Before “Wicked” were the stories of the land of Oz | Entertainment

“Wicked” is a movie based on a Broadway show inspired by a book that is the prequel of a movie which was a take on another book.

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It’s wild that a riff on an homage of fan fiction of a copy became a huge box office hit. Perhaps the wonderful thing about the land of Oz is its never-ending story. “Wicked” brings these tales to a fourth generation. Watching it reminded me of the chapter of my childhood when a fantastical world unfolded on the page. A little imagination helped me dream of what’s beyond the borders of Oz.

When “Wicked” was in theaters last fall, I was waiting in line with my 5-year-old to see the latest Moana. Over spring break, we had plenty of time for movie nights and extra-long films. I started with “The Wizard of Oz.”

The conversation about the movie seemed stranger than the story on screen.

Did you know in 1939, using color to tell part of the story was a big deal?

Can you imagine, for decades, watching this movie was a rare treat? For decades, it aired only once a year on TV. No streaming. No DVDs. No tapes.

In my own pre-VCR bubble of the 1980s, I got to know the land of Oz at my tiny local library. There, I could check out “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” year-round. It was an old, thick book with wonderful illustrations. The date in the front was 1900, before my great-grandparents were born. Was this a history book, weirder than the stories they told about life long-ago? Or was it like the fairy tale books I plowed through, pure fantasy?

Later, I found a shelf with more of L. Frank Baum’s books about Oz. They had beautiful drawings and stories about royalty and animal-people, rainbows and robots. “Tik-Tok of Oz” had a map of Oz, from Munchkin Country to Winkie Country with the Emerald City in the center. Looking up the places mentioned in the chapters made it even more real.

I burned through the library’s few Oz books quickly, totally unaware that Baum wrote 14.

In my imagination, these worlds were exciting. When they returned to the big screen, in 1985’s “Return to Oz,” they were terrifying, at least to my young eyes.

“The Wizard of Oz” was Technicolor bright with plenty of songs. I remember the sequel as dark and scary with a headless princess and a freaky talking chicken. With no more books to explore in my small town, I moved on from Oz and started writing my own stories.

In college, I sat through a mash-up of “The Wizard of Oz” scored to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” at a museum. Surprisingly, the parts are better than the sum.

A decade later, I read about “Wicked” on Broadway, adapted from a book written as the biography of the Wicked Witch of the West before she was crushed by Dorothy’s house. Checking out the book from my local library was much easier than heading to New York.

“Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” is not a children’s book, but I read it just as fast as Baum’s original Oz books. Gregory Maguire gives the witch a heart-breaking backstory. He shows the wizard thinks he’s above the law. He makes you question who’s evil and who’s good.

By then, I could have explored reviews around the world online and joined conversations about witchy conspiracy theories but I moved on. “Wicked,” the movie has brought me back.

Just like old times, I’m surprised to learn Maguire wrote an entire series about Oz. This time, the library has them all (thank you!). I might be able to finish each one by the time “Wicked: For Good” hits theaters in the fall.

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