Oz News

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(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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September 21, 2022: Jonathan Bailey Cast as Fiyero in the Wicked Movies

Jonathan Bailey, the British actor best known for playing Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the Bridgerton television series on Netflix, has been cast as Fiyero in the Wicked movies. Director Jon M. Chu tweeted today, "He’s perfect, they’re perfect. They’d be perfect together. Born to be forever… I am too excited to pretend this hasn’t been happening. We have a Fiyero!!!!" alongside a picture of Bailey. He joins Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Galinda. in the two-part movie adaptation of the hit musical. Part 1 will be released for the 2024 holiday season, and part 2 comes out in 2025.

(Information courtesy of Variety.)

September 19, 2022: The Baum Bugle, Autumn 2022 Issue

The latest issue of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is back from the printers and in mailboxes, on its way to members. Stay tuned for updates to this item to find out what's inside.

August 6, 2022: The Oz Club Awards

The International Wizard of Oz Club presented its annual awards tonight, honoring excellence in writing and art, as well as its highest award.

  • The Frederick E. Otto Prize for original Oz fiction went to Suren Oganessian for the story "A Rotten Pumpkin", with J. L. Bell's "Glinda and the Glass Cat" being awarded the runner-up prize.
  • The Warren C. Hollister Prize for non-fiction went to Ashley Fletcher for the essay "The True Power of the Ruby Slippers".
  • The Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for art went to Ashley Fletcher for "The Rulers of the Game", with second place going to David Valentin for "Wogglebug College".
  • And the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the highest honor an Oz fan can receive, went to Sean Patrick Duffley, Oz scholar extraordinaire and former Editor-in-Chief of the Club's journal, The Baum Bugle.

July 15, 2022: The Winkie Award

Tonight, OzCon International presented its highest honor, the Winkie Award, to Herm Bieber. Herm has contributed to many OzCons of the past, including materials and presentations on rare Oz books and Baumiana, as well as participating in many costume contests, and selling books in the dealers' room.

May 13, 2022: The Baum Bugle Spring 2022 issue

Even though the calendar says today is Friday the thirteenth, it's a lucky day for members of the International Wizard of Oz Club as the latest issue of the Club's journal, The Baum Bugle, has started arriving in members' mailboxes.

In this issue:

  • The front cover (technical issues prevent it from being shown here) shows an altered version of Frank Kramer's front cover for The Shaggy Man of Oz in which Shaggy is not greeting the King of the Fairy Beavers, but Father Goose.
  • The inside front cover features the cover art for the July 1898 cover of Baum's magazine The Show Window, drawn by Harry Otis Kennedy.
  • As always, "Letters" features musings from Club President Jane Albright, and Bugle editor Sarah K. Crotzer giving a peek at the issue and what went into it.
  • News items in "The Bugle Bulletin":
    • The opening of a new Oz museum in Cape Canavela, Florida.
    • A new Oz-themed coffee shop in Tempe, Arizona, Brick Road Coffee.
    • A new Oz-themed ad for the Turner Classic Movies channel.
    • Whoops! A report from last issue turns out to be false, as the dancer claiming his show was a tribute to his uncle, Ray Bolger, isn't related to Bolger at all.
    • Ariana DeBose, who featured as the Scarecrow on the cover and in an article in the Spring 2020 issue of The Baum Bugle, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing Anita in the remake of West Side Story.
    • "Beyond the Shifting Sands" commemorates the passing of 1997 Madison Square Garden Wizard of Oz Munchkin actress Wendy Coates; "Munchkin by Marriage" Mary Ellen St. Aubin, widow of original MGM movie Munchkin Parnell St. Aubin and a frequent guest at Oz festivals; Tony Walton, who won Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys for his scenic and costume designs, and was Oscar nominated for his costume design and art direction on the 1978 film version of The Wiz; and Club members Robert Olyn Bryant, Russ Chappell, Ron Lepanto, David Moyer, John Spruhan, and Bryl Ward.
    • "Through the Tube!" found these Oz clips on YouTube:
  • Michael Gessel introduces "The Missing Chapters ofThe Shaggy Man of Oz", which included Dorothy's adventure with Father Goose, the title character of L. Frank Baum's first bestseller, as well as an episode with the Crystal People.
  • Sarah K. Crotzer presents the first part of her interview with Janet K. Lee, the artist of the new graphic novel reinterpretations, The Sea Sirens and Sky Island, in "Poppies and Tall Crowns".
  • Crotzer also looks at the history of board games and their culmination in 1921's The Wonderful Game of Oz in the first part of "20th Century Racing Board Games of Oz".
  • In "Collector's Corner", W. Neal Thompson looks at the career and works of Harry Otis Kennedy, who illustrated L. Frank Baum's The Army Alphabet and The Navy Alphabet.
  • "Oz in the Arts" sees Mark Manley reviewing The Wiz at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, England.
  • Manley also interviewed Hope Mill Theatre musical director Seth Green and actor Cameron Bernard Jones (who played The Wiz himself) about their production of The Wiz.
  • Michael Patrick Hearn found a different final panel for the Wonderland of Oz comic strip's adaptation of The Lost Princess of Oz, which he first reported on in 2017.
  • Books featured in "The Bugle Review":
  • In "Adventures in Oz", Fred Barton looks back on his one (wo)man show, Miss Gulch Returns.
  • The inside back cover features the color cover for the instruction booklet from the earliest edition of The Wonderful Game of Oz and the game's record at the Copyright Office.
  • The back cover shows Janet K. Lee's original cover design for Sea Sirens.

Other items that were sent out with this issue of The Baum Bugle:

  • "Oz! Online", a four-page flyer about the features and benefits of the Club's website, including some only available to members.
  • Some of the items available to buy in the Club's shop.
  • A flyer for the 2022 National Oz Convention in East Aurora, New York.
  • The color and cut-out craft is The Game of Father Goose — The Oz Club Missing Chapters Edition, tying in with the issue's cover article.
  • And the latest edition of The Oz Gazette, the newsletter aimed at younger Oz fans (no matter how old they actually are). In this issue:
    • a board game tournament in the Emerald City.
    • A brief letter from the editor, the Scarecrow.
    • The penultimate installment of the serialized story "The Valley of the Kalidahs", featuring Toto and the Woozy.
    • "Meet an Oz Club Youth Member" profiles Ben W. from Washington state.
    • "The Woggle-Bug's Contest" poses a puzzler about an Oz celebrity.
    • And in "The Ozzity Report", New York City correspondent reports on sightings of Oz characters and creatures in our world!

April 26, 2022: Wicked to Be Split Into Two Movies

John Chu, the director of the film adaptation of the Wicked musical, sent out the following notice via Twitter:

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What it boils down to is that the movie adaptation will be released as two separate movies, during the December holiday release seasons of 2024 and 2025.

April 12, 2022: David Moyer, 1929-2022

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David Moyer, long-time Oz fan and recipient of the 2006 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, passed away today at the age of 92. He was active in the Club as far back as the 1970s, and twice served on the Board of Directors. He also edited "Oz in the News" in The Baum Bugle for many years. His career as an Egyptologist made him uniquely qualified to research and share his knowledge of Frank and Maud Baum's 1906 trip to Egypt and their cruise up the Nile. He presented his show at many Oz conventions and other sites. He was also a columnist for KMT: A Modern Journal About Ancient Egypt. Earlier in his life, he also performed, both on stage and as a movie extra, which led to him playing Mombi in The Woggle-Bug and the Sultan of Samandra in The Yellow Knight of Oz at several Oz conventions.

(Information courtesy of the International Wizard of Oz Club and David Maxine. Photo courtesy David Maxine.)


December 29, 2021: The Baum Bugle, Winter 2021 Issue

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The final issue for 2021 of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is back from the printers and on its way to Club members. In years past, this is the issue for which membership ends, and it's time to renew, but this time…well, read on to find out why this is changing.

In this issue:

Other goodies are also enclosed, in addition to the Bugle:

  • A flyer for many books and other items available in the Oz Club shop.
  • A plea to renew, especially in light of the change in renewal policy.
  • A Scarecrow marionette to color, cut out, and assemble.
  • And in the twelfth issue of the revival of The Oz Gazette, the newsletter for younger Oz fans (no matter what their ages):
    • New York Oz fan Katie Jones, lost and asking for help in the last few issues, finally makes it to the Emerald City!
    • The editor, the Scarecrow, writes about friendship among Oz fans.
    • The story of how Ruth Plumly Thompson succeeded L. Frank Baum as Royal Historian of Oz.
    • An overview of the characters and places Thompson added to the story of Oz.
    • Thompson's poem, "A Christmas Wish".
    • Holiday greetings (?) from the Nome King.
    • Ruth Plumly Thompson's map of Oz.
    • An interview with Sir Hokus of Pokes.
    • The Wogglebug's contest.
    • A winter weather report from the new Gazette meteorologist, Polychrome.

For another look at this issue, the LA Quadling has a video overview.

November 20, 2021: Lynn Beltz 1953-2021

Lynn Beltz.jpeg

Lynn Beltz, former Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of the International Wizard of Oz Club, passed away suddenly today from natural causes in her condo in St. Louis. She was 68. Reintroduced to Oz when finding tho books in college, she first came to Oz fandom at the Oogaboo Rendezvous events in the Seattle area, but soon became a regular at the Winkie Convention and other events around the country. After organizing games and support at Club conventions and promoting the Club at other events, she became more involved with the running of the Club, including organizing Club publications and donated items, criss-crossing the country to empty and consolidate warehouse storage lockers. Many of the items she recovered ended up in Oz Club auctions, or were given away to help recruit new members. The Club has seen few boosters like her, and she will be missed.

She is survived by her husband, Michael, two sisters and a brother, and numerous nieces, nephews, and their families.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Beem.)

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 Spanish branch of Netflix is making an Oz-inspired movie, Rainbow, featuring a whole slew of Spanish stars. No word yet on a release date, or if it will be available in markets outside Spain (but knowing Netflix, the latter is likely).

The previously announced release date for the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical version of Wicked turns out to have been premature—again. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic shuffling release schedules around, the original first-postponed December 22, 2021 release date was given over to Sing 2. So the Wicked movie is on hold again, but it is still in development, although it has no definitive release date yet. The delay was so long that director Stephen Daldrey left the project on October 20, 2020. On February 2, 2021, Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights was announced as the new director.

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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