The Wizard of Oz (TV series)

The Wizard of Oz
Genre	Action, Adventure,Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Written by	Elana Lesser Cliff Ruby Doug Molitor
Voices of	Charlie Adler Pat Fraley Liz Georges David Lodge Tress MacNeille Alan Oppenheimer Hal Rayle B.J. Ward Frank Welker
Theme music composer	Tom Worrall
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Heyward
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	DiC Enterprises
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 8, 1990 – December 1, 1990

The Wizard of Oz is an animated television series produced by DiC in 1990 to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of the 1939 classic film. The series featured thirteen episodes and premiered on ABC, starting on September 8, 1990.

Series premise

Dorothy has decided to return to Oz, with Toto, using the ruby slippers. Upon arriving, she learns The Wicked Witch has been resurrected, and taken over The Emerald City. The Wizard is in his hot air balloon, which is under a spell. Dorothy, Toto, The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion set out to rescue the Wizard and defeat The Witch once and for all.

The Ruby Slippers

To combat the idea the slippers would provide Dorothy with ultimate power against the Witch, they didn't always work correctly, apparently because Dorothy wasn't entirely sure how to use them. They often didn't do exactly as Dorothy asked, acting unpredictably. In the second episode, Dorothy clicks her heels four times to correct The Witch's damage to Emerald City, as to imply a fourth click has more power than three. Glinda often told Dorothy to only use the slippers as a last resort.

The Wicked Witch does manage to get the slippers once in the series. However, her lead Winged Monkey manages to steal them from her, and The Witch is unable to use their power to their full advantage. The Cowardly Lion also gets to wear them briefly.

Similarities to the 1939 film

The series incorporated visual elements from the 1939 classic film, including the Scarecrow's diploma and Dorothy's ruby slippers. DiC was somewhat limited in how much they could emulate the film, due to the fact that they did not own the rights to it (they could only use the original books by L. Frank Baum, which had fallen out of copyright); the film's rights were held by competitor Warner Bros., which had acquired them from MGM in 1986. At the same time, the character of Dorothy was designed with an appearance similar to that of the Ariel character from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and was not intended to resemble Judy Garland. In addition, the series incorporated music from the 1939 classic film, including a slightly altered version of "We're Off to See the Wizard". Toto, as in the film, also seems to be able to "smell" the Wicked Witch or her spellwork, even when she's in disguise.

Differences to the 1939 film

While the series is mostly based off of the 1939 film, there are some issues with the canon of the film. In the 1939 film, it is largely implied that the land of Oz was a head-trauma-induced delirium, instead of a real place, while in the series Oz was a real place. The program was also never officially considered the film's sequel. The only official sequel to the 1939 film is the 1974 animated film, Journey Back to Oz, where Dorothy once again has a head injury before finding herself back in Oz.

Episodes

• "Rescue of the Emerald City Part I", written by Cliff Ruby & Elana Lesser (September 8, 1990)
• "Rescue of the Emerald City Part II", written by Cliff Ruby & Elana Lesser (September 15, 1990)
• "Fearless", written by Doug Molitor (September 22, 1990)
• "Crystal Clear", written by Pat Allee & Ben Hurst (September 29, 1990)
• "We're Not in Kansas Anymore", written by Lisa Maliani & Michael Maroney (October 6, 1990)
• "The Lion that Squeaked", written by Bob Carrau (October 13, 1990)
• "Dream a Little Dream", written by Michael Maurer (October 20, 1990)
• "A Star is Gone", written by Michael O'Mahony (October 27, 1990)
• "Time Town", written by Richard Merwin (November 3, 1990)
• "The Marvelous Milkmaid of Mechanica", by Jules Dennis, from a story by Karen Willson & Chris Weber (November 10, 1990)
• "Upside-Down Town", written by Gordon Bressack (November 17, 1990)
• "The Day the Music Died", written by Laurie Sutton (November 24, 1990)
• "Hot Air", written by Doug Molitor (December 1, 1990)

Voice cast

• Charlie Adler as the Cowardly Lion
• Pat Fraley as Truckle the Winged Monkey
• Liz Georges as Dorothy
• David Lodge as the Scarecrow
• Tress MacNeille as the The Wicked Witch of the West
• Alan Oppenheimer as the The Wizard of Oz
• Hal Rayle as the Tin Man
• B.J. Ward as Glinda
• Frank Welker as Toto

Crew

• Susan Blu - Voice Director
• Ginny McSwain - Casting Director

Home video releases

VHS releases

The Wizard Of Oz was first released on VHS in 1991 by Turner Home Entertainment, shortly after the series ended. 11 episodes of the series were released on video between 1991 and 1995.

VHS releases:

• The Rescue of Oz ("The Rescue of the Emerald City Part I" & "The Rescue of the Emerald City Part II")
• Fearless ("Fearless")
• Crystal Clear ("Crystal Clear")
• Ruby Slipper Slip Up ("The Lion that Squeaked" & "We're not in Kansas Anymore")
• Danger in a Strange Land in 1991 ("Time Town" & "The Day the Music Died")
• We're Off to Save the Wizard in 1991 ("Upside Downtown" & "A Star is Gone")
• The Marvelous Milkmaid of Mechanica
• The Rescue of the Emerald City Part 1
• The Rescue of the Emerald City Part 2

DVD releases

DVD releases:

• The Rescue of the Emerald City in 2002 ("The Rescue of the Emerald City Part I", "The Rescue of the Emerald City Part II", and "The Day the Music Died")
• The Continuing Story in 2003 ("Time Town", "We're not in Kansas Anymore", "Crystal Clear", and "Fearless")
• We're Off to Save the Wizard in 2005 ("Hot Air", "A Star is Gone", "Upside Downtown", and "Dream a Little Dream")

See also

• The Wizard of Oz (adaptations) — other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

External links

• The Wizard of Oz (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Wizard of Oz at TV.com