Still, the quest-like essence of Dorothy’s strange and wonderful tale remains intact. Like other movies of the early film era, the elements of the story were as much about convenience and borrowed heavily from theatrical sensibilities. Rather than Toto, we have Imogene the Cow as a character.

Narratively, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is partially based on the 1902 Wizard of Oz stage musical with the addition of such elements as the Wicked Witch of the West. Yes, “Hollywood” of that era, if you can even call it that, was a different animal. Also lost: the three sequels Selig Polyscope Company made later the same year. It’s uncle ar who the director and much of the cast in the film is given that the credits for the movie are lost. Made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum’s input, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was made as part of a contractual obligation from Baum’s personal bankruptcy when Baum lost the rights to the story. Of the two, only the first remains as the earliest surviving version of a Wizard of Oz movie. In fact, two silent movies came out in 1910: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Land of Oz.

Here are 10 of the most prominent on-screen Wizard of Oz adaptations of the last century to help us ponder these all-important cultural questions…Īdaptations of The Wizard of Oz were among some of the first films ever made.

What is so timeless about this story? What do the quirks of each of these on-screen adaptations say about the respective eras they were made in? We’re taking some time to look back at some of the on-screen Oz incarnations that have defined the story’s legacy and the legacy of film and television. 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 (and, later, TV) history from the form’s very inception. 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. MGM’s The Wizard of Oz, one of the most inescapable and beloved fantasy films of all time, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.

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