The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz on TV.

Left to right: Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, and not the Scarecrow.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, title often shortened to The Wizard of Oz, is a 1900 children's novel about a girl named Dorothy being sent to the land of Oz due to a tornado, where she meets the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow. She goes on a journey along the yellow brick road to ask the titular Wizard if he could send her home back to Kansas, but is opposed by the Wicked Witch of the West.

The novel, in the public domain since 1956, has been adapted to film numerous times. The most well-known version is the 1939 adaptation by MGM starring Judy Garland and Frank Morgan. Both the MGM library, including the 1939 film, and the Hanna-Barbera library, including Scooby-Doo, were purchased by Warner Bros. at the close of the 20th century. Even before this union, subtle (and not so subtle) Oz allusions, endemic to popular culture since the mid-century, have been common in the Scoobyverse.

History

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (second series)

Season one

Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, and Scrappy-Doo were about to watch the movie in the Mystery Machine when Scooby accidentally tripped and fell unconscious. When he came round, the gang were swept away by a tornado and found themselves in Oz as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. They meet the Yellow Brick Toad, who helped them until they ran into the Wicked Witch of the North by Southeast's flying monkey who took them to her castle. Scrappy melted her and they got a ride home from the Wizard of Oz's Whizoom, but it could only hold three at a time, causing Scooby to fall out and fall to the earth below. However, he woke up before making impact.

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost

Shaggy threw a bucket of water on the real ghost of Sarah Ravencroft, hoping it would melt her away as Dorothy did to the Wicked Witch of the West. However, it didn't work because of her being a ghost.

What's New, Scooby-Doo?

Season two

A girl dressed as Dorothy, a guy dressed as the Tin Man, and another guy dressed as the Cowardly Lion went to the Halloween party held in Banning Junction Town Hall, where they mistook a scarecrow robot as their friend, Carl, who was supposed to meet them at the snack table.

Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!

Similar or the same trio of people were at the masquerade party on the Poseidon cruise ship.

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

Season two

A simulation of The Wizard of Oz was the fourth of Carol Burnett's virtual reality simulations tested by Mystery Inc. When they entered, they attempted to recreate one of the scenes in which they followed the gold brick road, but when they arrived at the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, they were attacked by the ghost monster, who disguised himself as the witch. Burnett and Mystery Inc. stopped the monster by rewinding time to the start of the movie, then crushing the ghost monster under Dorothy's house.

Appearances

• Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (second series)
  • 111(c). Scooby's Trip to Ahz
• What's New, Scooby-Doo?
  • 206. A Scooby-Doo Halloween ^{(fancy dress people)}
• DTV10. Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! ^{(fancy dress people)}
• Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
  • 226. The Movieland Monsters! ^(simulation)

Notes/trivia

• The following 1939 movie quotes are casually recited in numerous incarnations of Scooby-Doo, perhaps too numerous to list.
  • Come out, come out, wherever you are. Spoken when calling out to someone who has been lost whether deliberately or not. Often spoken by Daphne Blake or Velma Dinkley, and directed at Scooby-Doo and Shaggy Rogers when they are hiding in terror.
  • I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. Often paraphrased for convenience as I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Often spoken by Shaggy to Scooby when they encounter a new, terrifying apparition.

• An important subplot of The Wizard of Oz closely parallels the typical Scooby-Doo adventure. Five friends (including a dog) go on an adventure involving a villain, and encounter a monarch who at first appears to be a terrifyingly powerful wizard. Then, an action of the dog causes the Wizard to be unmasked as an ordinary con man.
• Warner Bros. Animation's direct-to-video films Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz (2011) and Tom & Jerry: Back to Oz (2016) involve directors Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, writer Paul Dini, and voice actors Grey DeLisle, Rob Paulsen, Joe Alaskey, Laraine Newman, Michael Gough, Billy West, Stephen Root, Kath Soucie, and Frances Conroy.

External links

• The Wizard of Oz at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia