Happy Birthday, L. Frank Baum!

In honor of L. Frank Baum's birthday, Senior Editor, Paul Moliken, has compiled some trivia about this famous author's life and his most famous work turned movie. How much do you know about L. Frank Baum and The Wizard of Oz?

1.True or False: Baum was born before the Civil War.

2.True or False: The correct title to his most famous work is Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz.

3. True or False: The setting for what we call The Wizard of Oz is based on Baum’s time in South Dakota.

4. True or False: Baum never denied that political references were intended to be read into his famous book.

5. True or False: Baum wrote more than a dozen more books dealing with Oz.

6. True or False: Prior to writing about Oz, Baum praised the attempt at the “extermination” of Native Americans.

7. True or False: Baum’s last words were, "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands."

8. True or False: Baum used at least three female pseudonyms.

9. True or False: Baum never refers to the Munchkins as dwarf-like in height in the book.

10. True or False: The munchkins, as a group, have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

11. True or False: The dog who played Toto in the movie’s actual name was Otto.

12. True or False: The person originally cast as the Tin Man became famous on a TV sitcom.

13. True or False: The movie won only one Academy Award in the year of its release: Best Picture.

14. True or False: In the book, as opposed to the movie, Dorothy rescues her friends instead of merely being a damsel in distress.

Answers

1. True. L. Frank Baum was born in 1856 in Chittenango, New York, the seventh of nine children born to Cynthia Stanton and Benjamin Ward Baum.

2. False. The title of L. Frank Baum’s most well known work is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

3. True. The setting for what we call The Wizard of Oz is based on Baum’s time in South Dakota where he owned an unsuccessful store called “Baum’s Bazaar.”

4. False. Baum persistently denied that political references were intended to be read into his famous book saying it was intended for the enjoyment of children and nothing more.

5. True. Baum wrote more than a dozen books dealing with Oz including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz, Rinkitink in Oz, The Lost Princess of Oz, The Tin Woodman of Oz, The Magic of Oz, Glinda of Oz, Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, and Little Wizard Stories of Oz.

6. True. Prior to writing about Oz, Baum praised the attempt at the “extermination” of Native Americans.

7. True. Baum’s last words were, "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands."

8. True. Baum used at least three female pseudonyms including Edith Van Dyne, Suzanne Metcalf, and Laura Bancroft.

9. True. Baum never refers to the Munchkins as dwarf-like in height in the book. Instead he writes, they are “…not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age…”

10. True. The Munchkins, as a group, have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

11. False. The dog that played Toto was named Terry. Her name was changed to Toto posthumously.

12. True. Buddy Ebsen, the man originally cast as the Tin Man became famous for his role on The Beverly Hillbillies as Jed Clampett.

13. False. “Gone With the Wind” Won Best Picture. The Wizard of Oz won for music and Best Song. Judy Garland won a special juvenile Oscar.

14. True. In the book, as opposed to the movie, Dorothy rescues her friends instead of merely being a damsel in distress.