Lifetime developing Wizard of Oz themed Red Brick Road

My heart sank when I read that yet another Wizard of Oz adaptation is in the pipeline...but after reading further, I am quite excited by the idea of this

http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/wizard-of-oz-themed-tv-drama-lifetime/

Now I have seen The Wizard of Oz many, many times and I never noticed the Red Brick Road - is it just me? I had to go check and it's there alright.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cwCIkKFFR4

I have always wondered where the red brick road went.

---

I have always wondered where the red brick road went.

Me too! Ever since the first time I saw the movie. Too bad it's Lifetime that is exploring this story.

---

No, the Red Brick Road was not in the books. Whoever said that obviously never read them.

The Red Brick Road is from the MGM movie, only.

This project is being co-developed by a branch of Warner Bros., so they have the rights to use MGM-protected Oz stuff.

---

I thought the Red Brick Road led to Oz' red light district. Y'know, where the whores are.

Joe, the Internet is full of liars, big Ozzy liars, too.

The Quadling's dominant color is red, just as the Munchkin Country is blue, the Winkies yellow, and the Gillikans are purple.

No network of colored brick roads in Oz, though. Not in anything L. Frank Baum wrote, and that includes his 13 sequels to the Wizard of Oz. (Total of 14 Oz books by Baum.)

If other authors have added them into their stories, fine. But that doesn't make them part of Baum's Oz world.

It ain't there, I tell ya.

---

I wasn't challenging you- just amazed I had that fuzzy thought and so many internet denizens backed it up! I guess this is how Obama becomes a Muslim and roving gangs hunt and kill motorists who flash their lights at them.

The reason there's a Red Brick Road in the MGM movie is the same reason Dorothy's shoes were changed to ruby red.

... because it looks pretty in Technicolor.

EDIT: And by the way, if you want to get really confusing ... in Baum's later Oz books there were different yellow brick roads, in addition to the one Dorothy followed in the Munchkin Country.

---

Updated On: 10/14/13 at 12:05 PM

Oh, there is! Even in the second book, Tip follows a "road of yellow bricks" to the Emerald City, but he's not in the Munchkin Country, he's in Gilllikin Country.

Later on in the series, Baum writes about a second road of yellow bricks in the Munchkin Country. The Shaggy Man tells Dorothy she took the "harder one" of the two.

They actually allude to that in the movie by having the Scarecrow on his pole at a fork int he road, suggesting more than one yellow path is available. As far as I can recall, they don't ever intersect in the books, but still it does show there's more than one.

Incidentally, it's not referred to as the "Yellow Brick Road" in the novel. It's the "road of yellow bricks." It got its more famous name in 1939 for the MGM movie.

---

Absolutely.

And Wonka's boat takes everybody to Living Island where they meet H.R. Pufnstuf.

---

As I mentioned earlier, according to the link at the top, this new series is "from the Wolper Organization, Vertigo Entertainment and Warner Horizon."

Warner Horizon is a television subsidiary of Warner Bros., who own the rights to the MGM Oz film. We can assume it's all approved for use.

---

I love you back, broadwayguy2! :)

Part of the problem is that there are inconsistencies in the Baum books. Information on locations, characters, and backstories shifts a bit. Maps were drawn even back in Baum's day with inconsistencies, so in many instances, the answer to some of these questions can be "yes AND no."

Tricky stuff.

I am by no means the Ozziest "expert" you'll find around (perhaps even here on BWW), but in addition to reading all Baum books as a kid, I did a lot of research and re-reading when I wrote my two modern, Oz-themed, action-adventure novels. I didn't want to change or invalidate any information from the original books. It was my goal to stay true to them. In the case of inconsistencies, I actually used them in my book as a "cover" for something greater in the plot.

But those maps drove me bonkers whenever I looked at them.

---

Well, the problem is that you have to decide which is accurate---the first time Baum mentioned it or the second or third time (with discrepancies).

Granted, he was usually consistent. I don't mean to suggest that he was generally sloppy ... but he did make mistakes within his own imagined realm.

And for me, that map is completely wrong. Oz Club or not.

Start with the basics ...

The Munchkin Country is shown on the left (aka the West), and the Winkie Country is shown on the right (aka the East).

That goes against everything in Baum's first book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

The Wicked Witch of the East rules over the Munchkins, and the Wicked Witch of the West rules over the Winkies.

That means this map is reversed.

---