Thrice-Told Tales: Follow the Yellow Brick Road

As someone told me latelyEveryone deserves the chance to fly

Much like Alice in Wonderland,  The Wizard of Oz is a classic story that has grown and changed through many adaptations: from the original L. Baum book to the hit Broadway musical.  One of my favorite sites, Speculative Faith, has done a series on the changing story. But I'll focus primarily on two other adaptations, as the original is fairly well-known.
 The musically, loosely based on Maguire's novel, takes a lighter tone, portraying the Wicked Witch of the West as a misunderstood rebel, a young woman with a tragic past and a genuine desire to help the folk of Oz . I actually saw it performed in London and was greatly impressed by the special effects. While I was concerned about having a villain protagonist, I thought the show managed to maintain a moral code, if not a Christian one.

On the opposite end of things, "The Great Wishy Woz" is a two-part Adventures in Odyssey serial parodying the normal story, with Metal Guy, Mystic Mountain Lion, and Manny Kin played by familar voices.  It contains four short songs, but my favorite part is the ending, which subverts the traditional ba-humbug wizard while still having a fraud.

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Namesake, a webcomic that plays with several stories I've already mentioned here, including Alice and the concept of metafiction.  The main character, Emma Crewe, finds herself inside the Wizard of Oz , years after the original Dorothy. I won't say too much more to avoid spoilers (And because I'm about three months behind).