Why Oz?

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum was published in 1900.

It has been adapted for the stage and screen, followed up by dozens of official and unofficial sequels, turned into comics and cartoons, translated and adapted into over fifty languages, inspired songs, analyzed by academics and armchair philosophers, and become a staple of American childhood.

“Wicked,” a revisionist Oz novel by Gregory Maguire tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, archvillainess of the original story.

It has spawned three sequels, a critically acclaimed Broadway musical and a possible TV series.

Perhaps more famous than other adaptions is the 1939 MGM film “The Wizard of Oz,” which often eclipses the original itself.

Elements of the film, such as the slippers being red instead of silver and the witch being green, have become essential aspects of the Oz story in the public conscience.

Why does 114-year-old story still resonate with audiences? What about Baum’s original is so powerful and simple that his work is still so ingrained in the public imagination?

Oz is just that, simple. It doesn’t hide what it’s about. It’s about the importance of home. It’s about self-doubt and self-confidence. It’s about friendship.

It’s a fairy tale, and its simplicity is its strength.

It means what it means and it says what it says, and we can see ourselves in it.

Storytellers can mold it like clay to fit their whims.