The Wizard of Oz (1982 film)

1982 anime film directed by Fumihiko Takayama

This article is about the 1982 anime film. For the more famous 1939 film of the same title, see The Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz
オズの魔法使い

Japanese videotape cover

Directed by| Fumihiko Takayama
Written by| Akira Miyazaki
Produced by| Yoshimitsu Banno
Katsumi Ueno
Starring| Mari Okamoto
Kazuo Kumakura
Edited by| Nobuo Ogawa
Music by| Joe Hisaishi
Yuichiro Oda

Production
companies

Toho
Wiz Corporation
Topcraft

Distributed by| Toho

Release date

* July 1, 1982 (1982-07-01)[1]

Running time

| 78 minutes
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

The Wizard of Oz (オズの魔法使い, Ozu no Mahōtsukai) is a 1982 anime feature film directed by Fumihiko Takayama, from a screenplay by Yoshimitsu Banno and Akira Miyazaki, which is based on the 1900 children's novel by L. Frank Baum, produced by Yoshimitsu Banno and Katsumi Ueno for Toho.

## Plot[edit]

A little girl named Dorothy Gale lives with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and dog Toto on their farm in Kansas. One day when Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are away, a cyclone throws their house into the air. Dorothy and Toto end up in the magical Land of Oz, where they are welcomed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins. The Witch explains to her that her house fell upon the Wicked Witch of the East, freeing the Munchkins from her tyranny. She gives Dorothy the red magic slippers of the Wicked Witch, but the girl just wants to go home. After consulting her magic balckboard, the Witch tells Dorothy to go to the great Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City, hoping that he can grant her wish. Before leaving her, she advises her to never leave the yellow brick road and leaves her protective mark on her forehead with a kiss.

During the journey Dorothy meets: a brainless Scarecrow, a rusty Tin Woodman who longs for a heart and a Cowardly Lion. Dorothy agrees to take the three to the Wizard so that he can solve their problems too. Halfway they are attacked by a Kalidah, a creature half tiger and half bear, but they manage to defeat him. After crossing a river on a raft, the four finally arrive to the Emerald City, where the Wizard calls them separately. He appears first to Dorothy in the form of a large talking head, then to the Scarecrow as a beautiful winged lady, to the Tin Woodman as a monster similar to a rhinoceros, and to the Cowardly Lion as a ball of fire. He agrees to grant everyone's requests, but on the condition that they defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.

The group then heads west, where the Witch has already learned of their arrival from her crystal ball. The Witch tries to stop them by sending a pack of wolves against them, who are promptly defeated by the Tin Woodman. The Witch then sends a flock of crows who take the form of a monstrous giant crow, but this time they are saved by the Scarecrow's cunning. The Witch sends to them her army of Winged Monkeys, who manage to capture the group, but without harming Dorothy, as she is protected by the mark of the Witch of the North. The Witch tries to steal the magic slippers from Dorothy, who during a fight throws a jug of water on her, which makes her shrink and disappear forever.

The Winkies are finally free from the Witch's slavery and the group of friends returns to the city. Here they discover that the Wizard was actually a humbug. The man explains that he worked as a magician in a circus and one day he got lost with his hot air balloon, ending in the Land of Oz. After persuading Dorothy's friends that they already have what they were looking for, he offers to take Dorothy back to Kansas with her balloon, but due to an inconvenience she and Toto can't get on the balloon. Dorothy has lost all hope of seeing Aunt Em and Uncle Henry again when she receives a visit from Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. Glinda reveals that since her arrival in Oz she has always had the power to return to Kansas with the magic slippers. Dorothy says goodbye to her friends, clicks the heels of her shoes three times and is transported at home with Toto, where they are reunited with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.

## Cast[edit]

The four main characters Character  | Japanese  | English

|
|

Dorothy Gale[2] | Mari Okamoto | Aileen Quinn
The Wizard | Kazuo Kumakura
Seri Machika (as the Beautiful-Winged Lady)  | Lorne Greene
Scarecrow | Kotobuki Hizuru  | Billy Van
Tin Woodman | Jōji Yanami | John Stocker
Cowardly Lion | Masashi Amenomori | Thick Wilson
Omby Amby | Unknown
The Good Witch of the North | Miyoko Asō | Elizabeth Hanna
The Wicked Witch of the West | Kaori Kishi
Glinda, the Good Witch of the South  | Kumiko Takizawa | Wendy Thatcher
Aunt Em | Taeko Nakanishi | Unknown
Jellia Jamb  | Elizabeth Hanna
Uncle Henry | Naoki Tatsuta | Unknown
Toto | Shohei Matsubara
Omby Amby  | Motomu Kiyokawa
Monkey King  | Toshiyuki Yamamoto

## Production[edit]

The film was produced in 1981 and it was the first animated feature in which Toho participated in the production.[1] It is notable for its Western character design, unusual in anime. In fact Topcraft used to work for American animation studio Rankin/Bass at the time. Dorothy's design is therefore derived from Ann Marie's from That Girl in Wonderland episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, also animated by Topcraft. Voice actress Mari Okamoto had already voiced Dorothy in the 1974 TBS dub of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz. This film's writer, Akira Miyazaki, also wrote for the 1986 anime television series of the same name.

### Relation to the novel[edit]

The film is known for staying particularly close to the novel, its primary elimination being the journey to Glinda, which is only now slightly less of a deus ex machina than in the MGM version. Also borrowed from that version are the red "magic shoes" rather than the silver shoes of Baum's text. Some familiarity with the later books is clear, as the houses are the same two-chimneyed domes found in the artwork of John R. Neill, who never illustrated the first Oz book. Glinda's appearance is also borrowed from Neill's illustrations of Princess Ozma. It is one of the rare films to depict the various forms the Wizard appears to each of the travelers, such as the Beautiful-Winged Lady (shown to be a puppet rather than the Wizard in a costume, as in the book), the Terrible Beast (looking like an ordinary rhinoceros) and the Ball of Fire.

## Music[edit]

The music was written by future Studio Ghibli's composer Jō Hisaishi along with Yuichiro Oda and performed by Columbia Orchestra.[3] The Lyrics were written by Keisuke Yamakawa. The single containing the songs was released in April 1981 (Catalog# CK-584[4]), over a year prior the movie release; thus, it is possible that it was decided only later to use it as a soundtrack.

1. "Someone is waiting for me" (だれか私を待っている, Dare ka watashi wo matte iru) (Main theme) (Singer: Mitsuko Horie)
2. "What is 1+1?" (1＋1は何？, Ichi tasu ichi wa nani) (Insert song) (Singers: Mitsuko Horie and Koorogi '73)

A third song also sung by Horie can be heard in the middle of the film, but it remained untilted never having been released on record.

The English dubbed version featured new different lyrics by Sammy Cahn and Allen Byrns, all sung by Aileen Quinn.

1. "It's Strictly Up to You" (Main theme)
2. "I Dream of Home"
3. "A Wizard of a Day"

## Release and home media[edit]

Although it was produced for a theatrical release, the film was eventually released in Japan straight to VHS, Betamax and on satellite television (CS) on July 1, 1982.[3][2][1] It was also broadcast on AT-X as early as December 19, 2002.[5] The English version of this film, edited by Johann Lowenberg and produced by John Danylkiw, appeared on television and home video in the United States on September 10, 1983.[6][7] Alan L. Gleitsman was the executive producer of Alan Enterprises, which did the English dub for the North American release. New Hope Entertainment was also involved in producing the English-dubbed version. It was distributed in English-speaking countries and territories, including the United States and Canada, by Alan Enterprises. Paramount Home Video released the English dubbed version on VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, and CED in 1983 and on VHS in 1991.

However, the film was shown in cinemas in some countries in the 1980s, such as Czechoslovakia and Spain or in Latin America.[8][9] The film was dubbed into the Czech and Slovak language except for the songs, which were performed by Japanese singers (from the original Japanese music version). Some other foreign dubs, such as the Italian, Spanish and Greek versions, had this premise edit as well, while the French, Dutch and Hungarian dubs had their own rendition of the songs.

Except for a Polish Japanese-language DVD the movie never got an official DVD release in any other country.[10]

## See also[edit]

* Children's literature portal
* Anime and manga portal

* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a 1986 Japanese anime adaptation of Oz
* The Wizard of Oz adaptations — other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "U.S. Copyright Office entry (Ozu no mahotsukai.)". Retrieved June 21, 2021.
2. ^ a b "東宝版アニメ「オズの魔法使い」". Biglobe.ne.jp. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
3. ^ a b ふらいすとーん (December 31, 1982). "Disc. 久石譲 『オズの魔法使い』 *Unreleased". 久石譲ファンサイト 響きはじめの部屋 (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2022.
4. ^ 堀江美都子 - だれかが私を待っている (in Italian), April 1981, retrieved October 3, 2022
5. ^ "オズの魔法使い". AT-X. Archived from the original on December 22, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
6. ^ "U.S. Copyright Office entry (The Wizard of Oz)". Retrieved June 21, 2021.
7. ^ "The Wizard of Oz – 1982 – Web Wizard Of Oz". 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
8. ^ s.r.o. (FDb.cz), 2003-2019, Filmová databáze. "Čaroděj ze země OZ (1982)". FDb.cz (in Czech). Retrieved February 26, 2023.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. ^ "El Mago De Oz [animación] \- Ficha eldoblaje.com - Doblaje". www.eldoblaje.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
10. ^ "«Czarnoksiężnik z Krainy Oz» (1982) [DVD] Reżyser: Fumihiko Takayama • DVDmax.pl". www.dvdmax.pl. Retrieved May 9, 2022.

## External links[edit]

* The Wizard of Oz at IMDb
* The Wizard of Oz at Anime News Network
* Review at Anime News Network, June 17 2003

* v
* t
* e

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Books

| Novels|

| Baum|

* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
* The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
* Ozma of Oz (1907)
* Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
* The Road to Oz (1909)
* The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
* The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
* Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
* The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
* Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
* The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
* The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
* The Magic of Oz (1919)
* Glinda of Oz (1920)

|

Thompson|

* The Royal Book of Oz (1921)
* Kabumpo in Oz (1922)
* The Cowardly Lion of Oz (1923)
* Grampa in Oz (1924)
* The Lost King of Oz (1925)
* The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926)
* The Gnome King of Oz (1927)
* The Giant Horse of Oz (1928)
* Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz (1929)
* The Yellow Knight of Oz (1930)
* Pirates in Oz (1931)
* The Purple Prince of Oz (1932)
* Ojo in Oz (1933)
* Speedy in Oz (1934)
* The Wishing Horse of Oz (1935)
* Captain Salt in Oz (1936)
* Handy Mandy in Oz (1937)
* The Silver Princess in Oz (1938)
* Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz (1939)
* Yankee in Oz (1972)
* The Enchanted Island of Oz (1976)

Others|

* The Wonder City of Oz (1940)
* The Scalawagons of Oz (1941)
* Lucky Bucky in Oz (1942)
* The Magical Mimics in Oz (1946)
* The Shaggy Man of Oz (1949)
* The Hidden Valley of Oz (1951)
* Merry Go Round in Oz (1963)
* The Forbidden Fountain of Oz (1980)
* The Ozmapolitan of Oz (1986)
* The Wicked Witch of Oz (1993)
* The Giant Garden of Oz (1993)
* The Runaway in Oz (1995)
* The Rundelstone of Oz (2000)
* The Emerald Wand of Oz (2005)
* Trouble Under Oz (2006)

Other books|

* The Magical Monarch of Mo (1899)
* Dot and Tot of Merryland (1901)
* The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902)
* Queen Zixi of Ix (1904)
* John Dough and the Cherub (1906)
* The Sea Fairies (1911)
* Sky Island (1912)
* Little Wizard Stories of Oz (1913)

Characters|

| Baum|

* Dorothy Gale
* Toto
* Aunt Em
* Uncle Henry
* Princess Ozma
* Wizard of Oz
* Scarecrow
* Tin Woodman
* Cowardly Lion
* Glinda, the Good Witch of the South
* Good Witch of the North
* Wicked Witch of the East
* Wicked Witch of the West
* Billina
* Glass Cat
* Jack Pumpkinhead
* Jellia Jamb
* Jinjur
* John Dough
* Mombi
* Munchkins
* Nome King
* Pastoria
* Patchwork Girl
* Polychrome
* Queen Lurline
* Shaggy Man
* Soldier with the Green Whiskers
* Tik-Tok
* Winged monkeys
* Woggle-Bug

|

Post-Baum|

* Jinnicky the Red Jinn
* Kabumpo
* Peter Brown
* Elphaba

Elements|

* Land of Oz
* Emerald City
* Quadling Country
* Yellow brick road
* Deadly Desert
* Land of Ev
* Merryland
* Ruby slippers
* Silver shoes

Authors|

| Writers|

* L. Frank Baum
* Ruth Plumly Thompson
* John R. Neill
* Jack Snow
* Rachel Cosgrove Payes
* Eloise Jarvis McGraw
* Dick Martin
* Alexander Volkov
* Eric Shanower
* Gregory Maguire
* Sherwood Smith
* Roger S. Baum

|

Illustrators|

* William Wallace Denslow
* John R. Neill
* Frank Kramer
* Dirk Gringhuis
* Dick Martin
* Leonid Vladimirsky
* Eric Shanower
* William Stout

Related|

* Political interpretations
* Copyright status

Adaptations

| Stage|

* The Wizard of Oz (1902)
* The Woggle-Bug (1905)
* The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (1913)
* The Wizard of Oz (1942)
* The Wiz (1974)
* The Marvelous Land of Oz (1981)
* The Wizard of Oz (1987)
* The Wizard of A.I.D.S. (1987)
* Twister (1994)
* Wicked (2003)
* The Wizard of Oz (2011)
* The Woodsman (2012)

|

Films|

* The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908)
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
* The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914)
* The Magic Cloak of Oz (1914)
* His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914)
* The Wizard of Oz (1925)
* The Wizard of Oz (1933)
* The Wizard of Oz (1939)
* The Wizard of Oz (1950)
* The Rainbow Road to Oz (unproduced)
* Return to Oz (1964, TV)
* The Wizard of Mars (1965)
* The Wonderful Land of Oz (1969)
* Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde (1971)
* Journey Back to Oz (1972)
* Oz (1976)
* The Wiz (1978)
* The Wizard of Oz (1982)
* Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz (1984)
* Return to Oz (1985)
* Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz (1987)
* The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story (1990)
* The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995)
* Lion of Oz (2000)
* The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)
* Apocalypse Oz (2006)
* After the Wizard (2011)
* Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz (2011)
* Dorothy and the Witches of Oz (2012)
* Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
* Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014)
* OzLand (2014)
* Guardians of Oz (2015)
* The Wiz Live! (2015)
* Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (2016)
* The Steam Engines of Oz (2018)
* Rainbow (2022)
* Wicked (2024)
* Wicked Part Two (2025)

TV series|

* Tales of the Wizard of Oz (1961)
* Off to See the Wizard (1967–68)
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986–87)
* The Wizard of Oz (1990)
* The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz (1992–93)
* The Oz Kids (1996)
* Tin Man (2007)
* "Wizard of Odd" (2010)
* Once Upon a Time (2011–18)
* Lost in Oz (2015–18)
* Emerald City (2017)
* Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (2017–20)

Books|

* The Wizard of the Emerald City (1939)
* A Barnstormer in Oz (1982)
* Mister Tinker in Oz (1985)
* Dorothy of Oz (1989)
* Sir Harold and the Gnome King (1991)
* Was (1992)
* Queen Ann in Oz (1993)
* The Magic Dishpan of Oz (1994)
* The Wicked Years series (1995–2011)
* Visitors from Oz (1998)
* Paradox in Oz (1999)
* Oz Before the Rainbow (2000)
* The Hidden Prince of Oz (2000)
* The Unknown Witches of Oz (2000)
* Bloodstained Oz (2006)
* The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls (2006)
* Dorothy Must Die (2014)
* The Wicked Will Rise (2015)

Comics|

* Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz (1904–05)
* Adventures in Oz (1986–92)
* The Enchanted Apples of Oz (1986)
* Oz Squad (1991)
* Lost Girls (1991–92)
* Dorothy (2004–07)
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2005)
* Cheshire Crossing (2006–19)
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2009)
* The Marvelous Land of Oz (2010)

Games|

* The Wizard of Oz (1985)
* The Wizard of Oz (1993)
* The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (2008)
* Emerald City Confidential (2009)
* The Wizard of Oz (2010)
* The Wizard of Oz (2013)

Related|

* The Oz Film Manufacturing Company
* The International Wizard of Oz Club
* The Baum Bugle
* Oz Park
* Land of Oz
* Wizard of Oz festival
* Wizard of Oz Museum
* Oz-story Magazine

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template