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=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JUNE 29 - JULY 2, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 22:59:25 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: If wishes were
horses...


About the Wish Way, Nathan DeHoff wrote: <<Perhaps Wish Way jumps
around the landscape, which is why Dorothy found it in different
places in _Royal Book_ and _Lost King_.>>

A creative solution to a perceived problem--excellent! Any other
possibilities? 
  As I recall, the wishing power comes from the road's dust, and LOST
  KING shows that power travels with the person carrying the dust. So
  perhaps *any* road on which enough of the dust lands becomes a Wish
  Way, and any Wish Way that loses enough of the dust is back to
  normal. (That doesn't explain the signage in ROYAL BOOK, however.) 
  Another explanation is that the Wish Way in ROYAL BOOK is the only
  one in Oz, but it's so remote from settled places and so near the
  Deadly Desert that few travelers find it. Dorothy did [Dorothy
  always finds things!], and therefore *assumed* and reported that
  what she encountered in LOST KING was another Wish Way, but it was
  actually a different phenomenon. 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I believe that all of Baum's books are in the public domain at this
point.>>

I agree. The only Baum writing that may still be under copyright
protection is perhaps a letter or draft first published after his
death, and copyrighted under someone else's name and after the change
in copyright terms. I know of no Baum writing that fits that
description, however--certainly nothing major. 
  [If anyone finds the manuscript of KING RINKITINK, for example, I
  think it could have a new copyright term from the date of its
  publication--certainly if it were edited or annotated.] 

Mike Turniansky wrote of the Ozzy Roleplaying Game: <<The plotline is
too complicated for me to follow>>

I'm starting to feel the same way, and I was contributing. There seem
to be about as many plots as players, and about as many conceptions
of Oz--talk about parallel universes! 

Can anyone report on the Ozmapolitan Convention of the Int'l Wizard
of Oz Club?

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com
=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 00:27:26 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-28-99

In a message dated 6/28/99 7:59:10 PM Central Daylight Time,
OzDigest@mindspring.com writes:

Lisa<< Also, I just received a message from my RTOZ mailing list  >>
I'm amazed at how collectible RTO items are.  eBay has quite a few
listed, but I'm sure you and your group know that already.   I liked
the movie when it came out in '85, but I don't understand its almost
cultlike following now.  What's the deal?
----
Ruth Berman wrote:
 >Whether Baum took the imitation from
 >songs actually sung by Blacks, or from white-in-blackface
 imitations of  >Black dialect, "Lulu" still has the racism David G.
 complained of.
John Kennedy responded:
<>

Why?  LFB's distaste was not necessarily based on the lyrics.  More
likely, it was based on what was considered to be low-class "coon"
music.  The song, penned by our beloved Baum is, IMO, clearly racist.
----
BCF: (Sigh) O.K., I guess this means I should reread _...Cowardly
Lion.... 
For those of you who will be doing the same, or who are reading it
for the first time, would y'all kind of look for similarities between
it and Carroll's Alice work, please?  And I'd love to have a rational
answer for why Notta never uses all of his costumes, but it's never
mentioned that he doesn't.
And why, why, WHY is he so stubborn? I can answer these questions on
an "Oz as literature" basis, but not within the story itself.
--Robin 
=====================================================================
= From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 06-28-99
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 22:15:44 PDT

Gehan:
>You're right. Creating _Wish Way_ was a big mistake. In that case,
the Good
>Witch of the North should have sent Dorothy to Wish Way and told her
to 
>wish herself back in Kansas in _Wizard_.

Not necessarily.  Maybe the GWN didn't know about Wish Way.  Even if
she did, it's located in the Winkie Country, so that would have meant
a journey through the WWW's territory, a course of action that the
GWN would have been loath to recommend.

David Godwin:
>In the case of the RPT books, I would imagine that there were
>still plenty of places to get used copies of the Del Rey editions
that have 
>gone out of print, but maybe not (I haven't tried).

The International Wizard of Oz Club offers several Del Rey Thompson
books.  
I believe their supplier is a bookstore in New York.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 14:08:13 +1000
From: Gehan Cooray <calamity@eureka.lk> Subject: Ozzy Things.

Lisa:
I'm probably the only one who isnt excited about RTOZ being released
on DVD because I have the video. Do you suppose it will include the
cut-off scenes of Dorothy crowning the Scarecrow and the rest?

Jeremy:
Well,I couldnt think of any other suitable title and so I decided to
call it _Princess Languidere of Oz_. I didnt want to call it
_Princess Languidere in Oz_ because the story doesnt take place in
Oz.....nor in Ev for that matter. 
For example, Lisa Mastroberte wanted to write a book called _Princess
Polychrome of Oz_ and Polychrome doesnt live in Oz. (BTW Lisa, whats
up with with your Oz Books, _WoggleBug_ and _Princess Polychrome_?)

Nathan:
Well, I'm sure RPT could have thought of another way to take Dorothy
to the Silver Islands and to California in _Lost King_ and _Royal
Book_. (Ex: A wishing pill or the Magic Belt)

Untill next time!
--Gehan
========================================================= In all the
world theres no place like home......exepct Oz


=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 14:22:15 -0400
From: Michael Turniansky <turnip@bcpl.net> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest,
06-28-99

>
>
> "She'll come back...they always do!"

   Okay, this is bugging me...I know the quote is familiar to
   me...but whence?
              --Mike Turniansky


=====================================================================
= From: Con42@webtv.net
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 20:49:02 -0400 (EDT) Subject: hope you can
help me????


all i want to know to solve a argument over the movie the wizard of
oz.
my question is is there only one version of the wizard of oz and when
they made the movie it was done black and white first then color then
black and white in the end?? i have researched everywhere on the
internet for the answer to this question and  i can't find the answer
to prove my point.


=====================================================================
= From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 00:24:05 EDT
Subject: Oz

Gehan:
There was some discussion of putting some non-FF titles into the BCF.
I don't remember what the consensus was. I wouldn't have a problem in
discussing any stories after we go through the FF.

Nathan:
My general feeling (and this is not influenced by _Oz and the Three
Witches_) is that the Wicked Witches were generally independent, but
that they had a kind of non-agression pact, wherein they would stay
within their assigned color-block.

Tyler Jones
=====================================================================
= Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 14:24:52 -0500 (EST) From:
<sahutchi@iupui.edu>
cc: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 05-28-99

Slinky Ozma, I think it was 1918 or thereabouts.

Mike--I think it's "Aslan Korkak," not "Korkak Aslan."

========================================= Scott Andrew Hutchins
http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi
Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More!

"Love is not a positive emotion that begins in us and ends in the
positive response of someone else.  Love is divine energy that comes
from God and has no end."  --Eric Butterworth

=====================================================================
= Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 15:50:37 -0500 (EST) From:
<sahutchi@iupui.edu>
Subject: Return to Oz to be reissued!!!


August 10, 1999 is the release date.

http://www.amazon.com/covers/B/00/000/JMQ/B00000JMQC.l.gif

No details available, though it will be in clamshell packaging and
available on DVD.  The DVD will probably be the only way to see it in
widescreen, as with _The Wiz_.  _The Wiz_ was just on the WB
affiliate last Sunday.  I didn't watch it, but they must have cut a
lot out, since they crammed a 2 hour and 13 minute film into a 2-hour
block.



===========================
Scott Andrew Hutchins
http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi
Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More!

"Love is not a positive emotion that begins in us and ends in the
positive response of someone else.  Love is divine energy that comes
from God and has no end."  --Eric Butterworth

=====================================================================
= From: "David Hulan" <davidhulan@ntsource.com> Subject: Ozzy Digest
absence
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 20:33:34 -0700

Hi, everyone -

In case you're wondering about (as opposed to just enjoying) my
absence from the Digest lately, the modem on my computer died. I can,
and do, read my e-mail using my wife's computer, but for several
reasons I find it quite painful to use it for composing replies
compared with using my own. (Not entirely because it's Windoze,
though that's a major factor.) Until I get something resolved - and I
just haven't had time and won't until after Winkies - I'm only
replying to urgent messages. I'm not miffed at any one nor am I ill
or dead or anything disastrous. But I need to decide whether to spend
several hundred dollars getting a new modem and having it installed,
$1500 or so getting a new desktop computer with modem, or $2500 or so
getting a new laptop with modem. I intend to do both the latter
within the next year or so, but as always with computer purchases the
longer you wait the more you get for your money, so it's not
something I want to rush into. 
I should be back into the swing of things one way or another

The same, by the way, is true for the Ozzy RPG; I'm out of it until
I'm back on-line with a Mac, and if this means you'd prefer to drop
me from the game that's OK by me.

David Hulan


=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 16:02:01 -0500
Subject: <no subject>
From: "David F Godwin" <d.godwin@minn.net>

Thought some folks might find it interesting that there was a book
published in 1992 by Mandrake (London) and written by Francis X. King
entitled _The Flying Sorcerer_. It is a biographical sketch of
Francis Barrett, author of _The Magus_ (1801), a book of ceremonial
magic mainly copied from Cornelius Agrippa's _Three Books of Occult
Philosophy_. Barrett was quite a character.
Besides dabbling in magic, he put on exhibitions (mostly abortions
and disasters) in which he would attempt to fly in a hot air balloon.
Hmm. Sound familiar? Barrett, however, was not from Omaha.

This came up in connection with Gehan's RPG: What accent or dialect
is Baum trying to convey when he reproduces dialog spoken by Cap'n
Bill? ("Nobody ever sawr a mermaid an' lived to tell the tale."
"'Cause mermaids is fairies, an' ain't meant to be seen by us mortal
folk.") New England came to mind, not because I am familiar with the
accent, but because it seems most reasonable for an old sailor from
the (mainly) 19th century to be from some place along the New England
coast. If such is the case, is the accent accurately reproduced? If
not, what kind of an accent is it?

- David G.
=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 16:53:14 -0500 (EST) From:
<sahutchi@iupui.edu>
Subject: new show with Pons Maar

The lead wheeler of _Return to Oz_...

http://www.et-arts.com/mills.html

======================================= Scott Andrew Hutchins
http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi
Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More!

"Love is not a positive emotion that begins in us and ends in the
positive response of someone else.  Love is divine energy that comes
from God and has no end."  --Eric Butterworth

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 02 Jul 99 16:43:44 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things


PROJECT OZ ON CHARON:
In order to try to drum up more support, I've posted the following on
sci.astro:

Astronomers who love Oz

I am an astronomy enthusiast and the Internet Digest editor for the
International Wizard of Oz Club.  My fellow enthusiasts of Oz and I
recently read in the book New Worlds by Heather Couper and Nigel
Henbest that when James Christy first discovered Charon he wanted to
name it "Oz".  We realize that this name was overruled because there
are strict rules in the astronomical community limiting names for new
moons, but we also recognize that no such limits exist for the
nomenclature of geological features of moons, and that in fact that
each moon in the outer Solar System has a particular theme for its
geological features.  We feel that since "Oz" was Christy's first
choice for the name for Pluto's moon, that we should petition NASA
and Pluto Flyby organizer Robert Staehle to make "Oz" the theme for
Charon, so that when Charon is mapped by the Pluto probe, its
features will be named for people and places in the Oz Books.

	We have corresponded with Mr. Christy, and he is enthusiastic
	about this proposition, so we are trying to build support from
	others in the astronomy community.
We believe that James Christy's desire for a monument to L. Frank
Baum and Oz should be in this way realized.
Such a monument seems especially appropriate for the upcoming
celebration of the centennial of the publication of The Wizard of Oz.

	Any advice or support anyone can offer we would greatly
	appreciate.


Sincerely,

Dave Hardenbrook
E-Mail: DaveH47@mindspring.com



OZ SCRAPBOOK II?:
Eric Gjovaag tells me that John Fricke is writing an "Oz
Scrapbook"-like volume call _100 Years of Oz_... Anyone know anything
about it?


FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Just for a bit of idleness, here's some weird impressions I had about
Oz when I was a kid...(Before my post-adolescent re-readings of the
books.)

-- That the MGM film was the first movie ever made in color.

-- That Glinda was Ozma's mother.

-- That the Emerald City was entirely "indoors".

-- That the Nome King's Dominions were underneath Jinxland.

-- That the Love Magnet was a total fake.

-- That the roads were different colors in different Oz provinces
    (This one persists in my writings but I recognize that it's
     heretical.)

-- That it was mean of Nick Chopper not to take Dorothy with him to
    find Nimee Amee.

-- That the Adepts were Yookoohoos.

-- That Coo-ee-oh's helmet was her hair!  (Even Jenny Jump wouldn't
go
    *that* far!)


BCF:
This is your last chance to object to starting _Cowardly Lion_... If
not, we start on Tuesday.  (Since Monday is a Bank Holiday.) :)


                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>

To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-06-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990706141317.00c72100@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 3 - 6, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]

         "AWOL" Digest member: <rmasters@ptd.net>


=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 23:20:32 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-99

In a message dated 7/2/99 6:59:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
OzDigest@mindspring.com writes:

<< Can anyone report on the Ozmapolitan Convention of the Int'l
Wizard of Oz Club? >>John Bell

Sure. There were approximately 50 of us at Lake Lawn this year. We
saw parts of Theo Carson's and Bill Beem's collections and heard them
tell about the items in them.  Their displays were wonderful . We
also    had a "collectibles" panel where the audience could ask
questions.       One thing that was really  entertaining was Atticus
Gannaway's presentation of Baum's "The Suicide of Kiaros." He did it
as a dramatic reading, complete with incidental sound effects and
even  a musical underscoring at some points.  It was super! (O.k., so
I sound like a proud mama; he's been one of my Oz "sons" for years!)
Jay Scarfone reported about the new book he and Bill Stillman have
written.  It's about the MGM movie and is coming out this fall. John
Fricke was able to make in in for a few hours.  He reported about the
book that he and Willard Carroll have done.  [Dave, this is _100
Years of Oz_]  It shows Willard's collection, and when y'all see it,
you'll understand why it's worth seeing.  Peter Hanff showed us
slides of his MGM stills collection, pointing out details that we
might otherwise miss by viewing _The Wizard_ only in film format.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 
 David H. or Atty or Peter or Jane will probably report and fill in
 the blanks I've left.  The chairperson was Katie Fleming.  
She did a fine job.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to announce the
winner of the Frederick E. Otto award for fiction at the Ozmapolitan
convention, so I'll wait for Peter Hanff to do that.  Pete?

The informal events were quite as much fun as the more formal ones.
The Great Room is a good place for an Ozzy gathering.  Many of us
went there and talked and talked and talked for hours after the
program.  The convention was enjoyable.  Y'all should try to attend
an IWOC convention.  The Centennial Convention next year in Indiana
will be spectacular!

"Coal Black Lulu": Oh, froop!  I just saw that somehow my cut and
paste of what John K. had said didn't paste into my post.  I'm sorry.

Dave H.: I'm not all that surprised that you thought Glinda was
Ozma's mother. I've long theorized that it's her job to protect Ozma,
and that means, in part, performing a mother's role.  The notion that
the roads are different colors in the different sectors of Oz doesn't
seem heretical to me.  Why would it be, other than the YBR?  Oh, and
do you have any particular explanation for why you thought the
Emerald City was all indoors?  Maybe because of the wall surrounding
it and the domed effect?  --Robin


=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 22:40:54 -0400
From: David Levitan <david@emeraldcityofoz.com> Subject: Oz Newsgroup

I sent out a special message to news server administrators asking
them to add the newsgroup (called a control message) on Friday
evening.
Hopefully the newsgroup (alt.books.wizard-of-oz) will start appearing
on Tuesday, if not earlier. Please let me know if your newsgroup
server begins carrying it. You will have to refresh your list of
newsgroups in Netscape or whatever newsgroup reader you use.
Thanks.
-- 
David Levitan
E-mail:                          Web Page: david@emeraldcityofoz.com
The Emerald City of Oz dbl@bestweb.net
http://www.emeraldcityofoz.com
=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 23:22:58 -0500
From: "R. M. Atticus Gannaway" <atty242@mail.utexas.edu> Subject: Re:
Ozzy Digest, 07-02-99

JOHN BELL:

>Can anyone report on the Ozmapolitan Convention of the Int'l Wizard
of Oz
>Club?

I was tapped to write up the official convention report, which I'd
planned to deliver to David Hulan in hard copy next weekend at
Winkies.  I'll still do that, but here's the text (sans formatting).

#######################

On the weekend of June 18-20, 1999, the Ozmopolitans descended en
masse upon the lush landscape of Lake Lawn Lodge in Delavan,
Wisconsin, for their thirty-ninth convention.

The theme of the gathering, chaired by Katie Fleming, was "60 Years
Down the Yellow Brick Road," in observance of the sixtieth
anniversary of the MGM film. 
Friday’s activities commenced with Auntie Em’s Afternoon Social, at
which conventioneers were treated to lemonade and Em’s famous cookies
(no crullers).  The social coincided with the Costume Contest, in
which a Judy Garland Dorothy (pig-tailed and ginghamed Katie Fleming,
who performed a manically marvelous MGM monologue), the Scarecrow
(Peter Schulenburg), the Baum Good Witch of the North (Janet Cook),
Lady Cue (Margaret Berg), and a superb Scraps (Linda Terburgh)
appeared.  Linda Terburgh’s Patchwork Girl ensemble emerged as the
winning costume.

After Dinner  la Professor Marvel (during which the Ozmopolitans did
not eat the crowned heads of Europe), the Friday evening program
kicked off with the awarding of this year’s L. Frank Baum Memorial
Award to Michael Gessel for his many years of service to the Club,
including his legislative support of Oz.

Next up was the traditional Show and Tell, emceed by Steve Teller.
Among the discussed items were Bill Beem’s much-coveted L. Frank Baum
bust, as well as a unique, handmade Yellow-Brick-Road TV tray; Kevin
Thomas’s roll of lovely Wizard of Oz wallpaper; Katie Fleming’s 1939
British edition of The Wizard of Oz featuring distinctive color
plates of MGM scenes; Donald Vanni’s Astro City comic, whose
protagonist dreams of Oz and identifies with Button-Bright; Steve
Teller’s photocopies of pages from several 1938 versions of the MGM
film’s script, containing significant differences from the final
version; and, perhaps most intriguing, Jay Scarfone’s
recently-discovered photograph of Judy Garland with her Oz stand-in,
Bobbie Koshay.

Theo Carson and Bill Beem then discussed numerous pieces from their
MGM Oz collections, which constituted the (Cowardly) Lion’s share of
the meeting room’s display.  A profusion of vintage magazine pieces
and a beautifully restored Dorothy composition doll were among the
highlights.

Last on Friday’s agenda was a panel discussion, composed of avid
collectors Jane Albright, Bill Beem, Theo Carson, Robin Olderman, and
Jay Scarfone, on the "development, display, and care of an Oz
collection."  The panel gave a number of valuable tips and fielded
some interesting questions.

Saturday began with the infamous Oz quizzes, given by Quizmeister Jay
Delkin. 
David Hulan emerged as the adult victor, while Jamie Teller won the
children’s-or, as it turned out, child’s-quiz.

The next event was a video presentation of writer/producer Scott
Essman’s A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz.  The documentary chronicled
the detailed re-creation of costuming and makeup for seven MGM film
characters: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, the Wicked
Witch, Nikko, and a Winkie Guard.  The made-up characters appeared at
a special showing along with a number of relatives of the makeup
artists involved with the MGM film, in addition to attending the
Halloween 1998 premiere of the film’s re-release at Mann’s Chinese
Theater in Hollywood.

Immediately following, Centennial Convention chairperson Jane
Albright reported on the exciting but intensive preparations for next
year’s ambitious gathering at Indiana University in Bloomington and
also displayed some preliminary pencil renderings by Anna-Maria Cool
of her illustrations for the Club’s Centennial Oz novel, The Hidden
Prince of Oz.

After Katie Fleming’s brief Baum Bugle update and discussion, the
Ozmopolitans gathered for a Wizard’s Luncheon.  Peter Hanff then
conducted a lightning-quick
business meeting establishing David Hulan as next year’s Ozmopolitan
registrar.

With business matters thus tersely dispatched, conventioneers turned
all their attention to Patrick Maund, who conducted the Ozmopolitan
Auction.  Items on the block included a copy of Snowbound, with
lovely John R. Neill illustrations; stills from the MGM movie; an
early edition of Dot and Tot of Merryland; a color Russian edition of
Alexander Volkov’s last "Magic Land" book, whose title translates as
The Secret of the Deserted Castle; color separations for Visitors
from Oz, signed by the late artist Dick Martin; a later edition of
Grampa in Oz with a first-state dust jacket; a set of Wizard of Oz
spoons; a first edition of Yankee in Oz; a promotional printing of a
Denslow illustration from The Pearl and the Pumpkin; and a
promotional piece for Baum’s anonymous adult novel, The Last
Egyptian.
Bidding was lively and puns were both frequent and painful.  Dealers
offered Oz wares directly after the auction.

Saturday evening’s meal was dubbed “Dorothy’s Wisconsin Cookout,” and
the Ozmopolitans dined alfresco at tables placed on the lawn
overlooking Lake Delavan.  The evening program commenced with award
announcements, including the winners of the Oz Research Table.  “Ozma
Fights the Sniffles” by John L. Bell and “Rabbit’s Tale” by Robert
Kassabian won first and second prizes, respectively, in the fiction
category, while Steve Teller’s “Songs from The Wizard of Oz (1903)”
garnered top honors for non-fiction.  In the art category, Keith
Carson claimed first prize for his “Beyond the Rainbow Treasure
Chest,” a handmade wooden chest with full-color Oz book-cover
facsimiles nested in exterior recessed panels, and Robin Hess
received an honorable mention for his essay, “What’s the Matter with
Our Maps.”

Next, MGM expert John Fricke put in a surprise appearance to talk
about his forthcoming collaboration with Willard Carroll, 100 Years
of Oz, a lavish and colorful examination of the Oz phenomenon.  Peter
Hanff followed up with a slide show of interesting and unique MGM
movie tie-ins, after which Jay Scarfone presented his own slide show
of MGM photographic ephemera, many of which will be collected in his
and William Stillman’s upcoming project, The Wizardry of Oz.

The official evening program concluded with dramatic readings by
Atticus Gannaway of two little-known L. Frank Baum stories, “Who
Called Perry’?” and “The Suicide of Kiaros.”  The performance was in
remembrance of the eightieth anniversary of Baum’s death.  Ghosts,
embezzling, and murder created a spooky atmosphere as Ryan Bunch
provided able pianistic accompaniment and Robin Olderman proved a
capable “Soundmom.”  Saturday night ended informally with an
after-hours party “courtesy of the Great Oz, himself.”

After brunch on Sunday, the MGM magic was over as the Ozmopolitans
disbanded for 1999.  All, however, are eagerly anticipating next
year’s historic Centennial Convention, which will displace the
regional conventions for the year 2000.  But the Ozmopolitan
Convention for 2001, to be co-chaired by Carrie Hedges and Susan
Johnson, will surely bring many Ozmopolitans back for their central
Oz celebration.
* * *

"She reads at such a pace," she complained, "and when I asked her
*where* she had learnt to read so quickly she replied, 'On the
screens at Cinemas.'"

Visit my webpage at http://members.aol.com/atty993
=====================================================================
= From: Ozisus@aol.com
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1999 07:37:53 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-99

David &  all,  John's 100 Years of Oz book is a project he took on
for Willard Carroll, writing the text to accompany a beautifully
designed "coffee table book" that presents images of rare Oz
collectibles.   Willard's extraordinary collection includes literally
hundreds of Oz items photos of which have never before been
published.  John made a cameo appearance at Ozmopolitan this year to
mention it.  I also found it as a to-be-released title when I was
searching Amazon.com the other day.  

And thank you, m'dear, for plugging the centennial in your post to
astronomy enthusiasts!  The more people who realize it, the better!
Jane
=====================================================================
= From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1999 12:31:53 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-28-99

Digest of the 28th--
Dr. Nikidik/Pipt's death:
Faked?  Well, anything's possible . . . and I guess it is the easiest
explanation . . . but it seems too simple somehow.  Yes, I know that
the easiest solution is usually the right one (dreadful paraphrase of
some law I can't name at the moment), but it just seems too easy.

On the other hand, look at Roquat/Ruggedo--he changed his name and
everything, so there is a precedent.  Now that I think about it, I
guess it's not that bad a theory after all.


<Perhaps Wish Way jumps around the landscape, which is why Dorothy
found it in different places in _Royal Book_ and _Lost King_.> Ah,
now that would make things less simple--I like that hypothesis!


Insects in Oz??  Glinda forbid!
Another possible reason Baum wouldn't put many talking insects in Oz
is because many people have a fear and/or hatred of insects.


<<Scott:
Thanks. I finally figured out who the Shaggy Man was in the RTOz
procession.
I also got ahold of that 1985 issue of the Baum Bugle that Ruth
mentioned (thanks, Ruth) with the clear picture of Scraps, the Bumpy
Man, and others on the back cover, but I still can't find the Bumpy
Man or Rinkitink in the film.>>
Two possible explanations:  First, perhaps the televised version,
which isn't as wide as the movie version, doesn't have enough width
to show everyone.  
Second, the televised version must be edited somewhat, and the part
with the BM and Rinkitink may have been edited out.


Digest of the 2nd--
Complex storylines:
Too many authors often spoil the broth, as I found once in trying to
co-write something.  He wanted the story to go his direction, I
wanted to go mine . . .

This is also a reason why RPT should have been more careful to
preserve Baum's Oz instead of (in my opinion) changing it a bit much,
killing off the GWN, etc...


Dave's first impressions:
Well, I can imagine that the fakeness of the love magnet could
certainly be true--power of suggestion and all that . . .


Until next time,
Jeremy Steadman, Junior Historian of Oz kivel99@planetall.com

=====================================================================
= From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-02-99
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 1999 10:54:49 PDT

Gehan:
>For example, Lisa Mastroberte wanted to write a book called
_Princess 
>Polychrome of Oz_ and Polychrome doesnt live in Oz.

I don't think she was ever identified as a Princess, either.

Tyler:
>My general feeling (and this is not influenced by _Oz and the Three 
>Witches_)
>is that the Wicked Witches were generally independent, but that they
had a
>kind of non-agression pact, wherein they would stay within their
assigned 
>color-block.

That seems to make sense.  The only occasion that I can think of in
which a Wicked Witch acted outside of her own territory was Mombi's
work at Lake Orizon.  She might have made a special deal with the WWE
in this case, and the WWE probably agreed because the King was just
as much of a nuisance to her as to Mombi.

Dave Hardenbrook:
>Just for a bit of idleness, here's some weird impressions I had
>about Oz when I was a kid...(Before my post-adolescent re-readings
>of the books.)
>-- That the Emerald City was entirely "indoors".

I think I might have had the same impression, largely due to the MGM
movie, in which the Emerald City looks like it's inside a building
without a roof (so that the WWW could be seen in the sky).  The fact
that the book places a wall around the city probably didn't help very
much, since there aren't that many walled cities in the United
States.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: "sprichards" <sprichards@email.msn.com> Subject: Oz and Ends
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 1999 18:28:20 -0700

Hello everyone!

Nathan is correct about IWOC having a Del Rey supplier in New York. I
think it is Gryphon Books, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
David Godwin:
>In the case of the RPT books, I would imagine that there were
>still plenty of places to get used copies of the Del Rey editions
that have
>gone out of print, but maybe not (I haven't tried).

The International Wizard of Oz Club offers several Del Rey Thompson
books.
I believe their supplier is a bookstore in New York.

Does anyone know if the covers for EMERALD CITY and OZMA of Oz that
Neil drew in 1929 (slinky Ozma's) are in public domain or not? I
don't know if both were drawn in '29.

And I really don't know if it would of made much sense if Dorothy
wished herself to California with a Wishing Pill or the Magic
Belt...I don't know why she would of done that. But you are correct.
To find the Scarecrow in THE ROYAL BOOK OF OZ, she should of used the
Belt. But weren't they lost when they stumbled upon Wish Way?

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Nathan:
Well, I'm sure RPT could have thought of another way to take Dorothy
to the Silver Islands and to California in _Lost King_ and _Royal
Book_. (Ex: A wishing pill or the Magic Belt)

I think we should start on Cowardly Lion now. I have a 1936 copy of
it without colored plates. If anyone knows where cheap editions of
THE PURPLE PRINCE OF OZ or OJO IN OZ are available, please tell me!
I do wonder what this year's Winkie Convention is going to be like! I
can't wait to find out.
Well, see you all later!

Ozzily Yours,
Justin in Oz (I wish)

P.S. The reason that I haven't posted any messages is because our
computer crashed in Oz and we had to retrieve it.



=====================================================================
= Date: Sun, 04 Jul 1999 21:38:18 -0400
From: Lisa M Mastroberte <ozma.rules@cheerful.com> Subject: Replies

Robin:

<<I'm amazed at how collectible RTO items are.  eBay has quite a few
listed, but I'm sure you and your group know that already.   I liked
the movie when it came out in '85, but I don't understand its almost
cultlike following now.  What's the deal?>>

I think mainly is because it's a rather rare movie ... and when you
find someone else who saw the movie and actually LIKED it ... well,
it's a joyous occasion. :-) So most fans are really dedicated.

Dave:

>>FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

<<-- That the Emerald City was entirely "indoors".>>

I used to believe that the Emerald City was only one big room (and
two towers for the Wizard) when I was about four years old. Now I
know it's actually a city. Hence the name, "Emerald City." :-)

The long replies to Gehan:

<<Do you suppose it will include the cut-off scenes of Dorothy
crowning the Scarecrow and the rest?>>

Yes, probably. Since it's in widescreen and DVD's can hold more, I
don't suppose why not.

<<For example, Lisa Mastroberte wanted to write a book called
_Princess Polychrome of Oz_ and Polychrome doesnt live in Oz.>>

Ah! Don't judge the title without reading the actual story. I have to
do some MAJOR revision ... since when reading it, I realised the
plot-line had some holes it it.

<<whats up
>with
>with your Oz Books, _WoggleBug_ and _Princess Polychrome_?)>>

In progress, Gehan. In progress.

Oh, since you asked me, how are your Oz books coming along?

Peace!!

--Lisa, who is dancing around the room because her order from the
IWOC FINALLY came in. :)))))




=====================================================================
= Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 13:19:31 -0400
From: Michael Turniansky <turnip@bcpl.net> Subject: Turkish Lions in
Oz.

Scott Hutchins:

>
>
> Mike--I think it's "Aslan Korkak," not "Korkak Aslan."
>

   Oh, you're almost assuredly correct, because even though I don't
   know Turkish, I know of now language in that area of the world
   that puts the adjective before the noun.  Don't know what I was
   thinking of when I wrote that throwaway signoff.,....
              --Mike "Shaggy Man" Turniansky


=====================================================================
= From: "Kenneth R. Shepherd" <kshepherd@email.msn.com> Subject:
Cowardly Lion of Oz
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 01:11:15 -0400

Robin:

<snip>I guess this means I should reread _...Cowardly Lion....
For those of you who will be doing the same, or who are reading it
for the first time, would y'all kind of look for similarities between
it and Carroll's
Alice work, please?  And I'd love to have a rational answer for why
Notta never uses all of his costumes, but it's never mentioned that
he doesn't.
And why, why, WHY is he so stubborn? I can answer these questions on
an "Oz as literature" basis, but not within the story itself.</snip>

Robin, this is kind of a stretch, but I've got some ideas I'll
share...

Similarities with Carroll's _Alice_: virtually none, other than the
(obvious) facts that the two stories were both written for children,
or with children in mind, and that they both happen in fantastic
lands. Did you notice any, or was this a generalized question?

Stubborn: I'm not sure what particular instances of stubbornness you
mean.
Are you referring to his insistence on his rules of disguise,
politeness, joke, and run?

Disguises: Notta says (Chapter 3) that he has six: (1) Lion; (2)
Bear; (3) Huntsman; (4) Fish; (5) Witch. The sixth costume is never
mentioned, probably because Notta has arrived at the Emerald City
before the need for a sixth costume has come up, and realizes that
they are useless thanks to the words of Scraps, Tik-Tok, and the
Scarecrow: "`Well, after this,' said Notta, when the merriment had
subsided, `after this, I will be myself, for I guess it is better to
be yourself even if you _are_ a clown.'" (Chapter 19).

I think there's a general theme here--just as there was in _Royal
Book_--that it's not good to pretend to be something or someone
you're not just to impress or influence people. It's Notta and the
Cowardly Lion who best exemplify this theme. Notta Bit More seems to
have no identity other than as a clown. Even though it's revealed (in
Chapter 3) that his full name is Augustus Elmer More, no one
(including the author and Notta himself) ever refers to him by that
name. When he washes his face in Chapter 5, both he and Bob Up feel
that Notta has become somehow unnatural. We're also told that his
father was a clown, and Neill illustrates him in a costume that
reminds me of the _Commedia dell'Arte_ player (I can't remember his
name; Harlequin was the multi-colored trickster, I think .... was it
Scapin in the black-and-white suit with the pointed hat? It's the
character that sings _Vesti la giubba_ in _I Pagliacci).  Whenever
Notta deviates from his normal (clownish) personality by putting on
his disguises he loses control of the situation; in most cases, he
has to be rescued by Bob Up. Likewise, the Lion deviates from his
normal behavior by letting his desire to feel brave overcome his
moral sense.

Anyway, just some thoughts...

Best,
KRS



=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 6 Jul 99 08:56:56 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: Alice in Oz


A publication note: I have a short article in the August "F&SF" (now
on the stands), on Ella Young's book "The Unicorn with Silver Shoes"
(this is one of the "Curiosities" series editor Gordon Van Gelder has
arranged, each one a one-page article on a "forgotten classic" of
fantasy or sf).

David Godwin: Enjoyed your riff on dangerous wishes.  Perhaps the
Wish Way might have some fail-safes built into its magic to ignore
some kinds of wishes?  Perhaps it ignores wishes made by those who
know it's a Wish Way?  (If so, it might be more mischievous than
beneficent.)  Nathan DeHoff suggested it might jump around and so be
hard to locate.  I wonder (considering that both the Wish Ways are in
the Winkie country) if it might be on a single roadway, but might
slide around on that roadway so much as to be difficult to find even
if a would-be wisher knew to try? // Yes, all of Baum's books are in
public domain.  There are two manuscript items that were first
published in the "Baum Bugle" (a gift-inscribed book where the
inscription was in the form of "A Short, Short Oz Story"; and the
chapter-fragment set on Lake Quad, if that's really his).  Those
would be under copyright.  The version of the 1902 "Wizard" play that
Maud Baum registered for copyright in 1930 is also still under
copyright. // Er -- that was Ken Shepard who discussed examples of
children's books serieses that met resistance to married
protagonists, not me.

Gehan Cooray: Some talking insects in Oz -- in the books published by
the Oz Club, Cosgrove-Payes' "Wicked Witch" has Buzzter and the Queen
Bee; the McGraws' "Forbidden Fountain" has the Monarch of Butterflies
and some Mulberrybugs.

Mike Turniansky: Yes, "kabouter" is cognate with "kobolds."

Nathan De Hoff: For story purposes, there's nothing to stop you from
having the Wicked Witches in a league or working independently.  I
think the probability might be independent agents, simply because
they apparently all want power, and if one had succeeded in getting
control of the central Emerald territory, that one would presumably
then have gone on to try to take over the others' territories, too.
That would give them an obvious basis for distrust and conflict.  If
they were so tightly bound to their own territories as not to care
what went on elsewhere (except, presumably, for keeping the royal
family/the Wizard from imposing any centralized authority on them),
they would probably also not be interested enough in the problems of
other WWs in other territories to help them.  Contrarwise, so long as
no one of them had enough power to become the central authority,
their common opposition to the central authority might be the basis
for some cooperation, maybe even a lot of cooperation.

Lisa Mastroberte: Maybe when the version of "Return" with assorted
commentary-materials comes out, you'll review it here?

J.L. Bell: In addition to the possible reasons you mentioned for Baum
to avoid insect characters, the problem of scale might be one factor
-- not a deciding factor (because, as you mentioned, there's a
talking spider in Mo), but maybe a contributing one.  It's hard to
carry on a conversation with something so small as to be hard to see.
(Carroll's Alice, by contrast, spends much of her stories at three
inches high, a reasonable size for talking with caterpillars.) // By
the way, you mentioned that the pie article is your first "Bugle"
contribution in 20 years of reading it.  And you also have material
out this year in "Oziana" and "Oz-Story Magazine" -- why this sudden
outburst of writing for publication?  Was it perhaps the experience
of writing informally on the Digest that made you want to do some
more structured writing on Oz?

John W Kennedy: I think I follow why you say that taking off a
"blackface" song would not be racist in the way that taking off a
genuine Black song probably would be, but the argument is perhaps too
condensed.  Would it be an accurate expansion to rephrase it: Taking
off a genuine Black song's style and dialect would probably indicate
dislike for the both the style and the actual dialect, therefore
probably (racist) dislike for the singer; whereas taking off a
take-off indicates dislike for the style, but indicates nothing about
an opinion of real Blacks, because the parodist is probably aware
that that the "blackface" songs are inaccurate as representations of
real Blacks, and probably disapproves of that inaccuracy and its
racism?  That's certainly a possible interpretation of Baum's "Lulu"
song, and an attractive one.  It strikes me, though, that it depends
on the parodist's awareness that the "blackface" songs are inaccurate
(and racist), and I'm not sure if there's evidence to show that Baum
was aware of that.  
And the evidence of the less-than-human "Tottenhots" in "Patchwork
Girl" and "Rinkitink" and the various cowardly and stupid "dusky"
characters in the "Queer Visitors from Oz" stories suggests that the
"Lulu" song, even though it is meant to be funny, is serious in
disliking Black English (even if its representation of Black English
is based on inaccurate versions).

Dave Hardenbrook: Hmm, yes, "The Forgotten Forest outside of Oz"
wouldn't be much of a title.  I wonder if a wandering forest from
Burzee could get to Oz (or if the Moving Forest in Oz in Neill's
"Scalawagons could get out) without being harmed by the Deadly Desert
as animal life would be.

Robin Olderman: Carrollian similarities in "Cowardly Lion" --
re-reading it the past few days, it struck me that the Doorways
chapter seems a lot like "Wonderland."  Notta and Bob find themselves
in a hall lined with doorways where a doorman hops away from them
worrying about how furious the Queen will be, and the Queen accuses
them of stealing the door-jam.  Sounds a good deal like Alice in the
hall at the bottom of the rabbi hole, with the rabbi hopping away
worrying about how savage the Duchess will be (and perhaps a
recollection of how the Queen of Hearts is always in a fury), and
later the trial of the Knave of Hearts for stealing the tarts.  The
other chapters did not seem to have anything comparably close,
although occasionally the wordplay seems to run to nonsensical logic
that might reflect a bit of Carrollian influence. // Why Notta is so
stubborn about sticking to a program that fails him every time --
well, maybe the combination of his hopefulness (that a different
costume will be more successful than the preceding ones) and his
anxiety (he's in a dangerous country and responsible for a child as
well as himself, and no direct information about how to cope) make up
a plausible explanation for his rigidity in this matter?

Con42@webtv.net: The question isn't phrased clearly enough to be
understandable.  For questions about the MGM "Wizard of Oz," books
are probably a better resource than the Internet.  Some good ones are
Michael Patrick Hearn's edition of the screenplay and Aljean
Harmetz's "The Making of the Wizard of Oz."

Ruth Berman
=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 06 Jul 99 12:15:19 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things

OZ SCRAPBOOK:
_100 Years of Oz_ is merely a book of someone's memorabilia
collection?
Then it's not exactly the same as _The Oz Scrapbook_ is it...

If I were doing an update of _The Oz Scrapbook_, here are the
revisions I'd make:

1. The Discover of Oz ( No change, except mabye more complete
Synopses of the
   Baum 14 and some mention of that maid at the EC Palace and those
   three
   sorceresses at Mount Flathead...Er, um, *what* are their
   names...?? :) :) )

2. Later Explorers of Oz (Change the bit about "all [Post-Baum] Oz
books
   have been allowed to go out-of-print")

3. Oz Renaissance (New Chapter about the new generation of Oz
writers, etc.)

4. The Unorthodox (New Chapter about March Laumer, Martin Gardner,
Gregory
    Maguire and other Oz authors who "dare to be different".)

5. The Illustrators of Oz (Add discussion of Eric Shanower, etc.)

6. Oz on Stage and Screen (Add info. about _Return to Oz_, _Oz Kids_,
     _Lost in Oz_, etc.)

7. Ozian Artifacts (Basically the same)



FIRST IMPRESSIONS CONT'D:
Robin wrote:
>I'm not all that surprised that you thought Glinda was
>Ozma's mother. I've long theorized that it's her job to protect
Ozma,
>and that means, in part, performing a mother's role.

Yes, you're right... I think it was also that pic of Ozma and Glinda
kissing in _Land_.

>Oh, and do you have any particular explanation for why you thought
>the Emerald City was all indoors?

It was the MGM film... The lighting made me think they were
indoors... Somehow, the witch's skywriting didn't register with me as
an indication that there was at least no roof.


OZTRONOMY:
Jane wrote:
>And thank you, m'dear, for plugging the centennial in your post to
astronomy
>enthusiasts!  The more people who realize it, the better!

You're welcome... I've also posted it to Carl Sagan's mailing list...
( If I ever get a reply from anyone on either list, you'll hear it
here
  first. :) )


                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-09-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990709105348.00c1b5c0@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 7 - 9, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1999 16:15:56 -0700
From: "Peter E. Hanff" <phanff@library.berkeley.edu> Subject: Re:
Ozzy Digest, 07-06-99

A minor point of clarification. Atticus Gannaway correctly reported
that David Hulan will be registrar next year, but that will be for
the Oz Club's Centennial Convention. In addition, the Ozmopolitans
voted enthusiastically to return to Lake Lawn Lodge in 2001 for the
next Ozmopolitan Convention.
David Hulan graciously agreed to serve as registrar for that
convention, as well.

Peter
=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 22:10:50 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: Oz or bust
 charset=ISO-8859-1

Thanks, Atticus and Robin, for your overlapping reports on the
Ozmapolitan Convention. It sounds like a good time for all. I hope
someone will provide the same for the Winkies!
  A coupla days after posting my question about the Ozmapolitans, I
  was pleasantly surprised to receive news from them, indeed the best
  sort of feedback a writer can get: checks. But Theo Carson didn't
  mention what the checks were for. While running to the bank anyway,
  I figured out one was the 1998 Otto Award for "Jack Pumpkinhead's
  Day in Court," which appears in the issue of OZ-STORY about to go
  to press. Atticus was kind enough to reveal that the other was for
  "Ozma Fights the Sniffles," a new tale about an old-fashioned
  virus. It's very gratifying to learn that the great Oz fans in the
  IWoOC like my storytelling. I'm always eager myself to read what's
  on the Oz Research Table at the conventions. 
  Turning to the more important Ozmapolitan events, I send
  congratulations to David Hulan and Jamie Teller for winning the
  quizzes. And Atticus reported:
<<Next up was the traditional Show and Tell, emceed by Steve Teller.
Among the discussed items were Bill Beem's much-coveted L. Frank Baum
bust>>

This bust sounds intriguing. Was it sculpted from life? 

Justin wrote:
<<Does anyone know if the covers for EMERALD CITY and OZMA of Oz that
Neil drew in 1929 (slinky Ozma's) are in public domain or not? I
don't know if both were drawn in '29.>>

The consensus seems to be that they were drawn about that year (the
EMERALD CITY art matches a drawing in YELLOW KNIGHT), and therefore
we should assume they're still covered by copyright. 
  But the legalities of copyright in Neill's art are bound up in his
  original contracts with Reilly & Lee. He probably sold his drawings
  to the firm on a work-for-hire basis, meaning that their copyright
  terms would be determined by rules different from those that govern
  the books' texts. Yet the books rarely contain copyright notices
  for the art. When authors and their estates renewed the text
  copyrights, the illustrations seem to become bound up with them.
  And the shifting copyright terms for mid-century works complicates
  the question even more. 

About COWARDLY LION, Ken Shepherd wrote: <<Even though it's revealed
(in Chapter 3) that his full name is Augustus Elmer More, no one
(including the author and Notta himself) ever refers to him by that
name.>>

I had the impression that although Notta's mother wanted him to be
called Augustus Elmer, his father would have not a bit of it, and
thus his legal name is indeed Notta Bit More. Otherwise, I thought
your analysis about Notta being a clown and nothing but a clown is
right on the big red nose. 

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<Just for a bit of idleness, here's some weird impressions I had
about Oz when I was a kid...
-- That the Emerald City was entirely "indoors".>>

Especially in the large crowd scenes, the MGM Emerald City does
appear much more obviously to be on a sound stage than the
corresponding scenes in Munchkinland--probably because the sky is
greenish rather than the familiar blue. Only when my attention is
forced to the sky by the witch on her broomstick or the Wizard taking
off do I remember that the city square is supposed to be outdoors.
  As for Glinda as Dorothy's mother, my grandmother firmly believes
  that the scientist referred to as "Keys" in E.T. was Elliot's
  father, come home at last. Do you think that had anything to do
  with her anxiety over my father's divorce?

Q: What did Judy Garland say on accepting her special Oscar for THE
WIZARD OF OZ?
A: "Thanks to all the little people..."

Ruth Berman wrote to me:
<<you mentioned that the pie article is your first "Bugle"
contribution in 20 years of reading it.  And you also have material
out this year in "Oziana" and "Oz-Story Magazine" -- why this sudden
outburst of writing for publication?  Was it perhaps the experience
of writing informally on the Digest that made you want to do some
more structured writing on Oz?>>

My two stories in OZIANA 1998 and my VISITORS review in the spring
BUGLE all grew from what I wrote on the Ozzy Digest: jolly editors at
those august journals asked if I wanted to adapt what I'd posted to
fill their needs. My Digest musings also gave Bob Collinge the
courage to invite me to speak at the New England Oz Fiesta this
spring. So, kids, check your spelling--people do read these things. 
  My other Oz writings that have appeared so far this year have
  deeper roots; they lay dormant until my old urges were stimulated
  by the Centennial Book Contest. "Jack's Day in Court" I wrote in
  1997, based on an idea I'd mulled for a couple of years. And the
  John R. Neill pie-throwing art had struck my eye way back in
  college. (I wrote "that have appeared so far" because I may have
  another review in the BUGLE in the fall.)
  IS THERE NO ESCAPE FROM THIS MADMAN?

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com
=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 23:47:03 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-06-99

<<Nathan is correct about IWOC having a Del Rey supplier in New York.
 I think it is Gryphon Books, but I'm not 100% sure of that.>>

IWOC owns a supply of some of  the Del Rey Oz books.  Gryphon Books
has been kind enough to handle and mail them for us.

Lisa, about RTO collectability, etc.:
<>

Thanks for your spin on this.  I'm amazed.  :)

Ken on _C. Lion_:<<Similarities with Carroll's _Alice_: virtually
none, other than the (obvious) facts that the two stories were both
written for children, or with children in mind, and that they both
happen in fantastic lands. Did you notice any, or was this a
generalized question?>>

I did, and will be (more than) delighted to share my views after I
reread the book, which will be after Winkies and a trip down the Cal.
coast.

<<Stubborn: I'm not sure what particular instances of stubbornness
you mean. Are you referring to his insistence on his rules of
disguise, politeness, joke, and run?>>

Yes.  That really frustrated me as a kid.  How stooopid!  Blind
insistance on sticking to his rules, even when they made NO sense.  I
know people who act like that today, and am still frustrated by them.

<>

Absolutely!  

Ruth:<< Carrollian similarities in "Cowardly Lion" -- re-reading it
the past few days, it struck me that the Doorways chapter seems a lot
like "Wonderland." >>

That's the episode that started me thinking about Alice.

Dave H., you're right.  The Emerald City does look suspiciously
"indoorsy"!

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 14:46:34 +1000
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Things

Lisa:
I've started on _Lost Queen of Oz_, but I also want to write two
other books called _Princess Languidere in Oz_ and _Tiny Trot of Oz_
in which Trot and her Oz friends help the mermaids to save the sea
kingdom from an evil sea sorceress and a horrible sea monster.

Nathan:
Well, since Polychrom'es father is a king, she can be called a
princess. (In my upcoming Oz book _Lost Queen of Oz_ I reveal that
her mother is the queen of the sky fairies and so if her father is a
king and her mother a queen, that would make a princess)

Witches in Oz:
I think that the witches worked in a league in difficult situations
and when they were plotting, but worked independantly at other times. 

Untill next time!
--Gehan
==================================================== In all the world
theres no place like home......exepct Oz

=====================================================================
= From: "Mike Denio" <miked@ti.com>
Subject: For Ozzy Digest
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 08:11:38 -0500
charset="iso-8859-1"
Importance: Normal

On _Cowardly Lion_:

I was disappointed with _CL_ after reading a very enjoyable
_Kabumpo_.

This book always bugged me. What kind of role model is Notta? Here's
someone who is truely warped. He's uncomfortable when out of his
overt costumes, and alarmingly depressed when not in his clown face
(which is of course the greatest costume of all).

> ... and [Notta] realizes that [the costumes] are useless  thanks to
the
> words of Scraps, Tik-Tok, and the Scarecrow: "`Well, after this,'
said
> Notta, when the merriment had subsided, `after this, I will be
myself, for I
> guess it is better to be yourself even if you _are_ a  clown.'"
(Chapter 19).

How is going around dressed as a clown any different from going
around dressed as a bear? If he were a "real" clown (like Baum's
ceramic clown), I'd buy into the "be happy with who you are" theme,
but the theme of this book seems to be "adopt a protective (false)
persona and stick with it".

Also, some resurrected comments from "way back when":

Not that it should really affect her stories one way or the other,
but I still find it strange that RPT has put so much simple nastiness
inside the borders of Oz.  Baum usually restricted his cruelest
kingdoms to the surrounding lands, and most of his citizens were good
intentioned.  I get the impression from reading Grampa and Cowardly
Lion, that I would be more likely to meet a cruel person in RPT's Oz
that not. Other than the central "good" characters in both stories,
did we meet ANY friendly Oz residents in either _Cowardly Lion_ or
_Grampa_ (before the final chapter where Ozma invariably shows up and
consigns everyone she dislikes to oblivion)?

Mike


=====================================================================
= From: "Mike Denio" <miked@ti.com>
Subject: For Ozzy Digest
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 08:15:48 -0500
charset="iso-8859-1"
Importance: Normal

More on _Cowardly Lion_:

Here's another caustic comment I found while searching my Oz
archives. I hade the same opinion - if a little less restraint:

---
How about _Cowardly Lion_ where the Lion decides to go off and eat
somebody for no apparent reason? And how about that Clown, "Notta Bit
More", or whatever his name was? I can't believe Thompson would have
a hero who becomes nervous and depressed when he's not wearing a
costume (even though he's alread dressed as a clown), and then
manically depressed when he's not wearing face paint. He never gets
any better, and nobody seems to notice he has a problem!! Instead,
Ozma gives him his own circus tent. I wanted to write a sequel book
where Dorothy finds him hanging from the trapeze rigging after he
loses his rubber nose.
---



=====================================================================
= From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-06-99
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 10:20:23 PDT

Jeremy:
>Yes, I know that the
>easiest solution is usually the right one (dreadful paraphrase of
some law 
>I
>can't name at the moment), but it just seems too easy.

I know how the name of that law is pronounced, but not how it's
spelled.  
It's something like Occam's Razor.  (Please correct me if I
misspelled that.)

Kenneth Shepherd:
>Even though it's revealed (in Chapter 3) that his full name
>is Augustus Elmer More, no one (including the author and Notta
himself) 
>ever refers to him by that name.

Was that actually his name, or was that just what his mother had
wanted to call him?

>When he washes his face in Chapter 5, both he
>and Bob Up feel that Notta has become somehow unnatural.

I'm reminded of the episode of "The Simpsons" ("Bart the Fink," to be
specific) in which Krusty puts on make-up to STOP looking like a
clown.

Ruth:
>Carrollian similarities in "Cowardly Lion" -- re-reading
>it the past few days, it struck me that the Doorways chapter seems a
>lot like "Wonderland."  Notta and Bob find themselves in a hall
lined
>with doorways where a doorman hops away from them worrying about
>how furious the Queen will be, and the Queen accuses them of
>stealing the door-jam.

Not to mention that Theodore and Adora had a relationship quite
similar to that of the King and Queen of Hearts.

>Sounds a good deal like Alice in the hall at the
>bottom of the rabbi hole, with the rabbi hopping away worrying about
>how savage the Duchess will be

I think you mean "rabbit," although Alice following a rabbi down a
hole is an amusing image.

I'll have more thoughts on _Cowardly Lion_ (which I'm currently in
the process of re-reading) a bit later.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 22:46:31 EDT
Subject: Oz

Gehan:
Not meaning to nit-pick, but in fact all of your proposed
"alternative" solutions to moving Dorothy around are the same: Just
different types of wish-granting magic.

Nathan:
I'd even go as far as to say that Lake Orizon was not under the
control of the WWE at the time that Mombi was up to her mischief. I
doubt that any of the Wicked Witches ever controlled an entire
color-block.

Dave:
Like Nathan said, your "delusion" was not all that suprising. The
Emerald City indeed looked like it was all inside one big building
when we saw it in the MGM movie.

Tyler Jones

=====================================================================
= Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 22:33:54 -0500 (EST) From:
<sahutchi@iupui.edu>
Subject: Justin Case

http://www.wwdc.com/childfest/perform/jcase.htm

This was last month, but some info about RTO's Scarecrow actor.

Scott

============================
Scott Andrew Hutchins
http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi
Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More!

"Love is not a positive emotion that begins in us and ends in the
positive response of someone else.  Love is divine energy that comes
from God and has no end."  --Eric Butterworth

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 12:28:07 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: Notes on a
COWARDLY LION


About COWARDLY LION, Ruth Berman wrote: <<it struck me that the
Doorways chapter seems a lot like "Wonderland." Notta and Bob find
themselves in a hall lined with doorways where a doorman hops away
from them worrying about how furious the Queen will be, and the Queen
accuses them of stealing the door-jam.  Sounds a good deal like Alice
in the hall at the bottom of the rabbi hole, with the rabbi hopping
away worrying about how savage the Duchess will be (and perhaps a
recollection of how the Queen of Hearts is always in a fury), and
later the trial of the Knave of Hearts for stealing the tarts.>>


Also, in both the courtroom scene of ALICE and in Doorways, the king
gets tangled up in a pun. Theodore is a great deal dimmer than the
King of Hearts, though.
  I suspect, Ruth, your spell-check made your message far more kosher
  than you meant by removing "rabbit" (which chews the cud but does
  not part the hoof) in favor of <<rabbi>>.


Kenneth R. Shepherd wrote:
<<I think there's a general theme here--just as there was in _Royal
Book_--that it's not good to pretend to be something or someone
you're not just to impress or influence people. It's Notta and the
Cowardly Lion who best exemplify this theme.>>


In addition, it seems significant that worst of the Uns, the least
sympathetic character in a book full of villains (Mustafa, Crunch,
the cookywitch, et al.), is named I-Wish-I-Was. He's become the Uns'
ruler because "he could wish faster and shout louder than any of the
rest" [166].
Thompson seems to present wishing to be something one isn't as a road
to treachery and featherheadedness.
  As for the ROYAL BOOK parallel, Thompson's author note actually
  hearkens back to that volume: "I do not believe there has been so
  much excitement in Oz since the Scarecrow fell down his family
  tree." And a character from that book--the Comfortable Camel, of
  all folks--states the obvious lesson: "courage isn't the way you
  feel, but the way you act" [106].
  COWARDLY LION seems to throw several other morals at us as well as
  that one, however. We learn to other people's things alone
  (Mudgers), to not be greedy (Mustafa, sort of), to be true to your
  friends (Notta, Cowardly Lion, Crunch, Nick), to be unselfish
  (Unselfish and the Uns), and on and on. Any book whose resolution
  hinges on "tears are more magic than anything else" [282] clearly
  has a very high sap content. COWARDLY LION often seems to be trying
  too hard.


Ruth Berman wrote:
<<Why Notta is so stubborn about sticking to a program that fails him
every time -- well, maybe the combination of his hopefulness (that a
different costume will be more successful than the preceding ones)
and his anxiety (he's in a dangerous country and responsible for a
child as well as himself, and no direct information about how to
cope) make up a plausible explanation for his rigidity in this
matter?>>


I think Notta's behavior pattern defies rational explanation, however
he tries to rationalize it. He feels a need for disguises well after
even little Bob has grasped that they cause more trouble than they're
worth.
He's very concerned with how people will see him--most of all when
they might actually glimpse his real face. Notta seems to be a deeply
troubled man, as psychologically crippled in his way as the Scarecrow
and Tin Woodman were at the start of WIZARD. And like those
characters insisting that they needed brains or a heart even when
they were already thinking and loving, Notta's needs are insolubly
paradoxical. As the Cowardly Lion himself says to Notta, "you cannot
help your disguises any more than I can help my cowardice" [123].
  WIZARD hints that all the qualities we need are inside us, but
  unlike COWARDLY LION it doesn't hint that the effort of finding
  those things and growing is misguided. The Scarecrow and Tin
  Woodman don't make things *worse* for themselves by trying to
  change. In contrast, Notta's disguise complex does cause him
  trouble--part of the "don't try to be what you're not" theme that
  Ken Shepherd highlighted. (Similarly, the Lion decides the
  adventure is "a punishment...a punishment for my wickedness in
  planning to devour a brave man" [168].) So this Ozian adventure
  isn't a young person's attempts to survive fate and get back to
  home, nor a quest for personal fulfillment--it's the bad
  consequence of an obvious mistake.
  As if that doesn't make COWARDLY LION frustrating enough, Thompson
  keeps showing us her main moral but has to delay Notta's learning
  it until the final chapters. As I've already noted, the Comfortable
  Camel voices the lesson early. Bob tumbles to it. When the Lion
  resolves "to stay a coward forever," he immediately "felt
  light-hearted and happy again" [181]--but we still have over a
  hundred pages to go! Finally, practically everyone in Ozma's palace
  gangs up to force the notion into Notta's head [252-3].


My edition of COWARDLY LION is a later Reilly & Lee printing with no
color plates. (It was originally owned by Jean Clift of Waverly Road
in New York City, and she did some expert penciling inside the lines
on Adora's hair.) Do other people's copies show the following
pagination oddity? Even if I count the right-hand endpaper as a page,
I still come out with only twelve pages before the book starts on
page 15. That's:
  1 - endpaper
  3 - "This Book Belongs to"
  5 - half-title page, with picture of Lion
  7 - title page
  9 - author's note
 11- list of chapters

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 09 Jul 99 02:18:43 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things

OCCAM'S RAZOR:
I think this spelling is correct...

My question is: Can this priciple of natural science really be
applied to goings-on in Oz?


COWARDLY LION:
Call me an un-American pinko, but I've always hated clowns, which
probably explains why I don't like _Cowardly Lion of Oz_...

One bit of _Cowardly Lion_-related strangeness: In this semester just
ended my Java teacher's first name was Mustafa.  (Anyone else here
ever known anyone with an unintentionally "Ozzy" name?)


                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990712132009.00cac6e0@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 10 - 12, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= From: "Bob Collinge" <BobofOz@prodigy.net> Subject: Cowardly Lion
of Oz
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 14:36:21 -0400

Could it be that Notta Bit More was so used to being a clown that he
no longer felt comfortable as Augustus?  I don't think he thought of
his clown outfit as another disguise.

John Bell wrote:
>My Digest musings also gave Bob Collinge the courage to invite me to
speak at the New England Oz Fiesta this spring.<

After meeting you, John, at the 1st Oz Fiesta it took no courage at
all to invite you to speak at the 2nd Oz Fiesta, and I aint Lion!

What is some of the average attendance for the IWOC conventions?  I
have a feeling that I should not be that disappointed with the 70+
people we had this year, even though it was down from over 100 last
year.

Bob C.


=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 9 Jul 99 15:47:26 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: Oz
costumes/customs



Robin Olderman & Atticus: Thanks for the Ozcon reports.  Enjoyed.  
It's nice that Michael Gessel received a Baum Award -- his years as
"Bugle" editor deserve recognition.  (Actually, the IWOC is in the
pleasant position of having a lot of worthy candidates.)

Robin Olderman & Ken Shepherd: I'd make a guess that Notta's
reference to six costumes in a story that makes use of only five was
a mistake.  Either RPT miscounted how many there were, or she had one
in mind that didn't make it to the final draft.  Unless Notta was
thinking of his clown costume as one of the six? -- it isn't a
disguise in his terms, since he thinks of his identity as a clown as
his real self, but it's a costume?

J.L. Bell: Congratulations on the Oz-writing prizes!

Mike Denio: Some examples of friendly people in "Cowardly Lion" are
the Fairyman, the Trees of Fiddlebow Forest, Snorer, and the Sky
Terrier.  It occurs to me that the preponderance of antagonistic
characters for the protagonists to run into may itself be an example
of Lewis Carroll's influence.

Dave Hardenbrook: Mustafa is like some other Oz names (Ann, Dick,
Jack, Larry, Nick, Tommy) in being used also in the Outside World --
although unlike them in not being either part of a pun or something
that could perhaps be short for something less familiar (as Randy is
short for Randiwell, and perhaps Nick could be short for Nikadik).
The Mudgers imitate desert-dwelling Arabs (unfortunate stereotyping),
and so the king has the Arabian name of Mustafa.  I think the other
Mudger names, though, are invented.

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 07:41:54 +1000
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-09-99

Thoughts on Cowardly Lion of Oz:
Overall, I think that this if one of RPT's best Oz books. The
plotline is really amusing and interesting and it teaches us a good
lesson on friendship. The secrets between Bob, Notta, CL and the
Stone Man are rather like a soap-opera. I really enjoyed the
adventures in the book,and I also enjoyed all the
characters......they each had their own, strong personality, and not
just some cheap-rip off of something. I guess RPT had a very vivid
imagination, which made her books really ozzy and amusing. There was
just one problem......when Dorothy saw Notta aproaching her,
disguised as a witch, she immeditaly took action to MELT the *WITCH*
away......to destroy her. This is not at all 'Dorothyish". She makes
it very clear in _WIZARD_ that she doesnt want to kill anything, not
even for the sake of returning home to Kansas to her Aunt Em and
Uncle Henry. I was also dissapointed that Ozma gave out an order to
destroy Mombi in _LOST KING_,when she makes it clear in _EMERALD
CITY_ that she doesnt want to harm wicked people, because they were
born wicked and they cant help it. RPT seems to got a bit carried
away sometimes.

Dave:
Coming to Ozzy Names.....some time back, I showed my house-maid the
MGM WOZ movie and when she heard the name Dorothy, she said that she
had worked somewhere before, under a mistress called Dorothy. 
And my grandmother used to have a maid called *Nanda*.

Untill next time!
--Gehan

============================================== In all the world
theres no place like home......exepct Oz


=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-09-99
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 20:56:17 PDT

Mike Denio:
>Not that it should really affect her stories one way or the other,
but I
>still find it strange that RPT has put so much simple nastiness
inside the
>borders of Oz.  Baum usually restricted his cruelest kingdoms to the
>surrounding lands, and most of his citizens were good intentioned.
I get
>the impression from reading Grampa and Cowardly Lion, that I would
be more
>likely to meet a cruel person in RPT's Oz that not. Other than the
central
>"good" characters in both stories, did we meet ANY friendly Oz
residents in
>either _Cowardly Lion_ or _Grampa_ (before the final chapter where
Ozma
>invariably shows up and consigns everyone she dislikes to oblivion)?

Well, the main characters in _Grampa_ come from friendly lands within
the borders of Oz (Ragbad and Perhaps City).  Also, the Fire
Islanders are fairly friendly, although I suppose they're not
technically inhabitants of Oz.  In _Cowardly Lion_, the most friendly
Ozites were Nickadoodle and the half-lion, and the latter admits that
he might have been a threat if he had had his back side when Notta
and Bob met him.

_Cowardly Lion_ is also interesting in that there is some treachery
from main characters.  The normally friendly Cowardly Lion is
resolved to eat a brave man.  During his initial travels with the
Lion, Notta still plans to take him to Mustafa.  Crunch seems like a
friend at first, but turns out to be a dangerous adversary.

J. L. Bell:
>In addition, it seems significant that worst of the Uns, the least
>sympathetic character in a book full of villains (Mustafa, Crunch,
the 
>cookywitch, et al.), is named I-Wish-I-Was.

While this doesn't really relate to your point, I found the Uns'
naming scheme somewhat odd.  The Un who became the King was
presumably named Unselfish, while none of the other named Uns used
their "unish" traits as their names.  In fact, aside from Unselfish
and I-Wish-I-Was, the only other two Uns whose names are given in the
text have fairly normal ones (Bill and Tom).  Incidentally, Thompson
seems to like the name Bill.  Within this book alone, she mentions a
lion tamer named Bill, an Un with the same name, and an elephant
named Billy.

>Call me an un-American pinko, but I've always hated clowns, which
>probably explains why I don't like _Cowardly Lion of Oz_...

Okay, you un-American pinko.  Seriously, though, although Thompson
was presumably fond of clowns, I've heard that many children are
afraid of them. 
  Personally, I'm fairly indifferent toward them.  I might not have
  laughed at Notta's antics any more than Theodore and Adora did.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: RMorris306@aol.com
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 01:09:00 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-09-99


It’s been quite awhile since I contributed to the Ozzy Digest, but
I’ve been enjoying them and have a bit of a backlog...

<<Mrs. Yoop turned Polychrome into a canary to sing for her [74].
According to the film KING OF THE HILL, however, only male canaries
sing.>>

Ah, but couldn’t Mrs. Yoop have changed Polychrome into a male
canary? Changing the sex of a character when s/he’s transformed is
far from unknown in the Oz books...the most famous instance of course
being Ozma/Tip (there was also Prince Marvel in THE ENCHANTED ISLAND
OF YEW), but in THE MAGIC OF OZ Kiki Aru changes Gugu (a male
leopard) into a woman, and Ruggedo (a male Nome) into a female goose
(he worries that it might lay an egg). 
True, Baum still refers to Polychrome as “she” in her canary form,
but he also refers to Ruggedo as “he” in his goose form, so even
there we have a precedent...


<<An even more obvious difficulty arises with the RPT books featuring
Peter from Philadelphia. In The Gnome King of Oz, he is ten. Then, in
Pirates in Oz, we are informed that Ruggedo has been wandering during
the five years that have elapsed since the events of The Gnome King
of Oz. Peter shows up later in the book, but now he is eleven! Since
ten plus five does not equal eleven, what's going on here?>>

I mentioned this some time ago. (Several other people asked about
Dorothy, for whom I concur with David Hulan and Rob Roy McVeigh that
she was eight at the time of WIZARD and aged to 11 by the time she
moved to Oz permanently. Which would mean she was already in Oz the
San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, but Baum never said that was the
earthquake in DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD as some have argued. California
has earthquakes all the time.)

Peter was said to be 9 (not 10) in GNOME KING. That would make him 11
in JACK PUMPKINHEAD (which fits) and 14 in PIRATES. I suspect
Thompson’s original manuscript had him as 14...John R. Neill not only
draws him about that age in that book but depicts him wearing a Boy
Scout uniform, and at the time the Boy Scouts didn’t accept boys
under 12. My theory is that a Reilly & Lee editor thought that was
too old for the Oz books’ audience, and changed his age at the last
minute...


<<If Princess Langwidere was so interested in Dorothy's head,why
didnt she want Ozma's head too? Ozma's head is supposed to be mcuh
prettier than Dorothy's Or maybe she was too angry to notice Ozma's
beauty at that time,perhaps?>>

Not to mention that Dorothy was (as far as Langwidere knew at the
time), strictly a nobody, to be ordered around by people of royalty
like Langwidere. Ozma, on the other hand, as the queen of the most
powerful country by far on her continent, was most assuredly not
anyone she dared order around...


>*.Why did L.Frank Baum spell gnome as Nome?

He wanted to make it as pronouncible for kids as possible, same as
his reasons for hyphenating Hip-po-gy-raf and Li-mon-eag.>>

There were also a good many adherents of simplified spelling at the
time, which included Theodore Roosevelt, the President at the time
OZMA OF OZ was written. (It’s said that, the day William H. Taft was
inaugurated, the Government printing office, no longer bound by
Roosevelt’s favored spelling, included a story on the switch back
with the headline “THRU!”)

 <<Lurline's actions in Oz seem rather specific: granting the people
 immortality, perhaps letting animals talk in human fashion (they do
 so in some neighboring countries, but not in others),...>>

Actually, in most of the surrounding countries, talking animals are
anomalies (Raffles in Noland in QUEEN ZIXI, Bilbil in Pingaree in
RINKITINK, Chalk in Skampavia in WISHING HORSE...all three being
magically explained). 
The Wizard finds Bilbil talking in the Nome King’s caverns to be a
surprise, though Billina (who had also never been to the Land of Oz)
had done the same. 
(Neither had Quox in TIK-TOK, but dragons are in a different
category... many fantasists depict dragons as being able to talk,
even when more conventional animals can’t.) Even so, Langwidere had
earlier been surprised at finding Billina able to talk; evidently
most chickens in Ev couldn’t do so. (Then again, was it ever
specifically said she came from America? Wasn’t it theorized once
that she was actually the Yellow Hen of Mo, the only Baum fairyland I
can think of outside Oz where animals COULD talk?)


<<Some talking insects in Oz -- in the books published by the Oz
Club, Cosgrove-Payes' "Wicked Witch" has Buzzter and the Queen Bee;
the McGraws' "Forbidden Fountain" has the Monarch of Butterflies and
some Mulberrybugs.>>

Not to mention Professor Wogglebug! (And didn’t he have a romance
with a Ladybug his size in the musical named after him?)

Rich

=====================================================================
= From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 12:42:39 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digests Past

Okay, so I've been slow lately.  But I'm back now.  (I hear those
groans!)

To catch up--
Digest of 7/6:
Atty:
Good convention summary!  Someday I'll actually make it to one . . .


LFB or Bust:
The statue sounds intriguing.  Perhaps it's for Ozma to remember him
by?


Onto the 9th--
J.L, Bell:
<<And the John R. Neill pie-throwing
art had struck my eye way back in college.>>: Did you test it out in
college?  On crusty old teachers for example?


<<Nathan:
Well, since Polychrom'es father is a king, she can be called a
princess. (In my upcoming Oz book _Lost Queen of Oz_ I reveal that
her mother is the queen of the sky fairies and so if her father is a
king and her mother a queen, that would make a princess)>>

So THAT'S who Ozma's mother is . . .


Occam's Razor:
That's right, I remember now.  It can be spelled like I just did (and
as you did also) or like "Ockham's Razor", after the creator
(Somebody of Ockham).


Always on the cutting edge,
Jeremy Steadman, Junior Oz Historian

=====================================================================
= Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 14:21:53 -0700
From: ozbot <ozbot@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-09-99


Don't know much about this, but my entertainment scouring has turned
up an interesting news item...

"RETURN TO OZ: Director Tim Burton
                    to guide a syndicated TV series,
                    Lost in Oz, based on the books of
                    Wizard author L. Frank Baum, Daily
                    Variety says. "

I'm looking for more info, but this sounds like an exciting project.
It can go either way, but Tim Burton can really give a dark version
of Oz, to be sure.  You might remember him from such films as "Edward
Scissorhands" "Nightmare Before Christmas" and most recently, "Mars
Attacks"  I like a dark version of Oz, which really gels with my
personal vision of Oz as a wild and fantasical place (I site Wizard
and Land as examples-- Baum didn't make Oz too utopic until Emerald
City and beyond.)  What do you guys think?

ozbot
Danny Wall

=====================================================================
= From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 18:37:40 EDT
Subject: Oz

Non-Ozzy fun:
Go to http://keirsey.com/cgi-bin/keirsey/kcs.cgi and take the test. I
wonder if we on the Digest are a good spread of different
personalities or do we concentrate in a few particular areas? FYI, I
am a Rational Architect.

Dave:
Occam's Razor may be applicable to Oz, but the principle is that the
simplest explanation is the best one, which means that you must
choose from the explanations available. In Oz, the situations are
naturally much more complicated, so that even the "simplest" is not
as easy as you think.

Tyler Jones

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: The
Cowardly Lion of Oz
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 20:58:36 PDT

I have just finished re-reading this book, and I have several
comments to make:

This is Thompson's first book to use a Baum character in the title.
Not only is the Cowardly Lion the title character, but the adventure
was clearly written around him.  It was as if Thompson just wanted to
write a story about the Lion, and figured that having someone want to
capture him could lead to a plot.  Note that the same plot device is
used in _Hungry Tiger_, right down to having a bad-tempered monarch
of a quasi-Turkish kingdom as the big cat's would-be captor.  _Hungry
Tiger_ takes a different approach to the problem, though, as the
Tiger's capture is only the beginning of that story, while the entire
plot of _Cowardly Lion_ centers around the hunt for the famous beast.

Mustafa might have been named after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the famous
President of Turkey.  Thompson puns on the name, however, by calling
attention to its similarity to "must have a."  As far as I can
recall, Mustafa's official title is never given, which is probably
why some sources (including _Who's Who_, I believe) refer to him as
"the Mustafa of Mudge." Thompson seems pretty clear in expressing the
fact that Mustafa is a name, not a title.  Mustafa is probably a
King.

Thompson must have had a fondness for Arabian tales and desert
kingdoms.  In addition to Mudge, her Oz books feature Rash, Samandra,
Skampavia, Hah Hoh Humbad, and the Red Jinn's country, all of which
contain some clear Arabian influence.

Thompson refers to "the sandy waste Mustafa was pleased to call his
garden." 
  In _Wishing Horse_, Skamperoo has a similar "garden."

This book seems to contain an almost Neillish amount of sentient
objects, most notably signs, doors, and trees.

Mustafa's grandfather was the ruler of Mudge when the country
received the book of laws.  Since the book credits Ozma, this
presumably means that Mustafa assumed the throne during Ozma's reign.
What happened to his grandfather?  Perhaps he accidentally stepped
out onto the Deadly Desert, which is shown as being near Mudge on
Haff and Martin's map.

This is the first book that mentions the deeds of the wizard Wam,
whose further exploits are described in _Wishing Horse_ and Melody
Grandy's non-canonical _Disenchanted Princess_.  It also gives a hint
as to how long ago Wam worked.  According to the text, Crunch had
"stood around for seven centuries."  If Wam planted the Travellers'
Tree (said by the sign to have been planted in the year 1120 O.Z.) at
around the same time, Oz might have been in the nineteenth century
O.Z. at the time of _Cowardly Lion_.  There is really no reason to
assume that Wam was only in action for a few years, however.  The
planting of the Travellers' Tree and the animation of Crunch could
have taken place centuries apart, for all we know.

Wam's animation of Crunch seems like a quite irresponsible thing for
the wizard to have done.  He brought a giant stone man to life, gave
him the power to think and turn living beings to stone, and ran away.
According to Crunch's testimony, he never came back to check on his
experiment.  Maybe this incident occurred when Wam was still a
mischievous apprentice, or something like that.

As he himself is proud to admit, Nickadoodle is an unusual character.
He's also not exactly central to the plot, and might have been added
as an afterthought by Thompson, who seems to like rather large
adventuring parties.  Although Nick settles in the Emerald City, he
is never even mentioned after _Cowardly Lion_, even in _Wishing
Horse_ (which does bring back Notta and Bob).

Thompson managed to give closure to the Un and half-lion incidents,
but never told us which was the right door through Doorways.  Any
ideas on which one it could be?

That's about all for now.  Perhaps I shall have some more comments
later.

Nathan


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Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: One more
Ozzy comment
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 21:10:30 PDT

Sorry about the multiple posts, but I forgot to mention this in my
last message.

According to Glinda (in _Cowardly Lion_), the Great Book of Records
mentions the Cowardly Lion.  In _Magic_, however, Ruggedo tells Kiki
Aru that the Book only records the doings of people, and not those of
beasts or birds.  I really don't know how Ruggedo came to this
conclusion, though; he hadn't actually seen the Book at that point,
and a spy probably wouldn't have been able to get a good enough look
at the Book to determine whether or not it mentioned animals.  Maybe
Ruggedo's drink from the Forbidden Fountain muddled his mind on this
point.  Actually, come to think of it, I can't recall any occurrence
in Baum's books of an animal being mentioned in the Book.  Aside from
Rug's comment in _Magic_, however, there's no indication that the
Book wouldn't discuss the deeds of animals, either.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: CoryQuinn@aol.com
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 13:12:07 EDT
Subject: color

Seems I heard  or read a long time ago that the color for The Wizard
of Oz was achieved by hand coloring each cel.  True, or legend? 

=====================================================================
= Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 12:18:45 -0500
Subject: CLOz
From: "David Godwin" <d.godwin@minn.net>

Just a few observations about _The Cowardly Lion of Oz_:

Although Notta Bit More may be severely neurotic and dysfunctional,
at least he cares about little Bobbie Downs and is touched by the
boy's sadness.
Perhaps it is that which earns him a place in Oz despite his
hang-ups.
(Understand that I dislike the Notta character about as much as I do
any other entity in the FF, with the possible exception of Percy. For
some reason, Neill's depictions of the clown - almost always in some
acrobatic pose with his feet in the air - strike me as particularly
obnoxious. I want to say, "Oh, get a life and stand on your feet!")

Unless I am mistaken, Notta Bit More and Bobbie are the only two
characters from the Outside World in the entire FF whose place of
origin (Kansas, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, etc.) is never stated.

Bobbie continues the tradition of "orphans in Oz" that began with
Dorothy and which will continue with others all the way down to Robin
Brown.
However, I think that Bobbie is the only one (in the FF, anyway) who
actually lived in an orphanage.

- David G.

=====================================================================
= Date: Mon, 12 Jul 99 12:34:52 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things


THE GREAT BOOK:
Nathan wrote:
>According to Glinda (in _Cowardly Lion_), the Great Book of Records
mentions
>the Cowardly Lion.  In _Magic_, however, Ruggedo tells Kiki Aru that
the
>Book only records the doings of people, and not those of beasts or
birds

My guess is that either Ruggedo was "taking the hippikaloric", or
Glinda got a "software upgrade" since _Magic_...


PAX OZIANICA:
Someone E-mailed me asking if I knew what the Wizard is saying in the
The Movie when he says: "...I, your Wizard <???> am about to embark
on a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey..."   According
to the script I have the three mystery words are "par adua outer"
which *looks* like Latin, but I cannot find any of these words in my
Latin dictionary.  Does anyone know what he really said?  Did the
transcriber of my copy of the script get the words wrong?  Or is the
Wizard's Latin as genuine as his sorcery (and the Scarecrow's
knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem)?



                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990716111819.00cfe320@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 13 - 16, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-12-99
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 14:39:09 PDT

Ruth:
>The
>Mudgers imitate desert-dwelling Arabs (unfortunate stereotyping),
and so 
>the king has the Arabian name of Mustafa.

I did find it interesting that, while peoples such as the Bedouins
are nomads out of necessity, the Mudgers are nomads because they
don't like their neighbors, and can't stay in one place very long.

David Godwin:
>Unless I am mistaken, Notta Bit More and Bobbie are the only two
characters
>from the Outside World in the entire FF whose place of origin
(Kansas, 
>Oklahoma, Philadelphia, etc.) is never stated.

I think it is mentioned that the orphanage is in Philadelphia.
Stumptown, where the circus is held, is presumably a suburb, although
I live in that area and don't know of any Stumptown.  It's probably
either a sort of disguise for a real place, or (if you subscribe to
Dave's alternate Earth theory) a suburb of an alternate universe's
Philadelphia.

Nathan


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Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 18:18:03 -0400
From: Bruce Gray <lbrucegray@rica.net>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99

Hi Dave!

My copy of the screenplay says:

"par ardua ad alta"

Which sounds like latinish gobbledegook to me.  (Although "alta" is
the basic root of the latin word for "altitude")

Maybe with this better quote you could find out more...

BTW, the screenplay is online at:

http://www.screentalk.org/galleryW.htm#Wizard of Oz, The

They're in Adobe Acrobat format, so you'll need a *.pdf reader...

Now to re-read my copy of "Cowardly Lion" real quick...

Bruce Gray
lbrucegray@rica.net


=====================================================================
= From: "Mike Denio" <miked@ti.com>
Subject: For Ozzy Digest
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 17:28:49 -0500

>
> Mike Denio: Some examples of friendly people in "Cowardly Lion" are
> the Fairyman, the Trees of Fiddlebow Forest, Snorer, and the Sky
> Terrier.  It occurs to me that the preponderance of antagonistic
> characters for the protagonists to run into may itself be an
example of
> Lewis Carroll's influence.
>

Ruth, thanks for the information. I admit that I didn't go back and
read the book, but was speaking from past impressions.

I do find it odd that so many people claim a dislike for Baum's
_Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz_ and _Road to Oz_, when I've found
these two books to closely resemble Thompson's "quest" oriented
titles like _Cowardly Lion_ and _Grampa_. All are mostly episodic,
where characters work to get out of one bad situation just to get
into another.

Notta is definitely my main hang-up with _CL_. I guess I could accept
him as a clown (not a man in a clown suit) if Thompson hadn't made a
point of having him loose his face paint at some point in the story.

Another ridiculous comparison - a story where Dorothy decides she'd
rather be a fish than a little girl, so she puts on a fish costume
and flops around the palace floor. Then, after careful deliberation
of Dorothy's problem, Ozma and the Wizard decide that the most
helpful thing to do is to build her a large water tank to swim in.



=====================================================================
= From: "Kenneth R. Shepherd" <kshepherd@email.msn.com> Subject: More
Cowardly Lion of Oz comments Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 01:07:43 -0400

On Notta's name--
From: "J. L. Bell" : <snip>I had the impression that although Notta's
mother wanted him to be called Augustus Elmer, his father would have
not a bit of it, and thus his legal name is indeed Notta Bit More.
</snip> AND
From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff:  <snip>Was that actually his name, or was
that just what his mother had wanted to call him?</snip>

Oddly enough, it had never occurred to me that his legal name might
in fact _be_ Notta Bit More.  I had always assumed that it was part
of his (stage) persona.  If Notta is in fact his real name, however,
it might help explain the psychological problems he seems to have.
Does it strike anyone that having a name like Notta Bit More really
limits one's career choices? I mean, Notta Bit More, M.D.? the Right
Reverend Notta Bit More? the Honorable Notta Bit More? Captain Sir
Notta Bit More? Notta Bit More, MCSE? With a name like that, whatever
your job, I can't see that you'd be anything but ... a clown.

On Notta's personality--
From: "Mike Denio" : <snip>What kind of role model is Notta? Here's
someone who is truely warped.</snip>
<snip>How is going around dressed as a clown any different from going
around dressed as a bear? If he were a "real" clown (like Baum's
ceramic clown), I'd buy into the "be happy with who you are" theme,
but the theme of this book seems to be "adopt a protective (false)
persona and stick with it".</snip>
<snip>I can't believe Thompson would have a hero who becomes nervous
and depressed when he's not wearing a costume (even though he's
alread dressed as a clown), and then manically depressed when he's
not wearing face paint.
He never gets any better, and nobody seems to notice he has a
problem!!
</snip>
AND
From: J. L. Bell: <snip>[Notta] feels a need for disguises well after
even little Bob has grasped that they cause more trouble than they're
worth. He's very concerned with how people will see him--most of all
when they might actually glimpse his real face. Notta seems to be a
deeply troubled man, as psychologically crippled in his way as the
Scarecrow and Tin Woodman were at the start of WIZARD.</snip>

My impression of Notta (reforced now by the name debate above and
Notta's own reactions throughout the book) is that he _has_ no other
identity than that of a clown. He has never really had a life other
than that of a clown, and he is severely uncomfortable when he is
called on to be something other than a clown (viz his depression when
confronted with the thought of his old age). His rules--disguise,
politeness, joke & run--are an example: he uses the first two of them
in situations where clowning is inappropriate and when they fail he
reverts to clown tactics (joke & run). And even when clowning _is_
inappropriate, he resists assuming a "natural" persona. Of the five
costumes he uses in _Cowardly Lion_, only two are humans, and  they
are both people of power: a Huntsman (with gun) and a Witch.

I suspect that Notta was a very unhappy person outside of performing
in the ring; that may be part of the reason why he, almostly uniquely
among Thompson's American characters, chooses to remain in Oz rather
than return to the US.  In fact, that may be part of the reason Ozma
invites him to remain: she recognizes that Oz is in fact the only
place where he can be a clown permanently.  In our world, such an
attitude would make Notta a prime candidate for an institution, or at
least for some strong drug therapy and counseling; Oz, however, is a
happier land.*

I wonder if anyone has noticed what seems to be a Thompson theme that
appears strongly in this book: maturity. Notta and Bob Up are both
pretty much innocents and immature, Notta with less excuse than Bob.
For example, on their first night out, Notta (even though he
recognizes his responsibility to Bob--he got the boy into the
situation) falls asleep under a tree and leaves Bob vulnerable to
wild animals. They are only protected by the intervention of the
fairy. Later, in Un, Bob gets the dreams package labelled "For a
Little Boy" while Notta gets the one "For a Big Boy." Both of them
are rescued by the intervention of the Lion, who seems to be the
primary adult figure here; and it is Bob (not Notta) who discovers in
the end how to rescue the Lion from Crunch's spell.

So Notta (the nominal adult) ends up being the most immature and
irresponsible and only begins to change in the final chapters, while
Bob Up (the nominal child) begins to assume more and more
responsibility by the end of the book. And the Lion (the non-human)
is forced into the role of protector and ends up becoming the most
mature of all. Thompson scrambles traditional notions of age and
responsibility here.

From: Dave Hardenbrook: <snip>Anyone else here ever known anyone with
an unintentionally "Ozzy" name?)</snip>

It's not a person, but when I commute to Ann Arbor I pass under Ozga
Road (really).

Best,
KRS

*As long as you're not a Flutterbudget or Rigmarole.



=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 14:36:04 +1000
From: Gehan <calamity@eureka.lk>
Subject: Ozzy Things

Nathan:
Well, the GBR could have said something like this: "Notta Bit More
and Bob Up are in Oz. Mustafa gave them orders to capture the
Cowardly Lion." And later, it would have said:"Bob Up and Notta Bit
More are having adventures WITH the Cowardly Lion," and so Glinda
would have realised that the CL is at danger's door.

Untill next time!
~Gehan~

====================================================== In all the
world theres no place like home......exepct Oz


=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 13 Jul 99 13:43:51 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: latin in oz


J.L. Bell: I took a look at those paginations, and I see that
"Kabumpo" also starts the text on p. 15, although there, too, as in
"Cowardly Lion," a count of the pages suggests it ought to be 13, as
in most of the other Oz books.  I'd guess that someone inexperienced
did the paginations those two times and was counting either the front
cover or the color-plate frontispiece as a "page" to come up with 15,
but that their standard practice, followed by most of their staff,
was for a count that made p. 13 the start of the text in most of the
books.

Gehan Cooray: A couple of years ago there was a discussion of
Dorothy's haste in throwing water on Notta-disguised-as-a-witch.
I'll repeat the comment I made then: Notta, in his witch
impersonation, is running full-speed at Dorothy and gesturing wildly,
and those are factors that should be considered, too, in Dorothy's
reaction.  It really would look as if she's dealing with a wicked
witch who is about to do something wicked to her.  (And she has maybe
30 seconds to decide.)  After all, as various people have pointed
out, if she's wrong in thinking that the apparent witch is a witch,
she won't have done any more harm than dousing someone.  (Oz being
what it is, she doesn't need to worry about producing a fatal heart
attack if it's just an old woman with a weak heart.)  If RPT was
actually assuming that only wicked witches are meltable (and she may
have been -- as others have pointed out, Gloma does not mention
having any fear of water), then Dorothy doesn't even have to worry
that she might be melting a good witch.

David Godwin: Considering that Bobbie lived in an orphanage in
Stumptown Pennsylvania, he probably comes from somewhere in
Pennsylvania?

David Hardenbrook: "par adua outer" -- that should probably be "per
ardua ad astra" [by means of hard work to the stars], which is a
Vergilian quotation.  (I think it's a god explaining how Aeneas will
eventually become a demi-god and go to heaven -- also the slogan of
NASA, isn't it?)

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 17:58:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony
Donajkowski <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu>

AP) - Screenland Pictures is going "West." The Studio City-based
production company has purchased Stu Krieger's screenplay "Pamela
West" for low-six figures, sources confirmed Monday. Stephen Nemeth
of Rhino Films, Adam Fields and Screenland's Adam Del Deo and Ash
Shah are producing the project, which has been described as a
contemporary - albeit reversed - version of 1939 classic "The Wizard
of Oz." In "Pamela West," Dorothy is the shrew, while the Wicked
Witch of the West is sweet and lovable. Instead of a cute pup, Toto
will be a pit bull. Sources have confirmed that the script is
completely original and not based on any other prior material. The
Daniel Ostroff-repped Krieger wrote "In the Army Now," "Monkey
Trouble" and Disney TV's "Smart House." No cast or director has been
attached to "Pamela West." Shooting is expected to begin early next
year. ### 

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 08:58:27 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: COWARDLY way
out

Cory Quinn wrote:
<<Seems I heard  or read a long time ago that the color for The
Wizard of Oz was achieved by hand coloring each cel.  True, or
legend?>>

The 1939 MGM musical's colorful middle was filmed in the standard
Technicolor of the time. But I believe the earliest film adaptations
of Oz--Baum's Radio-Plays--were indeed hand-tinted frame by frame. 

Rich Morrissey wrote:
<<It's been quite awhile since I contributed to the Ozzy Digest, but
I've been enjoying them and have a bit of a backlog...
  [J. L. Bell wrote:] <<Mrs. Yoop turned Polychrome into a canary to
  sing for her [74]. According to the film KING OF THE HILL, however,
  only male canaries sing.>>
  Ah, but couldn't Mrs. Yoop have changed Polychrome into a male
  canary?>>

This is truly "quite awhile," Rich! Indeed, Mrs. Yoop probably could
have made Polychrome into a male canary. But since the bird never
sang for the yookoohoo, we may not know if Poly was just being
willful or if the giantess made an ignorant mistake and neglected to
change Poly's sex. (I don't recall if Poly as canary sang after
leaving Yoop Castle.)

Turning once more to COWARDLY LION, Notta Bit More seems to have
provoked unusually widespread agreement on the Digest. We've found
him "stooopid!" (Robin Olderman), "truely warped" and "manically
depressed" (Mike Denio), "severely neurotic and dysfunctional" (David
Godwin), and "psychologically crippled" (myself). Ruth Berman
charitably suggested he might be driven by a combination of
"hopefulness" and "anxiety," but she didn't seem convinced herself.
Anyone want to speak in favor of the personality of the Emerald
City's only clown*?
  Dave Godwin rightly pointed out that Notta carefully looks after
  Bob Up.
I believe he thus takes on more, and more permanent, parental
responsibility than any other non-relative in the series. In doing
so, and in reaching the Emerald City, Notta seems to find a niche
which turns his serious hang-ups into the most benefits and the least
difficulties. That's the best any of us can hope for, I guess. 
  Notta (and Thompson) also deserve credit for thinking of using the
  "Udge, Budge" rhyme from chapter 3 to send rescuers after the
  Cowardly Lion in chapter 19. Oz books don't always have so much
  dramatic unity. 
  (*Thompson tells us Notta is the only clown the Cowardly Lion had
  ever seen [119], forgetting Mr. Joker in WIZARD.)

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<In this semester just ended my Java teacher's first name was
Mustafa. 
(Anyone else here ever known anyone with an unintentionally "Ozzy"
name?)>>

I have a mother and a grandmother named "Dorothy." That answer may
seem facetious, but we have to remember that "Mustafa" (like "Akbad")
was a standard Mideastern name long before Thompson applied to one of
her villains. 
  Clearly Thompson enjoyed the pun inherent in Mustafa's name in an
  English story; she has him starting the book saying, "I *must have
  a*nother lion" [15--my emphasis]. Thus, the name "Mustafa" is
  presented not just as the name of a greedy villain, but as an
  emblem of that villain's greed. For most of her villains, Thompson
  seems to have made up names--Skamperoo, Glegg, Mooj--rather than
  use names that her reader might have, like "Peter" or "Angie." But
  she doesn't seem to have considered that some of her readers might
  be named Mustafa or Akbad.
  Nathan DeHoff wrote, <<Thompson must have had a fondness for
  Arabian tales and desert kingdoms.>> I think she had an *antipathy*
  for them--are any, with the possible exception of Seebania,
  presented as sympathetic and largely upstanding? Obviously,
  Thompson had little personal experience on which to base this
  presentation of Mideastern cultures; I suspect she inherited
  certain stereotypes from the Crusaders and the medieval romance
  writers who mythologized them. 

Gehan Cooray wrote:
<<when Dorothy saw Notta aproaching her, disguised as a witch, she
immeditaly took action to MELT the *WITCH* away......to destroy her.
This is not at all 'Dorothyish". She makes it very clear in _WIZARD_
that she doesnt want to kill anything, not even for the sake of
returning home to Kansas>>

Though Dorothy doesn't mean to kill the Wicked Witch of the West with
water in WIZARD, she's "very angry" when she does. We also mustn't
forget that Dorothy grows and changes, especially between WIZARD and
OZMA. She's a much more confident, even headstrong, person in Baum's
latter books. In SCARECROW he tells us that "there were times when
she was not as wise as she might have been." She has always been very
protective of her friends--slapping the Cowardly Lion when he chases
Toto is her first resort to violence, but not her last. 
  Therefore, it's conceivable that the Dorothy we know would without
  reflection try to liquidate a wicked witch whom she suddenly spots
  on the palace grounds. At the same time, this encounter isn't
  subtle nor clearly thought through. It's set up just to expose the
  folly of Notta's disguises and to put him in an uncomfortable
  situation--much like the rest of COWARDLY LION, in my eyes. 
  More interesting in this episode is how Thompson shows Dorothy, and
  by implication every sensible person in Oz, recognizing a wicked
  witch instantly by her appearance. Yet Mombi can get a job in LOST
  KING soon after.

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I found the Uns' naming scheme somewhat odd.  The Un who became the
King was presumably named Unselfish, while none of the other named
Uns used their "unish" traits as their names.  In fact, aside from
Unselfish and I-Wish-I-Was, the only other two Uns whose names are
given in the text have fairly normal ones (Bill and Tom).>>

Good point. The names of I-Wish-I-Was and Unselfish among Bill and
Tom seem to be yet another sign that Thompson was trying too hard in
this book to create morals. 
  Speaking of names, Thompson never quite seems to settle between
  Snorer and Nick(adoodle). 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Nickadoodle is...not exactly central to the plot, and might have
been added as an afterthought by Thompson, who seems to like rather
large adventuring parties.  Although Nick settles in the Emerald
City, he is never even mentioned after _Cowardly Lion_, even in
_Wishing Horse_ (which does bring back Notta and Bob).>>

Nick is crucial in the adventurers' escape from Un [190]; he's not
just an onlooker like the Comfortable Camel and Doubtful Dromedary.
He also fills a role that Thompson has used in both of the previous
books: the overly devoted animal companion, like the Camel with his
Karwan Bashi and Wag with Peg. 
  I find it interesting that Nick states clearly that he "was never
  any place else" but Oz [211], implying that Un is actually part of
  Oz, no matter how skybound. (Thompson echoes that conclusion when
  she writes, "very little news of the capital ever came to Un"
  [239].)  

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<This is Thompson's first book to use a Baum character in the title.
Not only is the Cowardly Lion the title character, but the adventure
was clearly written around him.  It was as if Thompson just wanted to
write a story about the Lion, and figured that having someone want to
capture him could lead to a plot.  Note that the same plot device is
used in _Hungry Tiger_, right down to having a bad-tempered monarch
of a quasi-Turkish kingdom as the big cat's would-be captor.>>

In both books, furthermore, the title cat sets out to eat somebody,
knowing he'll lose the respect of his Emerald City friends by doing
so, and then feels ashamed. He spends the rest of the book trying to
make up for that initial desire--even though it's rather natural for
a carnivore. [Compare that to Baum's ironic treatment of the same
hungers in LIL WIZARD STORIES.]
  Reilly & Lee seems to have pushed Baum to name books after
  children's favorite characters, and I wouldn't be surprised if the
  firm asked Thompson to write a COWARDLY LION. The Lion was the only
  adventurer from WIZARD (besides Toto) who hadn't shown up in a Baum
  title. And, like the mystery of the Scarecrow's animation that
  drove ROYAL BOOK, Baum had left a big unanswered question hovering
  over the Cowardly Lion: What happened to his courage? Thompson
  starts this book's third storyline with that problem, reporting
  that even the non-humbug Wizard couldn't make more [105]. 
  I wonder whether KABUMPO, with a completely new character in the
  title and mostly new ones on the cover, had sold less than hoped.
  Thompson's author note doesn't mention that book--she implies that
  the most exciting recent event in Oz was the Scarecrow's brief
  departure, not the theft of Ozma's palace by a giant Nome. Nor does
  Thompson mention the events of KABUMPO within the next book, as she
  usually would. It would be ironic if the elegant elephant, arguably
  Thompson's most popular creation, was at first poorly received. 
  KABUMPO and COWARDLY LION share a plot element, however: in both
  books, a pair of protagonists set out to grab one of the beloved
  characters in the Emerald City, an enterprise we readers know is
  doomed. Both also have an image of a familiar immortal looking
  after characters in sleep: the Sandman in KABUMPO, the fairyman
  with the lantern here [65]. 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Mustafa's grandfather was the ruler of Mudge when the country
received the book of laws.  Since the book credits Ozma, this
presumably means that Mustafa assumed the throne during Ozma's reign.
What happened to his grandfather?  Perhaps he accidentally stepped
out onto the Deadly Desert>>

Note that Mustafa knows what a "tombstone" is [273]. Whether Mudge
contains one for his grandfather is uncertain. 
  Another hint about the dynasty's timing: Mustafa's FAMOUS LIONS OF
  OZ book was written after Dorothy became a princess of Oz [25],
  thus after OZMA. If Mustafa's grandfather cut off all trade after
  that point, it took Mustafa a surprisingly short time to capture
  9,999.5 intelligent lions.
(Those wonderfully awful lions yelling through the bars of their
enclosure like the cons in SCARED STRAIGHT is my favorite image in
this book.) 
  Incidentally, you wrote of where <<Mudge [stands] on Haff and
  Martin's map.>> This book must have been a challenge for our
  cartographers because Thompson states that it's in "the
  southwestern part of the Munchkin country" [19], yet also that
  Munchkinland in the eastern part of Oz [119].
I may have suggested before that in this case "southwestern" means
"go as far south as you can in Munchkinland, then go west." The
Cowardly Lion says, "According to the maps there are only scattered
farms between here [in the forest] and the Emerald City" [125],
implying Thompson at least glanced at the TIK-TOK map while writing.  

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<This is the first book that mentions the deeds of the wizard Wam,
whose further exploits are described in _Wishing Horse_ and Melody
Grandy's non-canonical _Disenchanted Princess_.  It also gives a hint
as to how long ago Wam worked.  According to the text, Crunch had
"stood around for seven centuries."  If Wam planted the Travellers'
Tree (said by the sign to have been planted in the year 1120 O.Z.) at
around the same time, Oz might have been in the nineteenth century
O.Z. at the time of _Cowardly Lion_.  There is really no reason to
assume that Wam was only in action for a few years, however.  The
planting of the Travellers' Tree and the animation of Crunch could
have taken place centuries apart, for all we know. . . . Maybe this
incident [Wam's animation of Crunch] occurred when Wam was still a
mischievous apprentice.>>

COWARDLY LION does several odd things with time, some clearly
intentional and others seemingly slapdash. For instance, Thompson
starts in Mudge and moves through to Notta's arrival as a lumpy lion,
then starts again at the circus and proceeds to the same point--only
then confirming how her first two plots relate in time and space.
That's clever. Also, the book's climax revolves around how Notta
thinks he has three days to rescue the Cowardly Lion from Mudge, but
Crunch's impatience speeds up the timetable and the suspense. 
  On the other hand, Thompson tosses in other statements about Ozian
  chronology that she seems to have made up on the spot rather fit
  with what else we know. Thus, we have the compressed period between
  Mustafa and his grandfather, and between Mustafa's loss of his
  lions and his growing "amazingly rich" [290]. We have glimpses of
  "a prehistoric Oz man" hacking out Crunch (though such monumental
  artworks are hardly the creations of primitive cultures) [224], and
  Wam active in "1120 O.Z." [177]. We even have a hint on the last
  page, which functions as a sort of epilogue, that Bob Up is
  approaching college age [291]. Time seems to expand and contract on
  a whim. 

David Godwin wrote:
<<Bobbie continues the tradition of "orphans in Oz" that began with
Dorothy and which will continue with others all the way down to Robin
Brown.
However, I think that Bobbie is the only one (in the FF, anyway) who
actually lived in an orphanage.>>

In addition to naming this book after a Baum character, Thompson was
also for the first time tackling his "American child comes to Oz"
plot. And, to repeat myself, she tries too hard. Bob's not simply an
American child, but an orphan meant to suffer. The orphanage is a
Dickensian nightmare where boys are "grudgingly sheltered and
eternally shaken" [231]. He's never had a dog [151], he's never been
fishing [142], and "laughing was against the rules of the orphan
home" [60, 90]. (As a contrast, we can remember that Dorothy has a
pet or two, and is the only one on her farm who does laugh.) Thus,
COWARDLY LION isn't a story of a child striving to survive, get back
home, and maintain her integrity, but of one distracted until he
"forgot he had ever been an orphan" [179]. 
  Only barely does Bob seem to be a main character in COWARDLY LION.
  The first scene in which he appears is narrated through Notta's
  perspective: Bob's just a generic orphan, and not till the next
  chapter do we learn his name. Long sections of text don't mention
  what Bob's doing or thinking [47-9, e.g.]. He sleeps through the
  battle with the Uns [156]. Only on pages 234-5 is he on his own for
  even a few minutes. Bob also rarely has the ideas or takes the
  actions that save the day; instead, he usually arrives just in time
  to offer explanations. His motivation for brave acts is fatalism
  [42]. Again, that's quite a contrast with Dorothy and Trot.
  Bob states that he's been in the orphanage for seven years [40],
  and has no notion or memory of his parents [37]. That implies he's
  not much older than seven himself. Such an age would indeed be a
  good match for his behavior in this book. He's emotionally volatile
  [41]. When he comes to a stream, he immediately wants to paddle
  [67]. He speaks in "excited little shrieks" [177]. Lighting a fire
  leaves him "feeling very important" [194].
Thompson often refers to him as a "little boy," a label I suspect
Peter and Speedy wouldn't have stood for. Youth, and the proximity of
a caring, extroverted adult, seem to explain why Bob makes so little
impression in these pages. Thompson never went back to give him an
adventure in which he could grow up more--perhaps because she felt so
little interest in him once he'd stopped being a cliche orphan. 

David Godwin wrote:
<<Unless I am mistaken, Notta Bit More and Bobbie are the only two
characters from the Outside World in the entire FF whose place of
origin (Kansas, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, etc.) is never stated.>>

Bob and Notta disappear from a place called Stumptown [29], a name
that fits the overly dreary picture Thompson paints at the start of
their story.
She also has Notta call Bob "an orphan from Philadelphia" [254], but
I assume that's simply wishful thinking on her part. We know who the
real orphan from Philadelphia would be.
  (On the same page 254, Thompson has Nick explain that his nose has
  been invented by "Uncle Billy"--yet another Bill for Nathan
  DeHoff's list, and another detail Thompson would reuse with more
  success later.) 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Thompson managed to give closure to the Un and half-lion incidents,
but never told us which was the right door through Doorways.  Any
ideas on which one it could be?>>

The door that's ajar. Unfortunately, it leads right to the
Preservatory. 

Finally, raising our sights to the big picture, Tyler Jones wrote:
<<Occam's Razor may be applicable to Oz, but the principle is that
the simplest explanation is the best one, which means that you must
choose from the explanations available. In Oz, the situations are
naturally much more complicated, so that even the "simplest" is not
as easy as you think.>>

Well put. The "explanations available" in our world are limited by
what's possible, but in a fairyland the bounds of possibility are
much more elastic. When we in the Outside World face the question of
why a rock falls toward the center of the Earth, we reject such
impossibilities as, "Because the air elves are jumping on it," and,
"Because the rock really, really wants to." But in a fairyland like
Oz, either of those might be true. 

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

=====================================================================
= From: BOZZYBEAR@aol.com
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 23:43:51 EDT
Subject: Tribute = Chris Sterling

It is with the utmost sorrow that we have learned that Chris Sterling
has been called away to take an unexpected trip "Over the Rainbow".
Chris, an avid contributor and member of the International Wizard of
OZ Club, a noted OZ memorabilia collector and authority, a creative
and passionate designer left us last week (07/09/99) following a
debilitating illness. We share in the grief with many of you of
having lost a personal close friend and offer codolences to his
relatives, associates, friends, and his long time life partner, Phil
Gamble. Expressions of sympathy can be sent to Phil at 637 Ridgewood
Road in Maplewood, New Jersey 07040. Please no flowers; a memorial
fund is being established in his name for the acceptance of
contributions, Details to be forthcoming later. 

If anyone exempilfied ... "a heart is not judged by how much you
love, but how much you are loved by others"  .... it was Chris.

Say, goodbye, Toto.
Marck (OZways Something Collectibles)
=====================================================================
= From: Kiex@aol.com
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 14:43:45 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99

> << >*.Why did L.Frank Baum spell gnome as Nome?
> He wanted to make it as pronouncible for kids as possible, same as
his
> reasons for hyphenating Hip-po-gy-raf and Li-mon-eag.>>

>There were also a good many adherents of simplified spelling at the
> time, which included Theodore Roosevelt, the President at the time
OZMA OF OZ
> was written. (It's said that, the day William H. Taft was
inaugurated, the
> Government printing office, no longer bound by Roosevelt's favored
spelling,
> included a story on the switch back with the headline "THRU!")>>

So "Nome" could have been a way of satirizing the government, I
suppose?


<<Actually, in most of the surrounding countries, talking animals are
anomalies (Raffles in Noland in QUEEN ZIXI, Bilbil in Pingaree in
RINKITINK, Chalk in Skampavia in WISHING HORSE...all three being
magically explained).
The Wizard finds Bilbil talking in the Nome King's caverns to be a
surprise, though Billina (who had also never been to the Land of Oz)
had done the same.>

Perhaps, like Toto when he's in Oz, all animals can talk but just
choose not to.


<>

By _Emerald City_, Ozma was on the throne and Dorothy had finally
made it to Oz.  Of course it's going to seem utopic.


Utopically yours,
Jeremy Steadman
=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:40:02 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99

Dave wrote:
>According
>to the script I have the three mystery words are "par adua outer"
>which *looks* like Latin, but I cannot find any of these words in my
>Latin dictionary.  

One supposes it is "Per ardua ad astra" or "Ad astra per ardua" --
through labors to the stars!  An old Latin tag.

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:10:05 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-02-99

Ozmama@aol.com wrote:
>Why?  LFB's distaste was not necessarily based on the lyrics.  More
likely,
>it was based on what was considered to be low-class "coon" music.
The
>song, penned by our beloved Baum is, IMO, clearly racist.

Or satirical -- either tracks as well.

As to Baum's taste in music -- ugh! let's not go there.

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:21:29 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-06-99

Dave wrote:
>It was the MGM film... The lighting made me think they were
>indoors... Somehow, the witch's skywriting didn't register with me
>as an indication that there was at least no roof.

cf. Eddie Cantor's "Roman Scandals", which presents an ancient Rome
that seems to be all indoors (and a young and topless Lucile Ball!).

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:27:45 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-09-99

William of Ockham (or Occam), ca 1285 - ca 1349, was a Scholastic
philosopher who wrote "non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter
necessitatem" -- entities ought not to be multiplied beyond
necessity, or, in other words, the theory that involves the smallest
number of factors is probably correct.  It is really more a
philosophical than a scientific principle.

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:36:04 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99

CoryQuinn@aol.com
>Seems I heard  or read a long time ago that the color for The Wizard
of Oz
>was achieved by hand coloring each cel.  True, or legend?

Not "The Wizard of Oz", but L. Frank Baum's travelling
slide-and-silent- movie show, "Fairylogue and Radio-plays", Michel
Radio being the name of the French inventor of the film-coloring
technique.  (The word "cel", by the way, properly applies only to
hand-drawn animation on transparancies made to be subsequently
photographed against a background image.)

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:03:27 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 06-28-99

Ruth Berman wrote:
>I think the Puritans in the 16th century were the first to start
>campaigning in a large way against such activities as bearbaiting,
although
>every culture has had at least some people arguing in various ways
for
>kindness to animals.  (I think it was G.K. Chesterton who complained
that
>the Puritans objected to bearbaiting not because it was hard on the
bears
>but because it was fun for the humans -- but this view hardly does
justice
>to the Puritans.)

Actually, it was the later Puritans who did it, to provide the
working classes with fewer distractions from the mills.


// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 99 10:21:52 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things


NOTTA BIT MORE:
Ken S. wrote:
>Does it strike anyone that having a name like Notta Bit More really
>limits one's career choices?

He could run for Congress... (IMHO if a member of Congress can have a
name like J.J. Pickle...)  :)


                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-20-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990720132410.00b1d8f0@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 17 - 20, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= From: KABUMPO16@aol.com
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 21:52:19 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99

Through struggles to the heights.

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-16-99
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 20:46:10 PDT

Mike Denio:
>I do find it odd that so many people claim a dislike for Baum's
_Dorothy 
>and
>the Wizard in Oz_ and _Road to Oz_, when I've found these two books
to
>closely resemble Thompson's "quest" oriented titles like _Cowardly
Lion_ 
>and
>_Grampa_. All are mostly episodic, where characters work to get out
of one 
>bad situation just to get into another.

Thompson's books usually have an end goal, though, while both
_Dorothy and the Wizard_ and _Road_ really don't have any goal, aside
from "Let's get out of this strange place."  Also, _Road_ isn't
really one bad situation after another; aside from the Scoodlers,
there isn't any real danger in this one.  
The fox and donkey heads are obnoxious to the people who receive
them, but the inhabitants of Foxville and Dunkiton are basically
friendly.  As for _DotWiz_, the situations in that volume tend to be
more threatening than anything in Thompson's books; an invisible bear
is probably much scarier to most readers than the threat of being
placed in a jar.  Besides, _Cowardly Lion_ and _Grampa_ are often
criticized, just as _DotWiz_ and _Road_ are.

J. L. Bell:
>   Notta (and Thompson) also deserve credit for thinking of using
the 
>"Udge,
>Budge" rhyme from chapter 3 to send rescuers after the Cowardly Lion
in 
>chapter 19. Oz books don't always have so much dramatic unity.

The rhyme was also used against the attacking Uns.  I agree that the
repeated usage of the chant provides some unity to the story.  I do
wonder why Mudge happens to have this formula, though.  Was it
created by a magic-worker who used to live there (the same person who
made Mustafa's ring, perhaps?), or do other Oz kingdoms have similar
transportation rhymes? 
  (Umperdink!  Humperdink!  Go to Pumperdink!")

>   Nathan DeHoff wrote, <<Thompson must have had a fondness for
Arabian
>tales and desert kingdoms.>> I think she had an *antipathy* for
them--are
>any, with the possible exception of Seebania, presented as
sympathetic and 
>largely upstanding?

I suppose Rash could count in this category; the Rashers are
described as being hot-tempered, but Ippty and the Pasha are the only
real "baddies" there.  It might well have become a friendly place
under Evered's leadership.  I'm not sure Seebania would count as an
Arabian-esque kingdom; some of the names (Ree Alla Bad, Shamsbad)
sound a bit Middle Eastern, but the country is primarily forest, not
desert.

>We even
>have a hint on the last page, which functions as a sort of epilogue,
that 
>Bob Up is approaching college age [291].

Since many Ozites choose not to grow up, college age might be a bit
younger for inhabitants of Oz than for people in the Outside World.
I do find it odd that Thompson mentions that Notta had saved up
enough for Bob's future (or something along those lines).  This is
one of the earliest indications that Thompson wasn't planning on
going along with Baum's "no money in Oz" rule.

Talking Animals in Ev:
Although it's uncommon, there are instances of birds flying across
the Deadly Desert (including Kiki Aru as a hawk, Grampa and company
as crows, the red eagle that brought Matiah to Oz, and the bird that
carried Ruggedo to Ev).  Is it possible that the talking birds of Ev
are either from Oz, or descended from Ozian birds?  If so, that would
explain why talking chickens are uncommon, despite the fact that
there are other types of birds in the country that do speak English
(or Ozish, or Evish, or whatever); a chicken would not be able to fly
over the desert.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 03:28:19 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99

Ozmama@aol.com wrote:
 >Why?  LFB's distaste was not necessarily based on the lyrics.  More
 likely,  >it was based on what was considered to be low-class "coon"
 music.  The  >song, penned by our beloved Baum is, IMO, clearly
 racist.

Actually, most of that 'low-class coon' music of the time tended to
be written in New York or Chicago by white men.  Such, alas,  was the
fashion of the time, and Baum, though a creator of many timeless
works, was a man of his time.  Remember that a lot of the attitudes
one finds in those songs were pretty much standard fare in the
culture of early 20th century America.  
Minds tend to march slowly, but hopefully they march in a better
direction.  
Our current level of enlightment is a very, very recent development,
and we do well to bear that in mind when looking at work of another
time.  No, "Down Among the Marshes" isn't going to win any prizes for
sensitivity, but when you step back and look at Baum's work as a
whole, you are looking at a fairly progressive man for his time.
Baum's Tottenhots are indeed unfortunate in their depiction, but at
the same time we keep a diplomatic silence regarding Mozart, who has
a burnt cork character running around in "Zauberflote" singing about
how 'the black man is ugly".

Baum's first and most important influence in so much of his writing
was from the theatre, and through the years, most popular theatre
well into this century was based on stereotypes of one kind or the
other-  Moliere made a killing parading them across the footlights.
They allowed the author to deal in a kind of shorthand-  the
character's 'back story', if you will, was common knowledge.  A great
number of these archetypes and stereotypes make their appearance in
Baum's work- we are more attuned to noticing the presence of some of
them and we don't see many of them at first or even second glance. 
 Virtually any book written today is loaded with them- it will be for
 another generation to see them.

John W. Kennedy wrote: 
> As to Baum's taste in music -- ugh! let's not go there.

Been there!
Now it depends on what you mean- he was quite enamored of Louis F. 
Gottschalk's music, and even dedicated an Oz book to him.  From
rather extensive experience with LFG's music recently, I'd have to
agree with Baum's assessment.

James Doyle
=====================================================================
= From: jwkenne@ibm.net
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 99 18:19:07 -0500
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99

OK, it sounds like it should be "Per ardua ad alta" -- through the
"ardua" to the heights/heavens.  I put "ardua" in quotes because it
means both "steep" and "difficult".  Perfectly good Latin.

// John W Kennedy

=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 22:54:57 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-12-99

In a message dated 7/12/99 3:30:02 PM Central Daylight Time,
OzDigest@mindspring.com writes:

Ruth<< It occurs to me that the preponderance of antagonistic
characters for the protagonists to run into may itself be an example
of  Lewis Carroll's influence. >>
Bingo! That and the rampant insanity of these characters. They live
in rarified, specialized situations where their lack of rationality
is actually encouraged. 

Mike D., I've long detested Notta as a main character.  He is most
definitely not a role model,  doesn't learn anything valuable from
his adventuring, gets the child involved into, not out of, trouble,
etc., etc.   The character is thoroughly distasteful to me.  

_C.Lion_'s tone is too dark, the writing too uneven, and the main
adult character far too flawed for me to rank it as more than, say,
#38 or so in my list of canonical Oz book faves.  The child is weak,
one of the best characters (sky terrier) is used all-too-briefly for
purely didactic reasons, and another of the main characters (Nick) is
an irritating zany who adds little, if anything at all, to the book.
The Fiddlestick Forest episode (a Fred Meyer favorite, btw)  is
lovely, but as an adult it frustrates me because it reminds me of how
well RPT could write but mostly didn't for this book.  It's original
(unlike the fairyman) and gentle.  I suppose I'm really going to have
to reread it, aren't I, if I want to rant....  --Robin


=====================================================================
= From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 00:22:11 EDT
Subject: Oz

Rich:
As you pointed out, I don't think that it's ever stated that Billina
actually came from America, or anywhere in the "real" world. However,
In chapter 3 of _Ozma of Oz_, Billina mentions that some of her
friends have been run over by Automobiles. She seems suprised at
being able to talk. Also, she shows a great deal of skepticism over
Dorothy's descriptions of the magical Land of Oz. That's a good
indication that Billina does not come from Mo.

I'm not sure, but I don't believe that too many countries had cars
back then even, in the "Great Outside World". Of course, it would
seem more likely that she came from Australia, since that is where
the boat set sail from.

Gehan:
Ozma's ordered execution of Mombi in _Lost King_ is one of only two
times that I can recall in the FF that she had anybody killed.
Dorothy may have acted out of suprise the first time she threw a
bucket of water over Notta's head, but that also was unlike her.

Nathan:
Since Mustafa's grandfather apparantly disappeared during Ozma's
reign to clear the way for Mustafa, we must also ask ourselves about
the fate of his father. Maybe poltiics in Mudge are a little, err,
robust. If Mustafa Junior wants to be king, he needs to say "Hey,
dad, let's take a walk by the Deadly Desert..."

Dave H:
According to my script (Langley, Ryerson and Woolf), those mysterious
words are "par ardua ad alta". I don't know if it's latin either.

Tyler Jones
=====================================================================
= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 99 11:41:20 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: costumes in
oz


Ken Shepherd: I shouldn't think the name of Notta would have kept
Notta from less clownish professionals.  As Dave Hardenbrook
mentioned, people do succeed with odd names.  Lotus Delta Coffman was
a president of the University of Minnesota -- of course, he signed
everything L.D. Coffman (his parents must have been Egypt-buffs).  
And there are the options of using a daily name other than one's
legal name (Louis F. Baum, for instance), or going to court and
getting the legal name changed. // Your mention (and Mike Denio's) of
Notta's non-human costumes -- it occurs to me to wonder what good
(outside Oz) it could ever have done him to disguise himself as a
fish.  The bear and lion costumes might be useful in the circus, I
suppose, but more as costumes than as disguises, surely?

J.L. Bell: Besides Seebania, one Arabian-style (though not desert-
climate) Thompsonian kingdom presented favorably is the Red Jinn's.  
You're probably right that she had a dislike for Arabs growing out of
European-based/biased histories and romances, but the antipathy was
probably softened a bit by fondness for the stories in the "Arabian
Nights." // On the recognizability of Wicked Witches -- it seems to
be a matter of clothing, mostly, especially the steeple hat.  (I
think Neill shows Mombi wearing a sort of skull-cap while working as
cook, although I don't think the text specifies.)

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 99 13:16:54 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things

Hmmm... Short Digest today.  I guess everyone's too busy watching all
the commemorations of the moon landing anniversary on TV.  :)

I admit that I'm a bit depressed because I've received not a *single*
response to my plea to the astronomy communities on the 'Net for
support for "Oz on Charon"... Maybe it wasn't such a great  idea
after all... Sigh.


                             -- Dave


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-24-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990724224640.00bdfa50@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 21 - 25, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:26:40 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99

Mark D. about Chris Sterling: "
If anyone exempilfied ... "a heart is not judged by how much you
love, but how much you are loved by others"  .... it was Chris."
Chris's heart was one of the biggest and kindest I've ever
encountered.
I'll miss his warmth, humor and generosity of spirit even more than
I'll miss his creativity, and that's saying a lot, since he was one
of the most creative individuals ever.  Thanks for the sweetness of
the memories you bring back to me, Mark, and thanks, too,  for the
notification about a fund's pending for him.  --Robin
=====================================================================
= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 20:27:03 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: LION down
 charset=ISO-8859-1

Tyler Jones wrote of Billina:
<<it would seem more likely that she came from Australia, since that
is where the boat set sail from.>>

The ship is taking Dorothy "to Australia" when she has her accident
with the chicken coop--specifically to Sydney, judging by where we
see Uncle Henry at the end of OZMA. 
  Of course, Billina could have been loaded at any port along the
  way. The best evidence that she's from America seems to be that she
  arrives in Oz; no South American, Australian, or citizen of a South
  Sea isle seems to have made it there. 

Continuing the COWARDLY LION discussion, Nathan DeHoff wrote: <<I do
wonder why Mudge happens to have this formula, though.  Was it
created by a magic-worker who used to live there (the same person who
made Mustafa's ring, perhaps?), or do other Oz kingdoms have similar
transportation rhymes?>>

Another oddity is that it works in the Great Outside World. Magical
balloons, rhymes, and talking dogs were a steady part of Thompson's
depiction of America, but in WIZARD Baum set an implicit standard
that spells can't be cast here. The only exceptions I can recall in
his Oz books are Button-Bright's umbrella and the Love Magnet (and
not until SHAGGY MAN is that item's magical origin confirmed). 
  One theory about the rhyme's origin: it was created as a way to
  exile troublesome Munchkins to a desolate corner of the land. When
  enough bluebeards arrived, they formed a society, named it "Mudge"
  after the last thing they all heard, and started living off their
  neighbors. That would explain why these Ozians are so
  "short-tempered" and created a "barbarous country" [19]--they were
  angry barbarians to begin with. It would also imply that whoever
  came up with the "Udge, Budge" rhyme lived far away. 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I did find it interesting that, while peoples such as the Bedouins
are nomads out of necessity, the Mudgers are nomads because they
don't like their neighbors, and can't stay in one place very long.>>

City folk used to say the same thing about Bedouins--that they're
antisocial and restless. 

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Since many Ozites choose not to grow up, college age might be a bit
younger for inhabitants of Oz than for people in the Outside World.
I do find it odd that Thompson mentions that Notta had saved up
enough for Bob's future (or something along those lines).>>

Thompson indeed reports, "Notta has saved up for Bob's entire
education" [291], so my inference that the orphan was approaching
college age was wrong. Notta seems to have been looking far ahead. 
  I can imagine Notta picking up loose emeralds and other jewels
  around the capital and assuming they're as valuable in Oz as in
  America. (He's not the type to ask anyone for advice, after all.)
  After a few weeks he thinks he's "saved up" and heads to Prof.
  Wogglebug to discuss buying a place in the college a decade later,
  and perhaps how to prepare the boy. Whereupon the thoroughly
  educated insect would make Notta's painted head spin with the news
  that (a) jewels are too common in Oz to have much value; (b) he
  charges no fees, nor does anyone else in the Emerald City; and (c)
  Bob isn't necessarily going to grow up. Thus, COWARDLY LION's final
  passage may not really be a report that Notta and Bob have settled
  in to their new home, but rather a hint that they still have a lot
  of adjusting to do.
  Who was Thompson's informant about these adventures? One clue
  appears on page 207, when she reports one detail "as Bob Up
  explained later to Dorothy," implying that Dorothy was the source,
  and that she relied on Bob (and, most likely, the Cowardly Lion)
  for information. 
  As for the Royal Athletic College, in Neill's RUNAWAY, the
  students' age range is considerably younger than Baum seems to
  imply in EMERALD CITY. Or perhaps, because I first read it at a
  considerably older age, the students *seemed* younger. 

Ken Shepherd wrote:
<<it is Bob (not Notta) who discovers in the end how to rescue the
Lion from Crunch's spell.  So Notta (the nominal adult) ends up being
the most immature and irresponsible and only begins to change in the
final chapters, while Bob Up (the nominal child) begins to assume
more and more responsibility by the end of the book.>>

I'd give Bob only one "more" worth of responsibility, and even that
seems like a stretch. He does indeed spot the Cowardly Lion coming
back to life, but that doesn't require planning, insight, bravery,
perseverance, or other mature qualities. Whoever was watching Dorothy
at that angle would have seen the change. Notta is definitely a
man-child, but I don't see Bob growing up past him in this book.
  Incidentally, I don't think Dorothy is acting very much in
  character when she weeps over the Cowardly Lion. She hasn't cried
  since WIZARD, has she?
Granted, she hasn't seen one of her oldest Oz friends petrified
seemingly forever, but I imagine her (as Baum drew her) planning an
adventure to find someone who can restore the Lion, not just crying.
  And speaking of being in character, on page 280, Thompson shows
  Ozma "stamping her foot for the first time in her gentle little
  life." True?

I can't evaluate all the COWARDLY LION art because my edition doesn't
have the color plates. A look at the line art shows one interesting
detail: this is the first Oz book in quite a while with no full-page
line drawings at all. Perhaps the manuscript was deemed too long to
need them. 
  I see signs of Thompson having gotten her text in early. All of
  Neill's line art is connected to nearby passages, it usually fits
  the spaces at the chapter ends, and none is repeated. Other Oz
  books don't have those qualities. That implies this book was laid
  out in type with plenty of time for Neill to draw. [Speaking of
  layout, there's a clumsy glitch in the running head atop page 176.]
  Comments on individual drawings--
cover: It's appropriate for the Cowardly Lion to appear with his tail
between his legs--that's supposedly a heraldic symbol for a coward. 
9? 11? 13? In any event, the contents page: This picture of the Lion
in repose is my favorite in the book.
46: How many arms does Notta have?
71: Another magic doorknob from Neill, though Thompson's text
mentions only animated doors.
109: Presumably the clock in this art is *not* in the Emerald City,
since it shows 8:00 and the text tells us at that time the Lion was
"miles and miles away."
187: In this picture Bob looks like Judy Garland in her twenties to
me--an opinion enhanced by a previous owner of my copy coloring in
his lips with pencil. This Bob doesn't look much like the giraffish
child on the next page, however.
285: I've seen several circus acts using Hula Hoops, but always
assumed they were developed after the invention of that plastic toy.
But is Notta playing with some wooden or metal hoop here? Would Neill
have been illustrating a common clown act of the time?

Robin Olderman wrote this message's penultimate word on COWARDLY
LION: <<I suppose I'm really going to have to reread it, aren't I, if
I want to rant....>>

The only thing worse than rereading COWARDLY LION might be rereading
it too late for the discussion!

Mark Donajkowski passed on an AP dispatch that reports: <<Stu
Krieger's screenplay "Pamela West" [is] a contemporary - albeit
reversed - version of 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz." . . . Sources
have confirmed that the script is completely original and not based
on any other prior material.>>

This seems so Hollywood--to tie a project to a successful film, then
insist (for royalty reasons if for no other) it's completely
original. Get me a young Gwyneth Paltrow!

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 09:04:22 -0400
From: David Levitan <david@emeraldcityofoz.com> Subject: MGM video

Hi,
I just noticed on Amazon that they are re-releasing the VHS version
of the movie in October. Anyone know the details about this?
Thanks
-- 
David Levitan
E-mail:                          Web Page: david@emeraldcityofoz.com
The Emerald City of Oz dbl@bestweb.net
http://www.emeraldcityofoz.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 99 11:04:21 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: tv in oz
(not)


Danny Wall: You pointed out a recent report of Tim Burton's plan for
a "Lost in Oz" tv series and wondered if more information was
available.  
Earl Abbe had a report (from an article by Cynthia Littleton from the
"Variety" website) in October last year on this project.  That report
said the project was "in the early stages of development," and
details were "sketchy," but that it was "tentatively" planned to
begin airing fall 1999.  
Doesn't sound as if there's any expectation now of meeting that
schedule.  And considering that the plans are apparently still
sketchy and tentative, they're perhaps unlikely to lead to any actual
show.

Nathan DeHoff: The idea that the Udge Budge rhyme might have been
invented by the same magician who made Mustafa's ring sounds
plausible.

James Doyle: How about Tietjens' work in Oz music?  How would you
compare him to Louis F. Gottschalk, and would you say that one or
both of them would deserve the kind of general revival that Louis
Moreau Gottschalk has had?

Robin Olderman: Would you say, then, that being influenced by Carroll
is a bad thing for RPT's work, or maybe bad only in the context of
"Cowardly Lion" (use of Looking-Glass-style speech in Back Woods in
"Lost King" and "Lost King" as a whole, or use of descent underground
to insanely logical kingdom in "Hungry Tiger" and "Hungry Tiger" as a
whole maybe better)?  Or is this a question to answer in stages as
the other books come up for discussion?

Tyler Jones: Billina would be an American rather than an Aussie,
wouldn't she? -- the ship in "Ozma" is supposed to be taking Dorothy
and Uncle Henry to Australia, not back from?  It's in "Dorothy and
the Wizard" that they're on their way home.

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-20-99
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 09:30:11 PDT

Tyler:
>Of course, it would seem more likely that
>[Billina] came from Australia, since that is where the boat set sail
>from.

No, that boat was sailing TO Australia.  It's Eureka who probably
came from Australia.

>Since Mustafa's grandfather apparantly disappeared during Ozma's
reign to
>clear the way for Mustafa, we must also ask ourselves about the fate
of his 
>father.

If we assume that death did exist before Ozma's reign, but not during
it (which is an iffy assumption, but one that does seem to have some
support in the books), then Mustafa's father could have died before
Ozma took the throne (thereby allowing his father (Mustafa's
grandfather) to outlive him).

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 20:34:20 -0400 (EDT) From: "James R.
Whitcomb" <whitcomb.1@osu.edu> Subject: For Ozzy Digest

Hello Everyone,

I have some news re: the Oz Centennial web page that I am hosting ...

First, thanks to Eric Gjoovag for coming up with the terrific idea of
creating an Oz Centennial Message Board. This will allow folks to get
"late breaking" news and to converse among themselves about
Centennial topics, plans, and even make arrangements for getting
there!!

Second, my friend, Ann Lench of Annie M's Collectibles, has created a
page on her website devoted to Oz 100th anniversary collectibles.
Check it out!
She has some beautiful t-shirts (W.W.Denslow designs), a terrific new
Oz game, and a sculpture for sale. 

All of the pages mentioned above can be accessed from links on the Oz
Centennial web page:
<http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6396/ozcenten.htm>

Lastly, thanks and kudos to Jane Albright for her continued work (an
understatement, I know!) and enthusiasm in pulling this all
together!!

Take care,

Jim Whitcomb.

=====================================================================
= From: LionCoward@aol.com
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 20:38:27 EDT
Subject: Oz message

It is my sad duty to report that Oz author Gil S. Joel passed away
this past Wednesday (July 14, 1999). Gil had been in and out of a
series of hospitals over the past year. Gil was afflicted since birth
with Cerebral Palsy. He was also the author of SO YOUR CHILD HAS
CEREBRAL PALSY, which was the first reference book of its kind. He
kept his typewriter on the floor and typed with his left big toe.
Unfortunately, toward the end, Gil required a great deal of care, and
Mrs. Joel was forced to put him into a home. Joy (Mrs. 
Joel) is a dwarf (just over two feet tall), and her own health has
been failing of late.
Gil's Oz credits include THE CASE OF THE FRAMED FAIRY OF OZ (a Perry
Mason mystery novel that takes place in Oz), THE HEALING POWER OF OZ
(which is NOT the self-help book that its title might suggest), THE
ROOTS OF WONDER IN OZ, as well as a handful of manuscripts that have
yet to see publication. They will, as soon as I am able to get to
them. The backlog is ever increasing. 
The Oz stories of Gil S. Joel, as well as many other fine authors,
can still be ordered via my webpage at
http://members.aol.com/LionCoward/home.html

=====================================================================
= Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 21:37:24 -0400 (EDT) From: "James R.
Whitcomb" <whitcomb.1@osu.edu> Subject: For Ozzy Digest

Folks,

My apologies, but Ann of Annie M's Collectibles last name is "Lenth"
not Lench.

Jim.

=====================================================================
= Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 01:22:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony
Donajkowski <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu> Subject: MORE OZ ON DVD

coming out october 19
Wizard Of Oz:Deluxe Edition Gift Set DVD Judy Garland, Frank Morgan,
Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton 
Whisked away by a swirling tornado, 12-year-old Dorothy, her dog
Toto, and even her Kansas farmhouse, sail over the rainbow and into
the dazzling land of Oz. Filled with playful Munchkins, enchanted
forests and endless surprises, this dream-come-true world is one
great adventure after another. But the most wondrous adventure of all
begins when Dorothy and her newfound friends go in search of the
kingdom's mysterious Wizard--and the secret that will lead her home.
English:Stereo & original Mono. 

Includes all of the special features of the above Special Edition,
plus: 

The Deluxe Edition Gift Set contains these unique extras: 

Reproduction of the original script 

Rare still photos 

Color theatrical poster reproductions 

Packaged in a deluxe gift box 


Retail Price $49.99
DE Price $37.49 


Wizard Of Oz:Spec.Ed DVD
Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley,
Margaret Hamilton 
Whisked away by a swirling tornado, 12-year-old Dorothy, her dog
Toto, and even her Kansas farmhouse, sail over the rainbow and into
the dazzling land of Oz. Filled with playful Munchkins, enchanted
forests and endless surprises, this dream-come-true world is one
great adventure after another. But the most wondrous adventure of all
begins when Dorothy and her newfound friends go in search of the
kingdom's mysterious Wizard--and the secret that will lead her home. 

"Making of" documentary hosted by Angela Lansbury 

Outtakes, including the rarely seen "Jitterbug" dance 

Interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger & Jack Haley 

Rarely seen trailers 

Outtakes from the original recording sessions with the entire cast 

Excerpts from previous versions of "Oz," including the 1914 and 1925
silent films and the 1933 cartoon version 

Portrait gallery, special effects stills, and stills from the
Hollywood premiere 

Original sketches and storyboards, costume designs and make-up tests 


Retail Price $24.99
DE Price $18.74 


=====================================================================
= <END>
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-27-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990727125426.00b07b90@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 26 - 27, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


         "AWOL" Digest member: <sable@ix.netcom.com>


=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 05:00:25 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-24-99

Ruth Berman:
Robin Olderman: Would you say, then, that being influenced by Carroll
is a bad thing for RPT's work, or maybe bad only in the context of
"Cowardly Lion" (use of Looking-Glass-style speech in Back Woods in
"Lost King" and "Lost King" as a whole, or use of descent underground
to insanely logical kingdom in "Hungry Tiger" and "Hungry Tiger" as a
whole maybe better)?  Or is this a question to answer in stages as
the other books come up for discussion?

Certainly it's not good in _C. Lion_, but I hadn't even thought of
the backwards
speech pattern as being Carrollian. The underground descent concept
feels more like Thompson to me than Carroll, since she uses it
several times.  All of
her oddball countries seem to have their own insane internal logic,
don't they? 
I've never considered Carrollian influence in other Thompson work.
I'll try to look 
for it as we go, although I suspect you'll note it where I miss it.
I'm not really an 
Alice person. Its harshness turned me off as a young reader, and I
still don't like 
the books much, although I'm able to appreciate the cleverness of the
writing much better now because of Martin Gardner.  I think I'd never
have reread any Alice material if I hadn't met and enjoyed him so.
His (annotated) explanations 
have gone a long way to help me understand now some of what I'd
missed earlier. 

John Bell: Y'know what?  I'm not going to reread the blasted book.
I'll just sit 
back and watch the rest of you tear it down for me.  :o)  

Gehan: I must give up on the role playing game.  I've been gone much
of the summer, and it's just too involved to try to catch up.  I
regret this, btw. 

Please start saving up now for next year's Centennial, folks.  I
guarantee you'll
regret having missed it if you don't get there.  It's going to be
stupendous! 
 Lots 
of stuff to do and see and hear(see Jim Whitcomb's Centennial site),
and you can pick and choose what you want to be involved with. You
determine the pace of the experience.  If there are a bunch of us
going, we should certainly plan to 
meet during one of the afterhours get-togethers.  :) --Robin
=====================================================================
= From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 05:29:32 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-24-99

In a message dated 7/25/99 12:55:33 AM Central Daylight Time Ruth
Berman writes

> 
>  James Doyle: How about Tietjens' work in Oz music?  How would you
>  compare him to Louis F. Gottschalk, and would you say that one or
>  both of them would deserve the kind of general revival that Louis
>  Moreau Gottschalk has had?
I'm hard pressed to choose between Tietjens and Gottschalk.  I
suppose the best way to put it is this- Tietjens did the pioneering
work on Oz musically, and to this day there is nothing which defines
Oz for me than his transformation music in the opening of the 1902/3
"Wizard" - and that includes, well, that film people do tend to go on
about.  However, Gottschalk was probably a better dramatic composer
and his work with Baum was not hindered as much by outsiders, as was
the case with Tietjens.  Tietjens was working with Baum when Baum
himself wasn't completely sure himself what Oz was, and Gottschalk
worked with Baum starting with the "Patchwork Girl" period, when the
Land of Oz was a more matured concept in its creator's mind. 
  Both composers (as well as Frederic Chapin (The Woggle Bug) are
  worth exploring.  Gottschalk's "Patchwork Girl" film score is
  particulary full of little gems - his Woozie music is quite funny.
  As things stand, I'm nearing completion on a compilation recording
  of music from Wizard, Woggle Bug, Tik-Tok, The Patchwork Girl as
  well as Baum's own music from Maid of Arran, so hopefully you'll be
  able to judge for yourselves soon.
James P. Doyle


=====================================================================
= Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 09:02:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony
Donajkowski <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest,
07-24-99

On Sat, 24 Jul 1999, Ozzy Digest wrote:
> From: Ozmama@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:26:40 EDT
> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99
> 
> Mark D. about Chris Sterling: "
> If anyone exempilfied ... "a heart is not judged by how much you
> love, but how much you are loved by others"  .... it was Chris."
> Chris's heart was one of the biggest and kindest I've ever
encountered.
> I'll miss his warmth, humor and generosity of spirit even more than
I'll
> miss his creativity, and that's saying a lot, since he was one of
the most
> creative individuals ever.  Thanks for the sweetness of the
memories you
> bring back to me, Mark, and thanks, too,  for the notification
about a fund's
> pending for him.  --Robin
um maybe i missed something but i know i didnt write this heh so is
there another mark d on the list?

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-24-99
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 12:54:40 PDT

J. L. Bell:
>   Of course, Billina could have been loaded at any port along the
way. The
>best evidence that she's from America seems to be that she arrives
in Oz;
>no South American, Australian, or citizen of a South Sea isle seems
to have 
>made it there.

Unless Eureka is from Australia, as has been suggested.

>Magical
>balloons, rhymes, and talking dogs were a steady part of Thompson's
>depiction of America, but in WIZARD Baum set an implicit standard
that
>spells can't be cast here. The only exceptions I can recall in his
Oz books
>are Button-Bright's umbrella and the Love Magnet (and not until
SHAGGY MAN 
>is that item's magical origin confirmed).

Magic works in the Outside World in _John Dough_, which isn't part of
the Oz series, but was connected to it by _Road_.  As for magic not
working in the Outside World, the only real example we have of this
is in _Wizard_, in which the Silver Shoes don't make it to Kansas
with Dorothy.  In _Ozma_, Glinda states that the Belt wouldn't work
in the Outside World, but we never receive any actual proof.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: "Bob Collinge" <BobofOz@prodigy.net> Subject: Ozzy prices
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 20:33:06 -0400

I received this question from another Oz fan looking for an estimate
on his item. Can anyone take a guess, or actually know, what the
price of this may be? 
>One of my pieces, I have been trying to place a value on, but it's
basically a one of a kind piece and I'm having trouble...perhaps you
could help. I have a piece of publicity stationary from the
film....on it a letter from Mervyn Leroy (with his signature) to the
head of distribution for MGM at the time...the letter is dated May
23, 1939. < Thanks, 
Bob C.

=====================================================================
= <END>

To: ozziezimms@sympatico.ca
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-27-99
Cc: 
Bcc: 
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990727165722.00adea00@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 26 - 27, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]





=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 05:00:25 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-24-99

Ruth Berman:
Robin Olderman: Would you say, then, that being influenced by Carroll
is a bad thing for RPT's work, or maybe bad only in the context of
"Cowardly Lion" (use of Looking-Glass-style speech in Back Woods in
"Lost King" and "Lost King" as a whole, or use of descent underground
to insanely logical kingdom in "Hungry Tiger" and "Hungry Tiger" as a
whole maybe better)?  Or is this a question to answer in stages as
the other books come up for discussion?

Certainly it's not good in _C. Lion_, but I hadn't even thought of
the backwards
speech pattern as being Carrollian. The underground descent concept
feels more like Thompson to me than Carroll, since she uses it
several times.  All of
her oddball countries seem to have their own insane internal logic,
don't they? 
I've never considered Carrollian influence in other Thompson work.
I'll try to look 
for it as we go, although I suspect you'll note it where I miss it.
I'm not really an 
Alice person. Its harshness turned me off as a young reader, and I
still don't like 
the books much, although I'm able to appreciate the cleverness of the
writing much better now because of Martin Gardner.  I think I'd never
have reread any Alice material if I hadn't met and enjoyed him so.
His (annotated) explanations 
have gone a long way to help me understand now some of what I'd
missed earlier. 

John Bell: Y'know what?  I'm not going to reread the blasted book.
I'll just sit 
back and watch the rest of you tear it down for me.  :o)  

Gehan: I must give up on the role playing game.  I've been gone much
of the summer, and it's just too involved to try to catch up.  I
regret this, btw. 

Please start saving up now for next year's Centennial, folks.  I
guarantee you'll
regret having missed it if you don't get there.  It's going to be
stupendous! 
 Lots 
of stuff to do and see and hear(see Jim Whitcomb's Centennial site),
and you can pick and choose what you want to be involved with. You
determine the pace of the experience.  If there are a bunch of us
going, we should certainly plan to 
meet during one of the afterhours get-togethers.  :) --Robin
=====================================================================
= From: Orange5193@aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 05:29:32 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-24-99

In a message dated 7/25/99 12:55:33 AM Central Daylight Time Ruth
Berman writes

> 
>  James Doyle: How about Tietjens' work in Oz music?  How would you
>  compare him to Louis F. Gottschalk, and would you say that one or
>  both of them would deserve the kind of general revival that Louis
>  Moreau Gottschalk has had?

I'm hard pressed to choose between Tietjens and Gottschalk.  I
suppose the best way to put it is this- Tietjens did the pioneering
work on Oz musically, and to this day there is nothing which defines
Oz for me than his transformation music in the opening of the 1902/3
"Wizard" - and that includes, well, that film people do tend to go on
about.  However, Gottschalk was probably a better dramatic composer
and his work with Baum was not hindered as much by outsiders, as was
the case with Tietjens.  Tietjens was working with Baum when Baum
himself wasn't completely sure himself what Oz was, and Gottschalk
worked with Baum starting with the "Patchwork Girl" period, when the
Land of Oz was a more matured concept in its creator's mind. 
  Both composers (as well as Frederic Chapin (The Woggle Bug) are
  worth exploring.  Gottschalk's "Patchwork Girl" film score is
  particulary full of little gems - his Woozie music is quite funny.
  As things stand, I'm nearing completion on a compilation recording
  of music from Wizard, Woggle Bug, Tik-Tok, The Patchwork Girl as
  well as Baum's own music from Maid of Arran, so hopefully you'll be
  able to judge for yourselves soon.
James P. Doyle


=====================================================================
= Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 09:02:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony
Donajkowski <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest,
07-24-99

On Sat, 24 Jul 1999, Ozzy Digest wrote:
> From: Ozmama@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:26:40 EDT
> Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-16-99
> 
> Mark D. about Chris Sterling: "
> If anyone exempilfied ... "a heart is not judged by how much you
> love, but how much you are loved by others"  .... it was Chris."
> Chris's heart was one of the biggest and kindest I've ever
encountered.
> I'll miss his warmth, humor and generosity of spirit even more than
I'll
> miss his creativity, and that's saying a lot, since he was one of
the most
> creative individuals ever.  Thanks for the sweetness of the
memories you
> bring back to me, Mark, and thanks, too,  for the notification
about a fund's
> pending for him.  --Robin

um maybe i missed something but i know i didnt write this heh so is
there another mark d on the list?

=====================================================================
= From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Ozzy
Digest, 07-24-99
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 12:54:40 PDT

J. L. Bell:
>   Of course, Billina could have been loaded at any port along the
way. The
>best evidence that she's from America seems to be that she arrives
in Oz;
>no South American, Australian, or citizen of a South Sea isle seems
to have 
>made it there.

Unless Eureka is from Australia, as has been suggested.

>Magical
>balloons, rhymes, and talking dogs were a steady part of Thompson's
>depiction of America, but in WIZARD Baum set an implicit standard
that
>spells can't be cast here. The only exceptions I can recall in his
Oz books
>are Button-Bright's umbrella and the Love Magnet (and not until
SHAGGY MAN 
>is that item's magical origin confirmed).

Magic works in the Outside World in _John Dough_, which isn't part of
the Oz series, but was connected to it by _Road_.  As for magic not
working in the Outside World, the only real example we have of this
is in _Wizard_, in which the Silver Shoes don't make it to Kansas
with Dorothy.  In _Ozma_, Glinda states that the Belt wouldn't work
in the Outside World, but we never receive any actual proof.

Nathan


_______________________________________________________________ Get
Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

=====================================================================
= From: "Bob Collinge" <BobofOz@prodigy.net> Subject: Ozzy prices
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 20:33:06 -0400

I received this question from another Oz fan looking for an estimate
on his item. Can anyone take a guess, or actually know, what the
price of this may be? 
>One of my pieces, I have been trying to place a value on, but it's
basically a one of a kind piece and I'm having trouble...perhaps you
could help. I have a piece of publicity stationary from the
film....on it a letter from Mervyn Leroy (with his signature) to the
head of distribution for MGM at the time...the letter is dated May
23, 1939. < Thanks, 
Bob C.

=====================================================================
= <END> 
To: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com>
From: Ozzy Digest <OzDigest@mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest, 07-30-99
Cc: 
Bcc: Ozzy_Digest_Members
X-Attachments: 
In-Reply-To: 
References: 
Message-Id: <4.2.0.56.19990730170613.00b4e5c0@pop.mindspring.com>
X-Persona: <Ozzy Digest>

=====================================================================
=


          ]
        c/ \
        /___\   *** THE OZZY DIGEST, JULY 28 - 30, 1999 ***
        |@ @|
        | V |  \\\
        |\_/| | ;;;
         \-/  \ ;/
         ><     ]


=====================================================================
= From: Ozmama@aol.com
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 18:10:36 EDT
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 07-27-99

In a message dated 7/27/99 2:59:44 PM Central Daylight Time,
OzDigest@mindspring.com writes:

m.a.d.:<< um maybe i missed something but i know i didnt write this
heh so is there another mark d on the list? >>
Yes. Mark DeCourval wrote the brief tribute to Chris Sterling.

=====================================================================
= From: CruentiDei@cs.com
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 00:19:53 EDT
Subject: Oz

Billina:
As many have pointed out, I got the ship's destination wrong. Yes,
the ship in _Ozma_ was going "FROM" America "TO" Australia, so
Billina is probably as American as Fried Chicken (oops, I mean Apple
Pie).

In fact, The return trip by Dorothy (and by extension, Uncle Henry)
has never been documented in the FF. March Laumer wrote a story that
briefly visited Dorothy at this time, as well as giving us a peek at
the meeting between Eureka and Toto.

Chris D:
It is with sorrow that I hear of the passing of Gil S. Joel as well
as Chris Sterling so close together. Oz has lost some good people.

Tyler Jones

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 28 Jul 99 10:01:42 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: education
in oz


J.L. Bell: I wonder if "saving up" for a college education in Ozian
terms could perhaps mean finding out what equipment is needed to take
part in the games, and what books are recommended for those (probably
some in spite of pills?) students who want to read books for courses,
and getting hold of them to be ready when needed.  Then again,
considering that RPT seems to have some kind of money being used in
Oz in many of her books, perhaps he really is just doing something
(putting on circus-type shows for birthday parties, perhaps) to earn
money.  (She wouldn't necessarily have to be assuming that Baum's
everyone-contributes-and-everyone-gets system has switched over to
capitalism   the money might be serving as a sort of voucher system
to "budget" resources that are scarce.  Individual artworks,
individual performances, some crops if the farmers got tired of
growing creampuffs one year and all wanted to switch to caramels,
say, even places at the Wogglebug's College if Wogglebuggian
education had come to be more generally admired than it seemed to be
in "Emerald City," might be examples of resources that might not be
available for all the asking at any one time, even though they might
all be available over time.) // That does seem to be an arm too many
in that illo.  
Perhaps the lion's paw is stiff enough to stick up from the costume
without an arm inside it, or perhaps he took off his glove in putting
on the lion outfit, and the glove seeming to hold up the lion-head is
just caught on it? // I don't know what a clown would have done with
a hoop as part of the act at this time, but have dropped off a letter
to Sonia Brown (an Oz fan and circus buff), and will report if she
has comments.

Robin Olderman: RPT has several versions of descents underground, and
I'm not sure if I'd want to argue that all of them include some kind
of recollection of "Alice," but the "Hungry Tiger" one, with Betsy
coping with the unpleasant Queen Fi Nance does seem to me rather like
Alice's underground adventures.  (Baum's underground Mangaboos in
"Dorothy and the Wizard" also maybe show Carroll's influence?)

James P. Doyle: I look forward to your compilation recording of
Baumian music.

Nathan DeHoff & J.L. Bell: Another Baumian example of magic at work
in the real world is in the various displays of magic that the
Visitors from Oz put on in the "Queer Visitors" stories.

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 20:27:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Anthony
Donajkowski <madonajk@alpha.delta.edu> Subject: oz collectable for
sale

im selling my advanced readers copy of dorthy return to oz its and
advance reading copy and its by family vision press the witer is
thomas l tedrow
if intersted write me off list with offer 

=====================================================================
= Date: Thu, 29 Jul 99 10:48:54 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Subject: taxable oz
books

I saw a letter in the New York Times the other day that seemed like a
fine idea.  Commenting on an editorial on the need to increase
literacy, it said:

"One thing that could make books more accessible to everyone is to
reduce their prices.  While tax cuts are being contemplated at every
level of government right now, has anyone considered eliminating the
sales tax on books?  This would be a windfall for everyone, including
independent bookstores, which must compete against the superstores
and on-line booksellers.  Alan Sommerman."

I've written a letter to my State Legislature Representative to
suggest that Minnesota might consider such a change.  Maybe some of
you would want to write to your reps to suggest it, too.

Ruth Berman

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:26:56 -0400
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell@compuserve.com> Subject: acroz the great
divide


James P. Doyle wrote:
<<I'm nearing completion on a compilation recording of music from
Wizard, Woggle Bug, Tik-Tok, The Patchwork Girl as well as Baum's own
music from Maid of Arran>>


You've made it sound quite interesting. Please keep us informed.


Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Magic works in the Outside World in _John Dough_, which isn't part
of the Oz series, but was connected to it by _Road_.  As for magic
not working in the Outside World, the only real example we have of
this is in _Wizard_, in which the Silver Shoes don't make it to
Kansas with Dorothy.  In _Ozma_, Glinda states that the Belt wouldn't
work in the Outside World, but we never receive any actual proof.>>


Nor would we want to try the experiment of taking the Magic Belt to
the Outside World if there's a good chance it would end up beside the
silver shoes! In addition to these passages about magic being limited
to Oz, there's also the implication of the Winged Monkeys' statement
that they can't fly to Kansas because they don't belong there.
  I mentioned Baum's "Oz books" because, as you say, he did depict
  magic working in America in other stories. In addition to JOHN
  DOUGH, mermaids swim under California soil in SEA FAIRIES and
  Button-Bright's fairy umbrella carries him across the continent and
  back in SKY ISLAND. Several AMERICAN FAIRY TALES show magic at work
  on our streets, and Oz's citizens not only remain animated but work
  a few spells in QUEER VISITORS.
  Nonetheless, in the Oz novels themselves, Baum depicts natural
  disasters and magic worked from within Oz as almost the only ways
  to fairyland.
(Button-Bright's trip in SCARECROW is an offstage afterthought.) In
COWARDLY LION Thompson starts a different approach, which she
continues in LOST KING, GNOME KING, JACK PUMPKINHEAD, GIANT HORSE,
and perhaps others.


Before COWARDLY LION runs away, there were a couple of phrases which
sounded odd to me, as if they were idioms that haven't survived--


193: "You don't need a disguise," wailed the Cowardly Lion
remorsefully.
"You look like almost anyone."
  "I feel the same way," coughed the clown.


209: Notta leaned out of the bus and, seizing a pencil and pad, wrote
back, "He broke himself, save the pieces."


Anyone recognize catch phrases here?


Also, does anyone want to conjecture a connection between the "shaker
of magic powder" that Wam used to animate Crunch [224], and the
powder of life from the crooked magician/Dr. Nikidik/Dr. Pipt? Wam is
also credited with wishing brains into Crunch's head [260, 263], but
I note Margolotte supplied brains for Scraps in a separate operation,
and Jack Pumpkinhead gets by with rather few.
  Lest I seem only to denigrate Thompson's storytelling in COWARDLY
  LION, I admire the details she inserts to show Crunch's physical
  power, especially his "rubbing his stone forehead noisily" and
  "bringing his fist upon a rock and splintering it" on page 227.
  Even before he becomes a clear villain, Crunch is a clear danger.


Tomorrow I set off for the Munchkin Convention by way of the Grand
Canyon.
I hope to meet some Digesters there and renew my acquaintance with
others; I'm starting to feel starved for wisdom from David Hulan, for
instance.
I'll thus be away from my e-mail for a coupla weeks.

J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell@compuserve.com

=====================================================================
= Date: Fri, 30 Jul 99 10:29:41 (PDT)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47@mindspring.com> Subject: Ozzy Things


The Digests are dwindling in length, so perhaps discussion of moving
on to the next BCF is in order?  Is _Grandpa_ next?  We are now
moving into books that I've never read and doubt I will have the time
to read, so expect me to be much quieter from now on.


This may be the last Ozzy Digest for a while... I'm taking my PC in
to be serviced and upgraded (I'm finding a mere 32 meg memory and 2.3
Gig hard drive increasingly claustrophobic).
I hope it won't be long 'till I'm back online, and I hope I can keep
you posted and even continue with the Digest in the interim... 
It depends largely on whether I can get dial-up networking to work on
my old-but-faithful Amiga.  Check my Oz page
<http://www.mindspring.net/~daveh47/Oz.HTML> for updates.


                             -- Dave


======================================================================
<END>