Kayti Burt Aug 25, 2019
The most beloved Wizard of Oz adaptation of them all is celebrating its 80th anniversary, but there have been many, many others.
MGM's The Wizard of Oz, one of the most inescapable and beloved fantasy films of all time, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. A yearly staple of broadcast television, a true landmark in cinema history, and a broadcast TV tradition of appointment viewing for families for decades, it's easily the most well known adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book series. But there are many more.
In addition to the various stage and book adaptations Baum's Oz has inspired — we'd be remiss not to mention Gregory Maguire's Wicked and the subsequent beloved musical adaptation — The Wizard of Oz has been a staple of cinema history from the form's very inception.
We're taking some time to look back at some of the on-screen Oz...
The most beloved Wizard of Oz adaptation of them all is celebrating its 80th anniversary, but there have been many, many others.
MGM's The Wizard of Oz, one of the most inescapable and beloved fantasy films of all time, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. A yearly staple of broadcast television, a true landmark in cinema history, and a broadcast TV tradition of appointment viewing for families for decades, it's easily the most well known adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book series. But there are many more.
In addition to the various stage and book adaptations Baum's Oz has inspired — we'd be remiss not to mention Gregory Maguire's Wicked and the subsequent beloved musical adaptation — The Wizard of Oz has been a staple of cinema history from the form's very inception.
We're taking some time to look back at some of the on-screen Oz...
- 1/3/2017
- Den of Geek
This summer marked the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and it was a big enough occasion that Warner Bros. not only retrofitted the classic fantasy film for a one-week IMAX 3D re-release but also spent $25m on marketing its brief return to theaters. Meanwhile, there’s absolutely no fanfare at all for the movie’s sequel, which also has a special birthday this year. No, I’m not referring to Return to Oz (which likely also won’t get much notice for its 30th anniversary next summer). There is another “Oz” movie that was more directly intended to be an official follow-up to the 1939 version, an animated feature titled Journey Back to Oz, which hit theaters on this day back in 1974. Aside from taking place soon after The Wizard of Oz and being mostly yet loosely adapted from L. Frank Baum’s second Oz book, “The Marvelous Land of Oz,” the...
- 12/5/2014
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Dead at 99: Opera star and Crosby's ex-girlfriend in 1944 Best Picture Oscar winner Risë Stevens, the Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano that moviegoers remember as Nelson Eddy's romantic partner in Roy Del Ruth's 1941 musical The Chocolate Soldier and as Bing Crosby's ex-girlfriend in Leo McCarey's 1944 Oscar-winning blockbuster Going My Way, died on Wednesday, March 20, at her Manhattan home. The former singer was 99 years old. (Pictured above: Stevens in her most famous operatic role, that of Bizet's anti-heroine Carmen.) Born in The Bronx, New York City, Stevens sang at the Metropolitan from 1938 to 1961; among her most popular roles were Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, Mignon in Ambroise Thomas' opera of the same name, and most notable of all, the lead in Bizet's Carmen. After leaving the stage, she became an arts administrator with the Met and president of the Mannes College of Music.
- 3/22/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
With Oz: The Great and Powerful hitting movie theaters today and having just remembered one of the all time greats The Wizard of Oz with the season premiere of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" I thought we'd honor the land of Oz, the now 113 year old creation of L Frank Baum with this week's edition of Posterized.
The Wizard of Oz (1939), Journey Back to Oz (1974), The Wiz (1978)
Under the Rainbow (1981), Return to Oz (1985), Wild at Heart (1990)
Wicked (stage musical, 2004), The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005), Tin Man (miniseries, 2011)
I'm sure I'm missing some titles that spin heavily from the Oz myth but I came up with nine entertainments, preceding Oz: The Great and Powerful so let's discuss. (If you can think of more like Wild at Heart or Under the Rainbow that trade heavily on Oz imagery or history, without being 'Land of Oz' films, do share.)
How many have you seen?...
The Wizard of Oz (1939), Journey Back to Oz (1974), The Wiz (1978)
Under the Rainbow (1981), Return to Oz (1985), Wild at Heart (1990)
Wicked (stage musical, 2004), The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005), Tin Man (miniseries, 2011)
I'm sure I'm missing some titles that spin heavily from the Oz myth but I came up with nine entertainments, preceding Oz: The Great and Powerful so let's discuss. (If you can think of more like Wild at Heart or Under the Rainbow that trade heavily on Oz imagery or history, without being 'Land of Oz' films, do share.)
How many have you seen?...
- 3/8/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
We've droned on about all the trends in Hollywood these days (wrote an entire article about it here yesterday, in fact)—remakes being at the top of the list. One of the trends that always confounds us, however, is when studios, in their finite wisdom, decide to remake seminal classics that have stood the test of time.
There's a reason these films stand the test of time…because they were so good that they transcend decades and generations. And when they get remade, they are diminished just a little bit. So far, Hollywood has resisted remaking Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind; still, there have been rumblings about John Travolta being involved in a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid remake (we'll just say it: bad idea).
Now comes word from the Los Angeles Times that Warner Brothers is mulling two possible 'Wizard of Oz' films.
You heard us correctly.
There's a reason these films stand the test of time…because they were so good that they transcend decades and generations. And when they get remade, they are diminished just a little bit. So far, Hollywood has resisted remaking Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind; still, there have been rumblings about John Travolta being involved in a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid remake (we'll just say it: bad idea).
Now comes word from the Los Angeles Times that Warner Brothers is mulling two possible 'Wizard of Oz' films.
You heard us correctly.
- 3/10/2010
- CinemaSpy
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