  • A currently-in-production computer animated adaptation of Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers.
  • The current legal wrangling between Warner Bros. and Disney about The Wizard of Oz and copyright.
  • The forthcoming new stage play The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A New Musical, based closely on the book and incorporating elements of the original 1902 stage adaptation.
  • The all-Oz online Emerald City Radio.
  • A gallery of new covers for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (please note that there are two different links there).
  • The "Visionaries" series of plays at the Nakano Theatre in Torrance, California, presents a one-man show on the life and works of L. Frank Baum (coming June 27).
  • The Land of Oz Park in Aberdeen, South Dakota will soon be the home of a Tin Man slide.
  • LEGOLAND Discovery Park in Kansas City has an Oz-themed Miniland.
  • An Oz-themed playhouse used to raise money for homeless Californians in 2011.
  • Oz shoes in the news include the pair bought for two million dollars ad donated to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their anticipated museum; the Smithsonian removing and repairing their pair in anticipation of the opening of "American Stories" at the National Museum of American History; and artist Manny Castro hanging "ruby slipper" stilettos over power lines in Miami Beach as a holiday gift in December 2011.

• Angelica Carpenter looks at how the popular Accelerated Reader education program handles Oz in (naturally) "Acclerated Reader in Oz".
• "Yellow Brick Philosophy" by Ellen Handler Spitz (reprinted from The New Republic) digs under the surface of the story of The Wizard of Oz, as first told in the original book, and finds hidden depths.
• The Bugle announces the search for a new Editor-in-Chief.
• Peter E. Hanff looks at the Ozzy theme of the 1930 Burbank (California) High School yearbook in "Greetings from Oz".
• In "The Borrowing Artist of Ix", Dennis Anfuso and Alan Lindsay reveal that Henry L. Miller, an early twentieth century children's book illustrator, probably copied some of Frederick Richardson's illustrations from Queen Zixi of Ix.
• "Ignotum per Ignotius" by Patrick Maund asks some of those imponderable questions about the famous 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz that one only notices after watching it many, many times with a small child.
• Blair Frodelius talks to the writer of the Wicked books in "American Fairy Tales: A Conversation with Gregory Maguire".
• "Adventures in Oz" has Felicia Ricci recall her first experience as Eden Espinosa's understudy as Elphaba in Wicked in "It's Not That Easy Being Green".
• Greg Hunter tells the tale of "The Discovery of 'John'", a previously unknown short story by L. Frank Baum; Michael Patrick Hearn writes an introduction; and, finally, "John" by L. Frank Baum, first published in 1898.
• Resting on "The Oz Bookshelf":
  • Judy: A Legendary Film Career by John Fricke, his latest book on Judy Garland, reviewed by Mark Griffin.
  • Cyclone on the Prairies: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Arts & Crafts of Publishing in Chicago, 1900by Peter E. Hanff, and A Bookbinder's Analysis of the First Edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Michael O. Riley, reviewed by Cindy Ragni.
  • Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire, the finale of his "Wicked Years" series, reviewed by Stephen J. Teller.
  • Adolph Hitler in Oz by Sam Sackett, reviewed by J. L. Bell.
  • A new edition of The Wizard of Oz, illustrated by Thea Kliros and reviewed by Eric Shanower.
  • Bucketheads in Oz by Greg Gick, Melody Grandy, Greg Hunter, Phyllis Ann Karr, Chuck Sabatos, Deen Shumate, Jim Vander Noot, and Chris Dulabone, reviewed by Mari Ness.
  • Richard R. Rutter reviews two new Italian editions of The Wizard of Oz: Il meraviglioso Mago di Oz, a novel illustrated by Giuliano Lunelli; and Il Mago di Oz, a pop-up adaptation with sound.

• "Oz Behind the Footlights" reviews A Mermaid's Tale, a new dramatization of L. Frank Baum's The Sea Fairies.
• "In Memoriam" sees Peter E. Hanff remembering longtime Oz researcher Patrick Maund.
• "Ozmusements" has "Professor Wogglebug's Pop Quiz: Pills in Oz".
• And the back cover shows an Oz-themed hide-and-seek poster, created by Ed Gazsi in the 1980s (the answers are inside the issue).

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.)

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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.

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It's getting harder and harder to keep up with all of the currently planned Oz movie 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:

• 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.
• Dorothy of Oz, an animated musical sequel based on the book by Roger S. Baum. Although some merchandise (notably a prequel comic book series) already came out under that name, a new distributor means that it has acquired a new name, Legends of Oz: Dorothy Returns. The release has now been announced for some yet-to-be-determined date in 2014.
• 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.
• Yes, it looks like a film version of Wicked is currently in pre-planning at Universal. But this is a long way off, and a lot can happen. However, the success of the play most likely means that there will be a film version some day. Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book for the play, has already been tapped to write the script.
• 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.
• Red Brick Road, a television series continuation of The Wizard of Oz in the style of Game of Thrones.
• 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.

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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...

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It seems the Hash, Inc., animated production of The Tin Woodman of Oz was successful enough that they're going ahead with their next production, The Scarecrow of Oz. This one even has test footage on YouTube, which looks something like this:

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A computer animated production of Baum's 1902 book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is currently in the works. The producers are Hyde Park Entertainment, Toonz Entertainment, and Gang of 7 Animation. As with all movie projects, a lot can happen before release, which could cause them be delayed, or not to appear at all. Keep an eye on this website's news and events pages for details if they get closer to actually coming out.

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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.
• 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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