Average Jane's Unpopular Opinion

I heard that there is going to be a Wizard of Oz marathon on TV this weekend. Considering that I am an Oz fanatic, you'd think I'd be excited, but the truth is: I don't really like the movie all that much.

When I was growing up, I read every Oz book I could get my hands on. I have a hard-bound copy of "The Tin Woodman of Oz" that belonged to my grandfather when he was a young boy. I also still have all of my trade paperback-sized illustrated L. Frank Baum Oz books. I even read some of the Ruth Plumly Thompson Oz books, which I checked out of the Carnegie Library in Lake Andes, South Dakota when I was visiting my great-aunt in the summertime.

All of this Oz-mania meant that when I eventually saw the movie, I knew it was all wrong. According to the books I read and the accompanying John R. Neill illustrations:

• Dorothy should be about 9 or 10 years old
• She should have short, blonde hair
• The witch is supposed to have silver slippers, not ruby slippers

My childhood self could have gone on and on.

If all you've ever been exposed to is the movie, I highly recommend the books. You can get "The Complete Oz: Volume One and Volume Two" at Amazon.com for $19.95 each to read the stories, but I suggest buying the books individually in editions that have the original illustrations.

Any other Oz book fans out there? Movie fans? Let's talk Oz!

Comments

[jenny]

I have three hardbound Frank L Baum Oz books from my own childhood - The Scarecrow of Oz, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, and the Princess of Oz, all about Ozma. And yes, Dorothy is younger and has short blond hair in all the drawings and descriptions of the books. Oh well, Hollywood. What can you do.

[Lisa!]

I find it hard to believe but I have never read the books! But, I love the movie. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I love the Wicked Witch and the Flying Monkeys.

[cagey]

The movie? Bah humbug.

I cannot wait to read the books with my kids - I have only read the first one, but am excited to discover the rest with them.

Funny story: The Oskaloosa Library had all those old Oz books when I was growing up. Lord knows what happened to them, because they were not there last time I looked.

[MLE]

I only ever read the first few books (they got a little weird for me, especially since I was reading them at around age 6 or so) and loved the movie growing up.

The shoes were turned to ruby for the movie because of technicolor. They wanted to take advantage of all the color options available, so the shoes got changed to a bright, vivid color rather than silver (which makes sense for the book, but in the movie would have not had nearly the pizzazz).

[Goofy Girl]

If you're an Oz fan, I would highly recommend "Tin Man" - a series that aired on the SciFi Channel last fall. It's at Blockbuster.
http://www.scifi.com/tinman/

Also, check out the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West", - it's basically the backstory of the Wicked Witch. Like...WHY she was wicked. Much darker than the saccharine-sweet movie...and I loved it! There's a sequel book out and a third planned, all relating to Oz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(novel)

[Barbara Holter]

My dear, who else do you know in Oskaloosa besides me? Or is this just a random person named Lisa? I was just going to say that I loved "The Scalawagons of Oz". Is that the correct spelling? My mother read me tons of them, and I agree, I could never reconcile the differences between the books and the movie.

[Keith]

I felt the same when they made Stuart Little into the movies. I read the book when I was about 8 and loved it. I quite liked the wizard of Oz (if they remade it Wally the Welder could be the lion).