Disneyland Records: The Tin Woodman of Oz

And now for the last Disneyland Oz Story and Songs album: The Tin Woodman of Oz.

I presume the Tin Woodman was the last released of these albums. The Disneyland Wizard, Songs from the Wizard, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Woodman all are copyrighted 1969, but the Songs from the Wizard album doesn't have songs from Tin Woodman on there, suggesting it was released afterward, or they just opted not to include the songs on it. Second is that there's an article in The Baum Bugle about these albums (where I've gotten a lot of information from), and it covered this album last. Finally, the story itself was obviously adapted to conclude this little series of an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz and stories about each of Dorothy's first three friends in Oz.

The story opens with a celebration in the Emerald City, when they overhear a young man singing about how he'll find his true love. He enters and introduces himself as Woot the Wanderer. And yes, it is a young Ron Howard voicing Woot.

Woot tells about how he had a dream about a girl and he intends to find her because she's his true love. This reminds the Tin Woodman of Nimmee Aimee and he tells his origin story (which was skipped in the Wizard adaptation) and decides he will join Woot and they'll look for their true loves together. The Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion join to look for their own true loves as well.

The story follows Baum's book rather faithfully with the addition of the Cowardly Lion and the looking for the true love plot for the other characters. We have Loonville, and Mrs. Yoop, who sings "I'm Mrs. Yoop, the Yookoohoo." She has a cat, and she turns the Cowardly Lion into a mouse.

The jaguar and Tommy Kwikstep are not present, and neither are the dragons Woot meets in the book.

When Ozma restores everyone, the Lion's shape of a mouse is transferred to Mrs. Yoop's cat, and Woot discovers that Polychrome is the girl he dreamed of, and they sing a song called "I've Found My True Love." They accompany Ozma back to the Emerald City, leaving the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, and Lion. But soon the Lion meets a Lioness and they leave for the Emerald City.

Ku-Klip and Captain Fyter are not encountered on the trip, but the Invisible Country and the Hyp-po-gy-raf are.

The Tin Woodman finds Nimmee Aimee's home guarded by a Tin Soldier, who fights the Tin Woodman, but the Tin Woodman manages to defeat him. Nimmee Aimee reveals that the Tin Soldier was made by "the same tinsmith who helped you" for her as a replacement for the Tin Woodman when he never came back for her. However, the Wicked Witch of the East enchanted him to keep Nimmee Aimee prisoner and fight the Tn Woodman should he return. Since the Tin Soldier is not a love interest here, and there is no Chopfyt, Nimmee Aimee is happy to accept the Tin Woodman's marriage proposal at last.

The Scarecrow decides he will go back to the Emerald City, despite not having found a "Scarecrowess." However, Ozma whips one up for him, and there's a quadruple wedding as Woot, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion are all wed.

I love the book The Tin Woodman of Oz, but this adaptation waters the story down. One theme in that book was that sometimes the conventional fairy tale ending isn't the happiest. This is not carried over here, with everyone getting married at the end. But I suppose the ideas of the Tin Woodman talking to his old head, a second man-turned-tin, and the confusing and disturbing Chopfyt were just too heavy for a children's record. Still, I feel like more of Baum's tone could have been retained.

Once again, the album opens into a storybook briefly retelling the story (my copy is an early one that erroneously credited the book to Ruth Plumly Thompson). However, I am disappointed in two areas: the "Scarecrowess" could have easily been Scraps the Patchwork Girl, but the illustrator chose not to do that. And we never see a picture of Nimmee Aimee. The girl by the Tin Woodman in the last picture is Dorothy.

Overall, this Tin Woodman of Oz isn't really bad, but when it's compared to the original version, it lacks in many areas.

And that concludes Disney's audio adventures in Oz. I really wish they'd find some way to re-release the Story and Songs albums.

Disneyland Records: The Cowardly Lion of Oz

For the uninformed: you might be thinking "Disney adapted a Ruth Plumy Thompson book?" Well... No. It says on the inside "Based on the book by Ruth Plumly Thompson," but there's Notta sign of Thompson's plot anywhere.

So, this album was the only one in which we had an entirely original story by the folks at Disneyland Records. Oz fans also seek this one out because some of the songs were originally intended for The Rainbow Road to Oz. Those wanting just the songs can also look for them on The Songs from the Wizard of Oz (Plus Songs About the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion) album, in which they appear on the B side, albeit in a different order.

This was the hardest of the four Story and Songs albums for me to track down. I'd only once seen it on eBay and had had to pass on it then. Their Wizard of Oz and Tin Woodman (next time!) seem to be easy to find, while Scarecrow (which one fan told me he considered the rarest), I saw a copy at the Winkie Silent Auction last year and found two different copies online when I bought mine. I managed to find Cowardly Lion through an Amazon seller who had a really low price for it. Not only was the low price a draw for me, but I seriously couldn't find it anywhere else. Well, if any are rare, I'm glad to say I own one copy of each in my collection!

Now, onto the story. The Cowardly Lion lives in his palace, which he sings about in "Living A Lovely Life," which seems to have been one of the Rainbow Road songs. Then one day, he hears the Oz-alarm go off, alerting him that there's "Trouble in Oz" (another song), so he heads to Glinda's palace, where she tells him that Duke Grimwald of the Prattling Country (a neighboring country of Oz, I may have gotten the name wrong) has had Prince Paul turned into a puppet by Smarmy the Witch. The prince is prisoner of a puppeteer named Glarm, and Glinda wants the Cowardly Lion to find and rescue the Prince before Grimwald declares war on Oz so he can discredit the Prattling King Maydor and become king himself when he "rescues" Paul.

The Cowardly Lion sets out and meets a girl named Forget-Me-Not who forgets everything, including her own name. She's puzzling over an Ozphabet book, which the Cowardly Lion explains to her in the song "The Ozphabet." H is for Scarecrow, because he's hay-filled (which we know is inaccurate because the Scarecrow thinks hay is an inferior stuffing material); T is for Woodman, because he's made of tin; G is for Tea, because it's green; C is for Lion, because he's cowardly (or cute).

Forget-Me-Not is reminded that she saw a puppet show in a nearby town, so she joins the Cowardly Lion in his search. However, Smarmy pops up and defies the Lion, making him fall into a pit, and she sings "Just Call Smarmy." But Forget-Me-Not helps the Lion out when the witch leaves, and they soon enter the town.

They find the puppet show (which is performing a song called "The Puppet Polka"), and identify the puppeteer as Glarm. They make a tree outside the town their base and sneak back at night to find the Prince. Using a puppet-scope (one of many tools Glinda provided), they are able to identify the Prince and take him back to the tree.

At the tree, Forget-Me-Not discovers the doll she's been carrying with her and left at the tree to mark it as her base has had sap dripping on it. However, the doll begins to talk and says it's an enchanted Princess Flora, Prince Paul's fiancee. She further identifies Forget-Me-Not as a daughter of a Prattling courtier.

So, they decide they need to get the antidote for the enchantments from Smarmy, so they go back to Glarm, who tells them Smarmy is in his wagon. But when they foolishly enter, they are locked in and are told by an outside Smarmy that they will all be turned to puppets. However, the Lion whips out an Ozmagnatron that pulls Smarmy and Glarm through a hole into the wagon, knocking them out cold. A bottle marked "Antidote" falls out of Smarmy's pocket and is used to restore Paul and Flora.

Tying up the two villains, they head to Glinda's. Paul, Flora, and Forget-Me-Not are returned home, but not before King Maydor declares an Oziday, which is a holiday anywhere else. (In the Ozphabet, you find it under J for "joyous.") The Lion tells Glinda he wasn't so sure of himself at times, but she assures him with the song "If You'll Just Believe" (another Rainbow Road song) that she believed in him all the time.

If you remember my blog about Thompson's actual book The Cowardly Lion of Oz, I didn't like it that much. So, I think Disneyland Records did all right by opting not to adapt it.

Still, I do have to wonder if they licensed it as Thompson's name is on the record. While it's true anyone could title a story The Cowardly Lion of Oz, they would have no problems using it as long as they didn't use Thompson's material. But her name is on there! Still, Thompson had long thought Disney would find Oz a perfect venue, so if they did do any rights handling with her, she probably would have been thrilled. However, this is just speculation here.

The songs are pretty fun and enjoyable, but I think Side 1 has too many. "Living a Lovely Life" is too quickly followed by "Trouble in Oz." In fact, Side 1 doesn't have much of the plot, either. In the 11-page picture book the album opens into, the entire plot of the first side is told on the first two pages.

But overall, it's a pretty good story, Disney's The Cowardly Lion of Oz. Though it does beg the question, what on earth is the Cowardly Lion going to do with a lifetime pass to Disneyland?

(Sorry for the image quality. Since my scanner is not large enough to scan a record album, I had to photograph instead.)

Disneyland Records: The Wizard of Oz

1969, Disneyland Records decided to do more Oz records. The big one, right over to the left there, was their first. Yes, this time, they went for the big title: The Story and Songs of The Wizard of Oz.

The record opens with the studio chorus singing "Over The Rainbow," Then a rather... mature-sounding Dorothy introduces and tells the story.

The story adaptation is rather basic, but at times the text closely follows Baum's text. The MGM songs were licensed for the album. When Dorothy lands in Oz, the Munchkins sing "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead!" with the additional opening lyrics. Which doesn't make much sense because part of the lyric is "'Till one fine day from Kansas way," but at this time, the Munchkins don't know where the house came from. The Scarecrow and the chorus sing "If I Only Had A Brain," "Follow The Yellow Brick Road/We're Off To See The Wizard" plays during the journey, "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead!" is reprised when the Wicked Witch of the West dies, and at the end, "The Merry Old Land of Oz" plays.

The Kalidahs and the river are not included, nor is the Lion falling asleep in the poppy field, so his rescue is also removed. The four friends visit the Wizard in the reverse order from the book with the Lion being first and Dorothy being last. The Wicked Witch's attacks are shortened to just the wolves, crows, and Winged Monkeys. There is also no mention of the Golden Cap. No details are told about the trip to Glinda, just that it was a long journey.

Overall, a really good adaptation. I kind of wish they could have kept Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow for the rest of these records, but I guess he would have been out of the budget. The guy playing him does a really goofy voice.

This album also opened into an 11-page picture book with a brief retelling of the story.

Now, Disney did another album with the MGM songs on it. However, this album, The Songs from The Wizard of Oz (Plus Songs About The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion), contained the songs exactly as they were heard on the Story and Songs album, just in a different order. Rounding out side one was "Happy Glow" from The Scarecrow of Oz record (too bad they didn't include the "Over The Rainbow" cover from it as well).

Side two features the songs from the next Disneyland Oz story and songs album: The Cowardly Lion of Oz. But you'll hear about those later.

Finally, in 1970, Disney added The Wizard of Oz to their line of Read Along book and record sets. While the art style was the same as the large record, the pictures and story adaptation were completely different. The story is read by Hal Smith (Otis from The Andy Griffith Show).

The story is much more abbreviated. No incidents are noted in between the Cowardly Lion joining the party and arriving at the Emerald City, where the Wizard, depicted as a man, only sees Dorothy. Right away the Wicked Witch of the West calls the Winged Monkeys, and Dorothy very quickly deals with her. And it is the Wizard who tells Dorothy how to get home, so his departure in the balloon is not included, nor is Glinda.

At the end of the story, the songs "Over The Rainbow" and "Follow The Yellow Brick Road/We're Off To See The Wizard" are played.

A very basic, simple adaptation. Worthwhile for the art and for Disney's excellent audio production values.

Disneyland Records: The Scarecrow of Oz

Oz movie buffs will know that after Maud Baum's death, Walt Disney was quick to buy up the rights to L. Frank Baum's Oz books. (She wasn't a fan of Walt.) He initially planned a cartoon, then a movie to bring the Mousketeers from TV to film. However, The Rainbow Road to Oz never gelled, so despite an exciting peek on the Disneyland Fourth Anniversary show, Walt decided against doing Oz right away.

Most fans skip forward to when Disney's Return to Oz began production, but in 1965, Jimmy Johnson, head of Disneyland records, decided to do something with the rights. An audio production is cheaper to fund than a film. Voice acting (and the best voice actors could perform multiple roles), a bit of music, some sound effects, and you're set. So, Johnson selected The Scarecrow of Oz to be adapted for record.

To bring the story to life (and add a selling edge), Ray Bolger was brought in to narrate the story and perform the voice of the Scarecrow. The MGM film The Wizard of Oz had been airing annually for a few years, so children and their parents would hopefully know Bolger even if the Oz title didn't sell them. (The back cover of early versions of the record had an image of Bolger in makeup as the Scarecrow.) One can almost imagine this as a side piece to his other Oz readings for Caedmon Audio.

Filling out the cast were Robie Lester as Glinda, Gloria, and Button-Bright; Martha Wentworth as Blinkie (Disney fans may recognize her voice as Mad Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone); Dallas McKennon as Cap'n Bill, the Ork, and King Krewl; and actual children (who aren't identified) as Trot and Pon.

The record opens with an original song called "Happy Glow."

Oh, there's a scarecrow that I know
Who always has a happy glow
He's never sad, never feels bad you see

Whenever summer breezes blow
He dances with a happy glow
He's happier far than either you or me

He has the sky, he has the sun,
He has his friends the birds
With all of these he has such fun
He has no need for any words

So you and I can get a glow
Forgetting all our care and woe
If we will take it easy just like him

Have a happy glow
Life can be a sweet thing if you will
Have a happy glow
Life can be a sweet thing for you still

It's a nice song, but taking another look, it could be about any old scarecrow. However, the Scarecrow comes along and says it is by the Official Songwriter of Oz and he agrees with the sentiment that people should enjoy all the things around them and be happy.

Then the Scarecrow reminds us of his brains and begins to tell a story about a time he got to use them. This version of The Scarecrow of Oz begins several chapters into Baum's original book with the Scarecrow going to visit Glinda, who tells him about Trot and Cap'n Bill.

Instead of the automatically updating Book of Records, Glinda now has a Magic Television Set (like the Magic Picture) and she records what she sees in her Books of Records. To be honest, I don't see why they needed to change that part, as the Book of Records could have been simpler to explain, and since it's audio, the description is all we're getting.

Glinda recounts Trot and Cap'n Bill's journey briefly, ending with their arrival on Pessim's Island. No mention of Pessim or how they got to Jinxland (where Glinda says they are) is made, nor how Button-Bright joined them. There are a few head scratching bits here: when Glinda tells them they are on an island, the Scarecrow says that there are no oceans or lakes in Oz, and hence, no islands. This isn't quite accurate, as there is Lake Quad, Lake Orizon, the Ozure Isles, and the island of the Magic Flower. And it makes the jump from the island to Jinxland all the more curious.

Also, the Scarecrow says that Trot and Cap'n Bill are the first to come to Oz since Dorothy's visit, but then says that Button-Bright has been to Oz before. And we also know that in the books, this adventure happens after Betsy Bobbin has come to Oz.

So, after hearing how Trot and Cap'n Bill have been persecuted by King Krewl and Blinkie, the Scarecrow heads to Jinxland in much the same manner as he does in the book. From here on, the story follows the book pretty faithfully. Blinkie wrecks the Scarecrow, but Trot, Pon, and Gloria put him back together. The Ork arrives with Button-Bright and they make a plan on how to conquer King Krewl. The Scarecrow goes to Krewl's palace to command him to surrender, but he is captured and almost burned when the Ork rescues him, throws Krewl in jail, and captures Blinkie, who the Scarecrow makes shrink until she restores Cap'n Bill and Gloria.

Then everyone goes to Oz proper where Trot and Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright (getting lost again) are welcomed. Over the final moments, a children's chorus sings "Over the Rainbow," but they drown out Ray's final lines. He says "That is the end of my story. I hope all of you will visit me in the Land of Oz..." and that's all we can clearly hear. I'll venture to guess the rest is "someday soon."

The production quality is very good, and the songs are nice, though I don't think "Happy Glow" sounds very Ozzy. I also think Button-Bright's voice is too squeaky and the Ork is too deep. Barring those, a solid production, and using only enough MGM touches to try to make it sell.

The record's case also opens into a picture book containing a brief retelling of the story with many wonderful pictures. Many characters have original designs, but some of the more classic Oz characters (Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Woggle-Bug, Tik-Tok) are based on their classic designs. Overall, it's a pleasing package, though dedicated fans of the original Oz books will likely still prefer Neill at the end of the day.