''The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story'' is a 1990 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

biographical film starring

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

as Lyman Frank Baum, the author who wrote the 1900 novel ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' and thirteen other Oz books. Also starring in it were Annette O'Toole as Baum's supportive wife, Maud, and

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on '' Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche ...

as Baum's tough mother-in-law, Matilda Gage.

Plot

The film depicts how

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 ...

came to create ''

'' while undergoing and eventually overcoming professional and personal failures. The story is interspersed with the famous Oz story, shown at certain points when Baum is writing down his ideas. It is shown that he was originally telling this to a group of kids, who asked him the name of this location, to which he looks at a file cabinet with the bottom drawer marked O-Z and decided "Oz". Another idea he had thought of was to say Dorothy was born in the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

, only to scrap that sentence in favor of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Cast

* Annette O'Toole as Maud Gage Baum. *

as Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage *

Charles Haid Charles Maurice Haid III (born June 2, 1943) is an American actor and television director, with notable work in both movies and television. He is best known for his portrayal of Officer Andy Renko in ''Hill Street Blues''. Haid was born in San ...

as Al Badham / Cowardly Lion * David Schramm as W.W. Denslow *

Nancy Lenehan Nancy Lenehan (born April 26, 1953) is an American actress who has appeared in film and television since the 1980s. She is best known for Audrey in ''Grace Under Fire'' (1993-1998), Kay Hickey in ''My Name Is Earl'' (2005-2008), and Angela in ' ...

as Harriet Alvena Baum Neal *Courtney Barilla as Dorothy Leslie Gage / Dorothy Gale * Nancy Morgan as Helen Leslie Gage *

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

as Harry Neal Baum * Pat Skipper as Charlie H. Gage *

Ed Gale Ed Gale (born August 23, 1963) is an American actor and stunt performer who has been working in films and television series since the 1980s. Early life Gale was born with dwarfism. He was born in Plainwell, Michigan, and graduated from Battle C ...

as Ned Brown / Farmer * Trevor Eyster as Frank Joslyn Baum (5–9 years) (as Tim Eyster) *Joshua Boyd as Frank Joslyn Baum (3 years) *

Roger Steffens Roger Steffens (born June 17, 1942) is an American actor, author, lecturer, editor, reggae archivist, photographer and, producer. Six rooms of his home in Los Angeles house reggae archives, which include the world's largest collection of Bob Mar ...

as Salesman (as Roger Steffans) *

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

as Albert the Reporter *Frank Hamilton as Sullivan *

Steven Gilborn Steven Neil Gilborn (July 15, 1936 – January 2, 2009) was an American actor and educator. Gilborn was born in New Rochelle, New York. He attended Swarthmore College, where he was awarded a bachelor's degree in English and earned a Ph.D. ...

as George M. Hill *

Jerry Maren Jerry Maren (born Gerard Marenghi; January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018) was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film '' The Wizard of Oz.'' He became the last surviving adult Munchki ...

as Mr. Munchkin *Elizabeth Barrington as Mrs. Munchkin *David Ellzey as Scarecrow *Derek Loughran as Tin Man (as Derek Loughram) *

Christopher Pettiet Christopher Lee Pettiet (February 12, 1976 – April 12, 2000) was an American television and film actor best known for his role as Jesse James in the Western TV series ''The Young Riders'' and as Zach Crandell in the cult comedy film '' Don't ...

as Teenage Frank Jr. *Ryan Todd as Robert Stanton Baum *Alexis Kirschner as Tweety Robbins *

Paul Linke Paul Linke (born May 6, 1948) is an American actor, known for his role as Officer Arthur "Artie" Grossman in the television series ''CHiPs''. Linke has worked in film and extensively in television, mostly portraying mild-mannered everyman role ...

as Opie Read (uncredited)

Reception

In his TV Preview, Tom Shales of ''The Washington Post'' proclaimed the film 'cheerfully satisfying', and praised the production values, but wasn't impressed with Ritter's performance. John J. O'Connor of ''The New York Times'' praised Ritter's performance and called the film 'heartwarming'. Howard Rosenberg of the ''Los Angeles Times'' dubbed it 'long on mush and short on magic', but praised the recreations from the original stories.

References

External links

* * 1990 television films 1990 films 1990s biographical films American biographical films Films directed by Jack Bender Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson Films scored by Lee Holdridge NBC original films Films based on The Wizard of Oz Biographical films about writers Oz studies L. Frank Baum 1990s American films {{Oz-stub