Ruby Slipper replicas

So I have been working on some Ruby Slipper replicas for what feels like forever. Many of you already know this but, I actually started this whole project about 2 years ago....

Yeah I know, I did not think it would take this long either. The reason it is taking so long was that I had to place each little rhinestone on to them one by one. On top of that each shoe had to be re-upholstered. Many of you have seen one of these shoes on our Q & A we did back in May. But since then I have re-done the bows, as to they were all wrong, come to find out. And I have added many more rhinestones. But with all of this time I still can not say they are "DONE". But, I am about 80% done with the whole project. Which I never even thought I would make it this far. I thought it would be a neat gift to you all to show you these slippers, or at least what I have done so far. I even put them on video so you can get the full effect of the rhinestones. Let me know how you like them.

Return to Oz DVD Art

As many of you have heard me said, I am really quite annoyed with the DVD cover art Disney has created. They really did not spend much time on the construction.

They must not have found a great quality picture of Dorothy, to where they had to airbrush her, which made her look like a Muppet. And they colored her dress in Pink, like in one of those old black and white films, you know when they would try to colorize it. The colors never seem to mesh correctly.

So, after pondering these and looking through old posters, I came across an old promotional sketch. This was to be considered as a theatrical poster. I really liked the art on this one, why couldn’t Disney just hire an (gasp) animator to draw up some new artwork. Well, apparently they do not even care enough to give the film proper box art. Hopefully with 2010, and the films 25th anniversary coming up, they will re-release a special edition. But I won’t hold my breath….

2009 Return to Oz Site

Just wanted to give you guys a little heads up for 2009. We are actually going to be doing a video series on Return to Oz. Here is how it will work:
At least once a month, we will put together a Documentary somehow relating to Return to Oz. This can be on behind the scenes stories, to memorabilia info, it will very from month to month. We will also be doing some fun participation for these too.
So be on the watch, The videos will be posted exclusively here, in our Blog of Oz.

If you have anything you would like to see, or see more of, please send us an email.

So tune in after the Holiday and Merry Christmas to you all!

Aaron

Return to Oz and children...

Sorry for not blogging in so long. I promise I will try to get a message in here more often.

Now that aside, how has everyone been? Well the RTO message board has been dead, so I am guessing you are all out having lives. Hopefully it will pick back up. We are a community people! Just kidding, but I have been a little weary about making updates. Does anyone even see them? Well if you have not read lately we did an interview with Mak Wilson, who was the puppeteer for Billina. He told us a very interesting story about a scene that was cut. You should read the interview:

http://www.waltdisneysreturntooz.com/Art_Mak.htm

We have also uploaded some new documentaries, as well as.....tuda...a Return to Oz Store! I get a lot of emails asking about where to buy Return to Oz stuff. And mostly the books are hard to find....but since I have been collecting (for what seems like forever), I sort of have become an expert. So I will do all the work for you and all you will have to do is just buy.

http://www.waltdisneysreturntooz.com/Store.htm

I apologize the beginning of this post has been mostly about updates... but it helps me feel you guys are caught up.

About the Movie:

Has anyone watched Return to Oz lately? Well I did with my best friend's children. They are 3, 5, & 6. So...I skipped the beginning....I know...but the shock thing. I thought they were too young. So we started when Dorothy wakes up in the coop with Billina. So we were all sitting on my couch and I was catching them up. "How did they get to Oz?" one asked. I simply said, "A storm blew Dorothy there in a chicken coop." "A chicken coop?" She giggled. So everything is going good until the 3 year old sees the rocks. His eyes got all big and he said "him scary...he's a bad guy!" "He is a bad guy." I said. So far no one was scared. The 3 year old's eyes would always get huge any time the Nome King's messenger would come on the screen. So we get to the Emerald City..and I am afraid that when they see the wheelers they are just going to scream! But no....it was fine. The oldest looked up at me in amazement and pointed to my (wheeler) tattoo, and said " A Wheeler...." Then the kids really stated to realize that there was Return to Oz stuff all over my house. They kept asking questions like "How much was that?" "Too much" I usually answered. So I tried to keep there minds on track, they were happy to see Tik-Tok beat up the evil wheelers. And then Mombi came. They were very confused by her. I had to explain about her switching heads. They would ask "Did she cut off those Lady's heads?" Or "Why does she have them all locked up in boxes to their necks?" After the Mombi explain, they liked Jack, and when Mombi was screaming with hout her head... that was enough for the middle child. She said "Can we watch a different movie?" I wanted to say "no we can not watch a different movie, is is the best there is." But I only pretended to ignore her. And she calmed down as soon as the gump flew away. During the flight the same girl said "They should have just walked across the rocks to the nome King's mountain" I had never thought of that... I said, "well maybe there weren't enough rocks" And when the Gump was falling apart she said, the heavy one should just jump off!" I quickly retaliated, "But they he would be turned to sand." "Well," she explained, "he could have saved his friends." Good point. So they got a kick out of the chicken being in Jacks head. And surprisingly the Nomes and the Nome King did not scare them one bit. And in the end they just loved the coronation scene. The oldest said "Is there a sequel? I want to see more like the end of the movie... the rest was kind of scary." I asked "Did you like it?" They all said "Yeah". And we all had a really good time.

I think that if parents back in the 80s would let there kids watch this film, they would realize it was scary. But it still entertains children. I encourage you to watch the film again with a child or children who have not seen it before. It is a real riot. And please share it with us! Either on a comment or on our RTO message board. You will be glad you did.

Garnet

There is something I have been thinking about for some time. Who exactly is Garnet? Do you remember her character in RTO? Well hardcore fans will remember that is Aunt Em's sister. She only mentions her briefly in the start of the film, where she says;

Em - "Garnet says she'll loan it to us."
Henry- "That's Charity Em'"
Em- "She my sister, its family, not charity."


That line is the very line that got me thinking. Who is Garnet? Where did she come from? Why would she have the money for Dorothy's treatment and Aunt Em does not?

So It was time to do some research.

I know that Walter Murch was a huge fan of the book. Most everything in the film had a book reference.
But what I found was, Garnet was not mentioned in any of the Oz books....hmmm....

So she must have been created by Return to Oz Directer Walter Murch. When he and Gill Dennis created the draft of the film.

So I found her origin, (kind of) Now the question that can't be answered for sure is:
Where did she come from?

But I do have a theory on this one. I do know an interesting story as a gag Walter Murch named Doctor Worley and Nurse Wilson after two crew members. So I think they may have done the same with Em's sister Garnet. But there is only one problem to this theory... There's no Garnet in the credits. But on the other side, I could not find a Worley in the credits either, and I know he was named after a crew member. So I think it is safe to say this could be what happened.

Now so far we know that Garnet is Emily's (Aunt Em's) Sister. But we are not clear on her last name or origin in the story. We do know that Emily's last name is Blue, but that can't be her maiden name since she is married to Henry Blue. We also know that Garnet can't be Dorothy's mother, because in the books, Dorothy is an orphan. So she must just be a random sister of Emilys.

And the last question;

Why would she have the money and Aunt Em does not?

I think since the tornado, the Blue family now have a mortgage on the house, which they can barely afford. Before the storm they must not have owned any money to the bank. Farm country is like that, some people back then would never borrow from a bank, and their land and houses would be paid in full. And you have to remember there was not home owners insurance then, so a wreckage would be devastating! Not to mention the entire house was blown away. So that means all of their stuff, gone! Garnet must live somewhere not close to the Blue farm, or did not have as much damage as they did. And because of that, could apparently afford Dorothy's treatment.

In conclusion there was not much to find out about Garnet, and still some pondering questions about her. She is a part of the Return to Oz world, and it would be interesting to see some more info on her. But that is probably not going to happen. But it is good to know that Aunt Em had family she can count on in a crisis. Maybe Garnet was never meant to be discovered, and I tend to look way to far into things, besides, Return to Oz is just a movie after all.

Return to Oz Welcome!

Welcome! I have decided to add a blog to our RTO website, since there is much out there I want to say, this seems the easiest way to converse with you all. Most of my Blogs will be on RTO, but some will stray a bit. If you have any questions or want me to write about anything, please email me. As for that, this is my first one..... more to come soon!