2006: A Good Year For Oz

Here's some really Ozzy things that happened during 2006.

1. It was the 150th anniversary of L. Frank Baum's birth.
2. It was the 50th anniversary of the first TV showing of MGM's The Wizard of Oz.
3. Two animated Oz sequels were released to DVD: Return to Oz (from 1964 by Bankin-Rass), and Journey Back to Oz.
4. Hungry Tiger Press released several wonderful books. They began The Pawprint Series, reprinting Baum's young adult books. Although their plans were to have several reprinted by the end of the year, they only reprinted Annabel, The Daring Twins as A Daring Twins Mystery: Secret of the Lost Fortune, and The Boy Fortune Hunters in China as Sam Steele's Adventures: The Scream of the Sacred Ape. Also printed Walt Spouse's comic strip adaptation of The Emerald City of Oz in a collected volume. Also, a brand new edition of Ruth Plumly Thompson's Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz, her last "Famous Forty" book. They also planned on reprinting Baum's John Dough and the Cherub and Fate of A Crown, but were not able to. I hope they can next year.
5. I joined the International Wizard of Oz Club (IWOC)!
6. I bought lots of Oz stuff.
7. Oz: The Manga released in a collected volume.
8. I wrote first drafts of screenplays based on Baum's first three Oz novels.
9. Lots of fun threads at the IWOC started!
10. Disneyland Fourth Anniversary Show released on DVD, containing the preliminary show for the abandoned Rainbow Road to Oz.
11. Eric Shanower's five Oz graphic novels reprinted in a collected volume, Adventures in Oz.
12. Warner Brothers revealed to members of IWOC that they own the TV movie The Dreamer of Oz and are considering a DVD release!
13. I saw Chapter 6 on March the 2nd and they performed their Wizard of Oz number. (Not very Ozzy, but still...)
14. Illusive Arts Entertainment published Chapters 5 and 6 of their comic book Dorothy this year. (Added by Anna Warren Boersig of Illusive Arts.)

That's all I can think of now. If you can think of anything else, place a comment. (You can do it without registering with Blogger now, unlike the early days.)

The Rainbow Road to Oz

Okay, so the "Your Host, Walt Disney" DVD is out, and I have my copy, but someone's already posted the whole thing to YouTube!

A Holiday Tradition

Every year I re-read The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum.

It's the story of Santa Claus from a baby to his old age, when he became immortal.

You can read it online here...

I also read A Kidnapped Santa Claus from The Collected Short Stories of L. Frank Baum, published this year by the IWOC.

You can also read it online here...

I've also gone back to work a bit more on the L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz screenplay. There are now some extra scenes in which we actually see Dorothy's parents. At long last, we discover what happened to them and how Dorothy wound up living with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. I thought of doing a scene where we show how they got Toto, but I thought it wasn't neccessary, and decided not to.

I really need to get back to L. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

Next post, I'll talk about 2006 in retrospective. I hope it'll be a good post! This one and the one before were a little disappointing.

Is it raining, Is it snowing? Is a hurricane a-blowing?

Yes, it rained on Wednesday, then it snowed on Thursday, and today, I had an adventure with frozen-over puddles and snow and ice on my way to get some envelopes. (Now to pay a phone bill and sell some DVDs.) I just hope a freak hurricane doesn't strike... (Of course it won't, Springfield, MO is very inland.)

I think I'll go get some hot cocoa and re-read The Ice King of Oz.