The Wizard of Oz 4K - October 29, 2019

Preorders for a 4K edition of MGM's The Wizard of Oz are now available, dated for October 29, 2019. The movie will have the distinction of being the oldest film on the UHD format.

4K Blu-Ray or UHD (Ultra High Definition) is the latest physical home video format, with an image width of nearly four thousand pixels allowing for clear detail and HDR processing allowing for more vivid color range.

Warner Brothers has yet to detail this new edition, but the lack of a moratorium on previous editions of the title should let fans and collectors know that this is simply a 4K release of the movie.

Many 4K titles—both new releases and catalog titles—are released with a 4K disc that usually contains only the movie in 4K with HDR, looking simply amazing. It's basically a case by case basis as to if alternate audio tracks such as audio commentary are included. No bonuses are usually on the disc. (There have been 4K discs with some bonuses included on the 4K disc, but the ones I can recall reading about were from Lionsgate and Sony, not Warner Brothers.)

Included is a standard Blu-Ray disc, which, for catalog titles, is usually a copy of the latest edition of the title. There are cases (including Warner Brothers) in which the disc is a new one. Also standard for US releases is a digital copy code to redeem for a 4K digital copy so you can stream and download the title. (You will be able to purchase the digital 4K version on October 29, but people who bought or redeemed their previous digital copies via iTunes have reported that their copy has been upgraded.)

Best Buy exclusive Steelbook edition.

While there might be a new Blu-Ray included, I think Oz fans should only expect the new 4K disc. There's currently no new "big box" Ultimate Collector's Edition announced as was released the past two major times the movie was released to home video. The Ultimate Collector's Edition of the past release was the only new way to own a whole two additional discs of bonus features.

So yes, unless a collection with three or four discs is announced, this will include fewer bonus features than the last releases. In addition, the 3D edition is not included as 3D has become a small niche in the home video market, collectors being forced to either import international editions for the 3D disc or turn to exclusive retailer editions that have them. (If available.) So, for collectors who enjoy having the most bonuses available, this new edition should supplement, not replace your older editions. Don't expect new bonuses unless Warner Brother announces them.

I do want to say something about the artwork. It's stilted, looks far too clean and is generally not dynamic or very appealing. The best looking covers from the 2013 reissue were the 3D editions with just Dorothy front and center on the covers. (The 2-disc one featured her in a field of flowers against an Ozzy landscape, while the case in the big box edition featured her face against a white background with the title.) What baffles me is that this movie has been around for decades, with multiple excellent pieces of artwork being created for posters, merchandise and other home video editions. Given how I've used Photoshop, I decided to take a crack at creating alternate 4K covers.

This one repurposes artwork from one of the original posters in 1939, with Al Hirschfeld's portraits of the characters framing the left side and bottom of the front cover.

This one repurposes the artwork from the final MGM/United Artists home video release, circa 1997.

While I'm sure the 4K edition is going to look and sound amazing, especially with HDR, using artwork like that is certainly questionable. Better artwork has been produced for the film which I'm sure with only a little bit of work, Warner Brothers could use. Or there are a number of fine artists who could create new original artwork that would look much better.

Also, Warner, if you'd like to maybe also announce Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: The Complete Series on DVD or Blu-Ray soon, I wouldn't be mad.

EDIT: UK retailers will be offering their own 4-disc collector's edition.

This set promises a dedicated special features disc in addition to the 4K disc and the standard Blu-Ray. It will likely be a reissue of the special features disc from the 2013 edition. The fourth disc will be a soundtrack CD. Also included are art cards, a reproduction poster and the "map" of Oz that was also in the 2013 big box edition. This set looks very pretty, so UK fans and collectors should be quick to snatch it up, and collectors outside of the UK might want to contact fellow UK collectors to help them get copies as well.

EDIT: Wow! An official press release from Warner Brothers is out there now. It confirms that the Blu-Ray disc will have all the same features from the 2013 edition. It is possible that the version of the film on the disc will be sourced from the 4K version, but that will likely remain unseen until the disc is released and reviewed. There is no mention of a standard Blu-Ray reissue.

The press release confirms that there will be two bonuses on the 4K disc: the audio commentary and the 1990 special The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic, hosted by Angela Lansbury. This special was included with every Warner Brothers home video release of the movie from 1999 to 2009, but was dropped in 2013 in favor of a new documentary they'd created. After a lawsuit from the producers of the documentary, it was released on its own DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection. Now, the 4K disc will include it.

"Dreamer of Oz" on DVD

I was one of the lucky people to watch this tele-movie when it first aired on TV and I would rent the video whenever I could (it had a nice cover).

Once I knew enough, I made it a point to watch this movie every year on L Frank Baum's birthday, even if it is just one (inaccurate) portion of his life.

I also had and enjoyed listening to the CD (and reading its vastly illustrated and written booklet) whenever I could (which you can buy here on Amazon).

Personally I would have Track 16 say "Magic Land"
or "the Munchkins" rather than "Oz"

And like many other viewers, if not all, I wished and wished and waited for it to come on DVD (I particularly wanted a "Commemorative" Special Edition to be made after John Ritter's death) ... but one day WB included it in their set for MGM's the Wizard of Oz.

But I am here to talk about another DVD release it has had - as well as a comparison of the two prints.

Warner Bros has the movie in a Set, you have to unpack to get out the disk, together with the Special Features that may focus on Frank Baum, usually the earlier Silent Films and 1933 Ted Eshbaugh cartoon.
  The picture is not restored or remastered, due to the type of video used for filming for TV in those 90s days, so the lines and quality often looks double-exposed or "side-by-side".

This version of the video is by a fully licensed and famous studio that distributes widely, in store and online.

Screenshot of the Opening Title from the official WB release

Another version of the movie's DVD release is simpler and lesser known.

As you can see above, the cover uses the art from the CD soundtrack.

Menu screenshot from the "rare and collectible" single-disk version

Surprisingly, the picture is a little different:  by comparison it is not as colourful nor is it out of focus and the size when playing is different to WB.
But also note how the colours are not as strong nor is the contrast as deep, so the green is a bit paler, the darker areas are a bit greyer and the picture is still overall soft.

However there is no trailer or short video ad that reveals the distributor or DVD manufacturing company; the Menu uses the Opening Title as its design and the movie itself will not play on my computer's VLC player (hence explains why I do not have anymore screenshot comparisons).
On DVD/Blu-ray Player, however, it repeats the movie as soon as it finishes.

And as you can see from the above Menu, there are no other options whatsoever, NONE AT ALL ... so no subtitles.

Most likely this is a bootleg copy, piracy of which is a crime, so I will not include the link of where I got this to support that kind of purchasing (even if that site has another movie I've been wanting on DVD).
Hopefully this post will make others aware of unlicensed copies.

It would be so much better and a pleasant surprise if WB would put in the effort to restore and remaster "the Dreamer of Oz" for a new release, on its own or with MGM's "Wizard" again, especially since there are many photos out there that could be put together for a Gallery and there was once a bunch of videos on YouTube that had some of the actors (Munchkins) talking about the telemovie on a Daytime Show.
Not to mention, WB could also include the new and improved remastered 1933 cartoon on future releases, now that Thunderbean Animation has put their DVD+Blu-ray version out.

Oz on Home Video, part 1

As Sam and I evidenced with our Movies of Oz podcasts, Oz has been quite influential in cinema. However, movies don't play in theaters forever. In order to enjoy films, we have little choice aside from home video. Unless you can purchase a film copy and have a film projector.

In that case, I want to live with you.

From home film reels to video tape to laserdisc to Video CD to DVD to Blu-Ray, there's been ways to see movies at home for a while. And a fair number of Oz titles have made it to home video. So, this is kind of a buyer's guide to picking up an Oz filmography. It will not be complete because there are some titles that have not been released, and some haven't legally been released. We will not be discussing bootlegs because they are not legal copies, and also, there is no constant source for them.

Another note is that not all titles are available everywhere. Due to licensing, a title that can be released by one studio in the US might be released by another one in the UK. And due to discerning customer interest, that title might not be available in all parts of the world. A dedicated collector of Oz films needs to prepare to import certain titles.

Another factor is encoding differences. In the US and Japan, NTSC was a standard through DVD. You get a smooth 29.97 frames per second and a video size up to 480 pixels high on DVD. The rest of the world used PAL. 25 frames per second and a slightly larger picture size. Blu-Ray now uses a standard 1080 pixels high on image size, but frame rates can still differ. Different parts of the world have different region codes, and not all home video players can handle them all. (Some can be hacked, but this voids your warranty.) The codes are different between DVD and Blu-Ray, but basically, if you're in the US, you need Region 1 or 0 for DVD and Region A or ABC for Blu-Ray. Region 2, 0, B or ABC for the UK. There's plenty of guides to check for this.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
Being public domain, this film can be found for free online on Archive.org or on video streaming sites. It has not been remastered to high definition and has only been released on DVD and as a standard definition feature on Blu-Ray issues of The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Releases:

More Treasures from the American Film Archive (out of print)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2005 3-disc edition
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2009 Exclusive 2-disc Walmart DVD
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914)
While much of the same information applies to the next several films in this list, unfortunately, each film is different enough to warrant individual notes.

This and the later Oz silent films (the next three entries) were released to several video tapes through the 1990s. Many of these are cheap and fairly easy to find on sites that sell VHS. Patchwork Girl was included on a tape from the Origins of Film series, specifically, the Origins of the Fantasy Feature tape. While a nice print, it removed the opening title screen for a standardized screen. This was later used for DVD and found its way to the World of Oz DVD collection.

This and the later silent films have since become available digitally through Archive.org and video streaming sites, due to their public domain status. This is why it was available on several video tapes and later, several DVDs. Like the previous silent film and the later ones, it has not been remastered for high definition.

Releases:

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (any VHS tape bearing the title is the silent film)

The Origins of Film: The Origins of the Fantasy Feature (VHS)

The World of Oz DVD collection

The Wizard of Oz Collection DVD

The Wizard of Oz: The Lost Original L. Frank Baum Versions DVD

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

(There is also a manufacture on demand DVD version on Amazon claiming to be digitally remastered. This is under the title "The Patchwork Girl of Oz.")

The Magic Cloak of Oz (1914)
This one gets a little unusual as there is now two different cuts of the film available on home video. As far as I am aware, all standalone DVD and VHS editions are the usual, shorter cut. This cut is available on these releases:

The Magic Cloak of Oz (any VHS tape or DVD bearing the title is the silent film)

The World of Oz DVD collection

The Wizard of Oz Collection DVD

The Wizard of Oz: The Lost Original L. Frank Baum Versions DVD

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
-2005 3-disc DVD edition

The longer cut is available on Archive.org and perhaps on video streaming sites. You can tell if it's the longer cut by watching the first minute, because the opening title "The Magic Cloak" will have the Tin Woodman and Dorothy behind the title, along with some John R. Neill style houses (a bit dimly) before switching to an elaborate screen titled "The Magic Cloak of Oz." The shorter cut shows only "The Magic Cloak" and the title is too dim to see the illustration behind it. (Please note that due to frame rate differences, while there is more footage, the running time difference between the two cuts might be misleadingly similar.)

Releases:

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz (1914)
This is the simplest of the bunch as only one version has been available on home video. Again, it can also be found for free on Archive.org and video streaming sites.

Releases:

His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz (any VHS tape or DVD bearing the title is the silent film)

The World of Oz DVD collection

The Wizard of Oz Collection DVD

The Wizard of Oz: The Lost Original L. Frank Baum Versions DVD

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2005 3-disc DVD edition
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

The Wizard of Oz (1925)
 Also public domain, this title has been available on several releases and can be seen for free on Archive.org and video streaming sites. However, since it shares a title with several other Oz films, you will have to look for identifying marks to identify that this is the version you're getting.

The best version is unquestionably the version Warner Brothers bundled with the 1939 Wizard of Oz in certain editions, beginning in 2005. It contains different title cards and a longer opening sequence. The picture is clear and it features a new score written specifically for it by Robert Israel. Like the previous titles on this list, no high definition version is available.

Releases:

The Wizard of Oz (please ensure that the video tape or DVD indicates that it is the Larry Semon version or a silent version or features Oliver Hardy)

The World of Oz DVD collection

The Wizard of Oz Collection DVD

The Wizard of Oz: The Lost Original L. Frank Baum Versions DVD

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2005 3-disc DVD edition
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

The Land of Oz (1932)
This title, though existing (but missing the second half of the sound track), has not been released to home video in any form. 

The Wizard of Oz (1933)
 This Ted Eshbaugh cartoon has been made available on several VHS and DVD compilations of public domain cartoons. It is also available through streaming sites and probably Archive.org. In 2014, it received a Blu-Ray restoration by Thunderbean Animation, creating the definitive and best home video release so far.

Releases:

It is almost impossible to note every DVD and video release this has been featured on. Many such releases feature a list on the back of the package, and if it seems to contain public domain cartoons, a "Wizard of Oz" in the list surely contains this cartoon in its rough shape. It is the feature title on some VHS tapes, playing first. The cover art may or may not reflect the actual cartoon.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- 2005 3-disc DVD edition
- 2009 Emerald and Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray
- 2009 Exclusive 2-disc Walmart DVD
- 2013 3D Collector's Set and Exclusive Target Edition

 Technicolor Dreams and Black and White Nightmares Blu-Ray/DVD edition

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
This title has actually been released to every conceivable home video format.

The Wizard of Oz (Super 8)
The Wizard of Oz (VHS, several issues)
The Wizard of Oz (Betamax)
The Wizard of Oz (CED)
The Wizard of Oz (Laserdisc from the Criterion Collection, The Ultimate Oz laserdisc, and a later issue)
The Wizard of Oz (Video CD)
The Wizard of Oz (DVD, several issues)
The Wizard of Oz (Blu-Ray, several issues)
The Wizard of Oz (Digital copy)
The Wizard of Oz (Ultraviolet)
The Wizard of Oz (3D Blu-Ray)