The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum
and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George
M. Hill Company in Chicago in 1900, and has since been reprinted countless
times, sometimes under the name The Wizard of Oz. The story chronicles the
adventures of a girl named Dorothy in the Land of Oz. It is one of the best
known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. Its
initial success, and the success of the popular 1903 Broadway musical Baum
adapted from his story, led to Baum's writing and having published thirteen
more Oz books.

Baum dedicated the book "to my good friend & comrade, My Wife, " Maud
Gage Baum. In January 1901 the publisher, the George M. Hill Company,
completed printing the first edition, which probably totaled around 35,000 copies.
Records indicate that 21,000 copies were sold through 1900.

The original book has been in public domain in the United States since 1956.
Baum's thirteen sequels entered public domain in the United States from 1960
through 1986. The rights to these books were held by the Walt Disney Company,
and their impending expiration was a prime motivator for the production of the
1985 film Return to Oz, based on Baum's second and third Oz books. Historians,
economists and literary scholars have examined and developed possible political
interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is everybody's cherished favorite, perennial fantasy film
musical from MGM during its golden years. For many seasons, it was featured
regularly on network TV as a prime time event (its first two showings were on CBS
television on November 3, 1956 and in December, 1959) and then annually for
Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or Easter time. It soon became a classic institution, and
a rite of passage for everyone, and probably has been seen by more people than any
other motion picture over multiple decades. Initially, however, the film was not
commercially successful (at $3 million), but it was critically acclaimed.

The beloved film in Hollywood's most classic year was nominated for six Academy
Awards, including Best Picture (producer Mervyn LeRoy), Best Color Cinematography
(Hal Rosson), Best Interior Decoration (Cedric Gibbons, William A. Horning), Best
Special Effects, Best Song ("Over the Rainbow" by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y.Harburg)
and Best Original Score (Herbert Stothart), and won only two Oscars - for its dual musical
nominations. It was competing against the domineering multiple Oscar winner, Gone With
the Wind (1939).