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Oz: The American Fairyland

Oz: The American Fairyland

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Jun 7, 1997

Runtime

1h 53m

Genres

Documentary

Original Title

Oz: The American Fairyland

Production Companies

Sirocco Productions

Director

Leonard A. Swan Jr.

Description

The first part tells of the life and works of L. Frank Baum, along with his career as a writer and filmmaker, centering on the creation of Oz. This portion continues with the effect of Oz after his death, with novelties, dolls, radio, stage, and screen adaptions, and advertising gimmicks based on his work, culminating with MGM's Wizard of Oz (1939). While discussing some of the major alterations between the book and the film, such as MGM making Baum's real-life adventure a dream. The second half is about interpretation of Oz by other artists, including Helen Kish, Barry Moser, Barry Mahon, Evelyn Copelman, Robert Tonner, Robin Woods, Michael Hague, Lizbeth Zwerger, Pavel Arsyenov, and Charles Santore. The documentary concludes with an analysis of Baum's work and its profound effect on American culture.