The Witch of the North is not named Glinda; in the 1902 stage musical, Baum named her 'Locasta' but this never appeared in any of his books, even when the Witch had a cameo in 'The Road to Oz' (successor series author Ruth Plumly Thompson gave her the awful name 'Tattypoo'). Glinda resides far to the south, "on the edge of the desert." Littlefield did not propose that the book was written as an allegory; he came up with this idea as a way to teach bored high school students about the politics of populism and bimetalism. If The Wizard of Oz was intended as metaphor, it was a failure as an allegory, since nobody, including the people who knew these issues better than anyone now alive, noticed it for over sixty years. So to continually use the words 'allegory' and 'represents' and 'metaphor' for these connections (which are in any case vague: is the TIn Woodman a metaphor for heartless industry, or the oppressed factory workers?) is a disservice, as it implies authorial intention, and creates a kind of urban folklore: "Everyone knows The Wizard of Oz is an allegory for populism…" is right up there with "We use only ten percent of our brains." If you want to teach, do not mislead while you are doing it! See Tolkien's distinction between 'allegory' and 'applicability', where one is in the 'purposed domination of the author' and the other 'resides in the freedom of the reader.'
I too use this allegory to promote engagement, and provide an additional way to bring others into the fold. My class is for adults, but it is soo cool to see these adults eyes light up like a child at Disneyland ,with excitement of learning something new. Many children's stories have a similar past, as a direct way of communicating the story would be squashed by the powers to be. Thanks for posting.
That's such a great way to teach!! My dad used to do the same and I was always able to remember more about what happened historically around when the book was written because of the allegories!
You might consider looking into Baum's connection to H. Blavatski and the Theosophical Society as an additional alternative. The links between The Wizard of Oz film (in particular) and occult symbolism are striking.
This is all that "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is about: "Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations. "Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as 'historical' in the children’s library; for the time has come for a series of newer “wonder tales” in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. "Having this thought in mind, the story of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written *solely to please children* of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out. "L. Frank Baum Chicago, April, 1900."
Of course! Thank YOU! It really is so interesting and I wanted to include more too! But it was actually something I did for a school project so unfortunately there was a time limit. But I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! And I have my resources in the description that you can use if you want to do your own research!
I seem to remember Harry Potter having some parallels with British history, although I didn’t look deep into it, such as the dates of the founding of the British Union, the Bank of England etc. Maybe someone with research and video editing skills could check it out.. Hint😉 hint😉....😗😗
The movie left out the "Hammerheads". The "Hammerheads" were disagreeable humanoid creatures that had a coil spring in their neck and would head butt people at any excuse of a provocation.They must've figured that was a little too strange for an audience of kids. It does seem, for whatever reason, that the Hammerheads dressed like Boxing corner-men of the day. All manner of speculation around that and a different twist to the Cowardly Lion theory having to do with race relations of the day . . . Of course not a shred of hard evidence to back any of that up. I might write me a book though, about the Hammerheads being behind JFK's assassination . . . i think it has "wings" .
People still knew the book, so the Hammer-Heads would not have come off any stranger than they are in the book. But like so many other things that were not used, it would have been too expensive and complicated to include them.
The trip to the south is kind of pointless from a film-making point of view, so these episodes were rightly omitted. The Fighting Trees did get transplanted (so to speak) to the movie, in a way. The Hammer-heads kind of anticipated the Flatheads of Baum's final Oz book, 'Glinda of Oz', though the latter were not quite as 'armless.
The Witch of the North is not named Glinda; in the 1902 stage musical, Baum named her 'Locasta' but this never appeared in any of his books, even when the Witch had a cameo in 'The Road to Oz' (successor series author Ruth Plumly Thompson gave her the awful name 'Tattypoo'). Glinda resides far to the south, "on the edge of the desert."
Littlefield did not propose that the book was written as an allegory; he came up with this idea as a way to teach bored high school students about the politics of populism and bimetalism. If The Wizard of Oz was intended as metaphor, it was a failure as an allegory, since nobody, including the people who knew these issues better than anyone now alive, noticed it for over sixty years. So to continually use the words 'allegory' and 'represents' and 'metaphor' for these connections (which are in any case vague: is the TIn Woodman a metaphor for heartless industry, or the oppressed factory workers?) is a disservice, as it implies authorial intention, and creates a kind of urban folklore: "Everyone knows The Wizard of Oz is an allegory for populism…" is right up there with "We use only ten percent of our brains."
If you want to teach, do not mislead while you are doing it!
See Tolkien's distinction between 'allegory' and 'applicability', where one is in the 'purposed domination of the author' and the other 'resides in the freedom of the reader.'
I love that you shared your project and are now helping others understand the meaning behind the Wizard of Oz.
Thank you!
You mean the "meaning" that Littlefield slapped over it.
I too use this allegory to promote engagement, and provide an additional way to bring others into the fold. My class is for adults, but it is soo cool to see these adults eyes light up like a child at Disneyland ,with excitement of learning something new. Many children's stories have a similar past, as a direct way of communicating the story would be squashed by the powers to be. Thanks for posting.
That's such a great way to teach!! My dad used to do the same and I was always able to remember more about what happened historically around when the book was written because of the allegories!
@@MadisonHalla The Muppet version is more accurate
You might consider looking into Baum's connection to H. Blavatski and the Theosophical Society as an additional alternative. The links between The Wizard of Oz film (in particular) and occult symbolism are striking.
Thank you!
I had no idea it started as a Broadway show before it became a movie. Fascinating.
Right!
It started as a book.
Good video. Its fun to talk and speculate about this movie. I think it holds a deeper meaning.
Thank you! It really is!
This is all that "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is about:
"Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
"Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as 'historical' in the children’s library; for the time has come for a series of newer “wonder tales” in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
"Having this thought in mind, the story of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written *solely to please children* of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
"L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900."
I wish that you would have made your list exhaustive because I find the topic interesting. Thank you for posting.
Of course! Thank YOU! It really is so interesting and I wanted to include more too! But it was actually something I did for a school project so unfortunately there was a time limit. But I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! And I have my resources in the description that you can use if you want to do your own research!
I seem to remember Harry Potter having some parallels with British history, although I didn’t look deep into it, such as the dates of the founding of the British Union, the Bank of England etc.
Maybe someone with research and video editing skills could check it out..
Hint😉 hint😉....😗😗
Haha! Thank you! I didn’t know that!
The movie left out the "Hammerheads". The "Hammerheads" were disagreeable humanoid creatures that had a coil
spring in their neck and would head butt people at any excuse of a provocation.They must've figured that was a little too strange for an audience of kids. It does seem, for whatever reason, that the Hammerheads dressed like Boxing corner-men of the day. All manner of speculation around that and a different twist to the Cowardly Lion theory having to do with race relations of the day . . . Of course not a shred of hard evidence to back any of that up. I might write me a book though, about the Hammerheads being behind JFK's assassination . . . i think it has "wings" .
That’s so interesting, I didn’t realize that
People still knew the book, so the Hammer-Heads would not have come off any stranger than they are in the book. But like so many other things that were not used, it would have been too expensive and complicated to include them.
The trip to the south is kind of pointless from a film-making point of view, so these episodes were rightly omitted. The Fighting Trees did get transplanted (so to speak) to the movie, in a way. The Hammer-heads kind of anticipated the Flatheads of Baum's final Oz book, 'Glinda of Oz', though the latter were not quite as 'armless.