Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

The MGM musical version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz turned 70 this week. It wasn't the first time it was a movie, nor the last time it was a movie or a movie musical. [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Aug 28, 2009 - 53 comments

There’s a new Corey in town and he’s getting rich because of a party he threw in which 500 kids, the police dog squad and helicopters showed up. The “journalist's” voice, intonation and overall attitude is more grating than Corey. His parents are pleading for him to come home, fans have started sites dedicated to him, and DJ Loc-a-Doc? has already remixed the interviews. Show your support or have him add you so you can get his next invite.
posted by gman on Jan 16, 2008 - 89 comments

The Wizard of Oz [more inside]
posted by The Ultimate Olympian on Nov 15, 2007 - 57 comments

Of Muppets and Men. [1 2 3 4 5 6] Excellent behind-the-scenes documentary showing the mental, verbal and physical athleticism of putting together The Muppet Show. Also, a TMBG video mashup with excerpts from the doc. [All YouTube, Previously]
posted by McLir on Aug 12, 2007 - 55 comments

Apocalypse Oz
posted by darkripper on Jul 20, 2007 - 34 comments

MacRobertson's Confectionery were, in the 1930s, trialling new ideas for their children's range. An employee suggested that as "women and children were afraid of mice," rather than a chocolate mouse, a chocolate frog would be more popular with children. Three days later, what would become Australia's most popular children's confectionery, the Freddo Frog, was born. Its supposed creator, Harry Melbourne, died last week, having never received a cent in royalties. However, to this day there remains confusion as to whether he, or rather the inventor of the Cherry Ripe, Lesley Atkison, was in fact responsible. Those that only know him in chocolate form may be surprised to find out that Freddo was also the star of Australia's first cartoon.
posted by Mil on Jan 29, 2007 - 22 comments

The Oz Library: a (almost) complete readable online library of OZ magazines [previously]
posted by brundlefly on Sep 18, 2006 - 8 comments

'The Jitterbug' is a somewhat bizarre scene from the original The Wizard of Oz movie that cost $80,000 to produce and took five weeks to rehearse but was ultimately cut from the final film because, according to the studio, it would "date the film." However some say the scene represents Dorothy's loss of innocence and that this is the reason why it was cut. What makes it even more freaky is that the scene was shot by producer Harold Arlen on a home movie camera, making the whole thing look grainy and which casts the whole scene in a sort of pink-purple hue. Check out the scene for yourself over at Youtube.
posted by Effigy2000 on Aug 3, 2006 - 43 comments

The Warriors of Oz "The Heroes of Oz as You've Never Seen Them!" You got that right. Three words: "Warrior Maiden Dorothy". Not Safe For Wizard Fans
The picture on the site doesn't do justice to all the excruciatingly awful detail, but if you get a Sunday dead tree newspaper, there's an ad in most coupon sections.
posted by wendell on Apr 9, 2006 - 47 comments

We all know the story: little Elli, a girl living in the steppes of Kanzas with her dog Totoshka, is blown by a hurricane (stirred up by the wicked witch Gingema) all the way to Magic Land, where she meets the Cowardly Lion, the Iron Woodman, and the scarecrow Strashila and has to make her way to the Emerald City to find the magician Gudvin so she can get back home... What, you don't remember it that way? Didn't you read The Wizard of the Emerald City and its much-loved sequels Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers, The Seven Underground Kings, The Fiery God of the Marrans, The Yellow Fog, and The Mystery of the Deserted Castle? Ah, you're not Russian! Listen [RealAudio] to a five-minute description (on Studio 360) of Alexander Volkov's Russified versions of Baum (with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky) and how they captivated children and adults in the Soviet Union (you even get a bit of the famous song Мы в город Изумрудный/ Идем дорогой трудной ["We're going to the Emerald City by a difficult road..."]); visit the Emerald City website (Russian version, where all the links work); and see the wonderful illustrations at this site, which links to the texts of all six novels (click on Читать...)—in Russian, but the images need no explanation. (Fun fact: the word "Oz" doesn't occur anywhere in the Russian versions.) And if you're interested in other alternate versions, go to Oz Outside the Famous Forty. (Via P. Kerim Friedman.)
posted by languagehat on Nov 25, 2005 - 21 comments

Germaine Greer Doesn't Live In Australia Because She Loves It Too Much: What is it about ex-pats - and particularly Australian ex-pats, when they're as intelligent, witty and vocal as Greer, Robert Hughes, Clive James et al. - that makes their justifications for exile ring so hollow? [More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Feb 1, 2004 - 38 comments

40 Ounce Malt Liquor.com
posted by hama7 on Sep 11, 2003 - 17 comments

Hippie Atrocities and Beautiful Freaks -- Oz Magazine was, for a ten year run during the Sixties and Seventies, Australia's, and later England's, premier underground satire 'zine. Featuring contributions from (among others) Lenny Bruce and Germain Greere, and subject to two obscenity trials--one in Australia and another, more famous one following the editors' exile to England--it evolved, in its English incarnation, a wicked, witty and of course, thouroughly psychedelic design aesthetic. There are galleries of cover art here and here, and a Shockwave adaptation of the infamous School Kids issue here. [warning: some images NSFW.]
posted by arto on Aug 26, 2003 - 6 comments

Behind The Typeface Presents: Cooper Black. The gripping saga of one typeface's trials and tribulations, following its path from the dizzying heights of stardom to the brink of self-destruction and back again. (Flash 5, approx. 3MB.)
posted by youhas on Jul 26, 2002 - 31 comments