Another John R. Neill tribute

Hey, remember Alan Cook? The guy who did a cover of "The Wonders of Oz" song for me? The guy who's illustrating Matt Bloom's book?

No?

Well, just look for blogs of mine mentioning Al or Alan Cook.

Anyways, I think I established he's a big fan of John R. Neill's artwork. Well, he's planning on showing some non-Oz Neill artwork on his blog. (Warning: Not an entirely family-friendly blog, though the entries I'm linking to should be all right.)

Today, he's already posted his first four entries!

John R. Neill
The color plates from The Sea Fairies
Selected illustrations from The Sea Fairies
Illustrations for a 1914 Bridal Book

And there's more coming! Keep up with this link: All of Al's blogs tagged with "John R. Neill"

The Return of The Wonders of Oz

 People who've checked out the schedule for the virtual version of OzCon International this year will have noticed a new version of The Wonders of Oz as part of the program.

The Wonders of Oz was a a low budget fan documentary series I made over ten years ago. While the enthusiasm was evident, a lot about the production left quite a bit to be desired. So it was a goal of mine to revisit the concept and produce a new version.

I actually wrote the first draft of the new version's script in 2015. I had previously mentioned to other Oz fans and my filmmaker younger brother about producing a new version of the series.

The original version had many episodes, partly because YouTube didn't allow longer videos at the time, and because I was trying to cover as many versions of Oz as possible, from the early Oz silent films and plays to Wicked as a book and musical and other versions we'd seen in the twenty-first century. For the new version, I decided to reduce the number of episodes to three, the first being about the life of L. Frank Baum, the second celebrating the other authors of the Famous Forty Oz books and other Oz stories in literature, and the third would talk about how Oz has been retold in new formats over the years, keeping it alive in the public consciousness, making it an international cultural phenomenon.

Colin Ayres, who took over chairing OzCon in 2019, started The OzConnection YouTube channel as part of a long time plan to give the convention a YouTube presence. Given that we couldn't hold the convention in person last year, he used the situation to finally launch the channel to host video content for a virtual version of the convention. Afterward, he launched new series to keep content going throughout the year.

Finally, I floated the idea of a Wonders of Oz reboot to Colin and he said he'd like to have the first episode for this year's virtual convention. So I revisited the 2015 script and did some revisions. Colin had suggested Oz R. Chase to narrate, and he agreed. Rather than do it as audio only, we had him film himself. It's not a usual format, but in this case, it gave the new version a face, and allowed me, when editing, to cut back to him speaking when I didn't have many visuals on hand to layer over it.

I reached out to several people to provide commentary to use in the episode. However, I wound up with only three: Sam Milazzo, Erica Olivera and—the biggest commentator—Gita Morena, L. Frank Baum's great-granddaughter. In the end, the first episode clocks in at 31 minutes and 9 seconds. This new episode is about twice the length of the corresponding first two episodes of the original version, especially since the opening titles and end credits were much longer in the original.

I was puzzling over how to make the new version's opening titles. I explained the original version's look to Erica, using the original map of Oz from the Fairylogue and Radio Plays, and she suggested I use it again. There was a test version of the new titles I sent to Colin which was basically a slideshow of the credits. He suggested a more dynamic version which you can see in the new version. It was created by having two visual layers: the bottom layer would zoom in on the map while the top layer would have the titles.

During the original version of The Wonders of Oz's run, Scottish artist and singer Alan Cook approached me about doing a new version of the theme song. The original theme song was "Everywhere in Oz" from 1964's animated Return to Oz, however, since my use of it in the series, I've seen one other cover call it "The Wonders of Oz," which feels like a more fitting title. Alan's new version was a little more somber than the original, but felt very magical. He gave me two versions: a demo and a full version that went over three minutes. Both versions cut some lyrics from the original, but Alan wrote a totally new second verse for the full version.

In creating the new version of the series, there was no question which version of the song I was going to use, bringing Alan's version back. The opening titles use the opening instrumental of the demo, while during the credits, you hear the beginning of the lyrics. Perhaps when we get to the final episode of the new version, we can figure out a nice way to use the full version of the song.

I put all the remaining episodes of the old version as unlisted on YouTube to drive searches to the new version as it debuts. There's some elements from the old version I still like that I didn't replicate, such as a loving quote about Baum from Ray Bradbury and finding different songs to close out each episode. The original Baum biography episodes ended with a cover of "I'll Be There" by the Escape Club, intended to be a take on Baum's feelings to his wife. I don't think the intention came through, plus given how music can be a big copyright issue for YouTube, I'm being a little more careful about what songs I use this time.

The new version will be hosted exclusively on The OzConnection for a very good reason: there are many other videos talking more indepth about various aspects of Oz. This way, The Wonders of Oz can serve as a context for these other videos, even if they're not officially connected. For example, Disney's Oz projects will be touched on in episode 3, however, the OzConnection already has a video by Eric Shanower that explores Disney's history with Oz in further detail. If people want to learn more, they can see his video. As I explained to Colin, The Wonders of Oz can serve as a view of "the big picture" of Oz as a history, while other videos on the channel can zoom in on more specific stories.

So, one episode down, two to go. This is going to be fun!

Happy Birthday, Ozma!

It's August 21, and it's Ozma's birthday once again. Before I fire up the CTC production of The Marvelous Land of Oz on my DVD player (first non-Russian Oz movie I've watched in awhile), let's do some quick updates...

Wonders fans, Movie Maker now refuses to save video files. I'm about to try out yet another video editor, wish me luck!

I'm also considering doing a re-editing of the series after the finale episode... But, just to answer a question I get from Oz fans, I can't sell you a DVD of the series. I could claim that I'm charging for labor and shipping, but still, Wonders does contain material I don't own the copyright for, and selling it is illegal.

That's why my next big video series project will only use original or public domain/royalty free material...

And speaking of that, I might as well announce that the project will be an Adobe Flash animated adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Enchanted Island of Yew, tentatively retitled Prince Marvel. If you haven't read the book, the series will follow the adventures of Prince Marvel and the Lord Nerle as they journey the Island of Yew, righting wrongs and bringing peace to the island. The only thing is, no one seems to know where Marvel has come from, and he plans to only be on the island for a year.

And now you may want to know "Will you ever animate Oz?" The answer... Yes! The opening titles for the "Wonders" finale, if I can get a handle on Flash by that time, will be animated and set to a special cover of "The Wonders of Oz" song. (Ever wanted to see an animated Ork?)

I got the finished version of the song yesterday. It was rearranged and performed by Alan Cook, an Oz fan, illustrator, and singer who lives in Glasgow, Scotland. And well, I think it sounds great! Al is quite excellent at his crafts, in fact, I got acquainted with him because he's working on an Oz-related illustration project.

And, while I'm mentioning him, today he put a video on his YouTube channel, he's the "clown" at the end...



And one last thing... It was Al's suggestion I publicly reveal my e-mail and instant messaging identities. It's the blog post linked at the top of my blog's links called "Contacting Me," but in case you can't see the link from here, here's a link to the entry: Contacting Me. Please use wisely.

Roselawn

I finished the first draft of Roselawn, a short story that serves as a sequel to L. Frank Baum's Dot and Tot of Merryland.

Over to the left, you can see a test drawing Alan Cook did for the story, and he intends to make a painting. (He did it before I finished the story, so I did have to write the final scene around it.)

Since the story is far too short to make into a book, and there isn't enough of an Oz connection for Oziana, I have opted to just have the story online. Perhaps if I get enough requests, we could use Al's picture for the cover of a pamphlet and print it that way.

As I said, this is the first draft, so I may revise it, and yes, I'm open to criticism, especially if it's constructive.

At the moment, I'm hosting a PDF file through Dropbox. I have heard that too many downloads may make the file unavailable, so we'll see what happens.

Anyway, here it is, Roselawn!

L. Frank Baum's 153rd Birthday Bash!

Yep, I went all out this year!

First up is a teaser for The Dreamer of Oz:


And, even better, the three-part podcast is up at the podcast site.
PART 1
"The Queen of the Field Mice" read by James C. Wallace II
"The Story of the Winged Monkeys" read by Peter Hanff
"Home Again" read by Sera Alexia
"How Tip Manufactured A Pumpkinhead" read by Patrick Quigley
"The Flight Of The Gump" read by Sam Milazzo
"The Transformations of Mombi" read by Travis Black
"Dorothy Says Good-Bye" read by Sam Milazzo

PART 2
"The History Of the Wizard and Oz" read by Jericho Mathew Bloom
"Dorothy Meets Button Bright" read by Jared Davis
"The Rainbow's Daughter" read by Mike Conway
"Dorothy Visits Utensia" read by Nathan DeHoff
"How The Story of Oz Came To An End" read by Sera Alexia

PART 3
"A Song Of Oz-Land" read by Blair Frodelius
"The Home Of Jack Pumpkinhead" read by Alan Cook
"Ozma and Dorothy" read by Dexter F.

And if you want to download the podcast, all three parts, in one go, I also put it on Rapidshare!

Returning to Oz Episode 32

Well, the final episode of "Returning to Oz" is online. After some wonderful music, we get an introduction with Aaron Pacentine, Aaron Schultz, and Celia Foster.

Then we move on to an audio drama of a man trying to find a specific book.

We then return to Aaron and Aaron, who pretty much lay out the ground work of how this final episode will run.

Now, we move into hearing from Oz fans who get to voice their opinions on the two most popular movies based on L. Frank Baum's works.

Next up is an interview with Joshua Dudley, who has been working on the final installment of his "Lost in Oz" books. He also mentions that he is making YouTube videos based on his books.

Up next is one of my latest Oz friends, Alan Cook, a Scotsman, who will have a special appearance in an episode of "Wonders" sometime soon. He gets to voice his opinions on Oz and how to find a copy of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in Scotland.

Next up is a violinist Omer Lopez who loves the Oz series, and reveals how he discovered Oz on the Internet. Believe me, after his segment, you just want to applaud!

Next up is some guy who mentions what he thinks of MGM's "Wizard of Oz" and "Return to Oz." Then there's Richard Burch of Oz Central. Some of these excerpts are from earlier episodes of Aaron's series, as well as some interviews he has done that were not directly connected with the series.

Next on is Celia Foster, who began the series with Aaron. They reminisce about working on their early episodes. Long time listeners will have some smiles and chuckles during this part.

Then is Doug Aberle and Will Vinton, who did the "Return to Oz" claymation. We hear even more from behind the scenes, including the answer to long-standing rumor than the Nome King crumbles into the Anarchy symbol.

And well... That's where it ends... There will be a video that isn't online yet for the absolute LAST part of the episode, but the whole series... wow... When you think about how many people have appeared on the series and Aaron's interviews, it really stands out as an unparalelled accomplishment. Never before has anyone made a freely available series that has gathered this many people and covered so much in an interview format.

I can still recall when I first heard about the series. I had been keeping an eye on Aaron's productions at the time. One night, I was at the library, waiting to head over to a Chapter 6 concert (yeah...), and I noticed that Aaron was starting a series with Celia Foster about "Return to Oz," and I thought, "Oh, cool! That's my favorite movie." My, how things can evolve.

It's a little sad, because I and probably several others really looked forward to each new episode of the series, and now it's finished, but it's still online for everyone to enjoy.

The episode is 89 minutes and 25 seconds long, about as long as a standard feature film. The link is here: (LINK).