By: John Fricke We’re back! for the (almost annual) forty-fifth time! Yes, we had to slow down for a couple of years, but it took a world-wide pandemic to do it. And now, for the first go-round since 2019, we’re once again “Off to See the Wizard” — and everyone else. (Toto, too!) Meanwhile, you […]
Author Archives: Administrator
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART THREE
by John Fricke Welcome! to the third and final installment of blogs that ponder the question, “What might L. Frank Baum have thought about the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical movie made from his first Oz book?” – a film that wasn’t completed or released until twenty years after he himself had passed away. Baum, of course, […]
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART TWO
By John Fricke Last month’s blog was conceived as a (pretty much unarguable) celebration of the two most important factors in the world’s continuing love affair with All Things Oz. These are, of course, the original story, characters, and concepts created by L. Frank Baum for his 1900 book, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, and […]
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART ONE
BY: John Fricke We’ve had a number of multiple-topic blogs here across the last six months, so for the next two entries, I thought it might be a good (and hopefully entertaining) idea to “get back to basics.” As a result, our February and March discussions will concentrate on an alignment of the two fundamental […]
REMEMBERING, RESPONDING, REJOICING: A “NEW YEAR” MEDLEY OF OZ!
By: John Fricke Frank Sinatra sang it best: “Who knows where the road will lead us? Only a fool would say . . . .” Well, fool I may be, but I’m not foolish enough to actively predict the unfolding, unraveling, and/or unimaginable delights of 2022 — no matter how much hope we all have […]
WE NEED A “FRANK BAUM” CHRISTMAS!
By John Fricke One plain and simple fact should come as no surprise to anyone reading here: L. Frank Baum had a limitless imagination and — to be sure — extraordinary real-life adventures. That combination led him to write not only about Oz and its countless unique citizens and hamlets, but to pen dozens of […]
POSTERS & HERALDS & ADS . . . OH, OZ! (PART TWO)
By John Fricke Across the last three decades or so, I’ve been the very, very grateful recipient of a number of kind comments about the books I’ve written. (The current THE ART OF OZ is number eight.) What I’ve heard across the boards, more than anything else, is a sort of glowing estimation: “The pictures […]
POSTERS & HERALDS & ADS . . . OH, OZ! (PART ONE)
By John Fricke A picture, we hear, is worth a thousand words. Well, if that be true, the purpose of this blog is to spare you (most!) of ten thousand words . . . and simply provide some Ozzy art that it’s hoped will spur joy, nostalgia, curiosity, and memories. Most of all, may it […]
THE “ALL THINGS OZ” EXCLUSIVE! A PREVIEW OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TEXT-EXCERPTS FROM THE NEW GABRIEL GALE/JOHN FRICKE BOOK, “THE ART OF OZ”!
One of the introductory special features of Rizzoli’s new and gloriously illustrated book, THE ART OF OZ, is a “royal proclamation extraordinary” from Princess Ozma — and perhaps it best explains the celebratory nature of this new volume from artist Gabriel Gale. In her decree, directly addressed to Gale, Ozma “hereby and happily sanctions the […]
MGM’S “WIZARD”: IT JUST KEEPS ROLLIN ALONG!
by John Fricke One of Chittenango’s most loyal boosters — and OZ-Stravaganza! attendees — sent me an email this past Wednesday, August 25th, that simply said: “Happy WIZARD OF OZ Day!” He, like so many others on social media, was celebrating the fact that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s extraordinary movie of L. Frank Baum’s story, THE WIZARD OF […]