Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Political interpretations of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" include treatments of the modern fairy tale (written by L. Frank Baum and first published in 1900) as an allegory or metaphor for the political, economic, and social events of America in the 1890s. Scholars have examined four quite different versions of Oz: the novel of 1900, the Broadway play of 1901, the Hollywood film of 1939, and the numerous follow-up Oz novels written after 1900 by Baum and others. The political interpretations focus on the first three, and emphasize the close relationship between
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (musical) musical of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" that was truer to Baum's original intentions, and as such, was able to incorporate various influences from the many adaptations of the story produced throughout the 20th century, including the original 1903 musical, the famous 1939 MGM film, the musical "The Wiz" and several others. In writing the libretto for the new musical, Cascone made Baum a character in the play as a narrator, also doubling as the Wizard. Composer and lyricist James Patrick Doyle was a long time Oz admirer who restored some of the music from Baum's "The Maid of Arran",