The Wizard of Oz | |
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Directed by | Ted Eshbaugh |
Written by | Col. Frank Baum |
Based on | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum |
Produced by | J.R. Booth Ted Eshbaugh |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | Frank Tipper Bill Mason Cal Dalton Vet Anderson "Hutch" |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Ted Eshbaugh Studios |
Distributed by | Film Laboratories of Canada |
Release date |
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Running time | 9 minutes |
Countries | Canada United States [1] |
Language | English |
The Wizard of Oz is a 1933 Canadian-American animated short film directed by Ted Eshbaugh. [2] The story is credited to "Col. Frank Baum." Frank Joslyn Baum, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and eldest son of writer L. Frank Baum, was involved in the film's production, and may have had an involvement in the film's script, which is loosely inspired by the elder Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . It runs approximately eight and a half minutes and is nearly wordless, working mainly with arrangements of classical music created by Carl W. Stalling. [3] The film is considered to potentially be the first full color animated film. [4] [5]
The film was known to be in production during October, 1932. [6] The film was originally made in Technicolor, but because it was made without proper licensing from the Technicolor Corporation (which limited use of its 3-strip process to Disney), it never received a theatrical release in color, but was released in Black & White instead.
A tornado sweeps through the plains of Kansas, lifting Dorothy and Toto. The two tumble into Oz, landing on the Scarecrow. After freeing him from his pole, the trio stroll together, soon finding a Tin Woodman and oiling him.
After the four watch mating rituals of various animals set to strains of Camille Saint-Saëns's "The Swan", they are welcomed into the Emerald City. Suits of armor sing to them, "Hail to the Wizard of Oz! To the Wizard of Oz we lead the way!" A creature resembling the A-B-Sea Serpent of The Royal Book of Oz extends itself as stairsteps for Dorothy to enter the coach.
The Wizard is a cackling white-bearded man in a starry black robe and conical hat who produces custom seats for each of the four nervous travelers, including one for Toto. He proceeds to perform magic with a hen and eggs. These are variations on simple sleight of hand tricks involving making objects appear, but the hen is able to take the eggs back into her body.
Finally, the hen releases an egg that will not stop growing. The five try to fight it, with the Tin Woodman breaking his axe. Soon, though, the egg hatches, the hen takes the chick, and clucks out "Rock-a-bye Baby" as a chorus joins her. [7]
There were many home media releases of the film, including Betamax, VHS, Laserdisc, CED, DVD, [8] HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, usually printed and shown in black-and-white, not technicolor. Cassette copies are usually at slow speeds, and often overexposed and poorly framed, while disc copies are all at faster speeds, and underexposed and correctly framed. The first known commercial release was in Canada in 1985, on Betamax, VHS and Laserdisc, through the efforts of Fred M. Meyer, longtime Secretary of The International Wizard of Oz Club. This is not an original color print, but has been colored to match the original intent of the filmmakers, which, as in the MGM film that followed, had the film go from black and white to color upon Dorothy's arrival in Oz. Cassette copies also contained a stray hair during the parade sequence, while the LaserDisc copies did not.
The short is included in the 2005 3-Disc Collector's Edition of the more popular 1939 feature film of the same name, while a brief 2-minute clip is included on the 1999 DVD release and as a bonus on the 1993 Ultimate Oz VHS and LaserDisc deluxe release.
The short was released again in 2010 as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's DVD compilation, 200 Classic Cartoons.
Thunderbean Animation restored and remastered the cartoon from its original negatives and released the new colourful print on a DVD and Blu-ray combo pack under the title “Technicolor Dreams and Black & White Nightmares” in 2014.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their home by a cyclone. Upon her arrival in the magical world of Oz, she learns she cannot return home until she has destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West.
Ozma of Oz, published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books.
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. In addition, she is the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, The Wizard of Oz.
Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in his 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappeared in many other subsequent Oz books in the series. In late 19th-century America, men made out of various tin pieces were used in advertising and political cartoons. Baum, who was editing a magazine on decorating shop windows when he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was inspired to invent the Tin Woodman by a figure he had built out of metal parts for a shop display.
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind. It stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, while others made uncredited contributions. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Edgar "Yip" Harburg.
The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an unofficial sequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz, and it is based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz novels, mainly Ozma of Oz (1907). In the plot, an insomniac Dorothy returns to the Land of Oz to find it has been conquered by the wicked Nome King and his accomplice Princess Mombi. Dorothy must restore Oz with her new friends Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the Gump.
Journey Back To Oz is a 1972 American animated adventure musical fantasy film produced by Filmation. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), although Baum received no screen credit.
Toto is a fictional dog in L. Frank Baum's Oz series of children's books, and works derived from them. He was originally a small terrier drawn by W. W. Denslow for the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). He reappears in later Oz books and in numerous adaptations, such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Wiz (1978).
The Wizard of Oz is a 1990 American animated television series produced by DIC Animation City to capitalize on the popularity of the 1939 film version, to which DiC had acquired the rights from Turner Entertainment, Co. The series aired for thirteen episodes and premiered on ABC, starting on September 8, 1990. The show presented a number of stories and characters from L. Frank Baum's original Oz series.
The Wizard of Oz is a 1925 American silent fantasy-adventure comedy film directed by Larry Semon, who also performs in the lead role as a Kansas farmhand disguised as the Scarecrow.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as The Wizard of Oz, is a 1910 American silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film was made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays. It was partly based on the 1902 stage musical The Wizard of Oz, though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the West, who does not appear in the musical.
Return to Oz is a 1964 animated television special produced by Crawley Films for Videocraft International. It first aired on 9 February 1964 in the United States on NBC's The General Electric Fantasy Hour block, then later aired on syndication from 1965 to the 1990s and on the Disney Channel in 1995. It was directed by F. R. Crawley, Thomas Glynn and Larry Roemer from a teleplay by Romeo Muller, who later wrote Dorothy in the Land of Oz. This was the first special produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass Productions.
The Wizard of Oz is a 1982 anime feature film directed by Fumihiko Takayama, from a screenplay by Yoshimitsu Banno and Akira Miyazaki, which is based on the 1900 children's novel by L. Frank Baum, produced by Yoshimitsu Banno and Katsumi Ueno for Toho.
Rainbow Parade is a series of 26 animated shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios and distributed to theaters by RKO between 1934 and 1936. This was the only color cartoon series produced by Van Beuren, and the final series of the studio.
The Wizard of the Emerald City is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum's name is sometimes credited in the book. The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added.
Swooner Crooner is a 1944 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on May 6, 1944, and stars Porky Pig.
Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz is a 1987 direct-to-video animated short film introduced by Michael Gross of Family Ties. It is based on the 1907 novel Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
Ted Eshbaugh was an American animation filmmaker, best known as one of the first filmmakers to experiment with color sound cartoons in the early 1930s, which included Goofy Goat and The Wizard of Oz.
Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz is an American animated children's television series loosely based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its subsequent books, as well as its 1939 film adaptation. The series debuted on Boomerang SVOD on June 29, 2017. The series was picked up for the second and third seasons. The series ended on July 31, 2020, after three seasons.