The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1910 American silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by "The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays", from which it was once thought to have been derived. It was partly based on the 1902 stage musical "The Wizard of Oz", though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Hamlin committed to making "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" into a musical stage play to publicize the novel. The play "The Wizard of Oz" debuted on June 16, 1902. It was revised to suit adult preferences and was crafted as a "musical extravaganza", with the costumes modeled after Denslow's drawings. Hill's publishing company became bankrupt in 1901, so Baum and Denslow agreed to have the Indianapolis-based Bobbs-Merrill Company resume publishing the novel. Baum's son Harry Neal told the "Chicago Tribune" in 1944 that L. Frank told his children "whimsical stories before they became material for his books". Harry called his