The Wizard of Oz (1982 film)

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The Wizard of Oz オズの魔法使い
Screenshot of The Wizard of Oz anime, featuring the four main characters
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[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.

In the 1980s, a re-edited version of the film was released in Czechoslovakia. The film was dubbed into the 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 and Greek versions, had this premise edit as well.

Cast[]

Release and home media[]

The film was first released in Japan on July 1, 1982.^[1] It was also broadcast on AT-X as early as December 19, 2002.^[3] The English version of this film, edited by Johann Lowenberg and produced by John Danylkiw, appeared on television in the United States in 1983.^[4][5] 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 the 1980s and on VHS in 1991.

Relation to other works[]

The Novel[]

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. 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.

Television anime[]

This film's writer, Akira Miyazaki, also wrote for the 1986 anime television series of the same name.

Music[]

The music was written by Jō Hisaishi and Yuichiro Oda. The Lyrics were written by Keisuke Yamakawa.

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

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"

See also[]

• 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[]

External links[]

• The Wizard of Oz at IMDb
• Ozu No Mahôtsukai at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Review at Anime News Network, June 17 2003