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RainbowRoad title

Rainbow Road to Oz is an unfinished film project that was being worked on by Walt Disney Pictures. A preview aired on September 11, 1957 on Walt Disney's Disneyland and it featured Walt himself looking over and approving the project after being persuaded by members of the Mickey Mouse Club.

Cast[]

Other characters who were to appear as seen in preproduction materials include Aunt Em along with Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse. It can be presumed the Tin Woodman was also among other characters to be played by the Mouseketeers. Kevin Corcoran was reported to be attached based on a notice in Boxoffice.

Background[]

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Since Walt Disney was unable to create an animated movie based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as MGM beat him to it with the 1939 film, he was determined to make an Oz movie in buying the copyrights to 11 other books by L. Frank Baum on November 16, 1954. He even bought the rights to Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz that had been owned by a small company called Lippert Pictures.

In April 1957, an outline was written by Dorothy Cooper seemingly titled Dorothy Returns to Oz that was based mainly on The Patchwork Girl of Oz. It was initially conceived to be a two part special for the television program that often aired multi-episode serials but was instead optioned to become a film.

The new title was first reported in the July-September 1957 issue of Motion Picture Daily which noted it was going to be one of 15 features to be released within 18 months or approximately by January 1959.

Per an article labeled July 24, 1957, it was reported to be a multi-million dollar production going to be filmed that November with Bill Walsh producing and Sid Miller directing. Miller had written most of the songs with Tom Adair and Buddy Baker.

The series Walt Disney's Disneyland usually showed movies and other segments related to new film production. The particular clip is from The Fourth Anniversary Show which was the first episode of season four as the "Mouseketeers" were going to be the main cast members. Per an online auction on eBay, it was revealed that a screenplay dated October 15th, 1957 was written by Bill Walsh and has 115 pages of content. Both Jan-Jun and July-Dec 1958 issues of The Radio TV Mirror mentioned that Darlene was cast as Dorothy.

A copy of the script that sold for an undisclosed amount included a 13 page memo written by Ken Anderson dated February 16th, 1959 entitled “Outline for Oz Feature Cartoon”. That same day coincidentally the film journal Boxoffice postmarked their annual “Barometer” report of movies in production although it was probably published in late 1958. They listed this project under a section called “Looking Ahead” that also listed Sleeping Beauty under a category of unspecified dates of films from Buena Vista which is still Disney’s distribution company. Out of 10 listed productions it was one of two to go unmade besides an early version of Pete’s Dragon that had Noel Langley attached.

Despite newspaper coverage stating that the film was going to be made, it was eventually canceled and is said to have been replaced with 1961's Babes in Toyland, which ironically featured Ray Bolger and Tommy Kirk plus starred Annette Funicello in the same wig she had worn in the Oz test reel.

That same year it was reported through issues of Boxoffice that they were considering a recast noting in their April-June issue that "Disney will look for a young actress to play Dorothy". Later in October-December issue, it was noted that it was going to instead be animated by saying "Whether to film Rainbow as a live action or animated feature has been a point of debate, but the cartoon process was Disney's final choice".

It is unclear how far how much progress was made on this different version and why it was ultimately canceled. Walt passed away on December 15th, 1966 which was nearly a decade after this project was announced and five years after this last update.

On the D23 listing for Return to Oz (film), it mentions this project as involving 120 feet of Yellow Brick and the usage of three sets for the promo. It also notes that Walt was frustrated with the script and designs by February 1958 as he might have canceled the project to avoid competing with television airings of the 1939 film.

In 1980, the Baum Bugle featured an article written by the late David Smith (1940-2019) who had been the founder of the Walt Disney archives. He noted that the budget for the three sets was $6,000 as the pages can be read here. A couple months before Return to Oz (film) released, the February 1985 issue of Starlog reprinted it.

In 2006, the episode where it appeared was selected to be on the limited release DVD set of Walt Disney Treasures entitled “Your Host, Walt Disney: TV Memories 1956 - 1965”.

In 2010, various details about this project were discussed on the Disney fan site Mouseplanet which mentions that even Ruth Plumly Thompson was interested in recommending her works to the company but Maud Gage Baum did not support this as the Disney deal occurred a year after her passing with the rights reverting to Robert S. Baum.

In 2013 a 10 minute special feature on the DVD release of Oz the Great and Powerful called “Walt Disney and the Road to Oz” gave a brief overview of the project plus included Bobby Burgess and Doreen Tracy who in particular remarked that Walt’s expressions just after filming the promo were akin to “hmm maybe not” as Annette did not see him smile.

Preview[]

As the last segment of the 4th anniversary special, it followed after a brief promo for the 1957 series of Zorro which premiered a month later. After he defeats a shadow in a sword fight, the kids start play fighting so Walt looks at his watch and starts to leave from his chair. Darlene then tells everyone to wait a minute as he can’t go because they haven’t given him their present.

Annette hands him a folder labeled “The Rainbow Road to Oz” and he asks what it is. She explains that “it’s a book about Oz” and Darlene calls it a shooting script as Annette says they will have to explain it to him. He sits back in his chair with the kids gathering around as Darlene notes that the studio owns all the Oz stories and they have to think about their future. Annette says they can’t be Mouseketeers forever and they suggest doing the movie for him. He responds that he has always figured to make an Oz cartoon but one of them asks when while Cubby notes that it takes about seven or eight years to make an animated film. This causes Walt to inquire about their proposition as he is concerned about the cost.

Darlene says they will handle the songs, dances, and the sketches before sharing some of their samples starting with drawings of Scarecrow and the Patchwork. She notes that “in our story he has trouble keeping his brains” as the song Patches is then performed depicting them meeting for the first time. She picks off a fabric patch from sort of a patch tree and applies it to her arm before starting to dance down the Yellow Brick Road as a sign points to the Emerald City. There sitting on a fence is Scarecrow as she starts to sing about herself and notes she doesn’t need a heart. She boinks him with her hand and he tumbles over the bench to join her as he recites the various types of fabric she is made out of and they dance together before their scene ends.

Darlene then shows Walt a drawing of Ozma and the Cowardly Lion explaining that once he becomes the King of Oz, an awful spell is put on him that makes him cruel and conceited. Thankfully Dorothy with her friends try using a song that is part Oz and part Kansas simply called The Oz Kan Hop to break it. They perform a variety of dance styles as Lion watches before finishing and standing near him on the throne while the kids clap. After that Walt informs them that they earned it and he will take a flyer as in a chance on Oz which causes them to cheer in excitement. He promises them “everything the works” such as in widescreen and in color. Moochie says “okay we can have that cake now” as a curtain draws back as the intended cast climb onto a giant cake singing the titular song. Walt tells Moochie that it’s a swell party but they only forgot one thing which is that Mickey Mouse isn’t there.

The Disney mascot in animated form appears on a ladder and tells Walt that he’s been there the whole time as he asks him “what a great bunch of kids aren’t they?” as Walt replies “sure are” before the song concludes with balloons dropping along with them holding sparklers. Walt then stands up looking on proudly looking before the credits role and he previews next week’s episode.

Known plot[]

Dorothy Gale, along with her cousin Zeb, returns to Oz only to discover that the Cowardly Lion is under an evil spell and has become a cruel tyrant, usurping the throne of Oz from Princess Ozma. Dorothy, Ozma, the Scarecrow, the Patchwork Girl, and some others put on a dance number designed to break the spell over the Lion, which has been cast on him by the vengeful son of the late Wicked Witch of the West.

As an original story taking elements from various books, it is unclear if the narrative was to include Dorothy meeting Ozma for the first time or be set semi-canonically after her previous adventure with Zeb. The opening scene however as seen in the first page of the treatment shown in the brief 2013 special feature was to take place in Kansas although featuring the Patchwork Girl who was introduced in the book after Dorothy moved to Oz in The Emerald City of Oz.

Songs[]

Various songs were recorded for the eventual film that was never made, the other songs were released on different LP Oz based records as some of them were released in The Story and Songs of the Cowardly Lion of Oz. They were written by Sid Miller who was selected to be director alongside Tom Adair and Buddy Baker.

Featured in preview:

  • Patches
  • Oz Kan Hop
  • Rainbow Road to Oz (song)

Trivia[]

  • Had it been made, it would have featured the first film appearance of Princess Ozma, the Patchwork Girl, and Polychrome since the 1914 silent film The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Likewise, it would have been the first time since His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz in that same year, that Button-Bright had appeared on film.
  • This would have been the first Oz based movie to feature the Cowardly Lion as the ruler of Oz, having ousted Ozma plus the second to feature him walking on two legs.
  • This also would have been the first to feature a son of the Wicked Witch, a notion which had been toyed with when the script for The Wizard of Oz (1939) was being thrashed out. The character now known as Miss Gulch was originally Mrs. Gulch, a widow who had a spoiled son named Walter. In Dorothy's dream, he became the Wicked Witch's pampered boy Bulbo, whom she intended to put on the throne of Oz with her running things behind the scenes, of course. The idea of the Wicked Witch's son would not come into fruition until Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years, with the character Liir.
  • As of 2022 only four intended cast members are still alive being Darlene, Bobby, Cubby, and Lonnie.

Gallery[]

Video[]

Walt_Disney's_Wizard_Of_Oz

Walt Disney's Wizard Of Oz

Walt_Disney_and_the_Road_to_Oz

Walt Disney and the Road to Oz

Special Feature from Oz the Great and Powerful

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