Warner Brothers

GW447H226 — Follow the Yellow Brick Shield to watch Oz in 3D!

Warner Brothers is a company founded in 1923 which bought the rights to 1939's The Wizard of Oz from MGM, along with all of the movies the latter produced before 1986 sometime between 1997-1999. This is evident because MGM released the very first DVD release of the film in 1997 and Warner Brothers released the 60th Anniversary DVD in 1999. The copyright is set to expire in 2035.

Warner Brothers uses the copyright in order to claim exclusive TV and distribution rights to profit on the sales of official Oz merchandise. Their television network the WB intended to pick up Lost in Oz (pilot) as a series to air in 2002 but such was canceled in part due to actress Melissa George moving to the US as her previous contract had expired.

Beginning in 2009, they entered licensing agreements with different video game developers. The first of these collaborations was The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment distributed the game through it was created by Media.Vision with XSeed Games who translated it. They have also contracted with Zynga for the games The Wizard of Oz: Magic Match and others. The Interactive team has also contributed to the making of LEGO Dimensions which features Oz content.

Starting in 2011, the Warner Brothers Animation division has created versions of the story featuring Tom and Jerry, along with an original sequel series released to Boomerang. Oz characters also appear in The LEGO Movie offshoots, as the franchise utilizes a hodgepodge of WB-owned IPs.

In 2014, the television branch of the company was announced to be working on Red Brick Road (TV series), but the status of the project is unknown.

In 2016, they commissioned a four part children's book series called Dorothy and Toto written by Debbi Michiko Florence.

In 2018 they announced an adaptation of Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz.

In 2021, their division New Line Cinema announced a new film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (book) after suggesting they optioned a horror movie in 2017.

Also on July 16, 2021, the Wicked Witch of the West appeared as a villain in Space Jam: A New Legacy. This version of her exists in a virtual simulation called the Serververse living among other WB properties.

In April 2022 the parent company became Warner Brothers Discovery with the film division being a subsidiary.

In July they announced a theme part district for the Warner Bros. Movie World location in Australia. It was initially set to open sometime in 2024 though delayed with a "coming soon" notice while possibly opening in December. It is planned to feature a number of rides around areas based on Kansas, the Witch’s Castle, Munchkinland, and the Emerald City. Two roller coasters are planned as called Kansas Twister and Flight Of The Wicked Witch.

Currently they have a regular character appearance of Dorothy Gale who does a daily performance around the Main Street area singing Over the Rainbow within a ten minute slot. In November 2024 they added a specfic Wizard of Oz merchandise store on Main Street. A conceptual advert was released in May 2024 while construction was still ongoing in June.

Between December 27th, 2024 and January 19th, 2025 in particular, characters such as Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion with new addition Glinda will part of the Hooray for Hollywood event.

Per the original announcement: “Prepare to Journey Over the Rainbow with a world-first Wizard of Oz precinct including two new family-friendly rides coming to Warner Bros. Movie World in 2024. Featuring a suspended coaster, a boomerang racer and immersive theming, the Wizard of Oz precinct will be designed to thrill the entire family. Experience thematic elements including projection mapping, stunning sculptures and facades as you travel along the Yellow Brick Road”. This will be the second ever dedicated area based on Oz at a multi-franchise theme park after the since removed district in Universal Studios Japan based mostly on the books without any film rights.

On August 15, they announced yet another Oz film that will be a reimaging of the 1939 film separate from the New Line project. This is to be directed by Kenya Barris with producing done by his company Khalabo Ink Society. The intended title is reported to be simply The Wizard of Oz.

They also technically owned the assets of the Selig Polyscope Company as they merged in 1936 with First National Pictures which had bought them out before 1925. This is known because First National re-released footage of Fairylogue and Radio-Plays in 1925 but it is unclear if the footage was lost before or after the merger.

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Mervyn LeRoy who produced the 1939 film also made movies for Warner Brothers as he worked under First National in 1927–1929 before going into the main studio from 1929–1938. He then went to work for MGM and came back for a while from 1955–1959 until his retirement.
A 1929 film called So Long Letty starred Charlotte Greenwood who played Ann Soforth in the stage production The Tik-Tok Man of Oz. It had originated as a musical produced by Oliver Morosco who discovered her after seeing the Tik-Tok production.