The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History

by Jay Scarfone, William Stillman, John Fricke

Book Overview

A commemorative volume offers the definitive pictorial history of one of the most popular movies of all time. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446514462
• ISBN13: 9780446514460
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 2.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.8" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

A glorious look at the wonderful movie of "The Wizard of Oz"

Since this is "The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History" of the beloved 1939 film, it is not surprising that John Fricke, Jay Scarfone, and William Stillman have put together the book that tops the "must have" list for fans of the film (after, of course, L. Frank Baum's original novel, which just had its centennial edition come out in 1903. After an introduction by Jack Haley, Jr., the volume's prologue, "The Marvelous Land of Oz," begins with the story of how Baum came up with the name for Oz and looks at the history of his stories prior to the movie. Also included in this prologue are stills from some of the vaudeville and silent movie versions (the 1925 film had Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodman), the original book covers for the 42 Oz stories, and Technicolor test shots of the movie cast, which includes Judy Garland wearing a blond wig as Dorothy. By the time you finish this prologue you will know that this book is going to be everything that you would want as the table of contents indicates: Part One - The Oz Diary: Creating a Classic: (1) Acquisition and Casting contrasts the signing of the cast with W.W. Denslow's first pictures of the characters; (2) Scripts, Songs, and Staff focuses on early drafts of the scripts and ideas for song more so than what actually ended up in the movie; (3) Wardrobe and Markup details the evolution of the look of each character with corresponding photographs; (4) The Thorpe "Era" is about Richard Thorpe's short tenure as the film's director, when Gale Sondergaard is the Wicked Witch and Dorothy is a blond; (5) There'll Be Some Changes Made is short but sweet and is about the changes George Cukor made as a stop gap under Victor Fleming was signed to direct the film; (6) "The Wizard" Comes to Life is a lengthy chapter covering the making of the film with its various legendary stories; and (7) Post-Production and Previews, which details what was cut (including "Over the Rainbow" at one point), when and why. Part Two - The Oz Diary Continued: Promotion and Reception: (8) The Oz Campaign contains everything from Judy Garland telling Frank Morgan "Anybody can be a wizard at Jelly-Making" for a newspaper ad for Certo (never heard of it either)to a two-page full-color spread in "Life" and a special "Wizard of Oz" ad for the Sunday comics; (9) Hollywood Party is about the movie's gala premier; (10) "Capitol" Times in Manhattan is about the show at Loew's Capitol Theater In New York City that showed the movie along with a life performances by Garland and Mickey Rooney. This chapter also shows some of the first product tie-ins for the movie; and (11) From Coast to Coast is a brief look at promotion of the film across the nation and includes what might be the first editorial cartoon that used the Oz characters to comment on a real situation (Hitler is the Wicked Witch of the West and Mussolini is a winged monkey, while Dorothy is European civilization, the Scarecrow is Poland, the Lion is Brit

Pop goes the Tin Man!

A sepia tornado hurls Dorothy's house out at you. Turn the page and the glorious color of Oz comes to life as Glinda hovers over Dorothy. Out of the many illustrated pop-up Oz books, this one is done with actual photos from our beloved movie! The book even creeks as Dorothy renders aid to the Tin Man. 11 pop-outs (6 of them are hidden in the side flaps) makes the reader part of the movie while turning the moving pages and lifting the flaps to discover all the familiar things we've grown to love. Just imagine melting the Wicked Witch at your will with only your fingertips. And if that's not enough, pop the CD out of it's pocket and into your player and listen to Judy Garland sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". Besides being a warm memento of the movie, this book is FUN!! Check out another Oz-some book by William Stillman and Jay Scarfone "The Wizardry Of OZ", they make great companion pieces.

OZ-some!

This book was a WIZ of a WoW! As you open each page, you see these incredible 3-D Pop-Ups! Plus you have hidden pannels to search through, AND a fun 7-minute long CD of song excerpts from the soundtrack of the movie (the Overture, "Over The Rainbow," etc.)The kids will love it : IF they can get it away from the adults, that is!This is a must-have book by the world's foremost OZ Experts -- Enjoy!

A visual extravaganza down the yellow brick road!

I was excited when I heard this book was in the works, and am now thoroughly pleased and thrilled to see its results! This book is magnificient; such a fresh, original way to pay tribute to MGM's classic 1939 film. The 3-D elements of this book really allows the reader to interact with it. A terrific job by both the authors and folks at Intervisual Books.One might think that the book is lacking something with only ten pages, but that is NOT the case. Each turn of the page is jam packed with beautiful imagery from "The Wizard of Oz". This includes exquisitely designed mechanical pop-ups, gatefolds, and mini-windows to open up with plenty of pictures of our favorite Oz characters and scenes. Also, the authors did a fine job in retelling the classic movie with a simple, elegant writing style.From the moment you open the book you get to experience the imagery of Oz leap off the pages right before your very eyes. Get whisked away from Kansas with a 3-D tornado and watch the Wicked Witch melt. You can almost feel the wind against your face and hear the cackle of the old crone as she meets her demise.Another fun and fine point about this book is the 'extra' CD which accompanies it. The author's claim it will let you 'click your heels to the beat'. Well, don't be surprised if your feet are marching to the beat. And, if it weren't for having to hold the book in your hands, you'd probably be slapping your knees, too!!This is another exceptional Oz contribution from Jay Scarfone and William Stillman. They've pretty much covered it all ... historical research, collectibles treasury, and now a trip down the lighter side of the yellow brick road with a visually extravagant three-dimensional edition of MGM's classic movie. This book will be a classic in its own right. I highly recommend everyone buy two copies; one to 'play' with and one to keep!

* BEST WIZARD OF OZ BOOK EVER , EVER WRITTEN *

This is the best book for any one who wants pictures, publicity photos, complete biograpies, or any thing else you can think of , from The Wizard Of Oz.