Q: I recently saw an old Disneyland television program on DVD in which the Mouseketeers surprise Walt Disney with a presentation of a musical extravaganza called The Rainbow Road To Oz. On the show it is revealed that the Studio purchased all the rights to all of the other Frank Baum Oz stories and in the DVD Walt promises the kids that he's going to make a wide-screen Technicolor production of The Rainbow Road To Oz. Whatever happened to that promised-to-the-Mouseketeers project. There must be a great story there.
Michael, Burbank, California
Michael, Burbank, California
A [Dave Smith]: I wish there was a happy ending to that story, as I loved the Oz books as a kid, not to mention the MGM film, but unfortunately The Rainbow Road to Oz was never made as Walt Disney never was able to get a script that satisfied him. We have only the two musical sequences that appeared in that 1957 television show. Our only Oz film was Return to Oz, many years later, and it was not a musical and had nothing to do with the earlier concept.
[Marcio Disney]
Click Here to read The Rainbow Road to Oz - The Oz Film Walt Disney almost Made at suite101.com
Everyday, Disney fans send dozens of questions for Disney Chief Archivist Dave Smith. Here are Dave's answers to your questions. Check back every day for a new post with a new question.
Dave Smith (born October 13, 1940) was the Walt Disney Archives founder and chief archivist which is located in the Frank G. Wells Building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He joined the company June 22, 1970. Forty years later, on July 2010, he retired.
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ºoº Marcio Disney Family Sites Network ºoº
Dave Smith (born October 13, 1940) was the Walt Disney Archives founder and chief archivist which is located in the Frank G. Wells Building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He joined the company June 22, 1970. Forty years later, on July 2010, he retired.
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ºoº Marcio Disney Family Sites Network ºoº
There are three songs performed in the old Disney tv show. The title song, Rainbow Road To Oz, is quite catchy. Who wrote these songs?
ReplyDeleteTom Adair and Buddy Baker, two studio composers, wrote all the songs for "Rainbow Road to Oz."
ReplyDeleteSeveral of the other songs that were written for "Rainbow Road to Oz" can be heard on the Disneyland LPs, "Songs from The Wizard of Oz" and the Disney Storyteller LP "The Cowardly Lion of Oz," both are lots of fun. There is also a medley of these songs on the new Canadian CD "Songs in the Key of Oz". Inquire at CivicLightOpera@aol.com
ReplyDeleteSongs In The Key of Oz is available at www.MusicTheatreToronto.com
DeleteSongs in the Key of Oz is available here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.shop.hungrytigerpress.com/Songs-in-the-Key-of-Oz-cd-keyofoz.htm
Is there sheet music available for any of these "Rainbow Road to Oz" songs?
ReplyDeleteYes. Several of the songs are available in the book "Disney's Lost Chords."
ReplyDelete