The Wizard of Oz & Other Narcissists
343058
I read the whole book highlighting through tears. It's tough seeing your messed up life on the pages of a book, but oh so liberating when the light comes on and you learn the shadow of the tiger that's been stalking you was cast by a paper cut out. Yes, I recommend this book for anyone looking to shed light on the demons. It will empower you to choose a new reality. With the knowledge you will have the power to exercise the will to be the person God needs you to be, not who the narcissist needs you to be. Read, and be free!
1448437
Just like most people, I've seen the Wizard of Oz movie and loved it dearly ever since. I was so thrilled to read the book behind the film, and I wasn't let down! This novel gives a deeper look into the land we all fell in love with as kids. So much happened that the movie didn't include! It's an easy read (considering it was a children's series back in the day) and every page leaves you yearning for more. If you enjoy this, I would also recommend the other books in the Oz series. Have fun!
3021120
This dvd is part of the animated series. It is one I enjoyed years ago and all but forgot! My daughter and I were in the movie rental store and saw one on video and rented it for her- she loved it!! Since then I have been on the hunt to find them for her and purchase them. She is a Wizard of Oz fanatic.
 This episodes on this dvd are funny at times, a bit perilous others - the witch is as evil as ever!!
 For Oz fans, and children alike, it is very entertaining.
4094635
Recommend it to all who are interested in the "otherworldly adventures". Note: Reading the "Prequal" Infernal Devices" is a MUST!!
4851327
Gave this as a gift to my 6 year old step daughter, and she loves it. She has seen the Wizard of Oz so many times and loves that this is a before story of Dorothy. We've watched it about 6 times since she got it on Christmas morning!!
4154013
"Oz The Great and Powerful" is not a bad movie or wrongfully wrote. I never read the books, therefore I'm going with the "Wizard Of Oz" movie. However I do research, and what I found stated that "L. Frank Baum himself wrote from an in-universe standpoint, many fans of the series treat the books as if they were true, known among the fans as the "Oz as History" standpoint. Any confusion or contradiction between the different versions of their histories is said to be the fault of the historian making an honest mistake, of the editors for removing parts which they did not consider suitable for the child audience, of the characters involved who reported the incidents in question back to the historian, or explained by the concept that many alternate versions of Oz exist simultaneously."

This prequel, "Oz The Great and Powerful" fits perfectly as can be expected. By this I mean, everyone is dead and gone that had anything to do with the "Wizard Of Oz movie." Besides that, I believe no one can do the old films respect, as they rely on special effects more than story.

The production starts out in black and white as the original film and switches to color. A magician (James Franco) is swept away in the manner one expects, to the enchanted land of Oz and is forced into a power struggle between three witches (some good some bad). Its theme shows how deceit and the empty promise of love can mar and undo people. This can certainly give something for teens to talk about, or for parents with their teenage children.

As for the actors? They did a fine job. I found nothing wrong with casting or the acting.

I had a very critical and old friend with me who believed, "...the movie was fantastically produced and directed. The sound score and special effects captured your imagination without breaking the splendor of the previous film."

The only two items either of us wondered about was:

1) "The Wizard Of Oz" the Wizard refuses to grant their wishes (as he cannot/no real power) but after Toto accidentally exposes him as a normal old man with no real magical powers, he tries to make up for this. He gives the Scarecrow a diploma, Lion a medal and Tin Man a heart-shaped clock. He decides to fly Dorothy home in his hot air balloon, but it accidentally takes off without her. Glinda arrives and tells Dorothy that she has always had the power to go back to Kansas; the ruby slippers will take her back. She previously did not tell Dorothy this because Dorothy had to realize for herself that "There's no place like home".  After saying her goodbyes, Dorothy clicks her heels three times and awakens back home in her bed, surrounded by family, the three farmhands and Professor Marvel. She claims the farmhands and Professor Marvel were in Oz, though it is implied Dorothy's visit to Oz was simply a dream.

A dream?

Yet in Oz The Great and Powerful" it is shown not to be a dream. Nothing either of us noted even implies this.
Why?
For it is obviously a parallel reality of some sort. Hence why some people are similar on Oz to those on Earth.
A stretch?
No. Magic is just a way people explain away things they do not comprehend as science.
If, on the other hand, you wish to believe Oz is an enchanted land, then did Oz die? Is this an after life or brief dream before death? I prefer a parallel world. If you want to see the lands, look-up this: Oz and surrounding countries.

2) Why would the Wizard Of Oz want to leave? (Feeling guilty or not for Dorthy). He and Glinda (Michelle Williams) were becoming serious, and by Dorthies time they should have had children. Since many years obviously passed between this prequel and the old well known "Wizard Of Oz"  we wished they would have covered this issue or otherwise never established a romantic relationship between Oz and Glinda.

In any event, the movie is well worth buying if you are a Oz fan. I have no issues with the paying for my ticket. And I will be purchasing the DVD when it comes out. So that should say something too.
4147560
As a resident of the Midwest I feel drawn to all things OZ. If you have always wondered how the Wizard got started...this is the movie fore YOU!
3299515
This book was beautifully written and very informative.  The Wizard of Oz is so much a part of everyones Idea of a perfect classic, that I wanted to know how it was made. This book answered all of my questions and more.
The pictures were just beautiful throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book and will treasure it as a valuable part of my film library.
4655506
The 2nd volume of the Oz Chronicles covers books 8-14 written by L. Frank Baum from 1914 up until & beyond his death in 1920. Across 8 separate volumes, Baum enhances the magic & wonder of the land he created & takes us on journeys that enhance the land itself & are as equally as interesting to read as the previous ones. Granted there are some rather implausible stories in this series, but there are also some stories that make Oz itself a wonderful place to visit. Very easily an enjoyable set of books to read from an author who took us over the rainbow to a land where anything was truly possible.
3552884
Amazing book!! Im not a fan of the wizard of oz movie but I absolutely love this book and so does my 6 year old! Robert Sabudas books are for children and adults alike, as they are truly works of art.
4933167
I have reviewed L. Frank Baum's _The Wizard of Oz_ (1900) on another site. This review, of _The Annotated Wizard of Oz_, centenial edition (2000), is a review of the children's classic with all sorts of bells and whistles attached. You get the original text by Baum, the original ilustrations by W.W. Denslow, a short preface by Martin Gardner, a long (over 100 pages!) critical introduction by editor Michael Patrick Hearn, detailed notes that are at least as long as the text itself (also by Hearn), an appendix of unauthorized Ozzie material by W.W. Denslow, and a detailed bibliography.

Want to know what Baum's views were on fairy tales? What his views were about progressive education? Whether the silver slippers and the yellow brick road _really_ had anything to do with William Jennings Bryan? What the poppy field had to do wth _Pilgrim's Progress_? What story inspired the creation of the Queen of the Field Mice? Why Baum did not have horses in the Emerald City and what it had to do with the Chicago World's Fair of 1893? Who Barry Moser used as the model for the Wicked Witch of the West in his Oz illustrations? Who was Jellia Jamb and in what Oz book is she featured as the heroine? Hearn answers all of these questions and many more.

Annotated books aren't for everyone. You don't get _The Annotated Alice_ if you haven't read the Alice books. You don't get _The Annotated Mother Goose_ if you haven't memorized a lot of nursery rhymes. You don't get _The Annotated Christmas Carol_ unless you have read all the staves of the original.

_The Annotated Wizard of Oz_ is not for the Sarah Trimmers and Peter Parleys who want it banned from libraries. Nor is it for those who have only seen the 1939 movie. It is for those who have read it, internalized it, taken it into their hearts. Ironically, this critical work is for those who love _The Wizard_ beyond all criticism.
233939
It was very entertaining to look behind the scenes of the characters in the original Wizard of Oz.  The wicked witch of the East and West and their life stories and why they are considered "wicked" and one is, and one isn't.  Oz isn't such an innocent old man either.  I truly enjoyed the story but was a little disappointed in the ending of the wicked witch of the west and in the whole ending in general. It is as if the author ran out of steam,  All in all though, I enjoyed the looke behind the scene of Oz.
'
2887601
I'd love to take a road trip with these guys! The Scarecrow with an attitude reminds me of one of my friends who has a funny, sarcastic comment to make about every situation. He always hits on the truth, too.

Then there's the hero, Donny, the closeted jock farmboy. Totally relatable character. Is there anyone who doesn't know a gay guy who *hasn't* been in love with his straight best friend at some point? Everyone, gay or straight, has been in love with someone they can't have for one reason or another. Using the Wizard of Oz as a backdrop to explore this is a unique and inspired choice.
4506230
A caveat about this one: don't just recall the Technicolor confection of THE WIZARD OF OZ and the simple childlike innocence of the books. These are stories written for adults and several of them touch on adult themes. In general these are not short stories for children.

Having disposed with the warning, I can't say I am an Oz fanatic. I've read the classic novel and at least one of the sequels, watched the MGM film and Disney's darker sequel, seen an Oz cartoon or two, peeked into Oz via Heinlein, but never have been tempted to dip into the rest of the novels or  the Macguire books. But I quite enjoyed this collection, which ranged from stories in the Oz tradition ("The Great Zeppelin Heist of Oz" and, what was my favorite story, "The Cobbler of Oz" about a gentle Winged Monkey child and the cobbler who hopes to make her dreams come true) to a hardboiled version as portrayed in "Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust." There is also Oz as a video game simulation, or as a tilted world as seen by psychiatric inmates, or as a setup for a reality series; as a training ground for early-20th century suffragettes and even a story of a Chinese Dorothy whose adventures parallel an actual historical event, and another in which the inspiration for Baum's first novel come from the adventures of his eldest son and his slightly eccentric classmate. Not all the tales revolve around Dorothy, either, as evidenced by a bitter story about the lives and fate of "little people" who keep the Emerald City so gleamingly clean.

If you are open-minded enough to approach Oz in tales that are skewed differently from Baum's imaginings, you will find much to enjoy in this collection.
2660968
The above phrase was Reilly & Lee's advertising slogan for this book when it was published in the 1950's, and it's still true today.  This is one of the best books ever written about Oz, and represents a herculean effort on Jack Snow's part.  It contains listings describing nearly every character who appeared in the first 39 Oz books (from "Wizard" through "Hidden Valley") and stating on which page of which book each character first appeared.  It also contains brief biographical sketches of all the authors and illustrators of the first 39 Oz books and short blurbs describing the plots of those books.  It is illustrated with pictures taken from all of the books (except, if I remember correctly, "Wizard," since Reilly & Lee were not publishing that book at the time and did not have the rights to the Denslow illustrations).  This book is simply a joy to browse through, especially since if one has not read all the books it covers it offers tantalizing hints about them...
4442056
This is an excellent movie for the young and old. This is a must have for any Wizard of Oz fan.
4475064
Always been fan of L. Frank Baum cause watching The wizard of oz movie, taken away by the enchantment by magic an message of story. But reading this book I felt taken through journey through yellow brick road an experience magic of characters gone through. Stories our amazing long an looking at book and movie.. I love book better!! As fan of books I was just satisfied with story plots.