The Royal Podcast of Oz begins 2014 in a new monthly format! Jay interviews Melody Grandy, author of The Seven Blue Mountains of Oz, and then Movies of Oz continues with Jay and Sam discussing Disney's Return to Oz.
As always, you can listen and download at the podcast site or use the player below.
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2 comments:
Hey, guys! I like the idea of a monthly digest format, and look forward to hearing how it goes.
I am always fascinated to hear how many creative changes Oz fans are able to ring on what Baum established! Bringing Tip back into the series? Wow, I'd never have dreamed anyone would even have tried! I love Ozma, but I did always kind of miss "her" as Tip! Very interesting interview, and gives me inspiration to try my hand at Oz fiction (on the proverbial someday!).
And glad to hear more of your thoughts on "Return to Oz," my favorite Oz film. I wish more people outside of Oz fandom would rediscover this movie - it's such an accomplished fantasy. I also think the Claymation effects really hold up, even almost 30 years later. (It seems fairly clear to be the film is not endorsing electroshock therapy - it was "science" of circa 1900; if anything, the film is arguing against such "progress." I think Worley was entirely indifferent to the fate of his "patients" - this is why his alter ego in Oz is the villain!)
For a second, I thought someone new had taken over the podcast.
I've seen Melody Grandy's name before, but have never felt much compulsion to check out what she's written. I may have changed my mind after listening to this. While she may not be the most scintillating conversationalist, it sounds as though she's had some interesting ideas.
I have to object slightly to Sam lumping Lewis Carroll's Alice in with Oz when complaining about books that haven't gotten a faithful translation to screen. Because Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass have been adapted more times than The Wizard of Oz, and some of those adaptations have hewed quite closely to the source material. One advantage that Alice has, if you want to call it that, is that there's no version of Alice in Wonderland that is considered as iconic as MGM's Wizard of Oz, so the masses are less likely to cry heresy when a new version comes along. But if you're just talking about theatrical films, then yeah, I'd concede we're less likely to see a totally faithful adaptation of Alice because that story is so meandering and filmmakers fear that such a unconventional "plot" (and I use the word loosely) will turn off audiences. That's why Disney struggled as much as it did with the animated Alice.
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