The wonder of the Wizard!
As we mark 120 years since The Wizard of Oz was first published, we look back down the yellow brick road to see how it became one of the best-loved stories of all time
In these strange times, there’s something so comforting about going back to the old stories we know like the back of our hand. For me, it was settling down to watch The Wizard of Oz that brought me muchneeded joy on one day in the midst of lockdown.
From the heartache of missing home to the delight of helping tin man, scarecrow and lion friends overcome their challenges, it’s a story that simply seems to be for all time.
And what makes that even more remarkable is that the original story on which the iconic film was based is this year celebrating its 120th birthday. Yes, Dorothy and Toto’s journey to The Emerald City was first introduced to the world back when Queen Victoria was still on the throne and our ancestors were just taking the first baby steps into the most transformative century we’d ever see.
Its author L Frank Baum had always been a bit of a dreamer. Brought up on a farm in upstate New York, his two biggest childhood passions were reading, and chickens. At the age of 12 he was sent to Peekskill Military Academy and while he hated the harsh discipline, it may have been here that he first saw a glimpse of his future.
Many of the streets in Peekskill at the time were paved with yellow bricks from Amsterdam – a real-life yellow brick road! Nevertheless, Frank’s parents eventually allowed him to leave Peekskill at the age of 14 when it started to affect his delicate health. Having never graduated school, Frank fell into a series of failed enterprises, from establishing a store that flopped to starting a newspaper which folded. Eventually his mother-in-law said: “Frank, you’re always telling wonderful stories to children, why don’t you write them down?” And he did.
The Emerald City, as he originally called the first book, was a bedtime story for his four sons and was intentionally written as an alternative to traditional fairytales which Frank had always insisted were too frightening for children. Instead his stories were ‘wonder tales’ and when he finished the first book on ragged bits of paper, he framed the pencil he’d used, knowing he’d produced something great with it.
Frank would never know the stratospheric success his story would enjoy after his death
Having teamed up with illustrator William Wallace Denslow to bring his story to life, the publishers asked him to rename the book, believing it was bad luck to have the name of a jewel in the title. Frank plumped for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, taking the name Oz from the drawer of a filing cabinet that was marked O-Z. The book was an immediate hit, selling out every copy of its initial print run. Buoyed by its popularity, Frank went on to write 13 more books about the adventures of Dorothy in Oz, although it wasn’t all plain sailing.
In 1902 The Wizard of Oz was adapted into a musical. Frank was asked to write the initial script, but it was rejected in
favour of a more grown-up, commercial version. Nevertheless, this event saw Frank fall in love with musical theatre and soon he was financing every theatrical venture going, his head well and truly lost in the world of make-believe.
Sadly by 1911 Frank was forced to file for bankruptcy, having spent well beyond his means. This meant giving up the royalty rights to all his earlier works, including The Wizard of Oz. At the time, he was also tired of churning out Oz stories but had no option but to keep going back to the Emerald City to pay the bills. In 1919, Frank suffered a stroke that would prove fatal and his final Oz story, Glinda of Oz, was published posthumously.
Sadly, Frank would never know the stratospheric success his story would enjoy after his death when in 1939, MGM released a movie adaptation. Firmly rooted in Frank’s original story there were some key differences. For a start the Wicked Witch of the West was a fairly minor, rather snivelling character in the book, whereas she was much more evil, and played a much bigger part in the film. Where Dorothy’s now iconic slippers were silver in Frank’s mind, on screen they became ruby red to better show off MGM’s fancy new technicolour technology.
And in the book, Dorothy really does travel to Oz – a magical place said to be surrounded by an enormous desert, whereas in the film it is, of course, all a dream.
Nevertheless, the film went on to become one of the best-loved of all time, adored by every new generation who encounter it. Frank’s story was also adapted into the musical The Wiz, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, and the hit stage show Wicked which tells the Oz story from the Wicked Witch’s perspective. 120 years later and still transporting so many of us over the rainbow, we can’t help but think Frank would be proud of what his sweet story of heart, mind and courage has achieved.