''Rainbow Road to Oz'' was a proposed, but never finished, Walt Disney Studios 1950s live-action film about characters in the

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Country in the north, Quadli ...

. Inspired by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's early 20th century ''Oz'' novels, it was to have starred some of the

Mouseketeers ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

, including

Darlene Gillespie Darlene Faye Gillespie (born April 8, 1941) is a Canadian-American former child actor, child actress, most remembered as a singer and dancer on the original ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' television series from 1955 to 1959. Her Irish father and Frenc ...

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...

and

Annette Funicello Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the orig ...

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the Oz series except the first, ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and Baum i ...

, as well as

Bobby Burgess Robert Wilkie Burgess (born May 19, 1941) is an American dancer and singer. He was one of the original Mouseketeers. Later, he was a regular on ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. Early life Growing up in Southern California, Burgess started performi ...

as the

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

Doreen Tracey Doreen Isabelle Tracey (April 13, 1943 – January 10, 2018) was a British-born American performer who appeared on the original ''Mickey Mouse Club'' television show from 1955–59. Early life Tracey was born in St Pancras, London, England. Her ...

as the

Patchwork Girl The Patchwork Girl (a.k.a. Scraps) is a character from the fantasy Oz Book series by L. Frank Baum. She first appeared in ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz''. History Scraps is a teenaged (possibly fourteen) living rag doll made of patchwork, butto ...

Jimmie Dodd James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the write ...

as the

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

Tommy Kirk Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as ''Old Yeller'', '' The Shaggy Dog'', ''Swiss Family Robinson'', ''The Absent-Minded P ...

as the villainous son of the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

, and

Kevin Corcoran Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran (June 10, 1949 – October 6, 2015) was an American child actor, director and producer. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, leading him to be honored as a Disney Legend in 2006. Hi ...

. In 1954, when the film rights to Baum's remaining thirteen ''Oz'' books were made available, Walt Disney Productions acquired them for use in Walt Disney's television series ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

.'' The original plan was for a two-part episode based on ''

The Patchwork Girl of Oz ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum is a children's novel, the seventh in the Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published on ...

''. When plans grew too ambitious for television, the studio instead decided to produce a large-scale live-action film using the Mouseketeers. 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 ''

''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.

References

Films based on The Wizard of Oz 1950s unfinished films Walt Disney Pictures films American musical fantasy films 1950s American films {{Oz-stub