Tag: The Wizard of Oz

McFarlane’s Vision of Oz to Come to Big Screen . . . Or Not

For some bizarre reason, Warner Brothers is providing financing to turn Todd McFarlane’s hideous reimagining of the Wizard of Oz into a movie. Except they seem to be going a completely different direction than McFarlane’s figures, so WTF is the point of licensing with McFarlane in the first place?

According to a press release that was posted at Spawn.Com, Josh Olson will write the script, and Olson apparently had much the same reaction I had to the figures,

I saw those toys, and Dorothy as some bondage queen isn’t something I want to do. The appealing thing about the Baum books to me is how wildly imaginative they are. There are crazy characters from amazing places. I want this to be Harry Potter dark, not Seven dark.

Then why get McFarlane involved at all, since McFarlane is all about glorifying ugliness both literal and metaphorical.

The Ozmapolitan

Hungry Tiger Press has scanned and uploaded copies of The Ozmapolitan — a short newspaper that was first published in 1904 to promote the publication of The Marvelous Land of Oz. The newspaper gimmick was used again in 1905, and then discontinued until 1926 when it was published three times to promote new Oz books by Ruth Plumly.

The Hungry Tiger Press site also features three issues from the 1960s and 1970s done to promote reissues of Oz books, and several that Hungry Tiger Press itself did to promote its Oz-related releases.

The Library of Congress’ Online Wizard of Oz Exhibit

The Library of Congress as a short but interesting online exhibit covering The Wizard of Oz. The exhibit includes a lot of interesting posters and examples of Oz-related novelties, including this gorgeous map of Oz created by Oz illustrator Dick Martin and original art for the 1990 Wizard of Oz stamp featuring Dorothy and Toto.

New Wizard of Oz DVD Set

On November 1st, a new 3DVD Wizard of Oz collection will be released. This version features an Ultra Resolution restoration of the film that should make it look stunning. Also included are the complete versions of five earlier film versions of Oz, including four from the silent era and a cartoon short from 1933 which featured music and was the first film to show Kansas in black-and-white and Oz in color.

About the only way this 3-disc set might have been improved would have been if they had licensed my Wizard of Oz search engine. Come on Warners — throw a little love (and money) this way.