L. Frank Baum
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1. HE GOT THE NAME “OZ” FROM HIS FILING CABINET.
At first, Baum had trouble coming up with a name for the magical land Dorothy visits. Then one day he found himself looking at the filing cabinet in his study. There were three drawers marked “A to G,” “H to N,” and “O to Z.” And so Oz was born.
2. BASED ON.
The Wizard of Oz is based on the American Dream -that anyone can do anything if they believe in themselves-.
3. IN THE FILM.
In the film, the strange characters that Dorothy meets are people she knows in her real life. The Land of Oz is just a dream; in the book, Oz is real as Kansas.
In the film, the shoes are red because was better on the cinema; in the book, are silver.
Other differences between the movie and the book: Dorothy doesn’t meet Glinda until the end; rather, the Good Witch of the North is the one to greet her when she comes to Oz. The book doesn’t end with the wizard taking off in a hot air balloon—Dorothy travels south to find Glinda and has more adventures. And while Oz turns out to be a dream in the movie, it’s a real place in the book. When Aunt Em asks Dorothy where she came from, she says that she was in the Land of Oz, then adds, “I'm so glad to be at home again!" (“There’s no place like home” is a movie line.)
4. THE BOOK SOLD OUT IN TWO WEEKS.
Full distribution began in August. According to the publisher, the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out in two weeks, followed by a second printing of 15,000 and a third printing of 10,000. In November, there was a fourth printing of 30,000 and in January, a fifth printing of 25,000. That’s 90,000 books in the first six months. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz remained a bestseller for two years.
5. DOROTHY GALE WAS NAMED AFTER A NIECE WHO DIED.
Dorothy Gale is based on Dorothy Gage, the infant niece of Baum’s wife, Maud. She died in November 1898, right as Baum was writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character Dorothy was Baum’s tribute to the lost baby girl.