Oz and , Oz, and television merged with the arrival on of the Muppets. The memorable cast of lovable characters were designed with young children in mind by James Maury “Jim” Henson. Born on September 24, 1936, Henson loved the movies and never forgot seeing The Wizard of Oz as a child. It had a profound influence on the future .

As early as 1970 Wizard of Oz references were made by Muppet characters. Margaret Hamilton famously reprised her role as the Wicked Witch of West in 1976 with Oscar the Grouch, and Elton John sang “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” on the show the following year. In 1978 Alice Cooper was the guest star; Robin the Frog sings “Over the Rainbow” to him in one of the show’s calmer moments. The Muppet Babies were dressed as the Oz characters on the cover Muppet Babies: Classic Children's Tales. Fun moments in 1981’s “Muppets Go to the Movies” included , Fozzie, , and Foo-Foo singing a medley of Oz songs. The Cookie Monster searched for “The Cookie of Oz” in a 2015 parody. In 2013 Miss Piggy posed with the Ruby Slippers on the occasion of a collection gifted to the Smithsonian by the Henson family.

Celebrity Muppet Memories  Margaret Hamilton reprised her role of the Wicked Witch of the West on Sesame Street in 1976.  Elton John sung his hit "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" in 1977.  Alice Cooper guest starred on in 1978 when Robin the Frog sings "Over the Rainbow".  joined a Muppets Tonight episode in 1996 where he says, "we're not in Kansas anymore?” in conversation with Clifford.  Rosie O'Donnell is a stylish Good Hope Fairy in the 1994 Muppet special Stars and Street Forever! Her costume is clearly Glinda from the 1939 film.  Jason Bateman In is directing Wicked at his daughter’s grade school in a 2015 episode of The Muppets. He recruits Kermit to help.

Memorable Muppet Moments  The Muppets Go to the Movies (1981) features Miss Piggy as Dorothy, Foo-Foo as Toto, Scooter as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as the Tin Woodman, and as the Cowardly Lion in a medley of songs from the MGM film, including "Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain," and "We're Off to See the Wizard."  A Muppet retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin includes the Pied Piper (Jean-Pierre Rampal) leading children out of a rat village with "Ease on Down the Road" from The Wiz.  Kermit appeared in the 1996 TV special Smithsonian Fantastic Journey commenting on the museum's exhibit for Dorothy's slippers worn by Judy Garland. Seventeen years later, Miss Piggy posed with the slippers when the Henson family gifted a collection gifted to the museum.  In , as Rizzo the Rat cries out from a wind tunnel, "Auntie Em! Auntie Em! It's a twister!”  Muppet Babies: Classic Children's Tales cover featured Baby Piggy as Dorothy, Baby Kermit as the Scarecrow, Baby Gonzo as the Tin Woodman, and Baby Fozzie as the Cowardly Lion. The photo was also used in a calendar released the same year.  Muppet Babies Live! included two songs "Ease on Down the Road" and "I'm a Mean Ole Lion" from The Wiz. Need more? Check the Muppet Wizard of Oz Wiki page. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz Oz puppets in other lands The first Wizard of Oz show produced in Europe to tour the US arrived from the Salzburg Marionette Theatre of Austria. Based on the book rather than the MGM film, the renowned puppet company toured with The Wizard of Oz in the 1950s. They were followed by the Stockholm Marionette Theatre of Fantasy in 1966. Their puppets, which were large and unusual, shared the stage with a costumed actor playing the role of the Cowardly Lion.

Selected productions from around the world also include:

PUK puppet theater, also in Japan, has performed modern puppetry since 1929. They share their Tokyo bulding with offices of Union Internationale de la Marionnette and the Japan Modern Puppetry Center. When this company presents The Wizard of Oz, they fill the stage with a combination of oversized puppet, props, and people. Twirling yellow brick parasols are just one example of how choreography is integrated into the production.

Jersey Amateur Dramatic Club of St. Saviour, Jersey, the Channel Islands off the coast of France produced of The Wizard of Oz using costumed actors and giant Munchkin puppets. Directed by Nick Carver with choreography by Christophe Chateau, the puppets were made by Andy Heath and Lestyn Evans. Each Munchkins was about four-foot tall with its feet attached to the shoes of a puppeteer, who then moved and danced to drive the puppet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrMWfjx__i0

— Zhongguo Muou Yishutuan [China Puppet Art Troupe]. Based in Beijing and founded in 1955 the company has performed more than 300 plays, primarily for family audiences, The Wizard of Oz, among them. Traveling around the world they have won awards for artistic excellence at international festivals in Hungary and Yugoslavia. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2017-07/28/content_30283631.htm

-- Teatro Nacional de Guiñol [National Puppet Theatre] Founded in Havana, Cuba in 1963, the company is the largest and most prestigious company in Cuba performing for audiences of all ages in schools, squares, other public places, as well as in their own theatre. The company first produced The Wizard of Oz in 1968.

-- Guizzi di Marionette (Marionette Moments), offers a 25-minute musical production of Il Gioco del Mago di Oz (The Magical Game of Oz). Puppetry and puppets by Francesco Furone and Lucia Carella, a second-generation puppeteer, follow an adaptation by Robert Cavalli. Their Oz production uses oversized marionettes, as befits the land that gave Pinocchio to the world. Dart Flash Wiggle Flicker Movement http://guizzidimarionette.blogspot.com/2012/04/spettacoli-di-guizzi-di-marionette-in.html -- Augsburger Puppenkiste, (Doll Crate of Augsburg) Augsburg Germany, traces its orgins to 1940. Their first theater was destroyed by bombs in 1943. Today the company and its museum operate in Heilig-Geist-Spital creating puppets for theater and television. Der Zauberer von Oz was adapted by the group as a radio play in 1972 with puppet shows performed in 1975 and 2013. https://www.stars-an-faeden.de/apkchronik/proddet.php?prod_id=301

-- Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Puppet Theater, performed a rod puppet and marionette production of The Wizard of Oz in July 2017 at the China Children’s Theater Festival in Beijing. Although the story is familiar to Chinese children, this is believed to be the first puppet show of Baum’s tale staged in the country. Alexander Volkov is sometimes believed to be the story’s original author; his Russian translation of Baum’s work was first translated into Chinese in 1960 and published there with no mention of Baum. http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/showbiz/14/20170728/11920.html

Companyia Sebastià Vergés (Company Sebastia Verges) is now in the hands of third- generation Spanish puppeteer Sebastià Vergés i Martínez. The company’s current Oz production, El Fantàstic Màgic D'Oz, is performed in Catalan and features hand puppets. It includes original music and songs by Joan B. Torrella Ibáñez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ej35AKb9sQ

Jeral Puppets of Sydney includes The Wizard of Oz in its repertoire of 123 shows. Jackie and John Lewis have performed since 1966. His great uncle was the family’s first puppeteer; their son joined joined the company business ten years ago. With four Puppeteria theaters and their home housing more than 1,000 puppets, the Lewis family continues to bring The Wizard of Oz to Australia.

Theater Jo owner and puppeteer Jo Taira, is the youngest person ever to win Japan’s National Puppetry Organization's Silver Award. He grew up in a performing family where he debuted as a puppeteer at age 12. His Wizard of Oz performance brings 30 character puppets to the stage in a musical production that lasts 2.5 hours. The popular artist has his own Theater Joe and is followed by an avid fan club. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNo--I2rRA

Puppets for all Puppets mass produced for children to play with at home have been popular for almost as long as professional shows. A Tin Woodman puppet that sold at Disneyland’s Geppetto’s toy store appeared on Ebay a few years ago, but far more common are the Hazelle Marionettes produced by a company in Kansas City. Founded in 1935, Hazelle created marionettes, finger puppets and hand puppets. Although they didn’t offer a Tin Woodman, their line included Dorothy, Scarecrow/Strawman, Lion, and Wicked Witch. A slightly modified version of the story added “Mike” to the plot. Once the story was in public domain, these products that didn’t reflect the MGM characterizations were easy for manufacturers to sell.

Meanwhile, other kids and parents made their own Oz puppets at home.

Less expensive hand puppets became popular as marketing premiums. Most notably Proctor and Gamble offered puppets with figural heads and plastic bodies with soap products in the 1960 to advertise the Off to See the Wizard animated television cartoon. A Emerald City paper theater was available as a mail-in offer. Additonal puppets promoting Off to See the Wizard, were simpler still; the characters were printed on flat plastic shapes and packaged with snack food. Another approach to puppet-izing that production was the finger tip hand puppet with an enclosed voice box. With the pull of a string the various characters spoke recorded lines.

And what Oz fan wasn’t eating Smucker’s jam in 1985? The only way to get plush hand puppets of Scarecrow, Tik Tok or Gump was by sending in labels with $4.99.

MGM-styled puppets were among the popular products offered in 1989 to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary. Young fans could easily accompany or act out the entire film with the brand name toys.

Help us build an online photo gallery of Wizard of Oz hand puppets; send a clear image and description to [email protected]. Include “Puppets” in the subject line.