- "All-new Disney series full of comedy, magic and adventure."
- ―Slogan of the series.
Wiki Notice: For more information on this series, see the Oz Kids Wiki.
The Oz Kids or "Little Wizard Stories" is an animated television series loosely based on the Oz books and the 1939 film.
It aired as nine episodes varying in length from half-hour to hour and a half long films between September - November 1996 before being released to VHS. It was produced by Hyperion Pictures as a division of Disney for ABC. A number of 26 episodes is given by a 2019 encyclopedia of animated holiday specials called Happy Holidays--Animated! but this is either an error or probably just the total number of short segments that make up the series.
Plot[]
The two main characters of this series are Dot and Neddie, the children of Dorothy and Zeb. The other characters are Boris and Bela, the children of the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Boy, the son of the Tin Woodman, Frank the son of the Wizard, Scarecrow Jr., the son of the Scarecrow, Jack "Jackie" Pumpkinhead Jr., son of Jack Pumpkinhead, and Andrea, daughter of Glinda. Toto also makes occasional appearances, and was in fact the main reason for the adventure of the first episode although it is unknown if this is the actual Toto, or a child of the original dog.
The faces of Dorothy and the rest of the parents are never shown, similar to the faces of adults in The Muppet Babies while other adult characters such as Rick are seen. It is also notable that some parents never appear at all, which raises questions about their whereabouts and identities, It was mentioned the Wizard is a widower which leaves Frank without a mother while he had been born outside of Oz but he does live with Glinda. Also Tin Boy is referred as Betty's Uncle which either means Scraps is his sister or married to an unmentioned brother.
The show differs from most 'baby-genre' series of this time as it stars the children of the original characters who are aged around 5 to 10 instead of baby versions of the adults. Despite being set in a future timeline, there are some alternate Oz elements such as Scarecrow still being King of the Emerald City with Ozma only mentioned very briefly.
Characters[]
- Dot Hugson (voiced by Julianne Michelle)
- Neddie Hugson (voiced by Eric Lloyd)
- Boris (voiced by Bradley Pierce)
- Bela (voiced by Shayna Fox)
- Tin Boy (voiced by Benjamin Salisbury)
- Scarecrow Jr. (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Scott McAfee)
- Jack Pumpkinhead Jr. (voiced by Aaron Metchik)
- Frank Diggs (voiced by Alex Zuckerman)
- Andrea (voiced by Shay Astar)
- Toto (voiced by Frank Welker)
- Rick (voiced by Lawrence Tierney and James Keane)
Minor Characters[]
- Dorothy Gale (voiced by Erika Schickel)
- Zeb Hugson (voiced by Ross Maplettoft)
- Scarecrow, the King of Oz (voiced by Andy Milder)
- Tin Woodman (voiced by Steve Stoliar)
- Cowardly Lion: King of Quadling Country
- Wizard of Oz (voiced by Steve Stoliar)
- Glinda (voiced by Erika Schickel)
- Tommy Kwikstep (voiced by Andy Milder)
- Polychrome
- Sawhorse
- Tik-Tok
- Glass Cat
- Eureka
- Hungry Tiger
- Nine Tiny Piglets
- Patchwork Girl: Known as Aunty Scraps to the kids (voiced by Lori Alan)
- Betty: Patchwork Girl's baby daughter. (voiced by Julianne Michelle)
- Santa Claus (voiced by Marc Lewis)
- Ork (voiced by Peter MacNicol)
- Gump
- Gumpette (voiced by Jason Renfro)
- Aquareine: Queen of the mermaids. (voiced by Claudia Christian)
- Woozy (voiced by Ross Maplettoft)
- Princess Ozma: Only mentioned in "The Nome Prince and the Magic Belt"
- Necile: Caretaker of Santa Claus as a baby.
- Zurline: Ruler of all immortals in the forest of Burzee.
- Ak: Master woodsman.
- Blinkie: Santa Claus's cat.
- Weekum: A boy Santa knew.
- Wisk: An elf who works for Santa.
- Dragonettes: A trio of baby dragons who have bad colds.
- Sam
- Hiro
- Harriet
- Henna
- Teddy: A talking teddy bear. Son of the Lavender Bear.
- Little Pink Bear
Villains[]
- Zog (voiced by Ross Maplettoft)
- Sea Devils
- Mombi (voiced by Darlene Cornley)
- Nome Prince Otto, son of the Nome King (voiced by Chauncey Leopardi)
- Awgwas
Minor Villains[]
- Nome King (voiced by Marc Lewis)
- Kalidahs
- Hammer-Heads
- Spirit of Death
- Wheelers
- Gwig and Mangaboos
- Wooden Gargoyles
Cameos from The Brave Little Toaster[]
- Toaster
- Blanky
- Lampy
- Radio
- Kirby
VHS Tapes[]
From October 1996 to March 1997, the aired episodes of the series were released in the form of nine VHS volumes by Paramount Home Video.
No. | Title | Summary | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Toto, Lost in New York | Andrea, daughter of Glinda, who dresses like Ozma, accidentally sends Toto to New York City in a hot air balloon made by Frank. Eight-year-old girl, Dot, the leader of the Oz Kids, her five-year-old boy, Neddie and the other kids must follow the course set by Frank's computer to take them to him. When they arrive, the balloon is trashed and they meet Rick, a homeless man who has adopted Toto. The strange appearance of some of the kids keeps plans to return from going smoothly, but are affected much more so by a clash of cultures. | October 1, 1996 |
2 | The Nome Prince and the Magic Belt | Prince Otto finds one of Nome King's 1908 tunnels under Oz to the Emerald City. Boris accidentally opens a box that holds Dot's beloved magic belt. While the kids try to keep their parents from finding out what happened, Otto steals the belt and turns all of the Oz Kids except Dot into glass figurines. It's up to Dot to save her friends, get her magic belt back and get back to the Emerald City before their parents find out! | |
3 | Christmas in Oz | After their names are not included on the invite list for the Christmas celebration, Andrea and Otto try to teach the other party-goers a lesson. But will their plan backfire? | |
4 | Virtual Oz | Prince Otto has no friends, so he decides to force Dot and the Oz Kids into a virtual reality computer game presented to them at Scraps' baby shower. Unfortunately, the patchwork baby gets into the game and overflows the number of players, trapping them in a deteriorating program from which they have little chance of escape. Otto had no wish to actually harm them, and must try to get them out. | |
5 | Who Stole Santa? | Before the events of Christmas in Oz, The Oz Kids and their new buddy, the elf, Wisk, try to find St. Nick, who has been kidnapped. Can they find Santa before Christmas, which will arrive in just a few weeks? | |
6 | The Monkey Prince | After reading one of Dot's fairy tales, a boy, Neddie programs a computer belonging to Frank, to take him and Toto to China. Once there, they are met by the Monkey Prince who steals the computer. Unless Dot and the other Oz Kids can find them, Neddie and Toto will never get back to Emerald City. | February 18, 1997 |
7 | The Return of Mombi | Mombi, an evil witch, has returned to Emerald City, kidnapping the Oz adults, good witch Glinda and the Nome King! Now it's up to Dot, Neddie and the Oz Kids to save Oz from Mombi's dark powers. | |
8 | Underground Adventure | An earthquake stirs up yet another adventure for Dot, Neddie and the Oz Kids. What begins as an innocent bus trip for Frank (the Wizard's son) turns into a wild underground ride for all the kids as they encounter dragonettes, merry-go-round mountains, an enormous teddy bear and more! | |
9 | Journey Beneath the Sea | Jack Pumpkinhead, a pal of the Oz Kids, who wants to take a boat ride with all of his friends. During the ride, the boat begins to sink and Jack and the Oz Kids enter the water. There they discover two mermaids who take them on a magical and adventurous underwater excursion. When evil Zog and the sea devils try to ruin their fun, the adventure gets more wild and exciting than Dot, Neddie and the Oz Kids ever expected. | March 11, 1997 |
Gallery[]
External links[]
- The Oz Kids on Internet Movie Database