The Wizard of Oz Potatoheads | $59.95

Mr. Potatohead comes in a Wizard of Oz flavor! This Mr. Potatohead Wizard of Oz set comes with four 5″ tall Mr. Potatohead figures dressed as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. And they’re available now from the NeatoShop! If you’re a real Wizard of Oz fan, you’ll want to check out the other Wizard of Oz products, and Mr. Potatohead fans will want to see other Mr. Potatohead figures. We’ve got what you want at the NeatoShop!

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Once upon a time, fairy tales were dark fables designed to scare children into good behavior. This is the story of one American author who thought kids deserved better.

In December 1900, L. Frank Baum was a struggling, 44-year-old writer living in Chicago with his wife and four children. Christmas was only days away, and Baum was desperately searching for a way to buy presents for his family.

On a whim, Baum went downtown to ask his publisher for a royalties’ advance for the five books he’d written that year. He walked out with a check for one of the books, and promptly stuck it in his pocket. He didn’t bother to take a look at it.

When Baum arrived home, his wife, Maud, was ironing a shirt. He reluctantly handed her the check, and at the same moment, they both discovered that it was for $1,423.98—roughly $40,000 today. Paralyzed with disbelief, Maud burned a hole through the shirt.

That book, of course, was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Lyman Frank Baum was born in 1856 in Chittenango, New York. As a child, his weak heart limited his capacity for rough-and-tumble play. So, despite being the seventh of nine kids, he spent most of his childhood alone, indoors, and dreaming.

As a young man, Baum leapt like a flea from career to career. By his early 30s, he’d been a journalist, a printer, a postage-stamp dealer, and a champion poultry breeder, which led him into publishing, with his trade journal The Poultry Record. He also ran his own theater company, where he wrote, directed, and acted in his own plays.

Then, in 1881, Baum met his leading lady—Maud Gage, a sophomore at Cornell. But Maud’s mother, Matilda, disapproved of the union. Matilda Gage was a feminist who marched alongside Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in the women’s suffrage movement. She saw Baum as a flake who’d never amount to anything, and she told her daughter she’d be a “darned fool” to marry the itinerant actor. Yet, Baum’s charm, sincerity, and uncanny ability to tell fantastic stories were no match for Matilda, and he soon won her over. He also became a feminist.

Frank married Maud in 1882, but troubles were around the corner. Baum’s theater company went belly-up, and without local prospects, he looked west for opportunity. In 1888, he moved his family to the Dakota Territory, where he opened a store in the town of Aberdeen. (Years later, when Baum wrote descriptions of the Kansas prairie in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he was actually describing South Dakota.) His shop, Baum’s Bazaar, sold Chinese paper lanterns, Bohemian glass, gourmet chocolates, and other exotic items. But Baum overestimated the frontier’s demands for novelty shopping. In a few short years, he’d gone bust yet again.

At this point, L. Frank Baum was 35 with no career. He headed east for Chicago, where he received guidance from an unexpected source: his mother-in-law. Matilda Gage convinced Baum to pursue his one true talent, telling stories. In Aberdeen, children had stalked Baum, demanding story hour from the raconteur. Kids loved his tales because they weren’t thinly disguised morality lessons. Instead, Baum’s stories were fantasies filled with candy, toys, magic, and adventure. Heeding Matilda’s advice, Baum decided to give writing a try.

FOLLOWING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

In 1899, Baum teamed up with illustrator W.W. Denslow and published Father Goose, His Book, a collection of pictures and verse. The collaboration worked so well that it inspired Baum and Denslow to try their hands at a full-length novel.

As a child, Baum had loved the European fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, but he loathed the dark, grisly endings. He envisioned a new American fairy tale in which ingenuity and spunk paid off. In Baum’s words, he wanted to create a world where “wonderment and joy are retained, and the heartache and nightmares left out.”

It was a great idea, but what would he call this utopia? Family legend holds that Baum scanned his office for ideas. While staring at his filing cabinet, he drew inspiration from a label on the bottom drawer marked “O-Z.”

Baum’s book was turned down by every major publishing house. Finally, a distribution company agreed to take on the novel about Oz, but only if Baum and Denslow agreed to shoulder the printing expenses. The bet paid off. Today, the masterful integration of color illustrations and text is heralded as a pioneering achievement in literature, a precursor to the graphic novel. Denslow’s drawings were unique in that they not only reflected the plot, but also furthered it. His vibrant pictures spilled over from one page to the next.

More importantly, children loved Baum’s story. By the end of 1900, Maude had burned a hole through her husband’s shirt, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best-selling book in America.

OZ FEST

Over the next 20 years, Baum would pen more than 70 books under several pseudonyms. Unfettered by gender restrictions, he often wrote under female names, including Suzanne Metcalf, Laura Bancroft, and Edith Van Dyne. Baum also tried his hand at science-fiction, demonstrating a knack for predicting the future on par with H.G. Wells. A running theme in Baum’s work was the triumph of technology over distance and time, and many of his fictional inventions—televisions, satellites, cell phones, laptops—eventually became realities of everyday life.

In 1902, Oz was transformed into a Broadway musical, shortened simply to The Wizard of Oz.
At first, Baum was taken aback by some of the changes. For instance, Dorothy’s faithful companion on the stage wasn’t Toto, but a cow named Imogene.

But when the play became a Broadway hit, Baum softened. He tried to return to the theater to produce his own plays, but all his efforts, including The Whatnexters and The King of Gee Whiz, were flops. He also tried his hand at a vaudeville show, “Fairylogues and Radio Plays,” but that foundered, too.

The truth was that Baum wanted to stop writing about Dorothy and do something new. He intended for the sixth Oz book, The Emerald City of Oz, to be the last in the series. In the story, Baum seals off his fairyland, proclaiming it unreachable from the outside world. But when a film project he was pursuing collapsed, Baum quickly found himself strapped for funds again. He wrote another Oz book, and from then on, Dorothy and the gang kept resurfacing every time Baum needed to pad his wallet.

IT’S A TWISTER

In 1919, Baum died of the same heart condition that had kept him indoors as a child. But even death couldn’t stop the Oz stories from flowing. Baum wrote the 14th book in the series, Glinda of Oz, on his deathbed, and it was published posthumously. After that, various authors churned out 26 official sequels, which have been translated into 22 languages, from Tamil to Serbo-Croatian.

In 1939, the Oz legacy hit a turning point when MGM released The Wizard of Oz movie. Based on Baum’s original storyline, the plot and characters remained relatively faithful to the book, although there were plenty of changes, too. Most of the quotables (“And your little dog, too!”) were Hollywood additions, as were the musical numbers and dancing little people. There were some changes to the story, as well. Dorothy’s slippers, which were silver in the book, were changed to ruby in the movie to show off the new technology of color film.

The key difference between the two versions is that in the movie, Dorothy’s adventure was “all a dream,” while in Baum’s book, Oz was very much real. In fact, later in the book series, Uncle Henry and Auntie Em move to the Emerald City to dine off jeweled plates and converse with talking animals. As it turned out, nobody really wanted to go home to Kansas.

(Image from the NeatoShop)

The movie established Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion as cultural icons. Flying monkeys and yellow brick roads became part of the national psyche, and today, Oz’s popularity shows no sign of waning. The movies, the spin-offs, the Broadway musicals, the plays, and—more recently—the pop-up book just keep cropping up. Much like Dorothy and the gang, Baum took the long way to finding his true calling, but there’s no denying that he left behind an enduring legacy. By writing the quintessential American fairy tale, Baum proved that even late bloomers living in their own fantasy world are entitled to happy endings.

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The article by Kelly K. Ferguson is reprinted from the May- June 2010 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!

When Worlds Collide – $14.95

Ding dong! The witch is dead! Wait! What? That’s not right. Dorothy didn’t arrive in a spinning TARDIS.

The NeatoShop is happy to bring you another of artist Mike Jacobsen’s fabulous drawings. The When Worlds Collide art is available on both t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for fantastic Wizard of Oz and Doctor Who items!

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All About The Shoes Wizard of Oz Stainless Steel Water Bottle - $11.95

On August 25, 1939 the US was introduced to a magical technicolor land known as Oz.  What have we learned from one of the best-known films of all time? It’s all about the shoes!

Celebrate the Wizard of Oz with the All About The Shoes Wizard of Oz Stainless Steel Water Bottle from the NeatoShop.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Wizard of Oz collectibles!

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Music from the film The Wizard of Oz remixed by Pogo with charming silhouette animation by Reed Gauthier, who won a competition to illustrate this song. At the YouTube page, you’ll find links to the winners and other competitors. -via Buzzfeed

I love this gallery at Life.com that shows just-missed film roles. I think it’s fun to imagine movies as they might have been if casting had veered off on a slightly different course. Shirley Temple as Dorothy Gale? Laurence Olivier as Vito Corleone? O.J. Simpson as the Terminator? (Check out the gallery… James Cameron makes the joke that you’re thinking right now.) Film history could be so different.

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Mr. Curran believes the ordeal shaped the Wizard of Oz. “Whenever Baum had an emotional experience, such as his two years at Peekskill Military Academy, it showed up in the book,” Mr. Curran says during his Oz presentation at the museum. “Whenever the characters get off the yellow brick road, they get into trouble.”

In 2005, a Fulbright scholar and artist persuaded John Testa, who was the mayor of Peekskill at the time, to conduct an authenticity study on the road. Mr. Curran uncovered maps showing that West Street, which leads from the steamboat dock up a hill to the military academy, was indeed made of Dutch pavers, a common yellow-hued brick in the Dutch-settled area.

The maps showed Mr. Baum had to have walked along the road to get to school, Mr. Curran said.

Only a small part of the road is still brick. Curran would like to restore the road, or build a monument of some sort to Oz, but the city does not have the money for such a project. Link -via The Daily What

(Image credit: Shelly Banjo/The Wall Street Journal)

The Scarecrow in Matt Busch’s Zombie Poster series isn’t the only one looking for brains – the entire gang is! Check out the Walking Dead of Oz and other Zombie Posters from the NeatoShop | More (cute, not gory) Wizard of Oz stuff.

The Wicked Witch of the East Door Stop -  $27.95

Do you know someone who is hard to shop for? The Wicked Witch of the East Door Stop from the NeatoShop, because even a real witch can appreciate a great pair of shoes.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Wizard of the Oz fun.

The class of 2013 perform a medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz for the annual Nykerk Cup competition at Hope College. Sure, they sing well, but where are they hiding all those props? You can also watch the performance of their competition, the freshman class. -via Buzzfeed

The modeler Static Painting made these figurines that imagine The Wizard of Oz as a story of the post-apocalyptic genre.

If you missed it, be sure to check out Stacy’s roundup of trivia related to the movie.

Link via GearFuse

The folks over at How It Should Have Ended created a short animation that tells us logically how the Wizard of Oz should have ended.

Miss Cellania has the clip: Link

Also, from the Neatorama Shop: Wizard of Oz, the Short Version by Mike Jacobsen

Poor Margaret Hamilton (the witch) was really injured in the scene where the Wicked Witch of the West departs Munchkinland in a huff after Dorothy arrives. She was standing on a trap door and was supposed to disappear down into it quickly when the smoke (followed by fire) puffed up, but during the second take of that scene, the fire came too early and her costume started burning. She suffered second and third degree burns and was unable to work for a month. When she came back, she refused to do any more work with fire.

Toto was played by a Cairn Terrier creatively named Terry. Because of her previous experience (she was “Rags” in Shirley Temple’s Bright Eyes) Terry got $125 a week for her efforts, which was more than twice what the actors playing the Munchkins got ($50/week). She got her foot broken during filming when an actor playing one of the guards stepped on her.

Margaret Hamilton’s son has said that she loved her “I’ll get you my pretty…” line so much, she used it in her personal life on a somewhat frequent basis, just for fun.

The date on the Wicked Witch of the East’s death certificate is actually the date of L. Frank Baum’s death. The 19th anniversary of his death, to be exact. We can’t read it, but this is what the Death Certificate says:

Certificate of Death

Name: The Wicked Witch of the East
Residence: The Land of Oz

I HEREBY CERTIFY that I attended deceased from May 6th to May 6th, 1938

I last saw her alive on May 6th 1938:

Death is said to have occurred on the date stated below at 12:30 p.m.

Date of Death: May 6th 1938

Month Day Year

Signature: W.W. Barister, M.D.

Address: Munchkin City

Can you imagine anyone but Judy Garland as Dorothy? How about Shirley Temple? Although producer Mervyn LeRoy had always had Judy in mind for the role, he was being pressured to “borrow” Shirley Temple from Fox. She was only 10 and Judy was 16 at the time; studio executives thought 10 was a much more appropriate age for this particular role. They ended up auditioning Shirley just to say they had, but in the end it didn’t matter anyway: Fox refused to loan her out.

The first film version of Dorothy depicted her as a blonde with baby doll-esque makeup because that’s the way Oz illustrator John R. Neill drew her in the books. Well, he was actually the second person to illustrate Dorothy for L. Frank Baum – the first was W.W. Denslow, who drew her the way we know her today: brunette pigtails and the blue-and-white Gingham dress. But Baum had a falling-out with Denslow and John R. Neill took over for the design from then on out, which amounted to more than 40 stories. People who are fans of the book series over the movie say that they usually picture a blonde Dorothy as opposed to the Judy Garland Dorothy.

When the song “If I Had a Heart” is playing and a girl speaks the words “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” the voice you’re hearing is Adriana Caselotti – Snow White.

The Horse of a Different Color was created by putting Jell-O paste onto a white horse. It was difficult to keep the horse from licking the paste, so the scene had to be shot quickly. If you look closely, you can see the driver of the buggy subtly restraining the horse from licking himself.

Originally, a scene with an insect called the Jitterbug was shot. It involved a dance sequence with our heroes but was ultimately cut due to time constraints. But you can still hear a reference to the scene in the movie when the Wicked Witch of the West sends the flying monkeys after the gang. She says,

“Take your army to the Haunted Forest, and bring me that girl and her dog. Do as you like with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed! They’ll give you no trouble. I promise you that. I’ve sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them. Take special care of those ruby slippers. I want those most of all. Now fly!”

Bert Lahr, AKA the Cowardly Lion, was the first to use the phrase “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” that Snagglepuss later became famous for. Snagglepuss’ voice was based on Lahr’s. His son, John Lahr, is the senior drama critic at The New Yorker.

As most people know, the Tin Man was originally supposed to be played by Buddy Ebsen, but when Ebsen discovered he was severely allergic to the Tin Man’s makeup job, he was forced to drop the role. Jack Haley replaced him, using a voice that he used to tell his son bedtime stories. Somewhat strangely, Jack Haley, Jr., was married to Liza Minelli for about five years in the ‘70s.

When the witch first tries to take the ruby slippers from Dorothy at the beginning and her hands are zapped with fire, you’re actually seeing dark apple juice squirting out of the shoes. The footage was later sped up so the streams of apple juice resembled fire more closely. So says IMDB, anyway – I couldn’t verify that through any other source.

I loved looking for creepy things in movies when I was in high school, and I totally bought all of them – the “ghost” in Three Men and a Little Baby and the “munchkin suicide” in The Wizard of Oz among them. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s allegedly at the end of the Tin Man sequence, right before Dorothy and Co. head back down the Yellow Brick Road. I remember very clearly seeing this image back then (the clip below will show you exactly where) and having no doubt that it was clearly a suicide, and how creepy it was. Ever since I’ve discovered that it was just the wing of an exotic bird, that’s all I can see. I can’t even fathom how I used to buy that it was a munchkin suicide. Check out the clip below of TV Land’s “Myths and Legends” to get the whole scoop.

Here’s another myth, sort of. I tried this one in high school too – matching up Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with the movie. And it works! It really does. But various members of Pink Floyd have denied that they wrote the album while watching The Wizard of Oz or that they were inspired by the movie or anything of that sort at all. But it does eerily match up. It gives the whole thing a very spooky vibe. If you don’t want to rely on YouTube and have both the album and the movie, here’s how to do it: start the album at the third lion’s roar in the MGM movie title right before the film starts. Otherwise, here’s the YouTube version. I suggest also checking out “The Great Gig in the Sky” which coincides with the tornado scene – it’s kind of amazing.

If you love the Wizard of Oz (or the trendier Broadway musical Wicked), then this is the weathervane for you: the wickedly awesome Flying Witch
Garden Weathervane.

It’s $50, but that’s the price of coolness: Link – via Trendir

Sculptor Tom Otterness created this amazing bronze tin man jungle gym as a private commission. That’s one lucky kid who has his or her own Otterness creation as a playground! Link – via Super Punch