Comment from: CherieHap [Visitor]

I read your review on the 1990 Dic Wizard of Oz cartoon series and while really love and adore this series (you may be interested to know the writers of it also wrote for the Real Ghostbusters) I can easily understand your criticisms of it. I appreciate you pointing out a few things and I will take them into consideration when I write my fan fiction story to give it a proper ending.

I noticed you haven’t read the books the movie was based on and so I’d like to give you a bit of information you may find interesting. In the book by L. Frank Baum Dorothy’s adventures did not turn to be a dream at all and she went back to Oz again and again having more adventures and making more friends and eventually she moved into the Emerald City along with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. The Wizard also returned to Oz to live there in the fourth book and after studying magic with Glinda he became a real wizard, and he was always a good man and never wanted to hurt anybody.

Also In the original series the Wizard actually made brains out of bran, needles and pins and put them into the Scarecrow’s head and said he had given him “bran-new brains", and he makes a heart out of silk and stuffed with sawdust and put it into the Tin Man’s chest, and he gave the Lion a bottle of green liquid which he said would give him courage once he drank it. Dorothy’s three companions do not have the gifts the Wizard gives them stolen by anyone, however in the proceeding books beginning with The Marvelous Land of Oz the Lion returns to his old cowardly self though acting brave when the time is right, this is of course because the Wizard was a con man as you said and could not really do magic. As for the Scarecrow and Tin Man however they are ever afterward under the delusion that he was a great wizard and really did give them what they had wanted and are both very arrogant and conceited about it too even though they are no different than before they ever met the wizard.

This is what the Scarecrow says to Jack Pumpkinhead, who is a reflection of what the Scarecrow used to be, when they first meet in the second book “Let that be a warning to you never to think for unless one can think wisely it is better to remain a dummy which you most certainly are! It seems to me your creator wasted a few good pies to create an indifferent man!” and here is what the Tin Man says to Mr. Wogglebug, who is my absolute favorite character in the books, after he tells a harmless joke “We are not very particular and we are exceedingly kindhearted but if your superior culture gets leaky again-” he did not complete the sentence but he twirled his gleaming axe so carelessly that the Wogglebug looked frightened and shrank away to a safe distance. Yes, you read correctly, and the Tin Man in the books just loves to threaten people with his axe and he sometimes uses it on them too. I am not kidding! So let me ask you a question would you rather have these two portrayed like in the books or how they were in the cartoon series? I think I may know the answer, after all the Tin Man in the books is better suited for an enemy on the Batman cartoon show of the 90’s instead of a nice little kids cartoon. I think the episode called “Fearless” further illustrates this when the Witch put a spell on the Lion that took away all his fear and he acted very arrogant and stupid under it until he broke the spell by acting brave without it.

The story I am going to write and post on Fanfiction.net will explain how everything got started and tie up loose ends. For instance, the Witch was resurrected when the winged monkeys put her clothes on a statue of her and chanted a spell, and the Ruby Slippers appeared in Dorothy’s closet in Kansas when they were sent to her by Glinda to come back to Oz in its time of peril, and the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man think they have lost their brain, heart, and courage because the Witch had put a kind of hypnotizing spell on them to make them think they were nothing without the objects she had stolen so that she could tempt them into betraying Dorothy to get them back, and this fails of course, and it is up to them to break the spell by learning they possessed them inside all along and had to learn how to really use them and make them work right, and they did on their adventures with Dorothy. The Wizard has stayed in his balloon to avoid the Witch and her black magic and now his balloon gets popped and he walks on foot for most of the story. The four main friends become separated from each other at one point and then find each other, everyone does the things they should do and they eventually make it to the Emerald City and with some help from a new friend defeat the Witch and save Oz and then go their separate ways.

The show was canceled because it had to compete with Muppet Babies on CBS and I suppose it lost to a worthy competitor but I think it should have lasted another two years at least. But thank goodness for Fanfiction.net and I don’t know yet when the story will be up but if you want to read it here is a link to my profile there: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/456534/

Sep. 23, 2007 @ 21:24
Comment from: Paul Rudoff [Member]

Thank you for taking the time to comment with such a thorough message about my review. I’m sorry for taking almost two months to get back to you.

Yes, it is true that I have not read any of L. Frank Baum’s books, and I think that I made that clear in my review, as I wanted readers to know exactly where I was coming from, and what I know and don’t know about the Oz universe. In regards to the 1990 tv series, I think that I benefit from not having exposure to the books because the series was clearly meant to relate to the 1939 film (as evident in the visual style, songs, etc.), and was obviously created to capitalize on the 50th Anniversary of the film the year before. Most people have seen the film, but have not read the books, so my knowledge of the Oz universe would be perfectly in line with the bulk of the audience that would have seen the tv series.

I thank you for explaining some of the elements of the books to me, and for your explanations on the backstory of the 1990 series which you will include in your fan fiction. The 1990 tv series really could have benefited from a much better backstory. Although it still wouldn’t have gelled perfectly with the 1939 movie, which it was trying to be a sequel of sorts to, it would have been much better than what was given in the tv series.

Good luck with your fan fiction.

– Paul

Nov. 12, 2007 @ 21:25

Leave a comment


Click here to log in if you already have an account on this site.
Your email address will not be revealed on this site.
(Set cookies so I don't need to fill out my details next time)
(Allow users to contact me through a message form -- Your email will not be revealed!)

 
Who you gonna call?

Please answer the question above.
We ask for this in order to slow down spammers.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Please log in to avoid this antispam check.
« Lilo & Stitch's Island of Adventures DVD Game ReviewThe Hitchhiker Vol. 1-4 VHS Review »