- Off to See the Wizard
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Off The See The Wizard was a part-animated but mostly live action television anthology series produced by MGM Television and telecast on ABC-TV between 1967 and 1968.
Contents
History
The series derived its name from the well-known song We're Off To See The Wizard, featured in MGM's classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Such was the popularity of the film among TV audiences by then that ABC decided to build an anthology series around it, a series which primarily showcased the first network telecasts of some of MGM's most popular recent live-action family films, much as Walt Disney had often showcased the first telecasts of his films on the Disney anthology television series. Animated versions of Dorothy Gale, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wizard of Oz book-ended each episode of the series, often providing humorous introductions to the films. Chuck Jones served as executive producer.
The series also used music from the famous MGM film. The opening credits featured an offscreen chorus singing a stanza of Over the Rainbow and segued into Dorothy and her three friends singing We're Off To See The Wizard.
Featured Films
The series ran only an hour, so full-length films had to be split into two parts, much as Disney used to do on its television anthology series. Film shown on the series in order of appearance include:
- Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)
- Flipper (1963)
- Hell Cats
- Island of the Lost
- Lili (1953)
- Mike and the Mermaid
- Rhino
- Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
- Gypsy Colt (1953)
- Untamed World
- Who's Afraid of Mother Goose?
- Wild World
- Zebra in the Kitchen (1965)
- The Glass Slipper (1955)
- Captain Sindbad (1963)
Cast
- Mel Blanc - Cowardly Lion, Toto
- Daws Butler - Scarecrow, Tin Man, Wizard of Oz
- June Foray - Dorothy Gale, Wicked Witch of the West
See also
External links
Categories:- American animated television series
- Anthology television series
- Oz in stage and film productions
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