In the books, Dorothy’s shoes were silver. When filming the 1939 MGM film adaptation, The Wizard of Oz, MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer wanted to show off the new and exciting technology, Technicolor, so he changed their colour to red which has become an iconic symbol of the movie. [1]
The very first copy of children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by author L. Frank Baum came off the press on 17 May 1900. Baum assembled it by hand and presented it to his sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster.
The book was illustrated by Baum’s friend and collaborator W.W. Denslow. The design was lavish for the time, with illustrations on many pages, backgrounds in different colours, and several colour plate illustrations.
The first edition printing of 10,000 copies was sold in advance of the publication date of 1 September 1900, and by October 1900 the second edition of 15,000 copies was nearly depleted. It had sold three million copies by the time it entered the public domain in 1956. The original Wizard of Oz stories were told through a series of 14 episodic novels.
In the first novel in the series of books, a Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their home by a cyclone. Upon her arrival in the magical world of Oz, she learns she cannot return home until she has destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West. Many of the characters, props, and ideas in the novel were drawn from Baum’s personal life and experiences. According to Baum’s son, Harry Neal, the author had often told his children “whimsical stories before they became material for his books.”
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been adapted to other media numerous times including a 1902 Broadway musical and three silent films. The most popular adaptation is the 1939 film starring Judy Garland which was considered innovative because of its special effects and revolutionary use of Technicolor.
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