Originally published on 7/4/25

When we think of The Wizard of Oz, we often think of the 1939 blockbuster film starring Judy Garland. After all, it was both iconic and timeless, thanks to its brilliant use of shifting from black and white to color as well as its groundbreaking special effects and costuming. However, long before Garland walked down the Yellow Brick Road, others slipped on their Ruby—or silver, depending on the day—slippers and tried to defeat The Wicked Witch of the West. As it turns out, there are several forgotten films set in Oz, some of which were written by author L. Frank Baum himself. Below, we have rounded up everything you need to know about the early Wizard of Oz adaptations, including whether you can stream them anywhere today. Read on for more. 

A reminder of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ plot

The Wizard of Oz follows a young girl named Dorothy Gale who gets transported from Kansas to the magical land of Oz via a cyclone. While there, she meets a talking scarecrow, a tin man and a lion who join her on her journey to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, as demanded by the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who claims to have an item that can get Dorothy home. 

The idea itself was originally introduced to the world in Baum’s 1900 children’s novel and has since been adapted and expanded upon several times. One of the most notable adaptations was Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, Wicked, which tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good before Dorothy came along. It has since been adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a two-part blockbuster movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. 

“Most storytellers I know dive into our created worlds—any Oz of our own invention—out of a need for solitude,” Maguire exclusively told Woman’s World back in November 2024. “But Wicked has detonated into the world big, loud and lastingly…The continued public embrace of Wicked in all its forms reminds me that in the private scribbling of our weird stories, alone in our coldwater garrets, we’re still trying to make a connection with readers. Maybe even to change someone else—for good.” 

A look at the lost ‘Wizard of Oz’ adaptations 

As mentioned above, there are several different adaptations of The Wizard of Oz that hit theaters long before Garland’s film. They were produced back in the 1910s and 1920s, when black and white silent movies were all the rage in Hollywood. 

These films came after the widely popular 1903 Broadway stage production, which was written by Baum and scored by Paul Tietjens. It had a total of 293 shows and has been revived several times since then, including in the form of the 1910 silent film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 

‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) is considered the earliest surviving adaptation of Baum’s work and was heavily inspired by the Broadway musical. 

It had a runtime of only 13 minutes and had no dialogue, only cue cards. It starred Bebe Daniels as Dorthy, Robert Z. Leonard as the Scarecrow, Olive Cox as Glinda, Hobart Bosworth as the Wizard and Winifred Greenwood as the Wicked Witch of the West—although her character is renamed Momba the Witch in the film. Otis Turner served as both the director and writer. Baum also served as a writer. 

Despite that, the plot of the film is vastly different from the book. Throughout the 13-minute runtime, viewers see Dorothy (Daniels) encounter a talking scarecrow after being chased in the field by Hank the Mule. From there, the three of them, along with Toto, are transported to Oz where they encounter witches, lions, tin men and more. The film ends with Dorothy and her friends in The Emerald City at the Wizard’s (Bosworth) going-away party. It’s both fun to look at how big-budget films were made in the 1910s, but also quite scary, as the animals were just actors dressed up in costumes crawling around on all fours. 

You can watch The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on YouTube. 

‘The Patchwork Girl of Oz’ 

The first lost Oz film, released in 1914, was The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which was based on the seventh book in Baum’s Oz series. It starred Violet MacMillan as Ojo, Frank Moore as Unc Nuckie, Todd Wright as the Wizard, Bart Gellong as The Scarecrow, Hal Roach, the later producer of The Little Rascals,  as The Cowardly Lion, Jessie May Walsh as Ozma of Oz and Pierre Couderc as Scraps. 

The plot itself was written by Baum and followed a young Munchkin boy named Ojo (MacMillan) and his guardian Unc Nuckie (Moore) as they venture to The Emerald City in the hopes of finding food, so they never have to go hungry again. It had a run time of over one hour, making it one of the longer adaptations. 

You can watch The Patchwork Girl of Oz on YouTube. 

‘His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz’ 

Also released in 1914 was His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. It starred MacMillan as Dorothy, Couderc as the Tin Man, Fred Woodward as the Cowardly Lion, Moore as the Scarecrow and J. Charles Haydon as The Wizard of Oz, Raymond Russell as King Krewl, Wright as Pon the gardener, Vivian Reed as Princess Gloria and Mae Wells as Mombi, the wicked witch. 

Baum served as a writer and director on this adaptation, and the plot followed Dorothy (MacMillan) and her friends as they attempt to help Princess Gloria marry Pon (Wight), the man she loves, rather than Googly-Goo, the man her uncle, King Krewl (Russell), has chosen for her. This all happens after Pon saves Dorothy from the evil witch Mombi (Kae), who King Krewl has hired to freeze Gloria’s heart. The story concludes with the Scarecrow (Moore) becoming the new king, and Princess Gloria and Pon living happily ever after. The total runtime was 59 minutes and contained no dialogue. 

You can watch His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz on YouTube. 

‘The Magic Cloak of Oz’ 

The last lost Oz film, released in 1914 was The Magic Cloak of Oz. It was written by Baum and released by The Oz Film Company and starred Mildred Harris, Vivian Reed, Juanita Hansen, MacMillan and Couderc. 

In the film, a group of magical fairies create a clock that can grant one single wish, a power that they give to a young unhappy girl whose father just died, forcing her to move into an unknown town with her brother, who soon becomes king and her pet donkey who soon becomes a hero. The film ends with the fairies taking the magic clock back, as they believed that mortals didn’t know how to use it properly. It had a runtime of 45 minutes, didn’t have any dialogue and was written by Baum. 

You can watch The Magic Cloak of Oz on YouTube. 

‘The Wizard of Oz’ 

The fifth and final lost Oz film was the 1925 adaptation, The Wizard of Oz.  It starred Dorothy Dawn as Dorothy, Charles Murray as the Wizard of Oz, Virginia Pearson as Lady Vishuss, Bryant Washburn as Prince Kynd, Josef Swickard as Prime Minister Kruel, Oliver Hardy (one half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy) as the Woodsman and Nary Carr as Aunt Em. 

In it, Dorothy (Dawn) must team up with three farmhands from Kansas to take back the throne of Oz from the evil Prime Minister Kruel. It had a runtime of one hour and 12 minutes and featured no dialogue. 

You can watch The Wizard of Oz on Amazon Prime Video. 

‘The Wizard of Oz’ Broadway plays 

As mentioned above, along with films, there have been several different Broadway adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, with the first one being the 1902 stage production. 

From there, Baum tried to turn his second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, into a show, but that never came together.t. He even tried to rename it as The Woggle-Bug in 1905, though audiences were simply not interested. 

Finally, in 1906, Baum took his show on the road under the name of  The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays. During that time, he traveled around the country, lecturing people while interacting with his beloved Oz characters on either a stage or a screen. It was once again a failure, but it did help pave the way for other films and shows under the Oz umbrella to become massive box-office successes.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/movies/wizard-of-oz-silent-films-a-look-at-the-lost-adaptations