“THE WIZARD OF OZ — THE OFFICIAL 50th ANNIVERSARY PICTORIAL HISTORY” IS NOW 35 😊 Part One – By John Fricke Above: This is the front dust jacket cover of the book that celebrated the golden anniversary of MGM’s THE WIZARD OF OZ just 35 years ago this summer . . . and on into …
Category Archives: L. Frank Baum
Ha-Ha-Ha! Ho-Ho-Ho!
And a Happy, High-Spirited History of Last Month’s Magic (Or: Oz-Stravaganza® 2024 😊) by John Fricke After 46 prior and virtually annual jubilations, what can be said about Oz-Stravaganza® #47 that hasn’t been gratefully and proudly “sung out” before? Perhaps the most grandiose AND accurate declaration is that the weekend of May 31st-June 2nd, 2024, …
“L. Frank-ly, My Dear, We WILL Give a Fest!”
by John Fricke Given the paraphrased title of this month’s blog, may I remind you that this year marks the 85th anniversary of THAT film, too . . . . 😊 However, there’ll be no further homage to GONE WITH THE WIND! We’re all about ALL THINGS OZ, and we’re here to herald and celebrate …
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“ILL-OZ-STRATIONS” — DIVERSIFIED! Part Two
by John Fricke A bit of background to begin! Part One of this two-part series may be found by simply scrolling down past this entry; therein discussed are some of the early artists who pictured L. Frank Baum’s book, THE WIZARD OF OZ. There were comparatively few such illustrators, however; from its initial publication as …
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“ILL-OZ-STRATIONS” — DIVERSIFIED! Part One
By John Fricke Even occasional visitors to these blogs – or to Oz in general – will recognize the name William Wallace [W. W.] Denslow. It was his dazzling color pictures, artful book design, and character and setting concepts that helped make L. Frank Baum’s THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ the best-selling children’s book of …
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“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” – CONCLUSION
By John Fricke FOREWORD In our August 26th entry for 2023 — posted on Chittenango’s All Things Oz and OZ-Stravaganza! Facebook pages (as well as on this blog site) — we celebrated the Oz festival of last June. The highlights of that weekend, of course, were provided by the song, dance, autographing-and-reminiscing participation of ninety-one-year-old …
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“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” – PART 3
By John Fricke FOREWORD In our August 26th entry, posted on the various Chittenango, New York, All Things Oz and OZ-Stravaganza! Facebook pages (as well as its blog site), we celebrated 2023’s Oz festival. The weekend highlight, of course, was the song/dance/autographing/reminiscing participation of ninety-one-year-old Betty Ann Bruno, an original “MunchKid” from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1939 feature …
Continue reading ““THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” – PART 3“
“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” — PART 2
by John Fricke FOREWORD In our August 26th blog — posted on the various Chittenango (New York) All Things Oz and OZ-Stravaganza! Facebook pages — we celebrated 2023’s Oz festival. Its highlight, of course, was the song/dance/autographing/reminiscing participation of ninety-one-year-old Betty Ann Bruno, an original “MunchKid” from MGM’s feature film. This was Betty Ann’s second …
Continue reading ““THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” — PART 2“
“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” — PART 1
By John Fricke FOREWORD In our immediately preceding blog — posted on August 26th on the various Chittenango [NY] All Things Oz and OZ-Stravaganza! Facebook pages (as well as on my own) — we celebrated this year’s extraordinary festival. The activities and joys that thrilled some 30,000 attendees were highlighted by the “She Is Everywhere!” …
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2023: TENS OF THOUSANDS JOY-OZ-LY TRAVEL
CHITTENANGO’S YELLOW BRICK ROAD . . .TAKING BETTY ANN BRUNO VERY MUCH TO HEART! By John Fricke [A BRIEF, PRELIMINARY NOTE FROM JOHN: The rough draft and art selection attendant to this “All Things OZ” Blog were basically wrapped up nearly two months ago. Then I was hit with sciatica, and everything went on hold …