As with many animated shows in the 80s and early 90s, they decided to appeal to early elementary kids with shows like Muppet Babies and Baby Looney Tunes. So, why shouldn't Oz get the same treatment? As we approach its 25th anniversary of Oz Kids TV show (September 14, 2021), we will look to this very odd and obscure take on the Land of Oz and its stories. First, if you did not that that this show existed, scroll to the bottom of this post to watch. Although, if you have seen the show, you know it follows the children of the Oz characters (from the books and movies) and takes us along on various adventures. Even Toto is called Toto 2 as it is Toto's pup. The show is definitely meant as a continuation story from the adventures in the books and movies; but, for the most part it is definitely focused on the books. Now, there is one part of the show that never made sense to me? On the Wikipedia page, it states that there were 26 episodes in the series; but, only 9 were released. So, the mystery is if there are 26 episodes that were produced originally for the ABC network, why did we only get 9 VHS stories? I plan on answering what I can; but, in the end this case may be left unsolved; but, at least we will have some more answers. So, The Oz Kids aired its first episode on September 14, 1996 (that's 24 years ago). As seen from the picture above, it only ran for 9 weeks, but apparently the Wikipedia page claims that their were 26 episodes aired between those 9 weeks. Now, the Oz Wiki page states that this was an erroneous statement given from a book, Happy Holidays--Animated!: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film as only 9 were ever released. You can find that book on Amazon. Now, knowing that there are two conflicting sources, we will need a third to validate which side might be more accurate. But first, let's look at the length of each episode, which supposedly aired at about 23 minutes per episode. Calculating that out, we get 19 episodes from the 9 VHS stories that were released. What about the other 7 episodes, which would get us to the 26 in total? That would have been about 2 to 3 more stories left in some archive. This also does mean that are either 7 episodes are not really there and someone just typed a wrong number or we are also missing 17 episodes from the series. So, what ever became of those episodes? That we may never know as it currently belongs to Disney and was produced by 4 different production companies. Now, another aspect of the mystery that needs to be addressed concerns that the show only ran for 9 weeks in total. If the episodes that we have aired, how many episodes aired in the 9 weeks that it was on TV? According to the picture above and the Wikipedia page, an episode was released every Saturday for 9 weeks. But, the episodes were supposedly only 23 minutes long, meaning that episodes would have to be aired about 2 to 3 times a week. Now, unless it aired like a mini series a week, this is quite a mystery to me. So, I posit my theory to you, which is that they only aired an episode a week and it was either shortened with less storyline or aired as a whole movie in the form we have now since they only released 9 movies (or episodes as they are calling them). Also, they must have only done 9 episodes as a whole because that is what we have today. I am also guessing that they had intended to have 26 episodes but the show did not do as great as it was expected and therefore left the network before the series had even ended. The Oz Wiki page backs this up as it says that since that book was wrong, it must have aired in shorter segments. Either way, it’s a unique show that has some fascinating mystery behind it and as always feel free to comment your theories below to questions I have asked in this post and have fun with it! Above, I have showcased some of the episodes that I really have enjoyed in The Oz Kids series; but, let me know, which ones did you like? If you have not seen any of them, click the link below and it will take you to the entire series that has been digitized from the VHS. Also, since I needed a third resource to validate which side is more accurate, I give you some great resource links to help further your theories and maybe you are the one to unravel this mystery once and for all.
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May 2024
AuthorMy name is Vinkus Ken and I have been a long time fan of many things in Oz and how their world truly does emulate much of ours. Did you know that they have a flag of their own? Or did you know that they have a law about only having 9 jurors in their courts? Also, Oz has a court system! I like to introduce facts that seem meaningless and bring meaning to them by comparing them to our world. So, come along on this journey and enjoy the ride. |