Dorothy Of Oz official trailer

The first full-length trailer for the upcoming Dorothy Of Oz animated movie has been postd.

Oz Mythbusters: Sister Act

Alot of people are under the impression that both the Wicked Witches were actually sisters, but the fact of it was in the original Oz books, L. Frank Baum didn't have them being related at all. Both the East and West witches were in cohoots together, but they weren't sisters.

The Wizard Of Oz movie from 1939 was the first to tie in both of the characters as being sisters, possibly to give the Wicked Witch of the West a little more motivation and so that she'd show up in the story earlier than when Dorothy goes to her castle. From this, alot of other adaptaions of Oz included this as being official canon. Journey Back To Oz mentiones that the witches were sisters, as well as Mombi being their sister. The Oz comic book series from Caliber Press had the witches as sisters, who were later combined into a single entity called The Wickedest Witch. Oz: The Manga from Antarctic Press also featured them as sisters, as well as the OZF5: Gale Force one-shot.

But one of the most "popular" adaptations of this are from the Wicked book series by Gregory Macguire, and the Wicked musical where the West Witch was Elphaba, a child who was born unnaturally green, and her sister Nessarose. Nessa, was born with no arms in the original books, but in the musical was instead born with legs that wouldn't move, at least not without the help of some special slippers. Elphaba and Nessa had an on-and-off relationship, although they went on to lead very seperate lives throughout the course of the story, in both the books and musical.

Oz Video Of The Month: Return To Oz documentary

This was the first part of a full-length documentary of Return To Oz that came out about 5 years ago.

Oz in Fable Quest

Clockstop Entertainment recently released the first volume of their hardcover graphic novel series, Fairy Quest, by Humberto Ramos and Paul Jenkins. This is apparently connected to a previous comics anthology titled Fablewood where fairytale characters live in a single world controlled by the tyrannical Mr. Grimm. He causes the people to relive their stories the same way everyday, and if they don't he uses the Mind Eraser to redo their memories. Red Riding Hood is breaking the standard by actually befriending her the Big Bad Wolf. They run off while being chased by Grimm's Think Police, and seek help from Peter Pan in Neverland. After getting some information from the captured Capt. Hook, Red and Wolf seek a map maker to find their way to the mythical land of "Realworld". The first volume ends with them about to enter the area known as the Dark Forest.

Future editions are planning on having more of the characters from Oz in it, including a more heartful version of the Wicked Witch, plus Dorothy and her regular running crew. Volume #1 did have a character in the background who might have been Jack Pumpkinhead, but nothing confirms that or any other Oz locals.

Comic Review: The Royal Historian Of Oz

Slave Labor Graphics finished up its run of The Royal Hostorian Of Oz by Tommy Kovac, although not all 5 issues were done in print as seperate releases. Because of low sales, only the first 4 were done in regular comic format, but all 5 were available online, as well as the recent trade paperback which collects the whole series. Since his somewhat successful turn on Disney's Wonderand comic, Kovac thought he'd tackle the other fairyland of Oz. With Andy Hirsch doing the art for it, this turned out to be a great look at what it would be like for an Oz fan to discover that their favorite literary world actually existed.

Set sometime in the mid-21st Century, Jasper Fizzle is a struggling independent author who keeps trying to have one of his books about Oz published. The Official Oz Society keeps turning him down though, and are threatening to sue him because of their eternal copyright on all Oz printed material. Jasper's teenage son Frank keeps defending him, even though he just about gives up on him when Jasper brings home what he believes is the genuine Silver Slippers that Dorothy first used return to Kansas. After nicking them from an estate sale, Jasper discovers that they do in fact take him to the land of Oz. He returns back home after taking several magical items from there, and opens up his own Oz museum. Frank is skeptical at first, but comes to realize that all this is real, including the flying monkey Zik that he befriends. After Ozma finds out about some of the missing magical items, she sends Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, and Scraps to Earth to find them. They kidnap Frank, and take him back to Oz to exchange for the stolen items, but Scraps breaks away from the group, and gets lost in the big city. While in Oz, Tin Man becomes his caretaker, and Frank begins to develop a friendship with him. However, one of the items Jasper took from Oz was the liquified remains of the Wicked Witch of the West, which escapes his collection and takes over Scraps body. With the help of the Wizard, Jasper is reunited with Frank, and they manage to squeeze the Witch's spirit out of Scraps. Franks is then given free sanction to go to Oz anytime, while Ozma clears up things with the Oz Society's "eternal copyright".

Tommy Kovac managed to pull together a fine comic that non-Oz fans could appreciate. Andy Hirsch's artwork is very endearing, and you should totally check out his Varmints webcomic. His take on some of the Oz characters is very fresh, especially the Patchwork Girl with her stringy arms and legs. Do yourself a favor and pick up the full graphic novel as opposed to the single issues, mostly because it features some interviews, additional artwork, plus an introduction by Eric Shanower.

Woe Is Oz Book Project

The creators of Woe Is Oz are starting a project to collect all 6 issues of their comic book series in a single printed graphic novel. So far, 3 issues have been in print, while 4 are available for download. They have a fundraiser going on Kickstarter to complete the project.

Video Of The Month: The Wiz review

The Nostalgia Critic recently did a pretty upfront but funny review of The Wiz movie adaptation.

Oz, The Great And Powerful in 2013!

Disney is planning on releasing their live-action Wizard Of Oz prequal Oz, The Great And Powerful on Mar. 8, 2013.

On the Road again!

Marvel Comics just recently did the last issue of the Dorothy And The Wizard Of Oz mini-series, and are now planning on tackling the fifth Oz book, The Road To Oz. The first of the 8-issue series is set for release on Sep. 5, 2012.

Oz Video Of The Month: The Whimsical World Of Oz

A few years ago, brasinhussy did an informative 7-part series about the history of Oz in books and more titled The Whimsical World Of Oz. This is Part 1 of it.

Oz Mythbusters: Horses in Oz

Despite alot of non-Baum Oz books and other productions stating that there horses are a common animal in the land of Oz, there technically aren't any native examples of the genus Equus there. The only one in the original books is the Sawhorse, which was a regular wooden sawhorse that was born from the Powder of Life by Ozma(then "Tip"). Like most of the other ianimate objects brought to life in Oz like the Patchwork Girl and Jack Pumpkinhead, Sawhorse doesn't need to eat or sleep. He's also the official steed for Ozma's royal carriage. Whether there were any other carriages in Oz prior to that is never explained, and if so, what creatures would be used for them.

Two other horse visitors have actually gone to Oz though. In the fourth book, Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz, Dorothy's cousin Zeb accompanied her and the Wizard back to Oz, along with Zeb's horse Jim. Once in Oz, Jim found he could talk like the other animals, and lost a race to the Sawhorse. Zeb and Jim eventually went back to their farm in California. The other visitor is Hank the mule who came with his friend Betsy Bobbin to Oz in the eight book, Tik-Tok Of Oz. Unlike Jim though, Hank stayed in Oz as a permanent resident with Betsy. As a mule, Hank is technically half-horse/half-donkey, but meaning there aren't any other full-blooded horses in Oz.

Numerous interpretations of the Oz series have placed horses as regular animals in the fairyland. The most famous one is the "horse of a different color" from the 1939 WOZ movie. Other examples include the Lost In Oz TV pilot which had living suits of armor on horseback. Oz-related books like The Wicked Years series had horses as part of everday life, whether they were animals or "Animals"(talking animals). Still, it's strange that despite there being lions, tigers, and bears in this marvelous land, that horse aren't a regular part of the wild kingdom of Oz.

Oz Video Of The Month: Ozma Of Oz-A Tale In Time

The Raleigh Little Theatre in North Carolina put on a stage show version of Ozma Of Oz in 2008 titled Ozma Of Oz-A Tale In Time. In this adaptation, Dorothy is now a teenager, and her wheelchair-bound Uncle Henry has a more active part in the story. Plus, Billina the hen is now Bill the rooster, and apparently several feet taller than normal. This video shows some scenes from the play, and behind the scenes features.