OZ in the News...
 
 

This page contains news items relating to OZ, and whenever possible, links providing more information.  If you know of any OZ news that should be included here, please email me at gerri@noplacelikeoz.com
 

  September 24, 2002 - A Los Angeles judge recently banned the sale of the honorary Oscar won by Judy Garland for her work in "The Wizard of Oz".  Here's the article from Yahoo, which originally appeared in Variety -
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Call off the flying monkeys. That "Wizard of Oz" Oscar is not going to be sold to the highest bidder.  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( news - web sites) prevailed in a lawsuit on Monday barring the ex-husband of actress Judy Garland from selling her honorary juvenile Oscar for "The Wizard of Oz."  A federal judge in Los Angeles also ordered Michael Sidney Luft to pay nearly $60,000 to the motion picture academy to end the academy's second lawsuit against him for repeatedly trying to sell the statuette.  The award was a replacement that Garland obtained from the academy in 1958 after claiming that she had lost her Juvenile Oscar for her 1939 breakthrough performance in the classic movie musical.  The academy contended that it had a "first look" agreement with Garland and her heirs that allowed the academy to buy back the Oscar for $10, the lawsuit said.  Luft was Garland's third husband and father of two of her three children. Garland died at 47 in 1969 of an accidental barbiturate overdose in England.  In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins explained her decision to throw the book at Luft by noting that he repeatedly attempted to peddle the statuette in violation of Garland's agreement and an earlier court order.
On one occasion, Luft tried to sell the Oscar to an academy investigator, Collins said. He also tried to have a consignment shop sell it.  "Given the numerous attempts," Collins stated, "The maximum statutory damage award is necessary in order to deter (Luft) from attempting to infringe on plaintiff's copyright in the future."
    August 17, 2001 - "DOROTHY might might not be in Kansas anymore - but she appears headed for TV.
Warner Bros. is reportedly developing a series based on L. Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" book series, which spawned the 1939 movie classic starring Judy Garland.  David Hayter, who wrote the 'X-Men' movie and its upcoming sequel, will pen the series pilot.  According to trade reports, the series would center on a 20-something woman who lands in Oz - to lead a revolt against Emerald City.
'I have reduced the more childlike aspects of the movie and created a series that inhabits a more visceral world,' Hayter told Variety.  'Not many people realize there were 45 books in the series, 16 of them written by Frank Baum, that go way beyond what was covered in the movie.  My goal is not to challenge the movie, but instead to create a world that acknowledges the film, but contemporizes Oz that the movie seems a glamorized version of a very real, very dangerous place.'
Variety reports the new 'Oz' series could be used as a companion to the family-oriented drama '7th Heaven'."
*Special thanks to my friend Richard who found this article for me at nypost.com  

May 25, 2001 - A set of Dorothy's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz" sold for $666,000 at an auction of movie and TV memorabilia titled 'A Century of Hollywood' at Christie's East.  According to an auction house spokesperson, the famous shoes had sold in 1988 for $150,000 at Christie's.  The slippers are one of four pairs from the movie still known to exist.  The evening auction brought in more than $1.66 million.  Included in the sale were several other "Wizard of Oz" items, among them a Cowardly Lion original paw-style shoe, which sold for $25,850.

 

March 9, 2001 - Judy Garland's performance of "Over the Rainbow" in The Wizard of Oz was named the best song of the 20th century by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America.  The top ten also included Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas', Aretha Franklin's 'Respect', 'American Pie' by Don McLean and The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'.   The list was compiled by the Recording Industry Of America Association (RIAA) and the National Endowment For The Arts (NEA) "for young people" to "help further an appreciation for the music development process, including songwriting, musicianship, recording, performing, producing, distributing and the development of distribution and cultural values," according to an RIAA press release.
 RIAA Names Top Songs of the Century - ABC News
 'Over the Rainbow' Tops Poll of 20th-century Songs
 
 
 

OZ Photos	Cast and Crew	FAQs and Trivia	Special Effects
OZ Sounds	OZ Links	My OZ Collection	All About Me

  There's no place like