The Wizard of Oz and the Cultural Imagination

A Conference celebrating and interrogating 75 years of the MGM Musical

College of Arts and Humanities, University of Brighton.

Confirmed keynote speakers include: Professor Peter Franklin (University of Oxford), Dr Pamela Karantonis (Bath Spa University), and Dr Tommy J. Curry (Texas A&M University). Download list of guest and keynote speakers.

Christmas 2013 saw the annual quest for best television advert, with firms such as John Lewis, Waitrose, and M&S all participating. Drawing on themes from Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Red Riding Hood and The Wizard of Oz, the M&S advert is, in the words of the company's business development director Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, ‘a modern epic where fashion meets fantasy’, bringing to life ‘much loved fairy tales with more than a sprinkle of high glamour’. This advert comes out months before the 75^th anniversary of MGM’s telling of The Wizard of Oz and demonstrates the lasting legacy this film has had within western culture.

The Wizard of Oz has received sustained interest from audiences, sparking numerous spinoff films (Return to Oz; Oz: The Great and Powerful, Yellowbrickroad),musicals (Wicked; The Wiz), and TV Programmes and documentaries (The Tin Man; The Secret of Oz). Baum’s original tale has been reanimated and illustrated numerous times (most recently by Graham Rawle) and the book and film has inspired and featured in pop music albums by the likes of Elton John (Yellow Brick Road) and Robbie Williams (Swings Both Ways). The music to MGM’s Wizard of Oz also contributed to the public responses to the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013.

Despite being firmly embedded in the Western cultural imagination, the legacy of The Wizard of Oz has received rather sparse critical reception. Taking place in the same month that saw the release of the film in the UK, this conference seeks to fill this void and explore the film and its legacy through a series of innovative presentations.

Organisers: Dr Frank Gray (University of Brighton), Dr Louise Fitzgerald (University of Brighton), Dr Kieran Fenby-Hulse (Bath Spa University)

Download Conference Programme. 

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Conference Twitter Account: @Ozat75 Hashtag: #ozat75