The Wizard of Oz movie- Page 5

[CenterStage3]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:52am

My daughter (12) is currently in rehearsals and will be playing Dorothy in a local production. She recently finished a year and a half run in midtown Manhattan, and grew tremendously as a performer, because she was surrounded with a cast of very talented actors. She is very excited to be playing Dorothy. Also, they will be performing the jitterbug scene.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:06pm

With a lot of movies when I was younger, I would fast forward to a certain part. With Oz, it was when she landed in Oz. The non-color part was boring to me. Heh. (I occassionally watched it for Somewhere Over The Rainbow)

My favorite character was the Scarecrow, but I always wonder how influenced that was. When my older sister and I were young, we would act out some movies. And we had quite a bit of costumes that could pass for Dorothy, Glinda, Scarecrow, and Lion. My sister, being older, always got to choose her part, so she was Dorothy, so I usually chose the Scarecrow. But I fell in love with If I Only Had A Brain.

And I loved Return to Oz as well! We used to rent it when I was young, though there's a funny story. The only part I could really remember was the end, when Dorothy had to find all the green stuff. I began to think it wasn't a real movie, but some odd dream I had. Only years ago when I was in Blockbuster did I realize it was a real movie, and watched it again. I agree, quite flawed, but fun. Suffers from those cheesy 80's effects though.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:31pm

As a long time Oz fan and collector (the original books)I've had a lot of fun reading this thread!

A few other "fun" Oz movies:

The RETURN TO OZ cartoon! A very campy, silly, but rather enjoyable television special from the 60s. The best part is when the witch holds Dorothy out the window by her ankles!



And just released on DVD: Shirley Temple, who was close to playing Dorothy in the MGM film gets to go to Oz as a boy who turns into a princess in this TV special (which I confess I haven't seen) but it looks worthwile for Oz fans:



And last but not least: a super-camp, cheez trash "Kiddie Matinee" movie of THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ made for about $3.40 at an abandoned theme park. Hilariously, inspiredly awful!

[Jon]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:58pm

Does anyone recall Mad Magazine's parody, "The Guru Of Ours"? It was in an issue in the early 1970's. Dorothy (Liza Minelli)is a hippie who lives in modern day Kansas on a farm with her pet pig, Toto. She goes on a journey to meet the Guru, who wil give her spitituasl enlightenment. Along the way, she meets The Square (Pat Boone), The Punk (Michael J. Pollard), and The Snob (George Hamilton), who accompany her to New York City, where they meet The Guru (Ed Sullivan in a psychadelic robe).

There was a witch in there somewhere, but i can't remember her story.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 1:14pm

Hey everyone,
I've only (briefly) skimmed over this thread but I thought (and apologies if it's already been said) I might mention the wonderful film "Return To Oz". It's more in the tradition of the books, but still a LOT more darker (and it's a combination of the first two "sequels"). You definitely have to check that one out. The reason I think it failed was because everyone was expecting something else like the MGM movie, but I think if they released it today it would do a lot better. It's a shame that Disney seem to regard it as an "abortion", and the only DVD I've ever seen is one with a poor replica of the WIZARD OF OZ DVD cover & no special features whatsoever.

There was a really cool site but that too's gone...

I also have to point out The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz website @ https://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/index.html There's pages upon pages of fascinating trivia related to the books, the MGM movie and many more. I, literally, got lost in it, spending hours at a time just reading it (I swear, I do have a life LOL)

I'm working on an OZ musical at the moment actually. My big selling pitch (don't laugh at me, LOL) is that it completes a bizarre sort of trilogy: WICKED, the prequel, THE WIZARD OF OZ, the MGM movie, and (working title) THE DARK SIDE OF OZ, which is a combination of many of the Baum sequels. The main stories are "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" and "The Emerald City of Oz", with bits and pieces of "The Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". The big twist is, Dorothy, Aunt Em & Uncle Henry all come to live in OZ (a true tribute to the Baum books) and proclaim that "it wasn't a dream" and that they have finally found their true home in the magical land of Oz. The villain of the piece is the Nome King, also seen in "Return To Oz", and the head-hunting Princess Langwidere who (LOL) sings a 12-minute tour-de-force Broadway-style number "I'M LOSING MY HEAD"

I have a website that talks ALL about it, but I'm too shy to promote it here. It has some recordings, and MP3s, as sung by the composer who lives in Missouri. We have a potential producer interested, and our marketing strategy is to "cash in" on the success of WICKED - because OZ obviously seems to be a hot property - but at the same time offer the ultimate tribute to Baum's original vision. Well, maybe not the "ultimate" but close enough

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 1:27pm

Just a quick words to the wise: Not all the L. Frank Baum books and characters are in public domain yet. Some of the later stories in the series like THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ, I think are still protected for another couple of years. Make sure you check into that before you start shopping your property around!

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 2:33pm

Good point. Based on what I've checked so far (in the past): All of the OZ / Baum titles are in the public domain (I double-checked, plus they are all at Project Gutenberg) and five of the Plumly Thompson titles have just entered as well.

But I'll check again now... And if not, I think we have a zany enough plot where we can write around it

Thanks :)

Updated On: 10/26/06 at 02:33 PM

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 2:33pm

Never mind.

Updated On: 10/26/06 at 02:33 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 2:38pm

Technically, I think the L.Frank Baum characters are in public domain, but the Thompson books are not, and there apparently is some grey area about what is protected (particularly for theatre/tv/film) and what isn't. An early draft of the WICKED script had some Oz characters from later books, but they ended up scrapping them at least partly because of copyright issues.

I'm sure you're fine but if the project ends up going forward, it might not hurt to double check with an attorney who specializes in copyrights just to be safe!

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 2:39pm

five of the Plumly Thompson titles have just entered as well.

HAVE they? Which ones, which ones?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 8:17pm

I thought I knew my Oz trivia, but now I'm not so sure. I'm sure Paul can help me out here. Which was the character who could change her head from day to day? Was it the Queen of the Land of Ev or Princess Langwedere? Are the two related? Are the two both from the Land of Ev? My Oz books are in storage! Curses!

Updated On: 10/26/06 at 08:17 PM

[GreenGirl22406]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 8:36pm

Ha... my favorite movie when I was little. I read the book when I was three, and I used to make my mom pause during the movie and I'd tell about the parts from the book that they'd skipped over... I ended up doing this with Wicked as well, having been exposed to book before musical.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 8:56pm

Did anyone else see the 98/99 tour of the MSG version with Mickey Rooney and Lilain Motevechhi? I saw it when I was seven and was in awe (also my first time in a theatre!).

[roquat]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 12:26am

Princess Langwidere was indeed the head-changer---she was only ruling over the Land of Ev because the Queen, her mother and the rest of her brothers and sisters had been captured and enslaved by the Nome King (I use Baum's spelling). Her later history (after the Queen and her family had been rescued) is not recorded.

[roquat]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 12:38am

Has anyone seen the TV film of the play version of "The Marvellous Land of Oz"? Apparently Baum adapted it to the stage after the stage version of "Wizard" was a success. It flopped, but it's fascinatingly awful--the child who plays Tip/Ozma is astoundingly bad at line delivery (and creepily asexual once transformed at the end) and the songs are dismal. I think it's available but can't be sure...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 12:39am

MichaelBennett-
ALL of the characters and any of the information written by L. Frank Baum are compltely and totaly in public domain. Meaning, If something happens to Dorothy in Patchwork Girl of Oz, it can be used freely at no consequence. However, if something happens to Dorothy in Thompson's "Giant Horse of Oz" it is still copyrighted and totally unuseable.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 12:58am

They may be so now, but there was definitely some question as to what was still protected and what wasn't just a couple of years ago. The film rights to the original Oz books were owned by various companies: Warner Brothers, Disney, etc. and they were apparently fighting their public domain use in various projects in development like WICKED and a television series Tim Burton was developing called LOST IN OZ.

There is lots of grey area, even though technically, you are correct. But the image of the Oz characters, for example, as depicted in THE WIZARD OF OZ movie or even the Disney RETURN TO OZ are still protected.

If this musical project moves forward, I still think rocknferis would be smart to have an attorney double check clearance.

roquet -- that stage production of MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ wasn't written by Baum. It was written by John Driver for the Children's Theatre of Minneapolis in 1981. I think a lot of it is charming but I agree about the terrible child performance by the actor playing Tip/Ozma.

Baum followed up his Oz stage triumph with a musical called THE WOGGLE BUG, which flopped in 1905.

David Maxine has restored the scores to both original Oz musicals and they are published by the Hungry Tiger Press. Yes, you too can sing these at your next audition! Updated On: 10/27/06 at 12:58 AM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:24am

It's true, the image may be under copyright, BUT, they would then have to find 99% of all High Schools, Colleges, Regional Theatres, Community Theatres, Elemntary Schools, Churches, and others that just re-create the film's costumes and scenery....

A friend just copied the "Marvelous Land of Oz" video for me, and while it's not great, it's still a fairly decent adaptation of the book.

Anyone else ever notice that in "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" the first word is "Dorothy" and the last word is "Again" and that's what all the children continually asked for from Baum, "Dorothy, again" (I think he even phrases it as such in the Introduction to "Ozma of Oz")

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:27am

I know one major regional theatre that was forced to pay a quiet settlement to WB for infringing on the original MGM designs. So, despite the fact that "most" groups may copy it, the "powers that be" DO keep tabs on it and have been known to sue.

Better to play safe than sorry....

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:30am

Wow....that's mildly excessive...but doesn't suprise me too much. Didn't the Oz on Ice tour get away with it b/c they changed "elements" of the four main characters so it wouldn't be a direct copy?
Speaking of Oz on Ice, how did they do set changes? I didn't get to see it, and I've seen the CBS special enough to be totally curious.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:31am

I actually think OZ ON ICE paid a licensing fee to WB.

[Julian2]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:36am

What does this mean for the designs that are direct copies of the original illustrations/discriptions? Are they copyright too?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 1:42am

Julian-
It means that if you go VERBATIM what the movie did with the characters, you can be fined. However it is worth noting, the Blue Gingham is NOT copyrighted (Baum actually described the dress as such), however, if you do it with the jumper, that has the blouse sleeves, slight color, blue ric-rac, four buttons, diagonal gingham straps, hem on jumper top, and the growth line, along with blue hair ribbons, blue socks and ruby slippers made of sequins with bugle bead, emerald cut jewels and rhinestone bows...you are likely to get fined.
With this show, you are expected to do somethings, but as long as you don't completely copy the film's design you are probably going to be ok.
Illustration wise, you can get into trouble as well, if you base your entire design concept off of one particular illustrator, however, most of the illustrator's and their representation aren't keeping tabs. Still, I would recommend getting permission before construction begins from said illustrator if you wish to use their desings. (IF it's W.W. Denslow's those are public domain and free to use, but ONLY his.)

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 2:08am

First musical I ever saw onstage- lost count of how many times I've seen it since. Loved the movie. Owned the video. Bought the DVD. Still watch it every time it's on TV, even though I've always owned it in video/DVD form. Current away message (can be confirmed by BWW posters): "Oh joy! Rapture! I have a brain!" It's the reason I saw Wicked in the first place. I have 8 different versions of "Over the Rainbow" in my iTunes currently. In high school, I literally forced my boyfriend to watch it, because he had never seen it and that was completely unacceptable.

I got into a fight with someone (an inadvertantly lost a roommate as a result) because she *insisted* that her grandma had a copy of the movie that showed the person hanging. Clearly, I can't let ignorance like that go on my watch.

My favorite Wizard of Oz memory was when I was about 7. It was Thanksgiving and we were watching it on TV. During the poppy field scene, my sister (then 3) said "It's snowing!" My parents agreed "Yes, Glinda made it snow!" My sister said "No, it's SNOWING!" and pointed out the window. Sure enough, it was snowing outside. It *rarely* snows that early where I grew up and was definitely the first snow that winter, so it only made the movie that much more magical to me.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 2:11am

Does anyone else have issues watching it on the 4th of July w/o commercials???? I know I do, so I end up watching it only on Thanksgiving wtih my family...from an old taped copy off TV.