Tag Archives: gili bar-hillel

Rustles and Flutters

It’s that time again, and here’s the 1997 Oziana. The cover shows an Oz shield that was made to be colored in, but I never did. Original illustrations are sparse this time, and many of them just repurposed John R. Neill … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Characters, Families, Fred Otto, Games, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, March Laumer, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The New Ugu

I guess it’s time for Oziana 1984. The cover by Melody Grandy shows a typical inhabitant of the Pink and Blue Countries of Sky Island, which is relevant to the first story. The introduction explains that, since L. Frank Baum’s … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Camilla Townsend, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Eric Shanower, Hugh Pendexter, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coping with Immortality

We’re up to the 1978 Oziana, with a cover by Bill Eubank that appears to be partially based on a John R. Neill illustration from Kabumpo in Oz. Then there’s an Oz-E-Gag by Eubank, comparing The Wizard of Oz to … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Characters, Comics, Games, History, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, March Laumer, Melody Grandy, Music, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Poetry, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Star Wars, Winnie-the-Pooh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Woozy Memories

The origins of the Woozy are never addressed in the canonical Oz series, but there are a few apocryphal stories that propose different explanations. March Laumer gave his story in “The Woozy’s Tricky Beginning,” in which he’s the result of … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Characters, Fred Otto, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, March Laumer, Oz, Oz Authors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Insect Aside

L. Frank Baum is never entirely clear on whether ALL animals in Oz can talk, or whether animals eat each other there. For instance, are insects there sentient? Well, the Wogglebug is, but that’s after he’s been Highly Magnified and … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Melody Grandy, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Child’s Garden of Curses

While children’s media obviously tend not to contain many actual curse words, characters in them do often use milder swears. Sometimes they’re as simple as minced oaths like “darn” and “heck,” but other writers get much more creative. I’m sure … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Characters, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Nursery Rhymes, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Wonderful Whistles of Oz

I mentioned in my post on the warp whistles in Super Mario Bros. 3 that there were some magic whistles in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although as far as I know none of them summoned the tornado. One is … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Mario, Music, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Piglet Pride

The Nine Tiny Piglets are never especially important characters, but they do receive a some attention in the Oz books. They first appear in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz as animals the Wizard uses in his tricks. He claims … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Glad to Be Gayelette

Picture by Shawn Maldonado In Chapter 14 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the King of the Winged Monkeys tells a story that comes off as a major tangent. It tells more about the history of the Winged Monkeys, but … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dennis Anfuso, L. Frank Baum, March Laumer, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

We Seven Kings of Ore-Diggers Are

The Seven Underground Kings, by Alexander Volkov, translated by Peter Blystone – This is the third book in the Russian Magic Land series, the earlier ones being The Wizard of the Emerald City and Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers. … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Oz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments