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I saw the Larry Semon version some years ago on TCM. My interpretation of why the toymaker completely mangles the story was that he was illiterate, but in order to save face in front of his granddaughter, he just made up some stuff as he pretended to read the book.
ReplyDeleteI remember Robert Osborne pronouncing Larry's surname the very unfortunate way I thought it was pronounced, and some googling seemed to confirm that. I'd feel bad for any kid living today who was saddled that moniker. And, uh, by that I mean, having a name that rhymes with "demon." Yeah, that's the ticket.
I knew the cartoon was on YouTube, but I never set aside the eight minutes required to view it, so I looked it up and watched it along with you guys as you did your commentary, which was kind of fun. I enjoy crazy old-time cartoons, but it's a bit disappointing they didn't stick a bit closer to the plot.
Oh, yeah, one other comment I forgot I wanted to add- If one is going to reimagine The Wizard of Oz the way Mr. Semon did, the idea of having Dorothy turn out to be a lost princess of Oz is not a terrible twist on the story and I'd feel safe in asserting that the "Tin Man" miniseries used that same plot element much more successfully. Unfortunately, Larry seemed more concerned with slapstick than a coherent plot.
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