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I remember being extremely upset when I was a 5th Grader reading the second book and being so happy that the hero was a boy instead of Dorothy -- only to have him go through a sex change! I was SURE that in future books he would go back to being Tip at least temporarily but instead they never mention that he was ever Tip again! I get that this is very forward-thinking for when it was written, but for a little boy who wanted Tip to stay a boy, it was deeply disturbing!
@@ArtemisLeo2662 I’m so glad! The algorithm on literally all my social media decided that it hated me yesterday because no one saw my posts about it being out either lol. I hope you liked it
The best part in these stories is when Dorothy realizes she can't really die because she is basically the main character. So she jumps off a cliff.. and whatdoyaknow? Saved by a magic belt.
I like to think that the city being emerald is tied to the rightful ruler being in charge, so when the Wizard takes over, the city loose the green color, and he made the rule about the spectecles so people would not realize he was fraud, when Ozma comes back the city would change into being green again. I have not read the books so I don't know if something like this is ever implied, but it's nice fairytale logic.
No, it's much simpler than that. The Emerald City is predominately green, it's just that the spectacles make absolutely everything look green, even the stuff that isn't. Even before they get to the Emerald City, they see that the predominant color of that region is green. The book makes that pretty clear. When Dorothy asks the Wizard "Isn't everything here green?" the answer given to her is not "No, actually nothing here is green." The answer she's given is "Not anymore than any other city." That answer simply means that not everything in the city is green, and should not be taken to mean that there's no green in it whatsoever. It kind of confuses me that people still consider this a continuity error, because I read these books when I was a kid, and even then it didn't take a strong mind to figure out that just because the glasses made everything look green, that didn't necessarily mean that there was no green in the city.
@@curtthegamer934 the reason I say it’s a continuity issue is because in the first book, yes the walls are green, but it’s not a city made entirely out of emeralds so blinding that it requires spectacles. It’s just green. The spectacles thing was a lie that colors the way visitors see the emerald city as this grandiose place and I always read that part of the first book as symbolic. The wizard is a sham and the spectacles are basically something to make people believe that the emerald city is more green and vibrant than it actually is. But that aspect is forgotten about in other books so it kind of makes the symbolism of the spectacles not matter. That’s why I enjoy versions or headcanons that make the city just a bit dingier without the glasses. Like ‘yeah the city is pretty but I was expecting more’
I really wish someone would do a high budget TV series called “The Land Of Oz”. Adapting the storylines from the 14 original books. Listening to you describe the books I thought “If a good writer and showrunner could come in, fix the plot holes, and take the less interesting/ unneeded characters out…this could be a compelling show!” I love the idea of starting with an accurate retelling of the first book! Then getting into The tip/ozma plotline. Gnome king. Mombi. Toto being able to talk but choosing not to 😭. So many cool things could be done with the best parts of the books. I wish someone was brave enough to greenlight it in a post Wicked movie world. Would anyone else wanna see this?
The catch is that an editor would have to fix the inconsistencies, and that would no doubt leave some viewers complaining about whichever choices were made
28:17 Honestly, Baum was a pretty progressive writer. The main character in his books is a girl who's adventurous and willing to slap a lion in the face. The most powerful mage is a woman who has an all female army. The true ruler of Oz is a girl, Ozma, Billina
@gabydiazortiz Sorry to ask, but... what other beliefs Edit: I saw the rest of the video... and some parts of the oz books were. Yeah... unless there's something else 1:50:29 never mind... 2:17:44 .........(moral of the story kids, watch the full video before commenting)
@@unfabgirloh yeah Matilda was a badass for her time and it’s clear she heavily inspired Baum since he has sooo many female characters that actually have personality and all from the 1900s
I definitely thought too hard while reading The Emerald City of Oz. In that story Aunt Em is understandably confused that a chicken, formerly of her farm, is a citizen of Oz and therefore not on the menu. Dorothy explains it to her aunt as if this should be obvious and not even a question. Yet when Dorothy and the squad travel to Bunbury, a city built and inhabited with baked goods, Dorothy gets indignant that the denizen only offer her a wheel barrow and some fence to sate her hunger. Furthermore she is confused that they wish to punish Toto for literally eating people. Like, Girl, if Bill the chicken and her brood are citizens of Oz free to live and not be eaten, then the sentient cookies deserve the same.
@@cheshiredeimos1874 yeah! I didn’t bring it up cuz I had skip parts for time but the Oz books are so weird about who is actually allowed to be a ‘person’. Of course they’ll be mad at you and Toto, you’re trying to eat them!
@@gabydiazortiz Yes to both of you!!! And then… let’s say Toto (whom I adore, mind you) had succeeded in eating them. But nobody dies, soooooo. What would have HAPPENED then? 😱
I'm actually comfortable with calling The Wizard of Oz a fairytale compared to the likes of Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan, because Baum himself set out to write a "modernized fairy tale" and deliberately based his story on tropes associated with the genre. In that way, The Wizard of Oz is not that different from other literary fairytales as created by Andersen or D'Aulnoy. Comoare that to Alice in Wonderland, a nonsense narrative that deliberately breaks with conventional children't literature (including fairy tales) only to ironically become a staple of the genre.
Baum's project was less aimed at a "modernized" fairy take than it was an attempt at an _American_ fairy tale. Like Tolkien, Baum was irked by the fact that the US had no mythology of its own; the books of fairy tales that kids read in his days were all European. (Not surprising since it was, and still is, such a young country.) So he decided to create a fairy tale that was specifically American, both in its main characters and in its attutide and morality.
Thought “there must be a long ass video about Oz lore that I can watch” and lo and behold you emerged like an angel from my search results. Loved this!! Thanks for putting in so much work- this was perfect.
Trot and Cap'n Bill are actually from a separate series that Baum tried to get going after "ending" the Oz books with Emerald City of Oz. The first book, The Sea Fairies, is entirely disconnected from the Oz mythology but the second, Sky Island, starts to introduce more Oz elements (Polychrome is in it, for instance.) Neither book did particularly well, so Baum resurrected the Oz series with The Patchwork Girl of Oz and later added Trot and Bill to that series. The reason why so much of their backstories seem to be unexplained if you only read their appearances in the Oz books is because they were already given in their own books.
@@mightyrobot42 yeah I heard but I haven’t read those yet. I had no knowledge of his work outside of the first Oz book when I started reading the box set so the context is helpful. Might read those
@@suemccashlandCap'n Bill was a regular/resident of Trot's mother's seaside home. If I recall correctly, she ran an inn. When they get stranded in Oz, though, they make no mention of Trot's mother.
Having read the two books, Sky Island is the better of them. The Sea Fairies is a bit too meandering in parts and feels more like a grand tour with a bit of conflict in it towards the end. While Sky Island does have it's flaws, it feels alot more polished.
@@kibstar1 I’ve been obsessed with the movie for years so I’m surprised it took me this long to read them but despite my critiques I genuinely loved reading all of these books I had a great time
Fun fact about Tik-Tok (yes that’s how his name is spelled), he’s actually one of the earliest robots to be created in modern literature, well before the term “robot” was properly coined in 1920. Tik-Tok introductory book, Ozma of Oz, was published in 1907, 13 years ago prior. There’s some debate on if he is the actual first robot in modern literature but he’s no doubt a prototype as unlike the Tin Woodsman who used to be flesh and blood (and I suppose could count as a cyborg if you squint), Tik-Tok is exactly as he is described: he’s a mechanical man who has never lived because he wasn’t born, but made.
When I was 7 I had a huge existential crisis, I was inconsolable. My mom told me to read a book until I could fall asleep hoping to get my mind off it. I proceeded to read the entirety of the first wizard of oz book. Long story short this story has a weird spot in my brain.
1:18:15 "From that moment [of Oz's enchantment] no one in Oz ever died. Those who were old remained old; those who were young and strong did not change as years passed them by; the children remained children always, and played and romped to their hearts' content, while all the babies lived in their cradles and were tenderly cared for and never grew up." -- _The Tin Woodman of Oz_
And It’s weird! No one asked for this and it can have so many insane implications. What If I wanted to age? Or die? What If I was in some random part of oz when they did this and i didn’t even know till later
@@gabydiazortiz Can the oz-ites leave? It sort of sounds like an enchantment on the place and not the people, but obviously I haven’t read these. I personally hate this answer, but I guess if you ever want to “die” you can just take a dip in the oblivion water??? It’s only super awful if you’re a baby or bedridden, and I think there could have been some kind of age altering object introduced (or at least considered!) as soon as “all the babies” are mentioned anywhere NEAR this development.
hi!! a friend of mine recommended this video cause I actually wrote my honors thesis on the original Oz books! always love to see others talk about em and I can’t wait to watch it all!! 💚
I'd really like to see an animated trilogy of the first three books. You add some more continuity and connective tissue and those could really work well as a set. You first follow Dorothy, then Ozma and then everyone comes back for the finale.
Traumatizing as it is, “Return to Oz” pulled in a lot of elements of “The Land of Oz” and “Ozma of Oz.” In fact, most of the scariest parts (except for the shock therapy plot line) are directly lifted from the latter, e.g., the Wheelers, the princess with a closet full of heads, etc.
As a Hispanic gay with an Oz hyperfixation, this video could not have been more perfect for me. I loved seeing the same criticism and the same worldbuilding questions that I've always had actually spoken aloud by someone else that has them. Also the humor in your commentary had me cackling
one of my favorite memories is reading these books under the covers with a flashlight as a kid. this was such a nice reminder of that memory, thank you!!
The Tin Woodsman of Oz book is a wild ride. Talking to your own head about which one is the real you? 10/10. No notes. Exactly why I love fantasy/sci-fi.
It's one of the reasons why I'm always amused at people who talk about how "dark" or "inappropriate" the films are for kids. Jeez, have you ever read the BOOKS? There are legit nightmares in there!
For book 8, Part of why Polychrome “doesn’t remember” Shaggy Man and they reset the nome king is that Baum was over writing the series by this point (hence why he tried to end it at 6) but the fans wanted more and he needed the money, so he basically novelized the stage play based on the book Ozma of Oz. There’s a ton of plot similarities and Betsy is just a Dorothy surrogate.
Should clarify that in writing the play he added in things from later books. Ozga’s origin is similar to a thing from book 4, and then Polychrome and The Shaggy Man are lifted out of book 5.
Additionally, as others have mentioned, book 9 is a sequel to two other books he wrote that weren’t as popular so he slapped Oz onto the end of the story and in the title. Then, he originally wrote book 10 without any Oz connection and his publishers were just like… nah. So he rewrote the ending with Oz characters.
As a massive Oz fan who loved every second of this video, I also have to ask questions to Mr. Baum about the “nobody dies” thing… What if you’re burned at the stake, or you drown? Or when Toto tried to eat those cookie people? Are you just a sentient pile of ash? Do you stay underwater, unable to breathe? To you still feel the sensation of drowning? What would have gone down with the COOKIE PEOPLE HAD TOTO SUCCESSFULLY EATEN THEM?!!!?!?!
This emphasizes how sad it is that Hollywood has been skittish of anything Oz except the first book since the massive failure of Disney’s Return To Oz. There is enough weird and wonderful material in here for a Lord of the Rings-type franchise. Netflix, get on it!
@@Sailormac2 I feel like because of how popular the 1939 film is and how a lot of people are unfamiliar with the series as a whole, audiences seem react poorly to new Oz things that aren’t reminiscent of the movie but also complain of it’s too similar??? I feel like for a new piece of media that still has Dorothy as the main character to really work needs to have a completely different aesthetic maybe. Idk I think comparisons are why no one wants to take risks
To be fair I’m kinda glad they didn’t seeing how they handled the narnia movies (the first one being good then it going down hill with each subsequent one)
I remember back in the early mid 2010’s being real into the Oz books, but having no one or any where to talk about them and gush over. It makes me happy to see people be curious about original Oz stuff, now with the resurgence of Wicked. I didn’t have these sorts of vids back then, but I’m glad the series is finally getting the exposure it deserves
As a long-time OZ fan (like around 55 years) I saw deep dive, 14, and 2 1/3 hours, and decided to check out your post and stayed for the whole thing. I will give you a rating of 95%. Amazing. You got a few trivial details wrong, and missed a few which might be considered pertinent backstory. but it looks like you hit all the major story beats. Doubly impressive if you only read them once a few months ago. Some backstory you might find interesting: The party guests in Road to Oz that weren't in the rest of the story were from earlier books Baum wrote, including Santa Claus, with his retinue of Ryls and Nooks. Trot and Cap'n Bill were not new here. They were introduced in a failed attempt at an all new series, which rather than abandon them he folded into Oz mythos. Baum also wrote 6 Oz short stories, known collectively as The Little Wizard books. There's nothing really to recommend them which is why they're never mentioned. The so called "Famous Forty" is more like 46, since the authors in that list published 6 other Oz books, just not through Reilly & Lee. As much as I despise Ruth Plumly Thompson, she did address the issue of Ozma's father in The Lost King of Oz, Horrible ending unfortunately. Apart from the various Oz books in the "Famous 40"+6, I highly recommend the 5 original graphic novels by Eric Shanower, whom many feel actually 'gets' Baum's style. Eric also illustrated one of those +6, named The Wicked Witch of Oz, which deals with the WW of the South. Personally I don't see the point of Eric's Marvel adaptations of the first 6 Oz books..
Santa is at Ozma's party because L.Frank Baum wrote the novel "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus". A story all about Santa's origin story and it's just as bizarre as the Oz books. Santa is raised by a lioness and Nymph in a forest of immortals spirits. Santa makes other appearances in offshoot Oz materials like comics that Baum had a hand in creating. 😊
@ that already came out! It’s a sketchbook video. It’s not as thorough at all since it’s just me trying to explain some things I had to skip in this one but it’s been out for a bit now
idk how I ended up here, but you got me through a long hair straighening session. I'm a person who moreso "listens" to videos and you're a great story teller. I wasn't in a place to watch the screen but I was able to follow everything perfectly from your great descriptions.
As someone who has owned a cairn terrier mix, and whose husband grew up with a pure bred cairn terrier (they are fantastic dogs btw), being able to speak the whole time but never doing it because they didn't want to is PEAK cairn terrier behavior. that might be the best characterization in the entire series, that perfectly captures the essence of a terrier.
You’ve found a format you are very good at! You’re extremely charming, clear, bright, and expressive - you’re a total joy to watch / listen to. It’s so cool to see you blend your casual charisma with your art like this, I think this combo format has legs! Keep being a nerd!
1:02:25 "This is a surveillance state. Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss" took me out. Now I have to watch the rest of the video, I have no choice but to stan.
I’m currently writing my fan fic that takes place after the 14th book. I watched this in order to catch up on where somethings were at and found it really helpful. Saw wicked last Wednesday and loved it! Fellow artist here and I loved this content! Now I’m a follower ❤
I've read all the books, and the Emerald city is not all green but is decorated with gemstones of many types, so when they did wear the glasses, everything looked green and emerald. In the 2nd book, they still wore the glasses but stopped when Jinjur took over. Her army used their knitting needles to pry up the gems from the streets and fixtures in the city, and jewelers had to repair everything. In later books, I think the author does incorporate more green in the décor, though. As for the no death, people can die outside of Oz, so in Ev or the Gnome Kingdom etc. Once you are in Oz, you become immortal.
Wonderful breakdown. Pretty sure the old timey slur was the time he used the term "pickaninny" . It was unfortunately very common throughout the 1800's and popped up in a lot of books, Oz, Little House on the Prairie, Shirley by Brontë. Disappointing, but all still worth reading. I'm glad it didn't make you quit. Remember, we all hold the power to "kill" the author if we choose. Authors being problematic is, was, and will always be a thing. We can consume their works without absorbing their biases and I feel that you showed that pretty well here.
I am loving that you had similar thoughts on the series. Love Scraps. Your suggestion to adapt the series as an Adventure Time-ish animated series works so well; both are pretty episodic (although AT does get more serial over time, each episode can mostly be enjoyed on its own), and both have that underlying danger and weirdness. I now can’t shake the image of the Nome King looking a lot like the Ice King.
@@gostowl that’s exactly why I thought it could work! I kept picturing him in his cave having tantrums cuz human girl Dorothy (and her later talking dog) keeps ruining his admittedly silly plans. Plus there’s so many kingdoms and creatures and pretty queens everywhere. I was definitely picturing early seasons of adventure times vibes if they ever adapted it as a cartoon because they can be as weird and random as possible. I already posted a part 2 to this video with doodles but now I desperately want to draw Dorothy like fin the human lol
4:48 Probably already been mentioned: The reason the "Tom & Jerry and the Wizard of Oz" is so much like the MGM version is less because of the MGM version being part of pop culture, and more about both intellectual properties being MGM products (owned by Warner Media.) So it's less an homage or parody, and more of a MCU style crossover! The MGMiverse!
This kiss on the forehead wasn't so much a protection spell as it was a warning to other that she was "under the protection" of the witch of the north.
Following this channel is the best decision in my life, its a goldmine and comfort content for a graphic designer and a bookworm like me :)))) Thanks for existing Gaby
Wizard of Oz is one of my special interests I love the books so much and have been hoping to find a video someone did about ALL (or most) of them that actually interested me and im so so so so so so SOO excited!!!! Before I would just rewatch James Rolfe's video constantly so im excited to add this to my small collection of Oz content I can watch!
@@homosexula5595 I hope you like the video! There’s so much in all the books that I had to skip over a bunch. I added some of the stuff I cut out into a part 2
Thank you. I always wondered what was in the books no one bothered to make movies about, but not enough to read them. This helped satisfy that long held curiosity. My thoughts watching: I found this discussion very interesting. I know it bugged you that no one bothered to tell the gang that the wizard's gifts were placebos and they didn't discover it for themselves, but the point of symbolic literature is that the reader sees the truth contained in the symbolism, and even having it drawn out and stand out that the reader continues to see what the character does not helps underscore that symbolism and drive home its message. The reader is the one that needs to engage in introspection and self discovery and ultimately see where the strengths and virtues lie within themselves. What placebos are we relying on? Conversely, it is not helpful to expose placebos for others. Placebos, even though they are treated lightly or even with contempt in our pretentious, scientific minds, are a form of wonderful magic that continues to defy science, that are rather deserving of appreciation. Prematurely exposing a placebo before a person has established and incorporated its effects into themselves is more likely to negate its power, becoming to the person more of a debilitating anti placebo, than helping them connect with a pre-existing inner power. It's a well-meaning error to inform another about themselves to help them grow, even if it is based on seeing them as stronger or more powerful than they see themselves, as it creates a conflict between one's own reality and theirs. So I see the satisfying self discovery didn't occur in the story, but it was presented as a lesson at the end of the first story, where the lesson was clear to the reader. Subsequent stories were more focused on connecting and continuing threads of familiarity from the first story while expanding in different directions. It could have been a satisfying storyline where each character loses their placebo at a time where the situation requires their use of those traits to move forward, causing them to discover they already had them within (the general format of the fable), but this moral was already clear enough in the first story. I think it more powerful to acknowledge that it is not enough to have the traits already, because we all have the capacity for all traits to begin with, good or bad, but the capacity is not enough. Faith is required, and faith is cheap if it can simply be created, and oppressive if such can be expected. Faith must be founded in something, or held in something, and not simply the arrogance and self delusion of the ego, and when it is lost, it must be restored, but not simply by denying its erosion or the effects of broken trust. Rather than granting a trait or power that was never there, a placebo's power lies in being a vessel for faith, which allows the strengthening of abilities that though they were always there, were weak. Those traits and abilities become strengthened through use until the person discovers, either when the placebo is no longer available or simply becomes unnecessary, that those parts of themselves are sufficiently strong without the need of outside help.
You should check out the Oz comics published by Marvel, drawn by Scottie Young. They stick pretty close to the books, and Scottie was not beholden to the movie designs for any of the characters and locations. His "unhinged" style really fits the vibe of Baum's whimsy and randomness, in my opinion.
A couple points: first, it's worth noting that the whole Tip/Ozma business was likely written as the set-up for a possible theatrical adaptation. The original 'Wizard' was turned into a smash-hit Broadway musical decades before the MGM version, and Baum tried to replicate that success for the rest of his life; 'Land of Oz' is literally dedicated to the actors who played the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman. It used to be standard practice for young male characters to be played by women onstage (as is still often the case with Peter Pan, for example); Tip turning into Ozma would have been a simple case of a quick costume change, providing a nice 'wow!' moment and bit of stage illusion. Second, I hope 'Royal Book' doesn't put you off Ruth Plumly Thompson entirely, because even among enthusiasts of hers, it's generally considered to be her worst book; she was just getting started in the series, and it shows. I grew up with it, so I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for it, but I'll definitely admit that it's flawed, and not one I'd recommend as an introduction to the author. Most of Thompson's Oz books were not like that; she was definitely a very different author than Baum (and yes, had the occasional non-PC moment; it's an old series; whatcha gonna do), but some of her best books are truly excellent, in my opinion - I recommend 'The Cowardly Lion of Oz', 'Kabumpo of Oz', 'The Purple Prince of Oz', 'The Giant Horse of Oz' and 'Speedy in Oz', in particular. (Also, while it's not one of her better books, 'The Lost King of Oz' specifically addresses what happened to Ozma's dad, King Pastoria.) So far as other old kids' series go, a couple I would recommend would be the 'Dr. Dolittle' series by Hugh Lofting, and the 'Freddy the Pig' books by Walter R. Brooks. I used to be big into Dr. Dolittle when I was younger; it's classic, charming fantasy adventure stuff - again, a few non-PC moments here and there, but very mild ones, overall. As for the Freddy books, they're what I like to think of as 'summer vacation' novels - they're light, they're breezy, they're absolute comfort food; you can finish one over the course of an afternoon and close the cover with a smile on your face. (Also, a surprising amount of them feature some sharp bits of social commentary.)
Now that you've read all of these, read the entirety of Gregory Maguire's Wicked series. He does a great job of incorporating so many of the weird characters and geography from the original books. I also love Tip/Ozma's storyline in the later books
FUN FACT!! In Chittenango, New York (where the original wizard of OZ was written) there are large prints of the pictures in the wizard of oz all over the tops friendly markets grocery store!
In order to fully understand the lore of the original Fourteen, you have to read about the stage plays and the IP decisions. That explains the nearly identical characters, the various animal companions, etc. A useful way to think about the first six books is that each has a quest structure and therefore shuffles the roles. The southern lands of Baumian fantasy always have a red themed sorceress. For a compare and contrast to Oz, you should check out the Enchated Island of Yew. Baum had a boys' adventure series in which Zeb's attitudes would have fit much better. My favorite of the first six is Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz although id say the Gargoyles are representing both Native Americans and deaf people.
You should also check out a YA series called Dorothy Must Die where another girl from Kansas goes to Oz where Dorothy is an evil tyrant and all good characters are bad and vice versa. The author really did her homework on the books of Baum.
This was a great video! You did a wonderful job describing the books without getting overly caught up in the details. My grandparents have copies of most of the original books so I’ve always seen them growing up but I never read them. Also I appreciate your analysis at the end about Baum’s views.
1. Baum wrote a lot of fairy tale books before Oz took off; and the birthday party at the end of the Road to Oz was basically a way for him to push his other stories. That's why Santa Claus shows up, since one of those books was The Life and Times of Santa Claus. 2. My headcanon is that the "no one dies" thing is a new development, and a side effect of Glinda's "seal Oz off from the rest of the world" magic. 3. The Scarecrow of Oz didn't introduce Cap'n Bill and Trot. After writing The Emerald City of Oz, Baum tried to branch out and write other fantasy novels for children, starting with one called The Sea Fairies (which also introduced Mermaids, and established a friendship between them and Cap'n Bill and Trot). _That's_ where Cap'n Bill and Trot were first introduced. This was followed up by a sequel called Sky Island, where Cap'n Bill and Trot encountered Button Bright and used his magic umbrella to travel to Sky Island; and while there, they also ended up encountering Polychrome, Attorney At Law! (You'll get the joke if you ever decide to read the book.) Those books weren't selling as well as the Oz books had, though; so Baum then wrote the Patchwork Girl of Oz. The Scarecrow of Oz was him bringing the cast of his Trot and Cap'n Bill books into Oz. 4. Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote a _lot_ of Oz books; I think she ended up writing more than Baum did, in fact. And one of them was called "The Lost King of Oz". I will say no more.
@@dataweaver I mention the Santa Claus thing in my second Oz video! It’s not a long video and it’s just me rushing to get through some stuff that I had to take out of this one but it’s a sketchbook video so it includes some Oz character doodles. Had to cut it out of this one because it was too long. I do like that headcanon also. And I’m working on a video now about how much I didn’t care for the royal book of Oz which is why I’m unfortunately not going to read the rest of the books after Baum’s death. Didn’t like that book so i can’t imagine reading 18 more by Ruth
@gabydiazortiz In that case, I suppose you wouldn't mind a spoiler. In "The Lost King of Oz", Dorothy briefly gets transported to Hollywood. When she arrives, she's removed from the magic of Oz and immediately starts growing up, so that her biological age ends up matching her chronological age. Upon returning to Oz, she reverts to her magic-supported youth. As well, the subject of the book is what happened to Pastoria. In short, he is found, and returned to the Emerald City; but Ozma is left in charge as the ruler of Oz. For what it's worth, I agree with your assessment of Ruth Thompson's writing; I do not recommend reading her works. I haven't read the Royal Book of Oz, and don't intend to; but as a child, I stumbled across a few of her later books. I don't regret reading The Lost King of Oz, per se; but I'm not going to track down a copy and reread it, either.
This was recommended to me, and it absolutely was for me. I remember reading a few of the Oz books as a kid and enjoying them, and I always have wondered how weird they get. Fantastic video!
1:58:23 -- I always liked that the Tin Man gets turned into an owl that is also tin -- IMO much more logical than the original book of "Pinocchio," where he gets turned into a _flesh and blood_ donkey, rather than a wooden one, as would make more sense. But then again, Baum was writing "to please a child," whereas Carlo Collodi was writing to preach morality.
I’ve been saving this video to watch at work today! I didn’t know anything about these books, Wicked, RTO, but I’m so sat now. This is spectacular. You should definitely do the Narnia books next! I read them as a kid and it still feels like a fever dream…
@@madeline4711 aw thank you! I have read the narnia books! I actually re read the lion the witch and the wardrobe a lot but I don’t currently have all of the books (when I read all of them i borrowed them from a friend and if I ever get the books of the series that I’m missing I’ll definitely do it)
I have been such a fan of the books for such a long time and literally thank you for putting time into this wonderful video! I could listen to you talk for hours! May the momentum continue!
Thanks so much for making this video. I read the 14 books L. Frank Baum wrote as a young adult around the time Return to Oz came out, and I appreciate you giving the summaries so I could remember them!
I listened to volunteer-made audio versions of these a decade ago and some of the scenes and characters are still stuck in my head. I guess I missed books 12 through 14, but listening to you made me want to reread them all! Hoping for the best for the Wicked movie!
Sooooo I was a weird kid in middle school and I was obsessed with the 14 oz books and the 2 wonderland books, and associated spinoffs/fanfics (looking glass wars, sisters Grimm, etc). I made a tcg that was basically janky magic the gathering (without any knowledge of tcgs) with obscure characters and objects from the books, like the Golden Cap, the Nome King Belt, and Prof H. M. Wogglebug T. E. I puzzled over the retcons and was properly horrified by the dismemberment-without-death immortality of Oz. I have never met another person who has read these books. Almost no one knows there’s more than two! Many people only know the movie. It’s WILD bc I’ve thought about doing a way-too-long video essay deep dive on the Baum Oz books, and so I was gobsmacked to see this vid. Great video. (And good timing with the Wicked movie!)
I grew up listening to The Patchwork Girl on cassette tapes every night to fall asleep. When I grew up, I spent my first ever working Christmas bonus to have my cassettes digitized so that I could listen to it again. It's just so special.
@@harperediger7375 omg thank you. I have a second video about Oz where I talk about some things that I had to cut from this video but it’s more of a sketchbook video where I draw some of the characters if you want to check it out
@@gabydiazortiz This video is so entertaining so far. I will have to come back tomorrow to watch the rest but make no mistake, you are my new niche TH-camr fave.
Hello Gaby !! It's so nice to meet you !! I wanted to thank you for taking the time and putting so much love and energy into creating this video essay.. I trulyyyy enjoyed every second of it... I am fairly new to the wicked fandom or the "oz-verse" if you will hehe.. The last time I watched the classic "Wizard of Oz" was when I was a kid.. I have very vivid memories of specific scenes, but because it's been so long I can't fully remember the entire film from start to finish.. As I usually would nowadays.. I didn't know that this universe is so big until I stumbled upon your video and started obsessing over everything that has to do with Wicked and the entire lore of oz... I hope that one day I could read the original 14 Baum books as you did... I love reading but I am a very slow reader, unfortunately... It takes me awhile to get through a book.. Unless the plot and writing really hooked me, then maybe I could go through it faster than I normally would. Also shout-out to "Ozma" being a trans-coded character !! As a trans woman myself.. When I started listening to you talk about her journey.. I couldn't stop smiling... Knowing that her character was created many many moons ago.. In a time when I assume trans people weren't even properly recognized by society... So it was very endearing for me to learn about her.. I do hope you continue to create more videos in the future sharing your own thoughts and opinions on topics you're passionate about from books, more oz lore, and whatever else that peaks your interest.. You were such a joy to listen to... Again, thank you. 🫧
@@hylierosabelle that’s very sweet of you! I am hoping to make more videos in the future. And the transcoding of ozma is one of the reasons I decided to read the sequel books. I saw a lot of content on places like tumblr so I decided to check out the other books, not knowing there were so many
if you haven't read Diana Wynne Jones's World of Howl books I highly recommend them! chronological order is Howl's Moving Caste, The Castle in the Air, then The House of Many Ways. if you've seen the Ghibli/Miyazaki movie, don't expect them to be similar - i love it but it's less an adaptation and more inspired by the book.
Ooh, as soon as I saw this on my feed I knew I had to jump in! I'm currently on my own journey of reading all of the Wizard of Oz books-well I'm actually listening to all the audiobooks, but still--and man it has been a journey! I'm so excited to hear someone else's take on what they think of the series since there's so much more to the world than the 1st book! Can't wait to see the rest of your videos on this
3:30 - Me too friend, me too! LOL! I kinda thought I was the only one who didn’t mind “spoilers” and can watch a summary or breakdown and still enjoy reading or watching the original media item afterwards 😊 Glad to know I’m not alone! Thank you for making this excellent walkthrough of the Frank L. Baum original Oz books. I wasn’t even aware there are 14 books penned by him about Oz… for whatever reason I had thought there were only 3 books? So this is going to be a fun watch for me today 😊 You have a new subscriber Gaby! I’m excited to comb through your back catalog as well, thanks for sharing your work with the class, lol!
My headcanon on Emerald City is that after Ozma returned she transformed the Emerald city into actual emeralds, so everything is made of emeralds and they don't need thd glasses.
@@BroadwayGuy I think the first 3 books are fantastic. If anyone wanted to adapt the books but didn’t want to do all 14, the first 3 would be a great series
I have watched so many Oz related videos including some you recommended and this is easily my favorite! It was so well done and you are very charismatic. Very, very much enjoyed by a person who definitely needed a distraction from life ❤😊
As a artistic late 26 year old Puerto Rican im over the moon on finding your channel!! Love video essays but will definitely have to check your art also! ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙🤎
7:15 OKAAAAAY now we’re talking. Putting it this way gets us into the real nitty gritty, viewing the story completely objectively and separately from pop culture assumptions. Explaining Oz that way makes you such a credible source you have no idea. This isn’t just a surface level rehash. We’re treating this world like the universe it is and not a pop culture blip and I’m here for it.
As a fan of the books since I was in second grade, this is the video I've been waiting for forever. It's so hard to find videos that talk about the series in full, especially at length. Your commentary on the inconsistencies cracks me up. I remember reading years ago that L. Frank Baum never reread his books which really shows throughout the series. 🤣
Yesss, I read through all these just a couple years ago. First three are great, then Dorothy and the Wizard come back and it's like watching a good friend get really into prescription painkillers
Thank you so much for going so in depth with LFB’s Oz books!!! Your analysis made me giggle so much, and I love how you wore all of Oz’s colors!!! I had such a great time watching you 💚
I first remember watching the The Wizard of Oz when I was, like, four years old. I never remember being afraid of the winged monkeys. I mean, I didn't like them, but I was never one of those people who remember them as something traumatic from my childhood. I always found the bit with the hourglass way more upsetting than anything to do with the monkeys because that scene had some real menace to it.
Yeah I was never scared of the monkeys either but I was also the kind of kid that was into children’s horror so ik that a lot of people get the creeps from them. My mom HATED them and still comments on it every time we watch the movie lol
1:08:52 -- "Patchwork Girl" is definitely my favorite of the original "Canonical" Oz books because it's so whimsical, in spite of the plot holes. And BTW, the original idea behind the Woozy is that he was supposed to be a parody of Picasso's "Cubist Period"
I don't have strong feelings one way or the other re trans issues. That being said: Ozma being "trans" can just as equally be applied by the anti-trans contingent. From that perspective, she was a girl who got turned into a boy by an evil witch (with her not being consulted in the matter). When she's released from the enchantment and gets over the initial shock, she embraces her true, original, biological nature. This shows that what you are born as is what you are, and any changes are bad. I'm also 100% sure that this was not in Baum's mind when he wrote it.
Love these books and hate how rarely I see them brought up! Only just starting this video but will definitely be watching the whole thing and part two!
Hi everyone! Thanks for sitting through all of this. If anyone is curious about my art, you can check out my stuff on TikTok and instagram! My handle is the same on everything
I remember being extremely upset when I was a 5th Grader reading the second book and being so happy that the hero was a boy instead of Dorothy -- only to have him go through a sex change! I was SURE that in future books he would go back to being Tip at least temporarily but instead they never mention that he was ever Tip again! I get that this is very forward-thinking for when it was written, but for a little boy who wanted Tip to stay a boy, it was deeply disturbing!
@@AndyMakesPlaylists The reasons behind it was to protect Ozma so being a boy is the ultimate disguise.
Thank you for your hard work!❤❤
2:09: 2:09:23
Hey you got it wrong the original wizard of oz is in public domain
"Brief as possible."
2.5 hours
Part 1.
Love it.
Girl, "deep dives on books/movies I have not read/seen" is about 40% of my TH-cam algorithm. XD
That and sewing content is everything to me
Me too. I love deep dives so much. ✨
I think these books would make an insanely fun cartoon. I think the plot is there too where they could really play with it and make it interesting!
Found this at 25 views. The algorithm really said “for you” and it was right.
@@ArtemisLeo2662 I’m so glad! The algorithm on literally all my social media decided that it hated me yesterday because no one saw my posts about it being out either lol. I hope you liked it
lol here at 85 for the same reason
@@ericajesse7779 yay! I’m glad the TH-cam gods have decided to share my video
Here at 14k!
@@ampleparkingTV which is insane to me. Most of my videos are extremely lucky to get 500 views
The best part in these stories is when Dorothy realizes she can't really die because she is basically the main character. So she jumps off a cliff.. and whatdoyaknow? Saved by a magic belt.
:0 thats awesome
I like to think that the city being emerald is tied to the rightful ruler being in charge, so when the Wizard takes over, the city loose the green color, and he made the rule about the spectecles so people would not realize he was fraud, when Ozma comes back the city would change into being green again.
I have not read the books so I don't know if something like this is ever implied, but it's nice fairytale logic.
I think Baum just forgot about it to be honest but I love that idea so I’m choosing to see it as canon now
I love this head canon and accept it wholeheartedly. Certainly in keeping with the fairy tail ethos.
No, it's much simpler than that. The Emerald City is predominately green, it's just that the spectacles make absolutely everything look green, even the stuff that isn't. Even before they get to the Emerald City, they see that the predominant color of that region is green. The book makes that pretty clear. When Dorothy asks the Wizard "Isn't everything here green?" the answer given to her is not "No, actually nothing here is green." The answer she's given is "Not anymore than any other city." That answer simply means that not everything in the city is green, and should not be taken to mean that there's no green in it whatsoever. It kind of confuses me that people still consider this a continuity error, because I read these books when I was a kid, and even then it didn't take a strong mind to figure out that just because the glasses made everything look green, that didn't necessarily mean that there was no green in the city.
@@curtthegamer934 the reason I say it’s a continuity issue is because in the first book, yes the walls are green, but it’s not a city made entirely out of emeralds so blinding that it requires spectacles. It’s just green. The spectacles thing was a lie that colors the way visitors see the emerald city as this grandiose place and I always read that part of the first book as symbolic. The wizard is a sham and the spectacles are basically something to make people believe that the emerald city is more green and vibrant than it actually is. But that aspect is forgotten about in other books so it kind of makes the symbolism of the spectacles not matter. That’s why I enjoy versions or headcanons that make the city just a bit dingier without the glasses. Like ‘yeah the city is pretty but I was expecting more’
This is my new headcannon!
I really wish someone would do a high budget TV series called “The Land Of Oz”. Adapting the storylines from the 14 original books. Listening to you describe the books I thought “If a good writer and showrunner could come in, fix the plot holes, and take the less interesting/ unneeded characters out…this could be a compelling show!” I love the idea of starting with an accurate retelling of the first book! Then getting into The tip/ozma plotline. Gnome king. Mombi. Toto being able to talk but choosing not to 😭. So many cool things could be done with the best parts of the books. I wish someone was brave enough to greenlight it in a post Wicked movie world. Would anyone else wanna see this?
The catch is that an editor would have to fix the inconsistencies, and that would no doubt leave some viewers complaining about whichever choices were made
@@williamswidal1318 I doubt there are enough living fans of the books to complain much 😂
Hopefully it comes out after I die so I don’t need to see live action wheelers
But nah, almost everyone just uses elements from the 1939 movie mixed featuring OCs and fanfic ideas...
@@misschanandlerbong753You mean again? The wheelers in Return to Oz were pretty impressive
This is my favorite kind of nerd content. I adore deep dives on super niche topics i didnt even know existed
@@franz9850 oh absolutely. I love watching book reviews for books I have no interest in reading
this implies you didnt know the wizard of oz existed and that scares me
@@looseleaflyra I assume they mean all the books. I was certainly shocked to find out how many existed
@@looseleaflyra HAHAHAHA I meant didn't know there was more than one book, but it's kind of funnier if I had meant it the other way around
@@gabydiazortiz yeah, exactly lol
28:17
Honestly, Baum was a pretty progressive writer. The main character in his books is a girl who's adventurous and willing to slap a lion in the face. The most powerful mage is a woman who has an all female army. The true ruler of Oz is a girl, Ozma, Billina
That’s what makes some of his other beliefs so frustrating! The female characters are so refreshing
@gabydiazortiz Sorry to ask, but... what other beliefs
Edit: I saw the rest of the video... and some parts of the oz books were.
Yeah... unless there's something else
1:50:29 never mind...
2:17:44 .........(moral of the story kids, watch the full video before commenting)
Not too surprising, as his mother-in-law was a leader of the Feminist Movement in the US at the time
@@unfabgirloh yeah Matilda was a badass for her time and it’s clear she heavily inspired Baum since he has sooo many female characters that actually have personality and all from the 1900s
I thought Oz was born a boy. At least that's what I remember?
Mad respect to the Flying Monkeys for being like “that’s too much, that still counted though”
I definitely thought too hard while reading The Emerald City of Oz. In that story Aunt Em is understandably confused that a chicken, formerly of her farm, is a citizen of Oz and therefore not on the menu. Dorothy explains it to her aunt as if this should be obvious and not even a question. Yet when Dorothy and the squad travel to Bunbury, a city built and inhabited with baked goods, Dorothy gets indignant that the denizen only offer her a wheel barrow and some fence to sate her hunger. Furthermore she is confused that they wish to punish Toto for literally eating people. Like, Girl, if Bill the chicken and her brood are citizens of Oz free to live and not be eaten, then the sentient cookies deserve the same.
@@cheshiredeimos1874 yeah! I didn’t bring it up cuz I had skip parts for time but the Oz books are so weird about who is actually allowed to be a ‘person’. Of course they’ll be mad at you and Toto, you’re trying to eat them!
@@gabydiazortiz Yes to both of you!!!
And then… let’s say Toto (whom I adore, mind you) had succeeded in eating them. But nobody dies, soooooo. What would have HAPPENED then? 😱
Didn’t the gnome king die…? 🤔
@gabydiazortiz Kinda "funny" how that inconsistency and vague asignment of personhood rights and perception is oddly real life alike 😅
I'm actually comfortable with calling The Wizard of Oz a fairytale compared to the likes of Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan, because Baum himself set out to write a "modernized fairy tale" and deliberately based his story on tropes associated with the genre. In that way, The Wizard of Oz is not that different from other literary fairytales as created by Andersen or D'Aulnoy. Comoare that to Alice in Wonderland, a nonsense narrative that deliberately breaks with conventional children't literature (including fairy tales) only to ironically become a staple of the genre.
Baum's project was less aimed at a "modernized" fairy take than it was an attempt at an _American_ fairy tale. Like Tolkien, Baum was irked by the fact that the US had no mythology of its own; the books of fairy tales that kids read in his days were all European. (Not surprising since it was, and still is, such a young country.) So he decided to create a fairy tale that was specifically American, both in its main characters and in its attutide and morality.
@@Serai3but he used GNOMES. Which came from Germanic mythology
@@shirleymaemattthews4862well no one accused him of achieving his goal lol
The game developers over at _Lies of P_ seem to strongly agree with you.
You have incredible charisma! I could listen to you speak all day! Really had me interested in Oz in a way I can’t say I’ve ever been before.
@@mimiosaqueen9817 oh my thank you 💕
Thought “there must be a long ass video about Oz lore that I can watch” and lo and behold you emerged like an angel from my search results. Loved this!! Thanks for putting in so much work- this was perfect.
Trot and Cap'n Bill are actually from a separate series that Baum tried to get going after "ending" the Oz books with Emerald City of Oz. The first book, The Sea Fairies, is entirely disconnected from the Oz mythology but the second, Sky Island, starts to introduce more Oz elements (Polychrome is in it, for instance.) Neither book did particularly well, so Baum resurrected the Oz series with The Patchwork Girl of Oz and later added Trot and Bill to that series.
The reason why so much of their backstories seem to be unexplained if you only read their appearances in the Oz books is because they were already given in their own books.
@@mightyrobot42 yeah I heard but I haven’t read those yet. I had no knowledge of his work outside of the first Oz book when I started reading the box set so the context is helpful. Might read those
Yeah practically everyone at Ozma's BD party in book 5 is a main character in one of Baum's non-Oz fantasies. Ditto the land of Mo in book 9.
sooo... did capn bill adopt trot, or what?
@@suemccashlandCap'n Bill was a regular/resident of Trot's mother's seaside home. If I recall correctly, she ran an inn. When they get stranded in Oz, though, they make no mention of Trot's mother.
Having read the two books, Sky Island is the better of them. The Sea Fairies is a bit too meandering in parts and feels more like a grand tour with a bit of conflict in it towards the end. While Sky Island does have it's flaws, it feels alot more polished.
i think i read through all 14 original books as a kid but ive completely forgotten all of them so this is an exciting little treat!!
@@kibstar1 I’ve been obsessed with the movie for years so I’m surprised it took me this long to read them but despite my critiques I genuinely loved reading all of these books I had a great time
@ i know, I say that in the intro. But I was only reading the books written by the original author
this is what I've been waiting years for. someone talking in delphs about the books
@@collinschoenfelder677 I felt like I had to because I had no one to talk to about them who understood how unhinged the books got
Bro, I love princess Ozma's story arc. Iconic, legendary, epic.
I love her! I had so much fun drawing her and Dorothy in my sketchbook. I made a part 2 of this but it’s mostly just my sketchbook doodles
Fun fact about Tik-Tok (yes that’s how his name is spelled), he’s actually one of the earliest robots to be created in modern literature, well before the term “robot” was properly coined in 1920. Tik-Tok introductory book, Ozma of Oz, was published in 1907, 13 years ago prior.
There’s some debate on if he is the actual first robot in modern literature but he’s no doubt a prototype as unlike the Tin Woodsman who used to be flesh and blood (and I suppose could count as a cyborg if you squint), Tik-Tok is exactly as he is described: he’s a mechanical man who has never lived because he wasn’t born, but made.
When I was 7 I had a huge existential crisis, I was inconsolable. My mom told me to read a book until I could fall asleep hoping to get my mind off it. I proceeded to read the entirety of the first wizard of oz book. Long story short this story has a weird spot in my brain.
1:18:15 "From that moment [of Oz's enchantment] no one in Oz ever died. Those who were old remained old; those who were young and strong did not change as years passed them by; the children remained children always, and played and romped to their hearts' content, while all the babies lived in their cradles and were tenderly cared for and never grew up."
-- _The Tin Woodman of Oz_
And It’s weird! No one asked for this and it can have so many insane implications. What If I wanted to age? Or die? What If I was in some random part of oz when they did this and i didn’t even know till later
@@gabydiazortiz
Can the oz-ites leave? It sort of sounds like an enchantment on the place and not the people, but obviously I haven’t read these.
I personally hate this answer, but I guess if you ever want to “die” you can just take a dip in the oblivion water??? It’s only super awful if you’re a baby or bedridden, and I think there could have been some kind of age altering object introduced (or at least considered!) as soon as “all the babies” are mentioned anywhere NEAR this development.
@@gabydiazortiz in the next book, it was revealed that you can get old if you want to
hi!! a friend of mine recommended this video cause I actually wrote my honors thesis on the original Oz books! always love to see others talk about em and I can’t wait to watch it all!! 💚
@@anyzayzYT wow a thesis on Oz. I hope this is enjoyable for you then because I had to skip quite a bit
… quite… 😅
I'd really like to see an animated trilogy of the first three books. You add some more continuity and connective tissue and those could really work well as a set. You first follow Dorothy, then Ozma and then everyone comes back for the finale.
@@ElCactus7567 if more kids books were turned into animated movies instead of huge budget live action movies, society would finally heal
@@gabydiazortiz : I absolutely LOVE this response.
The anime from the 80s covering books 1-3 and 6 is really good for this.
@@FigmentJedi it is, also in 2, do not hide anything from Glinda....she'll correct you Wonder Woman style.
Traumatizing as it is, “Return to Oz” pulled in a lot of elements of “The Land of Oz” and “Ozma of Oz.” In fact, most of the scariest parts (except for the shock therapy plot line) are directly lifted from the latter, e.g., the Wheelers, the princess with a closet full of heads, etc.
As a Hispanic gay with an Oz hyperfixation, this video could not have been more perfect for me. I loved seeing the same criticism and the same worldbuilding questions that I've always had actually spoken aloud by someone else that has them. Also the humor in your commentary had me cackling
@@inkfyre13 thank you ✨
one of my favorite memories is reading these books under the covers with a flashlight as a kid. this was such a nice reminder of that memory, thank you!!
The Tin Woodsman of Oz book is a wild ride. Talking to your own head about which one is the real you? 10/10. No notes. Exactly why I love fantasy/sci-fi.
It's one of the reasons why I'm always amused at people who talk about how "dark" or "inappropriate" the films are for kids. Jeez, have you ever read the BOOKS? There are legit nightmares in there!
For book 8, Part of why Polychrome “doesn’t remember” Shaggy Man and they reset the nome king is that Baum was over writing the series by this point (hence why he tried to end it at 6) but the fans wanted more and he needed the money, so he basically novelized the stage play based on the book Ozma of Oz. There’s a ton of plot similarities and Betsy is just a Dorothy surrogate.
Should clarify that in writing the play he added in things from later books. Ozga’s origin is similar to a thing from book 4, and then Polychrome and The Shaggy Man are lifted out of book 5.
Additionally, as others have mentioned, book 9 is a sequel to two other books he wrote that weren’t as popular so he slapped Oz onto the end of the story and in the title.
Then, he originally wrote book 10 without any Oz connection and his publishers were just like… nah. So he rewrote the ending with Oz characters.
lol out loud.
(“Gnome…”) ✅
As a massive Oz fan who loved every second of this video, I also have to ask questions to Mr. Baum about the “nobody dies” thing…
What if you’re burned at the stake, or you drown? Or when Toto tried to eat those cookie people?
Are you just a sentient pile of ash? Do you stay underwater, unable to breathe? To you still feel the sensation of drowning? What would have gone down with the COOKIE PEOPLE HAD TOTO SUCCESSFULLY EATEN THEM?!!!?!?!
Maybe we should ask that puddle of water back at the Witches place & see how she's doing?
Muppets Wizard of Oz is somehow a more faithful adaptation lmao I love it
This emphasizes how sad it is that Hollywood has been skittish of anything Oz except the first book since the massive failure of Disney’s Return To Oz. There is enough weird and wonderful material in here for a Lord of the Rings-type franchise. Netflix, get on it!
@@Sailormac2 I feel like because of how popular the 1939 film is and how a lot of people are unfamiliar with the series as a whole, audiences seem react poorly to new Oz things that aren’t reminiscent of the movie but also complain of it’s too similar??? I feel like for a new piece of media that still has Dorothy as the main character to really work needs to have a completely different aesthetic maybe. Idk I think comparisons are why no one wants to take risks
To be fair I’m kinda glad they didn’t seeing how they handled the narnia movies (the first one being good then it going down hill with each subsequent one)
I think there is this idea that it is "cursed" (considering all the bad stuff that happened on set)
@@kendallchaos i liked the old bbc narnia mini series
@@banquetoftheleviathan1404 I’ve never seen the old ones, I’m referring to the Disney ones
It's actually crazy to realise that when the Wizard of Oz movie came out, it was an ongoing franchise
I remember back in the early mid 2010’s being real into the Oz books, but having no one or any where to talk about them and gush over. It makes me happy to see people be curious about original Oz stuff, now with the resurgence of Wicked. I didn’t have these sorts of vids back then, but I’m glad the series is finally getting the exposure it deserves
As a long-time OZ fan (like around 55 years) I saw deep dive, 14, and 2 1/3 hours, and decided to check out your post and stayed for the whole thing. I will give you a rating of 95%. Amazing. You got a few trivial details wrong, and missed a few which might be considered pertinent backstory. but it looks like you hit all the major story beats. Doubly impressive if you only read them once a few months ago.
Some backstory you might find interesting:
The party guests in Road to Oz that weren't in the rest of the story were from earlier books Baum wrote, including Santa Claus, with his retinue of Ryls and Nooks.
Trot and Cap'n Bill were not new here. They were introduced in a failed attempt at an all new series, which rather than abandon them he folded into Oz mythos.
Baum also wrote 6 Oz short stories, known collectively as The Little Wizard books. There's nothing really to recommend them which is why they're never mentioned.
The so called "Famous Forty" is more like 46, since the authors in that list published 6 other Oz books, just not through Reilly & Lee.
As much as I despise Ruth Plumly Thompson, she did address the issue of Ozma's father in The Lost King of Oz, Horrible ending unfortunately.
Apart from the various Oz books in the "Famous 40"+6, I highly recommend the 5 original graphic novels by Eric Shanower, whom many feel actually 'gets' Baum's style.
Eric also illustrated one of those +6, named The Wicked Witch of Oz, which deals with the WW of the South.
Personally I don't see the point of Eric's Marvel adaptations of the first 6 Oz books..
Santa is at Ozma's party because L.Frank Baum wrote the novel "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus". A story all about Santa's origin story and it's just as bizarre as the Oz books. Santa is raised by a lioness and Nymph in a forest of immortals spirits. Santa makes other appearances in offshoot Oz materials like comics that Baum had a hand in creating. 😊
@@LegendsP137 oh ik! That was actually going to be in part 2
Read that one last year. It’s bonkers, because it’s kind of Santa by way of Celtic mythology almost.
@@Melvito2not sure if celtic myths influenced Baum, but that would be cool if it had.
@@gabydiazortiz I'm looking forward to part 2!
@ that already came out! It’s a sketchbook video. It’s not as thorough at all since it’s just me trying to explain some things I had to skip in this one but it’s been out for a bit now
idk how I ended up here, but you got me through a long hair straighening session. I'm a person who moreso "listens" to videos and you're a great story teller. I wasn't in a place to watch the screen but I was able to follow everything perfectly from your great descriptions.
@@ashdacraft now that I think about it, this video is definitely long enough for hair straightening time. Thanks I’m glad you liked it
As someone who has owned a cairn terrier mix, and whose husband grew up with a pure bred cairn terrier (they are fantastic dogs btw), being able to speak the whole time but never doing it because they didn't want to is PEAK cairn terrier behavior. that might be the best characterization in the entire series, that perfectly captures the essence of a terrier.
You’ve found a format you are very good at! You’re extremely charming, clear, bright, and expressive - you’re a total joy to watch / listen to. It’s so cool to see you blend your casual charisma with your art like this, I think this combo format has legs! Keep being a nerd!
1:02:25 "This is a surveillance state. Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss" took me out. Now I have to watch the rest of the video, I have no choice but to stan.
@@zangetsu284 thank you 😊
I’m currently writing my fan fic that takes place after the 14th book. I watched this in order to catch up on where somethings were at and found it really helpful.
Saw wicked last Wednesday and loved it! Fellow artist here and I loved this content! Now I’m a follower ❤
I've read all the books, and the Emerald city is not all green but is decorated with gemstones of many types, so when they did wear the glasses, everything looked green and emerald. In the 2nd book, they still wore the glasses but stopped when Jinjur took over. Her army used their knitting needles to pry up the gems from the streets and fixtures in the city, and jewelers had to repair everything. In later books, I think the author does incorporate more green in the décor, though. As for the no death, people can die outside of Oz, so in Ev or the Gnome Kingdom etc. Once you are in Oz, you become immortal.
Wonderful breakdown. Pretty sure the old timey slur was the time he used the term "pickaninny" . It was unfortunately very common throughout the 1800's and popped up in a lot of books, Oz, Little House on the Prairie, Shirley by Brontë. Disappointing, but all still worth reading. I'm glad it didn't make you quit. Remember, we all hold the power to "kill" the author if we choose. Authors being problematic is, was, and will always be a thing. We can consume their works without absorbing their biases and I feel that you showed that pretty well here.
I am loving that you had similar thoughts on the series. Love Scraps. Your suggestion to adapt the series as an Adventure Time-ish animated series works so well; both are pretty episodic (although AT does get more serial over time, each episode can mostly be enjoyed on its own), and both have that underlying danger and weirdness. I now can’t shake the image of the Nome King looking a lot like the Ice King.
@@gostowl that’s exactly why I thought it could work! I kept picturing him in his cave having tantrums cuz human girl Dorothy (and her later talking dog) keeps ruining his admittedly silly plans. Plus there’s so many kingdoms and creatures and pretty queens everywhere. I was definitely picturing early seasons of adventure times vibes if they ever adapted it as a cartoon because they can be as weird and random as possible. I already posted a part 2 to this video with doodles but now I desperately want to draw Dorothy like fin the human lol
4:48 Probably already been mentioned:
The reason the "Tom & Jerry and the Wizard of Oz" is so much like the MGM version is less because of the MGM version being part of pop culture, and more about both intellectual properties being MGM products (owned by Warner Media.)
So it's less an homage or parody, and more of a MCU style crossover! The MGMiverse!
Obsessed with how the algorithm blessed me with this AND the bonus of a new artist to subscribe to they’re working overtime in TH-cam hq fr
@@CantFightTheNarwhals glad you enjoyed the video!
This kiss on the forehead wasn't so much a protection spell as it was a warning to other that she was "under the protection" of the witch of the north.
Return to Oz is my favorite film adaptation its so creepy so fabulous. I have always loved it
I loved it. I saw it for the first time a few years ago and loved the vibes.
Following this channel is the best decision in my life, its a goldmine and comfort content for a graphic designer and a bookworm like me :)))) Thanks for existing Gaby
Wizard of Oz is one of my special interests I love the books so much and have been hoping to find a video someone did about ALL (or most) of them that actually interested me and im so so so so so so SOO excited!!!! Before I would just rewatch James Rolfe's video constantly so im excited to add this to my small collection of Oz content I can watch!
@@homosexula5595 I hope you like the video! There’s so much in all the books that I had to skip over a bunch. I added some of the stuff I cut out into a part 2
Dominic Noble did a great episode of lost in adaptation on the movie vs book as well
Thank you. I always wondered what was in the books no one bothered to make movies about, but not enough to read them. This helped satisfy that long held curiosity.
My thoughts watching: I found this discussion very interesting. I know it bugged you that no one bothered to tell the gang that the wizard's gifts were placebos and they didn't discover it for themselves, but the point of symbolic literature is that the reader sees the truth contained in the symbolism, and even having it drawn out and stand out that the reader continues to see what the character does not helps underscore that symbolism and drive home its message. The reader is the one that needs to engage in introspection and self discovery and ultimately see where the strengths and virtues lie within themselves. What placebos are we relying on? Conversely, it is not helpful to expose placebos for others. Placebos, even though they are treated lightly or even with contempt in our pretentious, scientific minds, are a form of wonderful magic that continues to defy science, that are rather deserving of appreciation. Prematurely exposing a placebo before a person has established and incorporated its effects into themselves is more likely to negate its power, becoming to the person more of a debilitating anti placebo, than helping them connect with a pre-existing inner power. It's a well-meaning error to inform another about themselves to help them grow, even if it is based on seeing them as stronger or more powerful than they see themselves, as it creates a conflict between one's own reality and theirs.
So I see the satisfying self discovery didn't occur in the story, but it was presented as a lesson at the end of the first story, where the lesson was clear to the reader. Subsequent stories were more focused on connecting and continuing threads of familiarity from the first story while expanding in different directions. It could have been a satisfying storyline where each character loses their placebo at a time where the situation requires their use of those traits to move forward, causing them to discover they already had them within (the general format of the fable), but this moral was already clear enough in the first story.
I think it more powerful to acknowledge that it is not enough to have the traits already, because we all have the capacity for all traits to begin with, good or bad, but the capacity is not enough. Faith is required, and faith is cheap if it can simply be created, and oppressive if such can be expected. Faith must be founded in something, or held in something, and not simply the arrogance and self delusion of the ego, and when it is lost, it must be restored, but not simply by denying its erosion or the effects of broken trust. Rather than granting a trait or power that was never there, a placebo's power lies in being a vessel for faith, which allows the strengthening of abilities that though they were always there, were weak. Those traits and abilities become strengthened through use until the person discovers, either when the placebo is no longer available or simply becomes unnecessary, that those parts of themselves are sufficiently strong without the need of outside help.
Your delivery is incredible, I’m cackling the whole way through this
@@toadoftoadhall9801 aw thank you
You should check out the Oz comics published by Marvel, drawn by Scottie Young. They stick pretty close to the books, and Scottie was not beholden to the movie designs for any of the characters and locations. His "unhinged" style really fits the vibe of Baum's whimsy and randomness, in my opinion.
A couple points: first, it's worth noting that the whole Tip/Ozma business was likely written as the set-up for a possible theatrical adaptation. The original 'Wizard' was turned into a smash-hit Broadway musical decades before the MGM version, and Baum tried to replicate that success for the rest of his life; 'Land of Oz' is literally dedicated to the actors who played the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman. It used to be standard practice for young male characters to be played by women onstage (as is still often the case with Peter Pan, for example); Tip turning into Ozma would have been a simple case of a quick costume change, providing a nice 'wow!' moment and bit of stage illusion.
Second, I hope 'Royal Book' doesn't put you off Ruth Plumly Thompson entirely, because even among enthusiasts of hers, it's generally considered to be her worst book; she was just getting started in the series, and it shows. I grew up with it, so I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for it, but I'll definitely admit that it's flawed, and not one I'd recommend as an introduction to the author. Most of Thompson's Oz books were not like that; she was definitely a very different author than Baum (and yes, had the occasional non-PC moment; it's an old series; whatcha gonna do), but some of her best books are truly excellent, in my opinion - I recommend 'The Cowardly Lion of Oz', 'Kabumpo of Oz', 'The Purple Prince of Oz', 'The Giant Horse of Oz' and 'Speedy in Oz', in particular. (Also, while it's not one of her better books, 'The Lost King of Oz' specifically addresses what happened to Ozma's dad, King Pastoria.)
So far as other old kids' series go, a couple I would recommend would be the 'Dr. Dolittle' series by Hugh Lofting, and the 'Freddy the Pig' books by Walter R. Brooks. I used to be big into Dr. Dolittle when I was younger; it's classic, charming fantasy adventure stuff - again, a few non-PC moments here and there, but very mild ones, overall. As for the Freddy books, they're what I like to think of as 'summer vacation' novels - they're light, they're breezy, they're absolute comfort food; you can finish one over the course of an afternoon and close the cover with a smile on your face. (Also, a surprising amount of them feature some sharp bits of social commentary.)
Okay I love this long overdue refresher course. I read several of these as a kid and just adored them. Sorry about your electricty.
@@VisiV it’s unfortunately very common so I’m used to it at this point. Thanks for watching the video!
Now that you've read all of these, read the entirety of Gregory Maguire's Wicked series. He does a great job of incorporating so many of the weird characters and geography from the original books. I also love Tip/Ozma's storyline in the later books
FUN FACT!! In Chittenango, New York (where the original wizard of OZ was written) there are large prints of the pictures in the wizard of oz all over the tops friendly markets grocery store!
In order to fully understand the lore of the original Fourteen, you have to read about the stage plays and the IP decisions. That explains the nearly identical characters, the various animal companions, etc.
A useful way to think about the first six books is that each has a quest structure and therefore shuffles the roles.
The southern lands of Baumian fantasy always have a red themed sorceress.
For a compare and contrast to Oz, you should check out the Enchated Island of Yew.
Baum had a boys' adventure series in which Zeb's attitudes would have fit much better.
My favorite of the first six is Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz although id say the Gargoyles are representing both Native Americans and deaf people.
3:50 drop the 10 hour version
Seconded!
In the last book Ozma uses her life alert to summon the EMT (Emergency Magical Technicians) to save her and Dorothy.
You should also check out a YA series called Dorothy Must Die where another girl from Kansas goes to Oz where Dorothy is an evil tyrant and all good characters are bad and vice versa. The author really did her homework on the books of Baum.
@@athf4ever780 that sounds interesting I might check it out
This was a great video! You did a wonderful job describing the books without getting overly caught up in the details. My grandparents have copies of most of the original books so I’ve always seen them growing up but I never read them. Also I appreciate your analysis at the end about Baum’s views.
@@lilhonor5425 thank you!
1. Baum wrote a lot of fairy tale books before Oz took off; and the birthday party at the end of the Road to Oz was basically a way for him to push his other stories. That's why Santa Claus shows up, since one of those books was The Life and Times of Santa Claus.
2. My headcanon is that the "no one dies" thing is a new development, and a side effect of Glinda's "seal Oz off from the rest of the world" magic.
3. The Scarecrow of Oz didn't introduce Cap'n Bill and Trot. After writing The Emerald City of Oz, Baum tried to branch out and write other fantasy novels for children, starting with one called The Sea Fairies (which also introduced Mermaids, and established a friendship between them and Cap'n Bill and Trot). _That's_ where Cap'n Bill and Trot were first introduced. This was followed up by a sequel called Sky Island, where Cap'n Bill and Trot encountered Button Bright and used his magic umbrella to travel to Sky Island; and while there, they also ended up encountering Polychrome, Attorney At Law! (You'll get the joke if you ever decide to read the book.) Those books weren't selling as well as the Oz books had, though; so Baum then wrote the Patchwork Girl of Oz. The Scarecrow of Oz was him bringing the cast of his Trot and Cap'n Bill books into Oz.
4. Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote a _lot_ of Oz books; I think she ended up writing more than Baum did, in fact. And one of them was called "The Lost King of Oz". I will say no more.
@@dataweaver I mention the Santa Claus thing in my second Oz video! It’s not a long video and it’s just me rushing to get through some stuff that I had to take out of this one but it’s a sketchbook video so it includes some Oz character doodles. Had to cut it out of this one because it was too long. I do like that headcanon also. And I’m working on a video now about how much I didn’t care for the royal book of Oz which is why I’m unfortunately not going to read the rest of the books after Baum’s death. Didn’t like that book so i can’t imagine reading 18 more by Ruth
@gabydiazortiz In that case, I suppose you wouldn't mind a spoiler. In "The Lost King of Oz", Dorothy briefly gets transported to Hollywood. When she arrives, she's removed from the magic of Oz and immediately starts growing up, so that her biological age ends up matching her chronological age. Upon returning to Oz, she reverts to her magic-supported youth. As well, the subject of the book is what happened to Pastoria. In short, he is found, and returned to the Emerald City; but Ozma is left in charge as the ruler of Oz.
For what it's worth, I agree with your assessment of Ruth Thompson's writing; I do not recommend reading her works. I haven't read the Royal Book of Oz, and don't intend to; but as a child, I stumbled across a few of her later books. I don't regret reading The Lost King of Oz, per se; but I'm not going to track down a copy and reread it, either.
This was recommended to me, and it absolutely was for me. I remember reading a few of the Oz books as a kid and enjoying them, and I always have wondered how weird they get. Fantastic video!
@@collinmurr3207 thank you! They’re pretty weird. I had to skip a lot to mention what was relevant
I could watch this video 10 times I love the way you talk about the books and I can’t wait to go to the library and read them myself
"For you" page did a good job today. Can't wait for part 2.
1:58:23 -- I always liked that the Tin Man gets turned into an owl that is also tin -- IMO much more logical than the original book of "Pinocchio," where he gets turned into a _flesh and blood_ donkey, rather than a wooden one, as would make more sense. But then again, Baum was writing "to please a child," whereas Carlo Collodi was writing to preach morality.
OMGGGG I loved these as a kid I’m so glad someone is covering them! They’re underrated
I’ve been saving this video to watch at work today! I didn’t know anything about these books, Wicked, RTO, but I’m so sat now. This is spectacular.
You should definitely do the Narnia books next! I read them as a kid and it still feels like a fever dream…
@@madeline4711 aw thank you! I have read the narnia books! I actually re read the lion the witch and the wardrobe a lot but I don’t currently have all of the books (when I read all of them i borrowed them from a friend and if I ever get the books of the series that I’m missing I’ll definitely do it)
I really believe that any vintage children’s fantasy is gonna be a good time!!
I have been such a fan of the books for such a long time and literally thank you for putting time into this wonderful video! I could listen to you talk for hours! May the momentum continue!
My childhood dentist had a map painted on one exam room wall of Oz with characters too. I'd read character names for years but never knew the stories.
Thanks so much for making this video. I read the 14 books L. Frank Baum wrote as a young adult around the time Return to Oz came out, and I appreciate you giving the summaries so I could remember them!
can't see Miss Piggy without also seeing Chappel Roan forever now on
@@thegmanpaints two icons forever linked
I listened to volunteer-made audio versions of these a decade ago and some of the scenes and characters are still stuck in my head. I guess I missed books 12 through 14, but listening to you made me want to reread them all! Hoping for the best for the Wicked movie!
I’m glad I sat down for this, I’d been curious about all the books.
@@benbutler9882 and there’s a lot I didn’t cover!
Sooooo I was a weird kid in middle school and I was obsessed with the 14 oz books and the 2 wonderland books, and associated spinoffs/fanfics (looking glass wars, sisters Grimm, etc). I made a tcg that was basically janky magic the gathering (without any knowledge of tcgs) with obscure characters and objects from the books, like the Golden Cap, the Nome King Belt, and Prof H. M. Wogglebug T. E.
I puzzled over the retcons and was properly horrified by the dismemberment-without-death immortality of Oz.
I have never met another person who has read these books. Almost no one knows there’s more than two! Many people only know the movie. It’s WILD bc I’ve thought about doing a way-too-long video essay deep dive on the Baum Oz books, and so I was gobsmacked to see this vid. Great video. (And good timing with the Wicked movie!)
Thoroughly enjoyed your deep dive! This was absolutely a beautiful journey to take with you, and it was just such a delight. Thank you so much ❤🎉
@@awake.in.88 thanks for watching!
I absolutely loved this entire video. You did an amazing job!
@@tanashacharles794 thank you!
I renember some people telling me the books, but man this is a whole other level. Thanks for the vid.
I grew up listening to The Patchwork Girl on cassette tapes every night to fall asleep. When I grew up, I spent my first ever working Christmas bonus to have my cassettes digitized so that I could listen to it again. It's just so special.
It's really fun to hear about all sorts of characters that get name dropped in the Shaggy Man's song
I think I have been waiting for THIS video essay my whole life.
@@harperediger7375 omg thank you. I have a second video about Oz where I talk about some things that I had to cut from this video but it’s more of a sketchbook video where I draw some of the characters if you want to check it out
@@gabydiazortiz This video is so entertaining so far. I will have to come back tomorrow to watch the rest but make no mistake, you are my new niche TH-camr fave.
@@harperediger7375 aw thank you
Thank you for going through the original oz books again, brought back my memories of reading them when I was much younger.
For once, the algorithm worked. Sooo glad to have found this!
Hello Gaby !! It's so nice to meet you !! I wanted to thank you for taking the time and putting so much love and energy into creating this video essay.. I trulyyyy enjoyed every second of it... I am fairly new to the wicked fandom or the "oz-verse" if you will hehe.. The last time I watched the classic "Wizard of Oz" was when I was a kid.. I have very vivid memories of specific scenes, but because it's been so long I can't fully remember the entire film from start to finish.. As I usually would nowadays.. I didn't know that this universe is so big until I stumbled upon your video and started obsessing over everything that has to do with Wicked and the entire lore of oz... I hope that one day I could read the original 14 Baum books as you did... I love reading but I am a very slow reader, unfortunately... It takes me awhile to get through a book.. Unless the plot and writing really hooked me, then maybe I could go through it faster than I normally would. Also shout-out to "Ozma" being a trans-coded character !! As a trans woman myself.. When I started listening to you talk about her journey.. I couldn't stop smiling... Knowing that her character was created many many moons ago.. In a time when I assume trans people weren't even properly recognized by society... So it was very endearing for me to learn about her.. I do hope you continue to create more videos in the future sharing your own thoughts and opinions on topics you're passionate about from books, more oz lore, and whatever else that peaks your interest.. You were such a joy to listen to... Again, thank you. 🫧
@@hylierosabelle that’s very sweet of you! I am hoping to make more videos in the future. And the transcoding of ozma is one of the reasons I decided to read the sequel books. I saw a lot of content on places like tumblr so I decided to check out the other books, not knowing there were so many
if you haven't read Diana Wynne Jones's World of Howl books I highly recommend them! chronological order is Howl's Moving Caste, The Castle in the Air, then The House of Many Ways.
if you've seen the Ghibli/Miyazaki movie, don't expect them to be similar - i love it but it's less an adaptation and more inspired by the book.
Ooh, as soon as I saw this on my feed I knew I had to jump in! I'm currently on my own journey of reading all of the Wizard of Oz books-well I'm actually listening to all the audiobooks, but still--and man it has been a journey! I'm so excited to hear someone else's take on what they think of the series since there's so much more to the world than the 1st book! Can't wait to see the rest of your videos on this
@@DeviantDayDreamer part 2 is out already. It’s much shorter since it’s more of an art video. Thank you for watching btw
3:30 - Me too friend, me too! LOL! I kinda thought I was the only one who didn’t mind “spoilers” and can watch a summary or breakdown and still enjoy reading or watching the original media item afterwards 😊 Glad to know I’m not alone!
Thank you for making this excellent walkthrough of the Frank L. Baum original Oz books. I wasn’t even aware there are 14 books penned by him about Oz… for whatever reason I had thought there were only 3 books? So this is going to be a fun watch for me today 😊
You have a new subscriber Gaby! I’m excited to comb through your back catalog as well, thanks for sharing your work with the class, lol!
My headcanon on Emerald City is that after Ozma returned she transformed the Emerald city into actual emeralds, so everything is made of emeralds and they don't need thd glasses.
"Ozma Of Oz" is also my favorite Oz book; next to the original LFB book, of course.
@@BroadwayGuy I think the first 3 books are fantastic. If anyone wanted to adapt the books but didn’t want to do all 14, the first 3 would be a great series
My favorite as well. I remember doing a book report on it and dressing up as Ozma for the presentation in fifth grade.
@@Sharoness060 oh that’s so cute!
I have watched so many Oz related videos including some you recommended and this is easily my favorite! It was so well done and you are very charismatic. Very, very much enjoyed by a person who definitely needed a distraction from life ❤😊
@@thesquirrelnesthh6584 thanks so much that’s very sweet of you
As a artistic late 26 year old Puerto Rican im over the moon on finding your channel!! Love video essays but will definitely have to check your art also! ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙🤎
Couldn’t respond earlier pero hola! También estoy en TikTok y to eso
This is EXACTLY the kind of content I needed to see today. AMAZING
Finally got to watch this all the way through and I think you did an amazing job!!
@@izzysauls7737 thanks so much!
7:15 OKAAAAAY now we’re talking. Putting it this way gets us into the real nitty gritty, viewing the story completely objectively and separately from pop culture assumptions. Explaining Oz that way makes you such a credible source you have no idea.
This isn’t just a surface level rehash. We’re treating this world like the universe it is and not a pop culture blip and I’m here for it.
12:15 “the bees… they kill themselves as bees tend to do” that’s so funny but so sad. What’s important is I laughed that’s such a good joke
Thank you I didn’t think anyone would laugh
@@gabydiazortizthis video is so good I’m watching it again! Very nicely done!
As a fan of the books since I was in second grade, this is the video I've been waiting for forever. It's so hard to find videos that talk about the series in full, especially at length. Your commentary on the inconsistencies cracks me up. I remember reading years ago that L. Frank Baum never reread his books which really shows throughout the series. 🤣
@@billwenham I think he could get away with it if you don’t read them back to back but when you read them all at once it’s all you can think about
Yesss, I read through all these just a couple years ago. First three are great, then Dorothy and the Wizard come back and it's like watching a good friend get really into prescription painkillers
@@jm221 they definitely get weirder and formulaic after a while but I still enjoyed it. It’s like a cartoon after a while
Thank you so much for going so in depth with LFB’s Oz books!!! Your analysis made me giggle so much, and I love how you wore all of Oz’s colors!!! I had such a great time watching you 💚
@@jimmy-white you’re the first one to notice that I worse all the Oz colors! And thank you!
I first remember watching the The Wizard of Oz when I was, like, four years old. I never remember being afraid of the winged monkeys. I mean, I didn't like them, but I was never one of those people who remember them as something traumatic from my childhood. I always found the bit with the hourglass way more upsetting than anything to do with the monkeys because that scene had some real menace to it.
Yeah I was never scared of the monkeys either but I was also the kind of kid that was into children’s horror so ik that a lot of people get the creeps from them. My mom HATED them and still comments on it every time we watch the movie lol
1:08:52 -- "Patchwork Girl" is definitely my favorite of the original "Canonical" Oz books because it's so whimsical, in spite of the plot holes. And BTW, the original idea behind the Woozy is that he was supposed to be a parody of Picasso's "Cubist Period"
I don't have strong feelings one way or the other re trans issues. That being said: Ozma being "trans" can just as equally be applied by the anti-trans contingent. From that perspective, she was a girl who got turned into a boy by an evil witch (with her not being consulted in the matter). When she's released from the enchantment and gets over the initial shock, she embraces her true, original, biological nature. This shows that what you are born as is what you are, and any changes are bad.
I'm also 100% sure that this was not in Baum's mind when he wrote it.
Love these books and hate how rarely I see them brought up! Only just starting this video but will definitely be watching the whole thing and part two!