11 Versions Of "The Wizard Of Oz" You May Not Have Heard Of
Some of these you may know, others you may not. What are your favorite retellings of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?
1. The Wiz
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Released in 1978, this Motown Productions film starred an amazing cast: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Lena Horne. . . to name a few.
2. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Oz has turned into a savage dystopia under Dorothy’s rule—and now a new girl from Kansas must take her down. According to Deadline, this upcoming young adult novel has The CW already in talks for a TV deal! Add this one to your TBR pile, book nerds.
3. Oz the Great and Powerful
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It didn’t do so well at the box office, but that didn’t stop us from watching it!
4. Wicked (The Book)
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence.
5. "Wicked" (the musical)
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Based on Gregory Maguire's book with the most amazing original cast.
6. Ruth Plumly Thompson’s "Oz" books
Did you know that there are 55 "Oz" books in total? After L. Frank Baum’s death, Ruth Plumly Thompson took over the series and wrote one new story for the series each year from 1921 to 1939. Fair warning: these books get creepy as hell.
7. Tin Man
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Remember when Zooey Deschanel played Dorothy for a SyFy mini-series? BTW, you can watch the entire thing on Netflix right now.
8. Return to Oz
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Before Fairuza Balk had the chance to terrify you in The Craft, she was (kind of) adorable in this 1985 film.
9. Scrubs
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Scrubs did an entire episode dedicated to Oz, called “My Way Home” in season 5 and it was pure perfection. Watch the entire episode on Netflix right now.
10. Supernatural
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In the episode "Slumber Party" (season 9, episode 4) - Supernatural took on the Wicked Witch of the West. In 1935 the Wicked Witch of The West escapes into the world to bring her army to Earth and take over, but Dorothy captures her and is unable to kill her, so she traps herself and the Witch until they are accidentally released in 2013. Dorothy teams up with the Winchester brothers and Charlie Bradbury to stop the Witch.
11. The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz
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Supêsu Oz no Bôken was an obscure, early 1990s Japanese anime series that followed the characters from the classic story . . . IN SPACE. (It was dubbed in English and released as The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz.)