My YouTube Videos

Yeah, I haven't posted in months, but I'm back. I'm starting to put videos on my YouTube channel.

Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JEQdYydLBI&feature=youtu.be

I'll have more videos soon.

Wizard of Oz Coloring Book Review

Okay, so I've pretty much told the main story of how I was introduced to Oz. But there are still quite a few facts about how I got into Oz that would have been too long to fit in my (already very long) article. There are quite a few things that happened before I was to read the full book, and the first of these was finding a coloring book.

It happened a few weeks after Mom had gotten the unabridged version of the book out of the shed. I was excited at first, but after I found out that the book didn't have any pictures, I put it down and didn't really want to read it. Even though I could read back then, I read really slowly, because I had to sound out the words. So reading a book that long would be quite difficult. I had just wanted to look at pictures, but the book didn't have any, so I was disappointed.

It happened a few weeks after this that we went to a yard sale. The people at the yard sale were selling coloring books. Among these coloring books was a "Wizard of Oz" color-by-number book. It was VERY old. Supposedly, it was printed in the nineteen-thirties, but I've never found out if that's true or not (and there's no date in the book to check).

Mom bought most of the coloring books there, including "The Wizard of Oz." I was really excited because it meant that I would have pictures to look at.

These pictures were, in fact, the second time I had seen pictures for the story, the first time being the abridged version that had been read to me. Some of the pictures were already colored in, but most of them weren't. But they all are now. I still have the book, and all the pages are now colored in. The book is also falling apart, but that doesn't bother me much.<br />

And while I did enjoy the coloring book at the time, I think it's a very poor adaptation if the story now.

First of all, all of the text for the story is crammed on the first page. Then the pictures come after the story. I think this is a very poor publishing desision. First of all, most little kids can't read, which means their parents have to read it to them. And what a pain it is for parents to read the entire story without pictures for them! Then, after the story, the parents have to go through the trouble helping their kids figureout how the pictures corespond with the story, and what parts they are illustrating. It would have just been easier to have the text be divided throughout the book evenly, going under the pictures that the text illustrated. Putting all the text at the very beginning is just lazy publishing.

Second, while for the most part the text and the story both tell the same version of the story, there are a few inconsistencies that bothered me even as a kid. I'll get to those soon.

And then the story is a mess. The text begins by saying that Dorothy lives with her Aunt Em. Uncle Henry is never mentioned, and never appears in the pictures, so I'm going to assume that Aunt Em is a widow in this version. It says that a cyclone appears while she's playing with Toto, which is the first illustration in the book.

The illustration shows Dorothy, with Toto in her arms, running away from the cyclone. The numbers tell the colored to color Dorothy blonde (I'd prefer brown, but it's okay), and to color the cyclone purple. That's just weird.

I says that Dorothy runs into a nearby house. So apparently, Dorothy doesn't go into her own house in this one. The picture shows the woman the house belongs to running across the grass, watching her house being carried away by the cyclone.

The next picture shows Dorothy sitting on the floor of the house. The bed is tipped over on its side, and pots and pans are flying all over the room. Dorothy looks frightened in the picture.

The fact that the house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East is cut completely. It may have been to soften the story for kids, but come on! Kids don't mind an evil character dying! The Silver Shoes also don't appear in the story until later, which I'll talk about when I get to that point.

The picture shows two funny people walking up to Dorothy. One of them is the Good Witch of the North (dressed in yellow and orange) and the other is a Munchkin. The Munchkin wears a purple shirt with green shoes and hat, without an inch of blue on him! Did the people who made this book decide that several different colors were somehow easier for kids to understand than just the one color blue?

The text says that the Munchkins tell Dorothy she can get back home by following the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City. But all the pictures only have one Munchkin. The other character is the Good Witch of the North! The Good Witch of the North isn't supposed to be a Munchkin! In fact the text never mentions the Good Witch of the North, it just mentions the Munchkins! This is an inconsistency!

The text calls the city "The Emerald City," but I like to call the city in the illustrations "The Color-Changing City." You'll see why in a little bit.

Dorothy has the read dress with polka dots on it, and never changes into any other dress, not even the gingham one. This takes away from the symbolism in the story. Blue is the color of the Munchkins, and white is the witch color, so Dorothy should at least have the gingham dress at one point in the story.

Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, but the text never talks about him being up on a pole, and the picture shows him sitting on the fence when Dorothy first meets him. Also, he is a bunch of different colors, none of which are blue.

Then the tin woodman. I didn't capitalize that because it isn't capitalized in the text of this book. And either the tin woodman in this version is retired or there's another inconsistency, because the tin woodman in the illustrations has no axe in the entire book! Also the numbers tell you to color him blue!

And then the Lion. This part actually goes accurately in this version, so I won't talk about it.

Then we cut instantly to them arriving at the Color-Changing City, completely cutting out the parts where the companions show to the reader that they had what they wanted all along (though apparently in this version, they really DO lack those things, but I'll get to that later)!

The city first appears with the tin woodman pointing at it from far away. The city is black in the picture.

Then, when it shows them knocking on the gate, the city is red.

Then, in the next picture, where the gate is open and the guard is talking to them, the city is yellow!

Also, the guard wears clothes that are multicolored. None of the colors are green.

So basically, what is called the "Emerald City" in the text never appears green at all!

The friends all see the Wizard at the same time, and he is an actual man in a wizard costume, complete with the stereotypical stars and moons on his robe!

He tells them to destroy his enemy, "The Wicked Witch of the West." But since she's the only witch apparently in the story, why couldn't the text simply call her, "The Wicked Witch?"

The picture shows the Wizard pointing at a picture of the Witch that has been crossed out.

The Witch sees the friends through what appears to be a magic telescope in this version, and immediately sends her Winged Monkeys to capture them.

The Winged Monkeys take ALL of them to the Witch's castle. The Witch throws them all in the dungeon except Dorothy, who she makes a slave for no apparent reason. 

Since Dorothy doesn't have the Silver Shoes in this version, Dorothy throws the water on the Witch after the Witch hits Toto with her staff for biting her.

And guess what? We get the first appearance of the magic shoes! They belonged to the West Witch in this version!

The text says "silver shoes," but the numbers on the pictures say to color them green! 

Dorothy puts on the shoes, rescues her friends, and returns to the Color-Changing City.

The Wizard apparently really was a Wizard in this version, because he gives the Scarecrow and the tin woodman what they want. He gives the Scarecrow a box of brains, and pins a red heart on the tin woodman. But to the Lion he gives "a medal for his bravery." Um.... I don't remember the Lion doing anything brave in this version, do you?

So apparently, only the Lion had what he wanted all along in this version! Even Dorothy didn't have her means to get home all along, since she got the magic shoes recently!

The Wizard himself knows about the power of the shoes, so I guess his reasoning for having them kill the Witch in this version (though it's not stated in the text) was so they could retrieve the items that would take Dorothy home.

The text just says that Dorothy returns home. The picture shows Dorothy waking up in bed. So apparently, it was all a dream in this version!

Ugh, this book is a disaster! While I enjoyed coloring it as a kid, it really cuts most of the fun and meaning out of the story, and I full of inconsistencies!

More posts coming soon!

My Opinion of the MGM Movie

So, in my last post, I told you how I was introduced to Oz. It of course, involved the book rather than any movie version (though I had seen clips of the movie, though I didn't know it at the time). Now I have to give my opinion of the movie.

Seeing it the time when we finally taped it was the first time I saw the very beginning of the movie. I thought the whole part abou the tornado would be cut out, and it would just show Dorothy falling asleep in bed. So, I sat down to watch the movie. It began in black and white, and Mom said, "Why is it in black and white? I don't want to tape the black and white version."

I did some quick thinking. I wanted to tape the movie badly, and answered, "Maybe only her dream is in color."

And my quick thinking turned out to actually be correct, because Mom immediately answered, "Oh, yeah! You're right! I forgot about that!"

The beginning of the movie dragged for me. I felt sad when Miss Gulch took Toto, and felt happy again when Toto came back to Dorothy. But my problem with the whole thing was that the whole "Miss Gulch Subplot" was never resolved in the movie. If you're going to add character development to the movie than do it right!

Of course, there are quite a few characters in Kansas that have their parcels in Oz. But I didn't notice this until a few years later. In fact, I didn't even realize that Miss Gulch was played by the same woman as the Wicked Witch of the Westm even though it shows her turning into a witch inside the tornado. That's because I thought that the Witch inside the tornado was the EAST witch instead of the west one. In fact, I still think that. Why shouldn't Margaret Hamilton play two witches? Frank Morgan plays four people in the Emerald City, so why is it such a stretch that Margaret Hamilton plays two witches?

And then there's the whole "dream" thing. I was disappointed when I found out it was dream. Had I had that whole Oz story had to me months ago, and totally missed the fact that it was a dream? As it turned out, I hadn't, because the Land of Oz really does exist in the book. Why did the movie change this? It's the most infamous thing that happened in this movie.

And then the fact that the movie wasn't animated. Though I wasn't too disappointed about it, I still wonder if I would have liked the movie better if it had been animated. As it was, I didn't really mind at the time, it was just different from what I expected.

And then Judy Garland as Dorothy. Ehhhhh. I never got the feeling reading the book that Dorothy was older than twelve. I'm sure she was probably twelve or under in the book. Judy Garland was sixteen when this movie was filmed, and it shows! She could NOT pull off playing a 10-12 year old girl. Yes, I agree she had that charm that all audiences liked, but she is NOT Dorothy!

And then Glinda. Why, oh why did they combine the two good witches into one character? Even as a kid, the moment never sat right with me. I NEVER bought Glinda's statement that Dorothy wouldn't have believed her about the magic of the Ruby Slippers.

And then we come to the Ruby Slippers. Now it might seem like a nitpick, but I just wish the movie had kept them silver. I remember telling Mom for the first time about how Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch in the book, and how it differed from the movie. I said, "The Witch steals one of the Silver Shoes from her."

Mom immediately said, "It's RUBY."

I said, "No, it's silver in the book."

But for some reason, Mom didn't believe me at the time. She thought I was just being difficult to reason with. It wasn't until she checked out an audiobook from the library a few years later that she listened to it and discovered that I was right all along.

But the whole thing still ticks me off. Why do the red shoes have to be so popular? The silver ones are the original ones, so they should be the iconic items!

And still today, I see people wearing silver shoes in public, and I say, jokingly "Do your shoes take you home when you click them three times?"

Then I have about twenty people arguing that I'm an idiot because I think that the shoes are silver and not red. But no, I don't think they're silver. I KNOW that they're silver. And the problem is, I don't know very many people that actually even know about the book. 

I think I should have rephrased my statement earlier. I'm not just ticked off because the red shoes are more popular than the silver ones. I'm ticked off because the movie is more popular than the book!

And as a last thing, I actually just think silver sounds more magical than ruby.

But then we have one of the things the movie actually did better than the book; the Wicked Witch.

Oh my goodness. I already knew that the Witch appeared earlier in this movie than in the book, but I thought her first appearance would be the Tin Woodman scene, which was the first scene I saw when I saw it the previous time.

But no, the Witch suddenly appears in Munchkinland, surprising all viewers who have read the book but not seen the movie. I was sure surprised!

But I wasn't scared of the Witch at all. This is probably because I had read the book first, and knew everything would be alright in the end, but it just goes to show you that I like movies to be a little bit dark.

I don't care what people say about this movie. The Witch is the star of the show in my opinion! One of the best things about the movie, in fact!

And I think the scene where Dorothy first meets the Scarecrow actually goes better in the movie than it does in the book. It's just such a funny scene that I'm sure Baum would have approved of.

Cutting out the backstories for both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman was a horrible idea though! It takes away from why they think they lack what they want (severely in the case of the Tin Woodman)!

And then let's talk about the Tin Woodman. It gets very annoying to hear him referred to as "Tin Man" most of the movie. I don't even recall them ever saying, "Tin Woodman." Yes, I know he is a tin man, but it needs to be more specific. He's a woodman. "Tin Woodman" is the name Baum used in the book, and as such is what the movie should have used.

Now some might argue that kids watching the movie might hear "Tin Woodman" and then get confused, because he's only made of tin. Not tin AND wood. But come on! Kids aren't stupid! I knew when I heard "Tin Woodman" that he had "wood" in his name because he CHOPPED wood, not because he was MADE of wood. And I was only six! I was a kid, and I wasn't confused! This world is so flawed, because the people in it believe that kids can't figure out these kinds of things!

And then the Lion. Oh my goodness, why? Why did they have to make him so cowardly in this film? Yes, he's the funniest character in the movie, and I wouldn't mind that if it could have been pulled off with the Lion still being very brave. But the Lion never does anything brave in this film. Every time it seems like he's going to do something brave, the movie turns it into comic relief by having him back out at the last second. What the Wizard told him at the end was rubbish. The Lion was a coward.

And then the poppy field. I like how the Witch creates the poppy field in this movie in order the stop the travelers.

But then the moviemakers have that Glinda character destroy the flowers with a snowstorm, rather than the companions working together to solve the situation.

Now some may argue that it was too hard to put mice in the movie. But if that was the case, why couldn't the makers of the movie choose one of the other obstacles from the book to show. They could have had the Witch create a ditch in the middle of the road, or the river. They didn't have to go and choose the poppy field out of all of them!

Now, the abridged version that had been read to me before I saw the movie had the poppy field as the only obstacle, so I didn't mind too much at the time. But after reading the full book, I decided that the poppy field was the least interesting of all the obstacles, and I still think that today. Why did they choose the least interesting obstacle, and then make it even less interesting? Why?

And then we have the Emerald City, which looks more like a stage than a city.

And then we have the song, "If I Were King of the Forest," which is just filler, and just holds up the story (I usually fast forward fought that song).

And then everybody goes in to the throne room at the same time, and we only see the Wizard as a great head. But I can forgive that one, because the book does get a little repetitive.

And then the Wizard asks for the Witch's broomstick rather than outright telling them to kill her. And this really doesn't make any sense because there is nothing the Wizard would need the broomstick for. Yes, it's true that it's very likely they won't survive fetching the broomstick, and the Wizard is just trying to get them to leave him alone, but the book actually works better. The Wizard sends the friends off to kill the Witch because it gets him something that he wants either way. If the friends fail the quest, the Wizard won't have to deal with them anymore. And if they do succeed, the Wizard will have a person he fears defeated. The movie doesn't make sense.

And then the Witch not sending wolves and crows and such after the friends. As a kid, I thought to myself, "Oh, they didn't have the part where the Tin Woodman chops the wolves' heads off! I wanted to see that part!"

Now some may say that the movie would be too dark for kids to watch if it had something like that. But as you can see, I was only six, and I wanted that part in the movie! From my experience, kids like violence and action. They like movies to be a little bit dark. Parents shouldn't guard their kids from every little thing.

And then Dorothy being a damsel in distress. I thought that Dorothy was protected by the kiss, but apparently, not in this movie. Nope, Dorothy needs rescuing in this one, rather than being the hero herself.

Some may argue that Dorothy throws a fit over losing a shoe in the book, but I don't really interpret it that way.

I've always interpreted that scene as Dorothy not wanting the Witch to use the power of the shoe to take over the Land of Oz. Now that the Witch has taken the shoe, Dorothy knows that the Witch will use it to take over the Land of Oz! Dorothy is afraid for what could happen to the citizens! She doesn't know what to do! 

That's how it goes in a script I wrote once for my own movie (which I'll go more in-depth about in a later post):

__________

Dorothy looks on with terror as the Witch slips the Silver Shoe onto her own foot. It's all over now, the Witch has won. She will use the power shoe to take over the entire Land of Oz! But Dorothy isn't about to give up yet!

Dorothy: Give me back my shoe!

Witch: Why should I?

Dorothy: Because, the Good Witch of the North gave the shoes to me!

Witch: But you have no use for them. You don't know how to use them. They're better off in my hands.

Dorothy: I'd rather have those shoes destroyed than have them in your hands! You will use them for evil purposes!

Witch: (angrily) Don't you dare tell me what I'm going to do with these shoes! Give me the other one now!

Dorothy: (bravely) No! You have no right to take my shoes!

Witch: You're probably right. But I took your shoe anyway! Now give me the other one, or I will find a way to get it from you myself, just as did with the first one!

Dorothy stares at the Witch in defeat. She's lost. The Witch has won. There's no point in prolonging the inevitable. Dorothy bends down to take the shoe off of her foot and hand it over. The Witch smiles evilly. But just as Dorothy is about to remove the shoe, she see's something out of the corner of her eye; the bucket of water she's been washing the floor with. Dorothy takes a moment to consider. What's the point in even trying? Throwing water on the Witch will just make her angrier. There's no point in prolonging the inevitable. And yet, there is a glimmer of hope. There's always a chance that it could work. Maybe the Witch will give up if she tries it. Maybe the Witch will fall over and the shoe will come off. It's worth a try.

With her last bit of courage, Dorothy grabs the bucket and hurls it with all her might at the Witch. The water splashes all over the Witch and soaks her from head to foot. The Witch screams in pain and puts her hands over her face. Dorothy notices her hands dissolving!

Witch: (in a voice of defeat) See what you've done! In a minute I will melt away!

Dorothy gasps in amazement. It worked! She has saved the Land of Oz! And she has also freed the Winkies!

Dorothy: I'm sorry! I didn't know that water would melt you. I just wanted to knock you over so that I could get my shoe back.

Witch: Well, you'll certainly get it back now won't you? You'll get more than that! You'll have the castle all to yourself! Ive been wicked in my day, but I never thought I would be defeated by a little girl like you!

The Witch dissolves down into what is now a large puddle. Dorothy stares at it in shock for a few seconds, and then picks up the silver shoe.

___________

That's always been MY take on it. Anyway, I like the book's solution better than the movie's solution.

And then we have Glinda just showing up at the end. It just seems too much like a deus ex machina. If they wanted to avoid the journey to the south, they could have had the Winged Minkeys take them to Glinda!

Ugh, there's just so much that's wrong with this movie, and not just the stuff I mentioned in this post either. There's just too much to put here! But those are the main things I don't like about this movie.

Now I don't hate is movie by any means. I've always quite enjoyed it. But the book is far better. In later posts I'll tell more about the Iz books and their adaptations. Stay tuned!

My Introduction to the Oz Books

I've been waiting for a long time to tell about my first experience with the Oz books. What's that? You have no idea what the Oz books are? Didn't you ever read "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?" Well yes, it is also known as "The Wizard of Oz." Have you read it?

If you're like 99% of the people I've asked, the answer is "No, but I've seen the movie." Literally, I just can't stand that answer. It makes me feel like I'm the only Oz fan out there. Ugh.

Actually, there are quite a few Oz fans out there, I just haven't met any of them. What's really funny about this subject is that there are a ton of websites from millions of Oz fans, and yet I still get "No, but I've seen the movie," 99% of the time I ask if anybody's read the book. I just don't know what's up with life these days.

Anyway, yes, I am an Oz fan. And yes, I have seen the movie. But, unlike most people I've asked, I've actually read the book. And I can assure you, it is LOADS better than the movie.

I say that I read the book before I saw the movie, but I base that on a technicality. I did see clips of the movie before I read the book, but I wasn't interested in it, and I didn't even know what movie it was until I finally DID see it in it's entirety. And that didn't happen until I had read the book. So, I say that I read the book before I saw the movie.

Now, how did this come about? Well, to tell you, I need to start from the very beginning, and I will need to tell it as if I'm reliving it. Here we go.

_____________

It had to have been in 2002 some time, though I'll never remember exactly. It was night time, and, being your typical 5-year-old boy, I had not yet gone to bed. I came out to the living room, where Mom was watching a live action movie on TV that had a girl and some funny-looking people that were traveling. Mom turned to me, and asked, "Do you want to watch *******?"

No I'm not censoring a profanity there. I just put that there because I didn't remember the title of the movie at the time. Of course I know what it is now, but I didn't then.

In fact, I had no interest in watching the movie. Why didn't I? Because it was live action. Back in those days, I didn't particularly care for live action movies and shows. Why? Because the first movies I watched were animated. I thought it was natural to have animated characters on the screen, because it wasn't real. But, whenever I saw a live action show playing on the TV, I thought, "why are there real people inside the TV instead of fake ones?" I didn't like it much, and the annoying thing was, those were the kinds of shows my parents watched! I was horrible! Or at least it was back then.

So, not wanting to watch real people inside of a TV screen, I answered, "No."

Mom acted kind of disappointed. "But it's a kids' movie," she said.

I still wasn't interested. The movie was live action. But since Mom had told me it was a kids' movie, I decided I'd at least ACT like I liked the movie. So I sat down on the couch, but I only half payed attention to the movie.

I left the room for a few minutes to go to the bathroom, and when I came back, Mom pointed at the TV and said, "See the witch?"

I looked at the screen and saw a witch with green skin looking into a crystal ball at the main characters. I thought that maybe this movie would be a little bit interesting now that I knew it had an evil character in it. So I watched for a few more minutes, but I still wasn't interested. I saw the witch make flowers appear, and I thought it was dumb.

I went to eat supper, and when I came back, the witch was talking to the girl and threatening her. The girl's dog ran away, and the witch locked the girl in a room. The dog led the three funny people to the witch's castle, and the one with an axe chopped down the door of the room where the girl was trapped.

I said to myself, "Good. This movie will be done in a few minutes. The girl is rescued, and they will escape from the witch forever." But then the witch used her magic to close to door to the exit. She began threatening the characters.

I had no more patience for the movie anymore. I left the room and went to bed. A few weeks later, Mom asked if I wanted to watch another movie that I can't remember the title of. I said I didn't, and she said, "But it's a kids' movie."

I remembered her saying that when she showed me the "Witch Movie." (That's what I called it back then.) I thought this might be the same movie, but it wasn't, I realized after a few minutes. I felt kind of bad that I hadn't watched the Witch Movie that time (though I'm glad I didn't watch it now).

I noticed at some people's houses that we'd go to visit, they would have the Witch Movie sitting on the video shelf, but I never bothered to watch it. I could read back then, but, being only five, I didn't bother to read the title of the movie, though I could have if I had wanted to.

For about a year, I never saw the movie again. I lost interest in ever seeing the movie again, and figured that it wouldn't be worth it.

Then, one day, about a year later, in the summer of 2003, my parents took my brother and I to our grandparents' house to stay for a few nights, as they had some work to do on the house that would be hard to do with us around. My grandparents had some children that were still living with them at the time, and they would play board games and read books to us when we came over.

During this particular time of staying at my grandparents' house, I noticed that they had a man made out of tin cans hanging on the ceiling in the corner of the room. I asked what it was, because I thought it looked kind of funny.

My grandparents couldn't remember what it was called. They said, "It's from a book that's really famous."

My uncle immediately said, "It's the Tin Woodman." He ran into the living room and got out the book. He set it on the table and showed me the picture of the Tin Woodman on the cover. I was interested in the book immediately, but didn't read the title, as I was still too young to pay attention to what things said on them.

That night, my brother and I couldn't get to sleep. My uncle decided to stay up for a little while and read us a story. "What would you like me to read to you?"

I immediately said, "Can you read us 'Tin Woodman?'"

My uncle answered, "That book is really long."

But I said, "I just want to hear a little bit of the story."

I wanted to hear about the Tin Woodman in the story, because I liked the model of him that was on the wall in the kitchen. So my uncle got out the book and started reading it to us.

It started with a girl named Dorothy, who lived with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas. One day, a tornado came and carried away the house while Dorothy and her dog, Toto, we're inside it.

The house got taken to the Land of Oz, where it fell on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, the evil ruler of the Land of the Munchkins. The Munchkins were grateful to Dorothy for killing the witch who had kept them enslaved for years. The Good Witch of the North came to Dorothy and thanked her as well. She told her that there were for witches in the Land of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the East, the Good Witch of the North, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Good Witch of the South.

Dorothy wanted to go back home to Kansas, but there was no way back. So the Good Witch decided to send Dorothy to the Wizard of Oz, who lived in the Emerald City in the center of the Land of Oz. She gave Dorothy a magic kiss on her forehead that would protect her from harm, and gave her the magic silver shoes that had belonged to the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy put them on and started off towards the Emerald City.

After going a long way, she found a Scarecrow on a pole. The Scarecrow wanted to have brains, so Dorothy took him off of the pole and traveled with him, hoping the Wizard would give him a brain.

That night, they stayed in a cabin in the woods. In the morning, they saw a man made of tin rusted next to the house.

I pointed to the picture and said, "Look, it's the Tin Woodman!"

My uncle said, "Yes, it is."

Dorothy and the Scarecrow oiled the Tin Woodman's joints so that he could move again, and he joined them in the hopes of getting a heart from the Wizard.

Next, they met a Lion, who threatened Toto, but Dorothy slapped him. The Lion revealed that he was a coward, and was afraid of nearly everything. So Dorothy invited him to come along with them to get courage from the Wizard.

Around this time, my uncle decided to stop reading. "Look," he said to me. "Your brother is already asleep."

But I couldn't bear to be left knowing if Dorothy would get back to Kansas or not. I said, "No, keep reading."

He went on reading, and I would not let him put it down. I made him finish the whole book in one night.

Dorothy and her companions had to cross through a poppy field. Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion fell asleep in the field. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman were able to carry Dorothy and Toto out of the field to safety, but the Lion was too heavy to carry.

I thought to myself, "Oh, that's sad! The Lion will never get his courage."

But then something great happened. The Tin Woodman save the Queen of the Field Mice from a wild cat, and the mice were so greatful that they helped carry the Lion out of the field.

Soon after this, the travelers arrived at the Emerald City. The guard at the gate made them wear green sunglasses, stating that it would keep them from being blinded by the brightness of the city.

The travelers were admitted to see the wizard, but he would only see one of them at a time.

Dorothy went in first. She saw a great head in the throne room that talked to her.

I thought to myself, "That's funny! The Wizard is just a head!"

The Wizard told Dorothy that he would not grant her wish until she had defeated the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy sadly left the throne room.

The Scarecrow went in next and saw that the Wizard had taken the form of a lovely lady. I laughed some more.

The Scarecrow was also told to defeat the Wicked Witch if he wanted his wish granted.

The Tin Woodman and the Lion saw a Great Beast and a Ball of Fire respectfully, and were both told to defeat the Witch.

I thought, "Oh, great, I thought the story was almost done."

The Witch is able to see the travelers in her kingdom. She sent wolves after them, but the Tin Woodman beheaded all of them. She sent crows, but the Scarecrow strangled them. She sent bees, and they broke their stingers against the Tin Woodman. She sent a band of her slaves, the Winkies, and the Lion scared them away.

Then the Witch got out her golden cap and summoned the Winged Monkeys. She told them to destroy all the travelers except the Lion, who she wanted brought to her so she could make him pull a cart.

The Winged Monkeys dented up the Tin Woodman, unstuffed the Scarecrow, and captured the Lion. They did not destroy Dorothy because of the mark of the Good Witch on her forehead. They brought her to the Witch's castle instead.

I thought, "Oh, no! The Tin Woodman was destroyed! He won't be in the story anymore! And how will Dorothy and the Lion ever escape from the Witch?"

The Lion scared the Witch every time she asked him to pull the cart. The Witch wanted the silver shoes, so that she could use their power. She put a bar on the floor and turned it invisible. Dorothy tripped over it and one of her shoes fell off. The Witch snatched it away.

Dorothy was angry at the Witch and threw a bucket of water at her. E water turned out to be the Witch's weakness, and she melted. I thought that this part of the story was so clever.

The Winkies were so grateful to Dorothy for destroying the Witch, that they repaired the two companions that were destroyed, and released the Lion. Dorothy called the Winged Monkeys with the Golden Cap, and had them take her and her friends to the Emerald City.

However, the Wizard refused to see them for days and days. At last, Dorothy threatened to send the Winged Monkeys to torture him, so he admitted them.

But when they entered his throne room, they discovered that the Wizard was just a regular guy from Omaha. He didn't have any power at all, and had just asked them to destroy the Witch because of his fear of her.

He told the friends that they had what they wanted the whole time, but they weren't convinced. So he made fake versions of what they wanted. He stuffed the Scarecrow's head with bran, cut a hole in the Tin Woodman in order to insert a silk heart, and gave the Lion a drink that he said would give him courage. He also attempted to take Dorothy back to Kansas in a hot air balloon.

At this point, I thought, "Yes! She'll finally go home!"

But then the ropes snapped before Dorothy could enter the balloon, and it floated away without her. I was so sad.

Dorothy attempted to have the Winged Monkeys bring her back to Kansas, but they couldn't leave the Land of Oz, as they belonged there. I was disappointed again.

Then the Soldier who worked in the city suggested consulting Glinda, the good witch who ruled the Quadling Country in the south. So another adventure started.

The companions first encountered trees that grabbed them, but the Tin Woodman chopped the branches off. I really liked that part.

Next, they encountered a country made entirely of china. I thought that part was silly.

Then, they encountered Hammer-head people who wouldn't let them pass, so they used the Winged Monkeys to fly over them.

At last, they arrived at Glinda's palace. She told Dorothy that her silver shoes would take her back to Kansas if she clicked them together three times and wished it. Dorothy did so, and was reunited with her Aunt Em.

After the story was finished, my uncle said, "Okay, now go to sleep."

And I fell asleep very quickly, because I had liked the story so much.

The next morning, I got out the book, and asked my uncle to read it again. He said, "I'm not reading it again. It's too long."

I said, "But I like 'Tin Woodman.'"

"That's not what it's called."

"What's it called then?"

"'The Wizard of Oz."

My grandmother entered the room during this conversation.

"You read that whole thing to him last night?" she asked him.

"Yes," he said. "He would not let me put it down."

"Well," said my grandmother, turning to me. "How did like it when Dorothy found out that her red shoes had the power to take her home?"

"Um," said my uncle, interrupting. "They were silver."

"Oh, really?" said my grandmother. "In the movie they were red. They must have changed them so that they would show up better."

So now I knew that there was a movie of the story. I imagined,in my head, and animated version of the story I had been read, where the shoes were red instead of silver.

A few days later, I returned home, and nearly forgot about the book that had been read to me. But a few months later, I was sitting in the bathroom, when Mom called me.

"There's a movie on that I think you'll really like!"

Of course, being as young as I was, I couldn't get out of the bathroom at that point. I was in there for about fifteen more minutes, and I was curious what movie might be on (I had no clue what it might be).

I finally came out to the living room, and sat down on the couch. And, much to my surprise, it was the "Witch Movie!"

But this time, I noticed something about it. The two funny people standing next to the girl were the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow! And the girl was Dorothy!

At first I thought it was a sequel to the book of the Wizard of Oz, as I thought the movie would be animated. But then I thought, "Wait, why is the Witch still alive in this movie? Did she come back to life, or did I just imagine a witch in this movie?"

Then the Witch appeared on top of the house nearby. I couldn't put two and two together, so I just decided to suspend my disbelief.

Then the Lion appeared, and Dorothy slapped him. "Oh!" I finally thought to myself, figuring it out. "This is the 'Wizard of Oz movie my grandmother was talking about! I'm finally getting to see it!"

I had no idea that my mother had even known that the I had been read at my grandparents even existed. I was so glad.

I saw the Witch make the poppy field, and recognized it as one of the first scenes I had seen about a year ago. I was too young and stupid to know better, so I said to myself, "Oh, it was the Witch who created the poppy field the whole time! I didn't know that!"

The poppy scene went too quick for me. I wanted to see the field mice. Instead it snowed in the poppy field.

When the companions arrived at the gate of the Emerald City, Mom came back in from working outside.

She asked me, "How are liking this movie?"

I answered,"Oh, I like it! By the way, is this movie called, 'The Wizard of Oz?'"

My Mom seemed surprised. "Yes, it is. How did you know?"

"Because," I answered, "My grandparents have the book of this at their house, and my uncle read it to me."

I watched the entire rest of the movie. I was disappointed that the Wizard didn't appear in different forms like he did in the book, as well as the Witch not sending lots of enemies after the companions, though I was relieved that the journey to Glinda was cut out. All in all, it was great.

At the end, I said, "Oh, it was just a dream!"

A few minutes after it ended, the power went out, and Mom thought I had missed the end of the movie. But I hadn't.

A few months later, I had again mostly forgotten about the movie. It was Autumn, and I was very sick. Mom said to me, "Do you know what's on tonight?"

I said no, and she said, "'The Wizard of Oz!'"

I was excited. But a little while later, Mom said, "You know, maybe we shouldn't watch the movie tonight. It has a scary Witch in it."

She didn't know that she had shown me the movie before. She had completely forgotten.

I said, "Isn't Dorothy just having a dream, though?"

Mom said, "Yeah it's just a dream. How did you know that?"

I said that I had seen the movie twice before. The first time, I had only seen parts of it, and the second time, I had seen the whole thing. Of course it wasn't true that I had seen the whole thing, but with my limited vocabulary it was the best I could explain it back then.

Mom said, "All I remember is the power going out."

We taped the movie that night, and my grandmother actually came over to watch the movie with us.

Mom got her copy of the book out of storage about a week later. I was disappointed that it had no pictures, but I read it and enjoyed it. There were quite a few things that I didn't remember from the first time, but I assumed it was just because it had been awhile.

A few years later, we went to Walgreens. They had a bunch of small, paperback books. Mom said, "I think that these are the same as the 'Great Illustrated Classics' that we get from Goodwill sometimes, only they're paperback instead of hardcover, and have different pictures on the covers."

I knew at once that these were the same series books that the first Wizard of Oz book read to me were from. I said to myself, "I'm gonna look for 'The Wizard of Oz.'"

I found it and picked it out, and Mom bought it for me. I realized that it was an abridged version of the story and that's why I didn't remember so much stuff that was in the unabridged version.

Over the next few years, I came to realize that the Witch wasn't the main villain of the book version, and that Dorothy wasn't dreaming. And it wouldn't be long before I would begin reading the sequels.

But that's how I was introduced to Oz, and now you know why I love the series so much. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to the Nerd's Great Blog of Oz! I am Oz Fan, and I have been a fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz books for many years. This blog will tell how I feel about the series, and also discus different interpretations of the stories, including the movies. I don't know when my first regular post will be, but it will be here soon! Enjoy my blog!