In 1954, when the film rights to Baum's remaining thirteen Oz books were made available, Walt Disney Productions acquired them[2] for use in Walt Disney's television series Disneyland. The original plan was for a two-part episode based on The Patchwork Girl of Oz. When plans grew too ambitious for television, the studio instead decided to produce a large-scale live-action film using the Mouseketeers.[3] The feature, to be called The Rainbow Road to Oz, was announced in July 1957. Preview segments from the film aired on September 11, 1957, on Disneyland's fourth-anniversary show. The preview consisted of three musical numbers from the prospective film, "Patches", "The Oz-Kan Hop", and the title song "The Rainbow Road to Oz". The project was shelved only a few months later, possibly for budgetary reasons or concern that the young actors, known for television, would not be able to carry a feature film.[4]
In 2013, Walt Disney Studios produced a documentary called "Walt Disney and the Road to Oz" detailing the story of The Rainbow Road to Oz as a supplement to the home video release of Oz the Great and Powerful, featuring cast members Doreen Tracey and Bobby Burgess as well as historians Howard Green, Les Perkins and Greg Ehrbar.[6]
References
^"Movie Producers Crashing Broadway", The Washington Post and Times-Herald (September 3, 1957), page B-8
^Eyles, Allen (1985). The World of Oz (First American ed.). Tucson, AZ. p. 84. ISBN0-89586-415-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
