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Wizard of Oz Collectors Message Board
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Oz is a
fictional land conceived by L. Frank Baum and first described in his
book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). He wrote 13 sequels before his
death in 1919.
Upon Baum's death, Oz publisher Reilly & Lee commissioned a
19-installment continuation
 of
the series from Ruth Plumly Thompson; long-time Oz illustrator John R.
Neill added three more books to the series. Four other books by other
authors were added over the years. These books make up the "Famous
Forty," often referred to as the "canonical" works of the Oz
canon—though many other "Ozzian" works have been written, some as
pastiches or parodies, some intended as sincere "imitations" in the best
sense of the word.
The most treasured depiction of Oz in the twentieth century was the 1939
Technicolor musical adaptation from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, The Wizard of
Oz. The film was used as a star vehicle for budding starlet Judy
Garland, but despite a massive publicity campaign, the movie was only
moderately successful in its initial theatrical run. It achieved its
iconic status after decades of airings over network television,
beginning on November 3, 1956. The viewing audience for the TV premiere,
broadcast in full color in the earliest years of that broadcast
technology, was estimated at 45 million people. Thus began a tradition.
For decades to follow, the movie was aired in the United States on or
near Easter. Currently the Turner cable networks hold the television
rights, and the film is generally shown during the summer and Christmas
seasons. Presently the rights to its public distribution are held by
Turner Entertainment (via Warner Bros.). As the present century opens,
the film has become generally available, digitally restored for private
viewing on DVD.
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