The Wizard of Oz (1942 musical) his new rocket ship. "The Wizard of Oz" was first turned into a musical extravaganza by L. Frank Baum himself. It was a loose adaptation of Baum's 1900 novel that had no Wicked Witch, Toto, magic slippers or yellow brick road, but had several new characters and subplots. It first played in Chicago in 1902 and was a success on Broadway the following year. It then toured for seven years. Other early stage and film adaptations and versions of the novel followed, including a 1925 film. The 1939 film adaptation of the novel bore a closer resemblance to the novel's
The Wizard of Oz on television television. After the film went to cable that year, TV showings of the movie became increasingly more frequent, and the tradition of televising it only once a year ended, at least in the U.S. "The Wizard of Oz" has become perhaps the most famous film to be shown regularly on U.S. television, and one of the most cherished. Of the many family-oriented musical fantasies broadcast after the successful 1955 version of the Mary Martin "Peter Pan", "The Wizard of Oz" is the only one which is still shown regularly. Following the 1956 premiere, there were no rebroadcasts of the film