The SCI FI Channel, emboldened by the success of “Eureka” and the re-imagined “Battlestar Galactica,” is getting very ambitious and edgy in tackling a very bizzare re-imaging of the classic fantasy tale of the “Wizard of Oz.”
In this new 6-hour miniseries titled “Tin Man” set for airing December 2007, Dorothy is now a young woman called DG who finds herself smack in the middle of an alternate reality called the Outer Zone. As the title suggests, there is a tin man, but minus the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion has been usurped by a spineless wolverine-type creature. The wicked witch is really a dark and sinister sorceress called Azkadellia and the wizard of this netherworld is the bigger-than-life character named The Mystic Man.
The writers for this new take on the classic are “24’s” Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle. Expect to see this one often (just as the original Judy Garland version is seen each year) because NBC Universal has acquired an exclusive multi-year/multi-run deal for it.
As a piece of trivia it should be noted that the original title for the 1939 “Wizard of Oz” was “Tin Man,” but was changed once production went underway.
Oh geez. Here we go again. Another one of our classic childhood stories getting raped by Hollywood. Why does everything have to be darker? Are we that embittered of a society that we have to drag everything down to the depths? Why can’t people just leave well enough alone?
Sam writes: “As a piece of trivia it should be noted that the original title for the 1939 “Wizard of Ozâ€? was “Tin Man,â€? but was changed once production went underway.”
Perhaps you’re joking, but if not, all I can say is that — while you may know your sci-fi, you definitely don’t known your MGM/1939!
Now I get to show off my 1939 MGM knowledge too…thanks John – 🙂 Remember – I was born just 10 short years after the film was released.
The 1939 MGM movie version was adapted from the original series of books, which had its beginnings as “The Wizard of Oz,” originally published as “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and also published as “The New Wizard of Oz” 3-years later (1903).
Between 1903 and 1917 the title went through various transitions ranging from “The Road to Oz,” The Emerald City of Oz,”…etc, etc.
Then in 1918 Baum re-issued his novel with the title “The Tin Woodman.”
There were a total of 40 Oz books, telling various aspects of life in Oz.
The book went through several more title changes before the 1939 movie, a many more after that.
The novel was first put on stage in 1902 as a musical variety stage play and later went to film as “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1910 (it ran for a full 10mins in length – a very short trip to Oz).
It next came to the silver screen in 1914 as “His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz” (later changed to The New Wizard of Oz).
A successful animated version from Canada – called “The Wizard of Oz” came out 6 years before the Judy Garland live-action version we all grew up with. When MGM decided to make the live-action feature they threw out several titles for the film, with director Victor Fleming favoring “The Tin Man,” fearing his work would be mistaken for the cartoonish version of 6-years earlier. When that was rejected, it was suggested that “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” be used. MGM brass (mostly producer Mervyn LeRoy) felt it too long, so eventually “The Wizard of Oz” was settled on, not making Fleming a happy camper…but after being nominated for 8 Oscars and going home with 2 of them, his ego was appeased.
That about sums it up.
Sam-
I’m not sure you know who John Fricke is but FYI, he is probably the foremost authority on both MGM Oz and Judy Garland. With published books and Oz commentaries on several videos, including the recent DVD box set, his knowlege is pretty indisputable.
Baum and his successors wrote forty DIFFERENT tales set in the Land of Oz, not retellings of the original tale. “The Tin Woodman of Oz” is one of those stories, considered one of the sequels, NOT a retelling of Baum’s original story.
I side with John on this one. Never in all the books I have read on MGM’s “Oz”, have I seen this story before!!
Go to Amazon and enter John Fricke’s name in the search engine, you will see why he is a pretty reliable authority on the subject.
Jack Cleveland
Thanks Jack…yep I know who John is, only the foremost leading authority on the life and career of Judy Garland (and someone I have a great deal of respect for), and I will bow to his knowledge on that subject. In fact, the fact that John visits our site and reads our articles is a great honor for us here at Slice of SciFi.
And yes, I am aware that the many novels, short stories and, even comics, that have been written about Oz or not retellings of the same story – thus my sentence in the above comments: “There were a total of 40 Oz books, telling various aspects of life in Oz.” (emphasize on various aspects of life in Oz.) Although, the first re-issue done by Baum was a re-telling and was expanded for new story content.
I have no doubt that John has extensive knowledge on the subject of Garland and Oz that I do not possess, having dedicated most of his life to it, and as I said, I bow to his credentials in this area – however, sticking to my statement about the original title wanted by Fleming, but turned down by MGM is true to the best of my knowledge on the subject – but, if John says I am offbase on this, I will concede (because I do not have the data in front of me to support the remark – only a very strong memory of it from earlier research done over 30 years ago, long sense put aside in my memory crystals 🙂 ), just as I am sure he would do the same if I were to correct him about something related to the geekdom of scifi. 😉