American OZ

American Oz tells the story of L. Frank Baum with a heavy emphasis on his one book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Like many recent documentaries, it wastes far too much time viewing its subject through today's socio-political lens, while omitting many details of the man's life that are far more interesting and could just stand on their own without trying to make them conform to the way we see things today and reading much into each aspect of the novel that may or may not have been intended by Baum.

No mention is made of Baum's growing disenchantment with the Oz series and his attempts to end it and move on to other characters and books such as the exceptional Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and The Sea Fairies, among others; and zero mention is made of Ruth Plumly Thompson picking up where Baum left off with the Oz series. How about a nod to John R. Neill who illustrated many of the books in the series after W. W. Denslow?

Numerous clips from The 1939 Wizard of Oz are interspersed throughout, which may appeal to the most casual viewer, but have little to do with the author who had been dead for 2 decades by the time the movie was released. More time could also have been spent detailing his many moves and the effect it had on his family.

Aside from these quibbles, they do cover a good deal of his life but there is nothing new here except for those who know nothing of the man and simply are tuning in because they are fans of the 1939 filmed version of his novel.

The documentary begins with gushing voices of people who watched the Wizard of Oz movie in their childhood. That section goes on too long and sheds no insight on the writer or his times. It seems to say "hey look, Baum is worth caring about because they made a movie you liked!" Having three different and forgettable narrators doesn't help make this a coherent documentary. Other voices including historians seem to be speaking off the top of their heads. PBS is falling over backwards to make the story relevant to people whose interest in history depends on their personal identity. At one point they stated that L Frank Baum was a white man. Thanks for the insight. Oh, American Experience how far have you fallen?

Congratulations to the author, L. Frank Baum, who wrote the book of The Wizard of Oz into the classic 1939 film version of Judy Garland. :)

The bits and pieces of time they actually spend on L. Frank Baum in this documentary are interesting, but the through-line is constantly interrupted with digressions that are essentially political statements by the director, writer, and invited talking heads. It seems as if Baum is used as just a character that travels through these political points of view that the creators of the documentary want to preach. Of course, they are adding the same political subtext to The Wizard Of Oz, that may or may not actually be there or intended by Baum. Surely, one can project one's own beliefs upon any work of art. This film is the epitome of biased documentary making, which is the very worst kind and brings down the art form.

Like many episodes of "The American Experience", this is a biography that really is less biography and more a socio-political commentary of the times in which L. Frank Baum lived. Many times, the film tries to bring various social movements into the story....and the part about suffrage and women's rights seemed appropriate....not all the others did. It's NOT a bad film at all...but not exactly a biography of Baum's life as much is omitted...including the disastrous 1920s version of the "Wizard of Oz" by Larry Semon (which just seemed strange).

By the way, one of the reasons I only scored this one a 6 is that a few of the commentators were irrelevant or said things that simply made no sense...such as the person who said that the story of the Wizard of Oz is NOT a dangerous story like the European fairytales! Huh??