The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the American fairy tale. Like other fairy tales that resonate across time and cultures, this story has seen retellings time and again that morph, recontextualize, and expand the story. This phenomena continues with the second half of the Wicked film duology releasing this November with Wicked: For Good. Let’s explore some of the stories and lore of this American fairy tale that now live in the public domain. All these different stories crafted the lore and world of Oz in the imaginations of audiences around the world.
Books and Literature
Oz originates in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. Its basic plot is well known: Dorothy of Kansas is swept away to Oz via cyclone. There she meets an exotic cast of characters including the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Along her journey she faces many challenges in an episodic style as she seeks to return home with the Wizard’s help.
Many fans might believe the Wicked Witch is the novel’s central antagonist, but in fact she appears in just one chapter in the original text. Her larger role in the plot is an association with the 1939 film, an interpretation that became highly influential, as nearly every later Oz story riffs on this idea, including Wicked. Baum would not reuse the Wicked Witch in later novels.
Beyond this original tale are numerous other novels, including another 13 by Baum and 19 by his immediate successor, Ruth Plumly Thompson. Of these 32 tales, 23 were published by the end of 1929 and are in the public domain, including all of Baum’s output. On January 1, 2026, another Plumly Thompson novel, The Yellow Knight of Oz, will join that group. Plumly Thompson’s output ultimately surpassed Baum’s, though her imaginative contributions, including introducing a new main focal character—Peter Brown—remain underappreciated today.
Among Baum’s sequels, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), his first sequel, stands out for introducing Princess Ozma and expanding the mythology of Oz. It is the only one of Baum’s works to not feature Dorothy as a character in the story. Due to popular demand, she would return in Ozma of Oz (1907). In this tale she would be referred to as Dorothy Gale for the first time in the novels, although the name originated in the 1902 musical revue.
Check out all of the Oz books in the public domain in our collections!
Musicals and Sound Recordings
Part of Baum’s core campaign in expanding Oz’s reach was his ability to spread it into multi-media. In 1902, he penned the book for a musical revue that differed from his original text and introduced many more characters, including Imogen the Cow. Notable among the work are the plethora of songs created for it that were cycled in and out as the production shifted locations.
By 1913, Baum had penned another two successful stage productions: The Woggle-Bug (1905), and The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (1913). This latter work exhibits Baum’s multi-media synergy as the play was based on prior Oz novels, Ozma of Oz (1907) and The Road to Oz (1909). He then adapted this musical into his 1914 book, Tik-Tok of Oz.
While these original Oz musical productions are unable to be viewed now, due to the impermanent nature of theatre, we can still connect to them through sound recordings. While not recordings of the actual shows, these auditory oddities act as gateways to the past. They unlock a direct link to tangible creative expression that also reflects the artistic and performing sensibilities of the time. Surviving from the time is a 1913 recording from The Tik-Tok Man of Oz: My Wonderful Dream Girl.
Explore the many elements of these productions, including sheet music, visual imagery, and sound recordings in our collections.
Film
Rightly remembered for its masterful execution and translation of the fairytale Oz to the big screen, MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) remains the primary association with Oz for most audiences. However, despite its iconic status, that version was preceded by multiple filmed adaptations. Between 1908 and 1925, at least six silent adaptations brought Oz to life, some now lost, others surviving in fragments that reveal inventive visual interpretations often drawn from the stage musicals of the era.
The first—in 1910—acts as a loose adaptation of the stage musical featuring Imogen the cow. In 1914, under Baum’s own supervision, His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz stands out for recycling narrative elements and characters that Baum later reshaped into his book The Scarecrow of Oz. A 1925 film, The Wizard of Oz, went feature-length with slapstick sensibility and large deviations from the source material. It was directed by and starred Larry Semon and featured Oliver Hardy in a pre-Laurel and Hardy role as the Tin Man.
Deviation from the source material was common into the 1930s with a 1933 short cartoon aptly titled The Wizard of Oz. Directed by Ted Eshbaugh, this cartoon is the first instance of an Oz film in sound and color. Building on the adaptation oddities, this film includes no dialogue, sans a simple song refrain, and it trades out a plot for lively 1930s animation and fantastical moments that fit into the inventive world of Oz. The short features an element inspired by the first book by having Kansas be monochromatic before Oz radiates with color. This shift in color would again be utilized in the 1939 Oz film. Oddly, the short does not end with Dorothy returning to Kansas, similarly to the end of the 1902 musical. Rather it ends on an inconclusive button with a giant egg hatching a tiny chicken for comedic effect. A charming oddity, it shows just how wildly Oz’s world could be reinterpreted even then. Learn more about its history and restoration process over at Cartoon Research.
Check out the extant films in our collection!
Conclusion
Oz is ingrained in American culture and remains a global icon. Today, most audiences encounter it through the 1939 film, contemporary interpretations like Wicked, or by revisiting Baum’s original 1900 classic. But beyond those familiar touchstones lies a much broader creative and cultural legacy. We hope this brief journey into the roots of Oz inspires you to explore its forgotten corners and rediscover the wonder that made it timeless in the first place.
I can’t wait to see Wicked: For Good. Just 4 more days left until the movie is out.
This is a wonderful post, Sterling Dudley! I recall the first time my mother let me stay up late with her (The Wizard of Oz didn’t finish until 9pm!) to watch the 1939 Technicolor version on ABC, in the late 1970s. I knew there were multiple sequels to the original novel, but didn’t realize how many! I spent some time learning about them after reading this post. The final L. Frank Baum novel (number 14?) is titled Glinda of Oz. Of course, it is all about the beautiful Good Witch of the East!
Thank you for sharing these images, especially the poster rendition of Dorothy falling asleep in the field of poppies. That was a lovely scene in the 1939 film. For a 40 year old movie, I recall how new it seemed to me in, even 1979. My next stop is Cartoon Watch website.
Thanks for this! i will look at some of the film and audio oddities you describe. As a kid (and now, still!) I loved the Oz books and preferred Baum’s sequels to the original story. I own all the Baum plus some Thomson Oz titles in the Books of wonder facsimiles with the color plates