Discussion
Topic: The Wizard of Oz
I recently finished the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum for the first time. My only previous familiarity came from the 1939 film with Judy Garland. I enjoyed it. I am not sure that I will read it again. I am interested in reading the other books set in the same world. It looks like there are about 15 additional works and collections of short stories. I was surprised (I probably shouldn’t have been, considering the film is a product of Hollywood) at the changes from the source
Russ Hoyt
in
Classics Cinema
6 comments
Rob Paul Biggest changes?
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Russ Hoyt @RobPaulStonerNerd I finished my thoughts in a comment because I ran out of room. The ones that stood out to me I mentioned below.
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Road Master I've never read them either. But I have been curious.
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Brandon Reed Yeah, changes in film adaptations certainly aren't a new thing, lol. Famously, many thought the original color of the slippers was meant as a political statement relating to precious metal currency backing, so they changed it in the movie to avoid controversy.
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Russ Hoyt @MarlinBrando that is an interesting fact. Did you learn that from NOW Magazine or a different source? I assume that you have more than one. 😁
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Brandon Reed That was a blurb from the fun and games section of The Gotham Gazette.
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Russ Hoyt material. The change that persistently distracted me was how Dorothy was referred to in the book. She was consistently described, referred to, an addressed as a child. The impression that I got from tone of the story was that she is significantly younger than she appeared in the film. The next most significant change I think is the “gifts” that the wizard gave to the supplicants, the brain, courage, and heart were different. I wanted to share what I learned. It seems that Hollywood has been modifying source material at least 85 years.
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Nadine . You can watch the original movies, they were silent. Dorothy was very young and oz was in the same world as the human world. The witch was very different too and the munchkins were just regular people. Hollywood made them little
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Godzilla fan I have the complete collection of these as audio books. Some are surprising violent and scary, considering they are supposed to be for children. Different time I guess. I like them very much.
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Russ Hoyt @godzilla_fan what was your impression of Dorothy’s age in the first book?
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Nadine . I recently had this discussion with my mum. How she let us watch the shows we did (80s) that I couldn't imagine sitting a kid now infront of. But I loved them and I've always been drawn to the dark fairytales. She stated as much and said that it was child specific, they watched what they liked and there were other shows that would terrify them without any hint that it would've done so before hand. I think scary stories are good for kids problem solving and the understanding that not everything is rainbows all the time. It also helps them be more open to people who are different.
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Shay I didn’t realize there was one book, let alone 15 other works. This is fascinating to me. Are they all by the same author?
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Godzilla fan Yes they are
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Brandon Reed L. Frank Baum.
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