Originally published at: Tales of the Wizard of Oz is a cute cartoon from 1961 | Boing Boing
…
3 Likes
Whoa, acid trip flash-backs.
1 Like
I was born in 1964 but this cartoon was in heavy rotation on local afternoon tv through the early 70s. Along with H.R. Pufnstuf, Banana Splits and all the other Sid and Marty Kroft fantasy stuff. The 70s was a good cartoon era for little kids, Saturday mornings with a box of cereal and Bugs Bunny, what a simpler time… for kids anyhow.
6 Likes
i grew up on that stuff - we watched it because it was there - i didn’t like it then and i don’t like it now - sorry
Odd. I REMEMBER this show, but don’t remember the “venue” it ran in. Saturday morning? Afternoons?
It would have been in syndication / reruns, because I was born the same year and wouldn’t have remembered watching it until years later.
Fun fact: The characters were featured on Band-aids. (Or another adhesive bandage.) In fact, I might (?) remember seeing a TV commercial for that tie-in.
OK. I take it back. I likely DID NOT remember watching this cartoon. This is what I am likely thinking of:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1967-68-see-wizard-curad-comic-strip-1880507488
The years line up better.
AND!!!
So, an entirely different obscure Oz cartoon!
And DAY-UM! Oh, this answers a question I’ve had for years:
“Family-oriented TV series, produced by MGM, in which guest hosts and animated versions of the “Wizard of Oz” characters were used as wrap-arounds to introduce various family-oriented films from the MGM film library (“Lili,” “The Glass Slipper,” among others), usually shown in two parts, nature documentaries, and original programming, most notably the Emmy-nominated “Whatever Happened to Mother Goose?,” featuring an all-star cast as various Mother Goose characters.”
I remember seeing “Lili” on this program, as well as the amazing, “too bad they didn’t have disposable training pants back then” fantasy movie Captain Sindbad, which utterly terrified me.
Violence?! Name-calling?! Card tricks…the gateway to gambling?! The emphasis on gold and emeralds… superficiality and greed, anyone?! What kind of show was that?! /s 
1 Like
I did a little research, it came out of Canada, they were 5 minute shorts. I’ll bet I was watching them along with Mr. Dressup, The Friendly Giant, and Bozo out of Windsor on the local CBC Channel 9.
Tubi on Roku has all the episodes.
2 Likes
I do not remember these based on the image - perhaps if I watched one.
But I did read a lot of the books with my daughter, and the scarecrow was never called “Socrates”. The tinman however was widely known by his name Nick Chopper.
I know you were joking, but I had a similar reaction. This seemed more like a “Fractured Fairy Tale” to me. From the description it sounds like Dorothy shows up in later episodes, but without her and Glenda I’m not liking the whole “boys club meets bad girl” imbalance at the start. 
1 Like
Ah yeah, this used to show on CJOH channel 6 (CTV) out of Ottawa in between longer shows throughout the week during the day - along with The New Adventures of Pinocchio, a puppetmation continuation of the stories, throughout the 70s and early 80s.
2 Likes
Apart from Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Rocky/Bullwinkle, and Bugs Bunny, I avoided other toons like the plague. Seeing the WoO now is, for me, a bizarre experience; now I know that I didn’t miss anything.
1 Like
Oh my gosh, I forgot about that one. Poor Reggie The Hobo, Pinocchio really did a number on him.
1 Like
Heck, it was still on heavy rotation where I lived right into the early '80s. Possibly because by then it was dirt cheap to license, but still fun to watch for kids.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
