The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986 TV series) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986 TV series) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series adaptation based on four of the original Oz books by L. Frank Baum. In Japan, the series aired on TV Tokyo from 1986 to 1987. It consists of 52 episodes, which explain other parts of the Oz stories, including the events that happened after Dorothy returned home. In 1987, HBO purchased the rights to the series and dubbed it into English. Production for the English version was done by the Canadian studio Cookie Jar Group (known
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz the initial script was written, ultimately deciding to adapt plot elements from Baum's original novel rather than the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film, "The Wizard of Oz". As with the preceding Muppet films, "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz" became a musical, and included five new songs written and composed by Michael Giacchino. The special is the first Muppets special without the involvement of veteran performer Jerry Nelson following his 2004 retirement from physical performing. His characters of Lew Zealand and Floyd Pepper, were respectively performed by Bill Barretta and John Kennedy. Barretta also debuts as the new permanent performer of Dr.