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
His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz loosely based on Baum's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", but in the screenplay Baum introduced many new characters and a large new story that later became the basis for the 1915 book "The Scarecrow of Oz". Similar to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", the Scarecrow's origin is revealed, although his life is now attributed to "the Spirit of the Corn", who appears as a conventional Hollywood depiction of a Native American. The Tin Woodman is found rusted stiff and oiled, but he is already Emperor of the Winkies. Dorothy is a slave to Mombi (Wells) who looks like W.W.