Great twist on a beloved classic. I read the whole series of L. Frank Baum's books as a kid and treasured them. Unfortunately, my original series of these hardcover books from the 1960's was lost in a basement flood but I truly enjoyed Josh's new tales with their decidedly dark turn...and I've already read Book 2 in his series. Looking forward to the arrival of Book 3!! Thanks, Josh, for your love of OZ
Hi. Just thought I'd do a quick bit about a title that's been roaming around for a while now. Lost In Oz was originally going to be a live-action movie by Tim Burton in 2000. This later rewritten as a pitch for a TV series written by Trey Callaway(I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, W.I.T.C.H., and Supernatural), and some scenes were actually shot for a pilot, but nothing ever became of the project due to budget constraints.
However, around 2002, David Hayter picked up the idea to do a similar TV series(also titled Lost In Oz), if not based on Burton's idea that at least inspired by it. Hayter has written screenplays for X-Men, X-Men 2, Watchmen, and The Scorpion King, as well as being an accomplished voice actor in anime like Fushigi Yuugi and Lupin, as well as the voice of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. Joel Smith, the producer of the Tim Burton version of Lost In Oz(and apparently was involved with another failed TV project titled Trouble In Oz)acted as an executive producer on David Hayter's version. A 1-hour unaired pilot was made about a modern day girl named Alex(Melissa George)who ends up in Oz after being chased by a cyclone in her pickup. Once there, she encounters Scarecrow(Colin Egglesfield)who is really an American WWII pilot. Both of them recall that Oz was a movie starring Judy Garland, but find out that it is real. The Good Witch of the South(Lynn Whitfield)tells them they have to free Princess Ozma from the new Wicked Witch of the West(Mia Sara). They are aided by the Patchwork Girl(Sandra Allen)who knew the wicked witch before she became possessed by some evil force. Apparently Wicked Witch of the West is chosen by some unkown force, and if one is killed, another girl is picked to take her place, as Alex finds out when she herself nearly becomes the Witch. In the end, Ozma is freed, while the Witch is banished from Oz by a cyclone, leaving Alex for the moment stranded away from home. It's worth mentioning that Mia Sara who played the Witch is the mother of Brian Henson's daughter, Brian of whom played Jack Pumpkinhead in Return To Oz. The pilot episode is possibly floating around the net illegally somewhere, or you might be able to find a bootleg DVD at some fan conventions. You can see some screencaptures of it on Melissa George's website.
Now, another title that's also come out recently sharing the same name is a series of books written by Joshua Dudley. This is so far set to be a trilogy. The first book, Lost In Oz, takes four kids from the 21st Century to Oz just as Dorothy had arrived, and realize that what went on in the original story is now being effected by their precense. They have to ty to find a way back to their own time without screwing up time even more. The second book is Rise Of The Dark Wizard where a new evil wizard is planning on taking Glinda's book and use it to take over Oz. The third book, Temple Of The Deadly Desert is still being written. An online animated series titled Lost In Oz: The Mini-Series is also being planned with a 2011 release. The first two books(including a special hardcover edition of the first one)are both available on Amazon, plus Lulu also in eBook format.
There are several original video clips for this at the book's Youtube page.
This book was truly awesome! I am a really big Oz fan, and this book made a big twist on the Oz books. So if you're a fan like me, then you have got to read this book!
