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We’re coming up on the quasquicentennial anniversary of L. Frank Baum’s children’s book, The Wizard of Oz (that’s 125 years!), and the film version of (the first half of) the musical Wicked has been released. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al talk about the landmark 1939 film musical, the 1978 film The Wiz, Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked, the stage musical, the other Oz books by Baum, Maguire, et al, and other films like 1985’s Return to Oz and 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful.
How does this film stack up to other recent Broadway-to-film adaptations? Is adding all this teen drama that’s not really in the novel helpful? Is this a franchise we should expect to see more of? Has Wicked crowded out a proper, non-musical film adaptation (maybe a TV show) more faithful to the 1900 novel series?
Read the wiki list of adaptations. Watch Baum’s 1910 15-min silent film. Watch the Liza Minnelli-starring 1972 animated Journey Back to Oz. Check out the more faithful but terrible adaptation of the 2nd book, The Land of Oz, with Rifftrax to make it awesome! Watch Al’s recommended musical Twisted. Why do maps of Oz mix up West and East? Scroll down in this Wiki page to find out.
Follow us @law_writes, @sarahlynbruck, @ixisnox, @MarkLinsenmayer.
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