Before Wicked, Let’s Look Back at the Dark Weirdness of 1985’s Return to Oz
The 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” exerts a greater impact on modern audiences’ affection for L. Frank Baum’s magical storybook realm compared to Baum’s numerous Oz books. While countless people have watched “The Wizard of Oz” (and many more might catch up with “Wicked” this weekend), far fewer have delved into the novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” which inspired the film, and even fewer have read much else from Baum’s extensive Oz series.