HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO “THE GREEN BOOK”!

THE OFFICIAL 50th ANNIVERSARY PICTORIAL HISTORY” IS NOW 35 YEARS OLD Part Two By John Fricke Welcome to Part Two of our birthday salute to the best-selling, full-length history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1939 production of THE WIZARD OF OZ, first published 35 years ago this past August to commemorate the film’s 50th anniversary in 1989. Its …

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO “THE GREEN BOOK”!

“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 …

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, …

“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 …

“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 …

“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” – PART 5

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 …

“THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO LIVE[D] IN THIS LAND” – PART 4

By John Fricke FOREWORD In our August 26th entry — posted on Chittenango’s All Things Oz and OZ-Stravaganza! Facebook pages (as well as on this blog site) — we celebrated 2023’s Oz festival. The highlights of that weekend, of course, were provided by the song, dance, autographing-and-reminiscing participation of ninety-one-year-old Betty Ann Bruno, an original …

“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 …

“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 …

“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!” …