The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum in 1900. On this page you can find the full text, the links to the adaptations, the full plot summary and the analysis of the adaptations.
SUMMARY (spoilers)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by an american author L. Frank Baum in 1900. The novel tells a story about a little girl Dorothy who lives in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Because of the great cyclone Dorothy and her dog Toto get deposit in their house into the Land Of Oz. The house lands right of the Wicked Witch of the Oz and kills her instantly. The Munchkins, little people who live in the Land Of Oz, thank Dorothy for enslaving them from the Wicked Witch and grant her with the silver shoes that Wicked Witch used to wear. Since Dorothy wants to go back to Kansas to her Aunt and Uncle, The good Witch of the North tells her to take the yellow brick road that leads to the Wonderful Wizard Of Oz who can help her and gives her a kiss that will protect Dorothy from all the bad on her way. On the way to the Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy and Toto meet the Scarecrow who is in need of brains, The Tin Woodman who is seeking his heart and the Cowardly Lion who is looking for some courage. Since they all need Wizard’s help they take the trip to the Emerald City together facing some danger but overcoming all of it together. When the characters finally reach the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard talks to each of them separately and appears in different forms. Unfortunately, he tells them all the same thing - kill the Wicked Witch of the West and I’ll give you whatever you are asking for. Dorothy, Toto, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman have nothing left to do but to try and kill the Wicked Witch. On their way they have to face a lot of scary creatures that the Witch sends on them and after long a tough fights characters get defeated by the Winged Monkeys. The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow get totally destroyed while Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion get enslaved by the witch. Witch cannot do anything to Dorothy because of the Good Witch’s kiss, but Dorothy doesn’t know about it and that is why she does everything the Witch tells her to do. At some point the Witch tries to steal Dorothy’s silver shoes. Dorothy gets mad and spills the water bucket on the Wicked Witch and melts her. All of the Witch's slaves get freed and help Dorothy and the Lion rebuild the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow. After that they all return to the Wizard of Oz with the help of the Winged Monkeys, they find out that Oz is not who he pretends to be. He is not a wizard, but just a magician who worked at the circus not far away from Kansas and got to the Emerald City on the hot air balloon by accident. He calls himself a “humbug”. He explains to the Lion, the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow that they already have what they are asking him for, but still gives them the fake brain, fake heart and the elixir of courage to make the characters to believe in themselves. Then he decides to built the hot air balloon and fly back with Dorothy. Scarecrow becomes the new emperor of the Emerald City. When the hot air balloon is all ready and Dorothy and the Wizard Of Oz are ready to go, the wind starts blowing and the Wizard flies away without Dorothy. With the Golden Cap she calls the Winged Monkeys to ask them to bring her home but they tell her that they cannot cross the desert. Then Dorothy, Toto and her three friends begin their new adventure on the way to the Good Witch Glinda who might help Dorothy to get home.On their way they meet a lot of dangerous creatures again, however because of their teamwork and skills Lion becomes the king of the beasts. With the help of Winged Monkeys they safely get to the Glinda’s kingdom and she tells Dorothy that to get back to Kansas she can use her silver shoes that can take her anywhere she wants. Glinda sends the Tin Woodman to be the king of the Winkies, Lion to the kingdom of the beasts and Scarecrow back to the Emerald City. Dorothy takes Toto and tells her Silver Shoes to take her back to Kansas and that is exactly what happens. She sees her Aunt Em and tells her that she had a great adventure at the Wonderful City of Oz. “The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz” received positive critical review right after it was published in 1900 and was said to be a great book for young children.
THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, 1939
The American 1939 musical-comedy adaptation of The Wizard of Oz is exceptionally known and loved in every part of the world. It was a technological and commercial success when it got released and then re-released. I personally can call this movie adaptation one of my very favorites childhood movies because it is full of magic (which was very challenging to create back in 1939). After reading the book The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz and then rewatching the 1939 masterpiece I discovered that the screenwriters (Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf) and the directors (Victor Fleming, King Vidor) made a lot of changes to the plot and to the visuals of the story, which turn out to be great choices. On Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 105 critics gave the film a positive review, with the consensus that it is “an absolute masterpiece whose groundbreaking visuals and deft storytelling are still every bit as resonant."("The Wizard of Oz (1939 Film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.) For the general public back in the 40s (those who read the book in particular) this movie has been some kind of a shock due to the amount of special effects that had been used, and especially the technicolor. In the book, the introduction of Dorothy, her family and her “trip” to the land of Oz take about two pages, while in the movie it takes around 30 minutes and is considered one of the best openings of all time. Judy Garland is also much older than Baum wanted his heroine to be; however it plays for the best, since she is a brilliant actress who turned Dorothy’s character into something much deeper and more meaningful. The changes that the screenwriters decided to make, like changing the beginning, introducing all of the main characters like real people in Kansas, and excluding some parts of the characters’ journey to the Emerald City (too expensive) improved the quality of the film.
VERDICT - This adaptation is an example of a great one, where directing, brilliantly satisfying acting, adapted screenplay that improves the story, and interesting point of view all meet together to create a masterpiece.
VERDICT - This adaptation is an example of a great one, where directing, brilliantly satisfying acting, adapted screenplay that improves the story, and interesting point of view all meet together to create a masterpiece.
THE ADVENTURES IN THE EMERALD CITY: SILVER SHOES (1999)
One more adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz” that I decided to analyze is called “The Adventures in the Emerald City: Silver Shoes”. It is an animated movie in two parts that was made in Russia in 1999 by Ilya Maksimov and Denis Chernov. The movie is only fifty minutes long and has been a part of the life of every Russian child born in the 1990s. On the Russian website Kinopoisk this adaptation has 7.5 out of 10 stars, which makes it critically acclaimed. Among general public you can find comments like, “The favorite movie of my childhood”, “Very beautiful and well done movie”, and “I watched it over a thousand times”. The adaptation has marvelous visuals and the pictures from this movie remain in viewers’ heads. Animators did a great job in creating the characters and the Land Of Oz. The soundtrack is also memorable.
Since part of my hypothesis is that the changes are necessary to make a publicly successful adaptation, The adventures in the Emerald City: Silver Shoes is, for the most part, profoundly successful. All applied changes made the story more interesting and less tedious for the viewer. For example, in the beginning Wicked Witch is the one who creates the cyclone to save herself from death, yet still dies, which makes the young viewer antagonize witches right away. A lot of violence that was used in the book—like killing the cat or breaking the neck of crows—was changed into something humorous and understandable for a young audience. Some parts were carefully “erased”, like the kiss of a Good Witch and adventure to Glinda’s castle. No global changes were made, however, so the fans of the book would not be offended by some minor sidetracks because the important parts were saved and elaborated on. I would even say that the movie came out to be more humanistic and pleasant than the book, since the personalities of the characters turned to be softer and easier to connect with, while in the book the characters’ behavior is not always explained.
There were a few changes that were unnecessary, like giving Toto a voice or the Winkies (flying monkeys) telling Toto about the water and the Witch. Why the filmmakers made these decision to add that to the plot is not clear.
VERDICT - The animated adaptation is great and very enjoyable to watch because the screenwriters did an amazing job making minor changes throughout the story that improved it.
Since part of my hypothesis is that the changes are necessary to make a publicly successful adaptation, The adventures in the Emerald City: Silver Shoes is, for the most part, profoundly successful. All applied changes made the story more interesting and less tedious for the viewer. For example, in the beginning Wicked Witch is the one who creates the cyclone to save herself from death, yet still dies, which makes the young viewer antagonize witches right away. A lot of violence that was used in the book—like killing the cat or breaking the neck of crows—was changed into something humorous and understandable for a young audience. Some parts were carefully “erased”, like the kiss of a Good Witch and adventure to Glinda’s castle. No global changes were made, however, so the fans of the book would not be offended by some minor sidetracks because the important parts were saved and elaborated on. I would even say that the movie came out to be more humanistic and pleasant than the book, since the personalities of the characters turned to be softer and easier to connect with, while in the book the characters’ behavior is not always explained.
There were a few changes that were unnecessary, like giving Toto a voice or the Winkies (flying monkeys) telling Toto about the water and the Witch. Why the filmmakers made these decision to add that to the plot is not clear.
VERDICT - The animated adaptation is great and very enjoyable to watch because the screenwriters did an amazing job making minor changes throughout the story that improved it.
Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde (1971)
The one-hundred-minutes long Turkish adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz directed by Tunç Başaran is one of the closest adaptations to the original novel. In fact, it is very close to the 1939 Wizard Of Oz. The influence of the American version is tremendous, so some similarities were expected. In the case of the Turkish adaptation, it looks a bit like plagiarism. Dorothy is the same age as Judy Garland, wears the same costume and hairstyle, Toto is the same breed, all of the characters look indistinguishable from their American counterparts! However, the plot of the Turkish adaptation is one hundred percent true to the original plot. The screenwriters decided to save everything L. Frank Baum wrote. No visionary creativity was applied to this adaptation; filmmakers simply combined the already created movie and the novel. The Turkish Wizard Of Oz is accessible and understandable for everyone; however, the fact that it is plagiarized and has not had any changes does not make it a good adaptation. As written - “ The movie reminds me of a really scary déjà vu dream—everything looks the same as the original in Turkish Wizard of Oz, but sparkly, unexpectedly colorful, not Technicolor but overheated budget film, and filled with strange, sometimes scary pantomime.” ("Ayşecik Ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde (Turkish Wizard of Oz) (Turkey: 1971)." Bad MoviesThe Global Edition. N.p., 30 July 2009. Web. 08 May 2016)
VERDICT - The Turkish adaptation is an example of an untalented work because no change at all was made to the plot, the actors are unsatisfying, and the adaptation overall contains plagiarism.
VERDICT - The Turkish adaptation is an example of an untalented work because no change at all was made to the plot, the actors are unsatisfying, and the adaptation overall contains plagiarism.