“To please a child is a sweet and a lovely thing that warms one’s heart and brings its own reward.” — L. Frank Baum, in a note to his sister
Time to wrap up this year’s “notable genre anniversaries” with our final four. Hope you enjoy these classics!
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900): 120 years
L. Frank Baum’s children’s fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was originally published in mid-1900, and the 10,000 first-editions sold out quickly (as would subsequent editions). A slightly revised but popular Broadway musical adaptation premiered — minus the ‘Wonderful’ in the title — two years later, and the iconic live-action film came out in 1939. Over one million copies of the book had been printed by 1938, and sales reached three million by 1956. The book’s lavish-for-the-time design — including a novel typeface and W.W. Denslow’s many color images — was considered by some crucial to the telling of the story, and Denslow’s style would be imitated by others in the years that followed.
Baum’s intent was to invoke the likes of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen for his “American fairy tales” but with a less dark tone. An additional influence in some areas of style and certain characters was Lewis Carroll’s *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland* (see below). Many of the characters, places/things, and other elements were drawn from Baum’s family, jobs, travels, and experiences, both from childhood and adulthood.
Critical response in those early years was quite positive, and the novel (with the 13 sequels Baum wrote) gained a worldwide readership, largely thanks to translations into many languages and some revisions for culture and location. The 1950s thru 1980s, though, saw negative critiques which included assertions that the story a) brought children’s minds to a “cowardly level” or b) promoted “godless supernaturalism” or c) simply had no literary merit. Nevertheless, *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz* has become one of the best-known pieces of children’s lit in the world, and the Library of Congress declared it to be “America’s greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale”.
In addition to multiple reprints and new editions and Baum’s sequels, Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote 21 more sequels after Baum’s death in 1919. There were three silent films made before the extremely successful Technicolor “talkie” (1939). There have been comic book adaptations and a pop-up centennial edition, as well as spin-offs, unofficial sequels, and reinterpretations. There have been many references/homages in film, TV, and music. And, let’s not forget the plethora of merchandise and memorabilia of all sorts.
The Time Machine (1895): 125 years
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells may not have been the first to utilize the concept of time travel, but it popularized the idea of using a device or vehicle to intentionally travel back-and-forth through time — a device for which Wells coined the familiar term “time machine”. The novella utilized concepts from Wells’ earlier short story titled “The Chronic Argonauts” (1888). The longer story, which uses a frame narrative, was first published by Heinemann in serial form in the January to May issues of The New Review, This was immediately followed in book form (also in May 1895) by Henry Holt and Company, though the two texts have some differences.
The story incorporated various of Wells’ own experiences and childhood memories, as well as evincing such things as his socialist political views and the contemporary angst about industrial relations. It is also known for using symbolism, e.g., fire for civilization. When combined with the various scientific speculations (e.g., what the Earth might be like millions of years in the future), it is no surprise that Wells’ work has been the subject of several academic articles published in scholarly journals over the past few decades.
There have also been numerous radio broadcasts and other audio adaptations, plays, novels, short stories, comic books, TV shows, and films that have either adapted Wells’ original tale or used it as a basis for their own stories. Plus, of course, the various versions of the story have inspired the usual merchandise and memorabilia.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870): 150 years
Originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in the Magasin d’éducation et de récréation, a deluxe, illustrated book edition of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: A World Tour Underwater was published by Hetzel in November 1871. The world soon became familiar with the adventures of marine biologist Pierre Aronnax and master harpooner Ned Land with the mysterious and vengeance-driven Captain Nemo in his wondrous submarine, the Nautilus. (The vessel was inspired by the model of a newly developed French submarine that Verne examined at the 1867 Exposition Universelle.)
The novel contains allusions and homages to various scientists, engineers, and explorers of Verne’s time, as well as drawing inspiration from the likes of Herman Melville, Victor Hugo, and Homer’s The Odyssey. Critics note that the tale (and, in particular, Nemo) champions the underdog, the poor and oppressed. It has also been said to have anticipated the ecology movement and influenced French avant-garde imagery. The Nautilus itself accurately describes many features of today’s submarines, and the diving gear used by its passengers is an ingenious combination of a surface-supplied hardhat suit with a primitive scuba system.
From the beginning, Twenty Thousand Leagues has been quite well-received. It is not only considered one of Verne’s greatest works but one of the premiere adventure novels. There have been several English translations (the first being notoriously poor), translations into other languages, and special editions. There was a silent film version (1916), feature films (including the Disney adaptation (1954)), videos, miniseries, graphic novels, and the usual variety of mostly merchandise.
Alice meets the Caterpillar (original by Tenniel, but colorized for The Nursery “Alice”
Alice in Wonderland (1865): 155 years
Even older than Twenty Thousand Leagues is our final entry: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (usually shortened to Alice in Wonderland) by Lewis Carroll. A mathematician among other things, Carroll — pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson — played a lot with math, logic, and language in his fantasy writing, giving us a prime example of the ‘literary nonsense’ genre. The story began as an oral tale told to the three daughters of Henry Liddell (Lorina, Alice, & Edith) on a boat trip up the Isis River. They loved it, and 10-year-old Alice asked for a written copy. She got an early manuscript with illustrations by Carroll, but three years later the expanded, final manuscript was published by Macmillan with illustrations by John Tenniel.
Beloved by children and adults alike, Carroll’s story includes many allusions to people, places, and things familiar to him either personally or by reputation. For example, ‘Alice’ is Alice Liddell, ‘The Mock Turtle’ is art critic John Ruskin, the ‘Rabbit Hole’ symbolized the stairs at the rear of the Christ Church’s main hall at Oxford. He utilizes riddles and wordplay, and it has been noted that he likes to use “representations of food and appetite”, including the “Curious Appetites” (of words and food) that motivate young Alice.
While Alice in Wonderland was not well-received critically at first, the tide turned much in its favor with the publication of the sequel, Through the Looking Glass (1871). Carroll also published a young children’s version, The Nursery “Alice”, in 1890. In the many years since, there have been multitudes of works (and merchandise) based on or inspired/influenced by Carroll’s best-known tale. They include translations into many dozens of languages, over 100 print editions, new novels, art, comic books, comic strips, numerous film and television adaptations, plays (including musicals from opera to rock), ballets, traditional English pantomimes, theme park rides, board games, video games, and a variety of other toys and related items. I’m sure neither Carroll nor young Miss Liddell had any idea how much joy and entertainment would be brought to the world from those odd tales of a little girl and her fantastic, often nonsensical friends.
A few years ago, writer/editor Robert McCrum called Alice in Wonderland “one of the best loved in the English canon” and “perhaps the greatest, possibly most influential, and certainly the most world-famous Victorian English fiction”.
That’s it for 2020’s notable genre anniversaries! Hope you enjoyed the series and maybe learned a few fun facts; I sure did!
Heroes and Aliens 