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Whenever you see the phrase “based on a true story,” you are seeing the gimmick meant to pull you in. This validity crutch is designed to make the consumer care about what they are about to watch or read. In the same way, many things presented to us are based on fictional material in the same way a true-life story might be. While many don’t think about this, there are a lot of movies, books and comics based on other forms of fiction. And the older the original story, the more likely it is in the public, not copyrighted domain, and probably has many more adaptations.

L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is no exception. Since its 1900 publication, due to the story’s popularity and accessibility, there are several notable adaptations. The ones that first need pointing out are the various sequels Baum himself wrote. There were 14 Oz books in total written by Baum, and several dozen others written since his death, authorized by his estate.

Other notable books based on Wizard of Oz would be Gregory’ MacGuire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternate fiction exploring the behavior and motivations behind the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. The sequel, Son of a Witch, was released in 2005.

MacGuire’s novel was also turned into a musical. Wicked debuted in 2003 and while borrowing the revisionist spirit of the novel, it also draws from the 1939 Technicolor movie starring Judy Garland. The Wizard of Oz movie that we all know and love is quite possibly the most popular adaptation, and in terms of cultural impact, almost stands on its own as an independent work. Other movies include the urbanized The Wiz, which featured new music and starred, among others, Michael Jackson as Scarecrow.

Currently, there are rumors that Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean) is in talks with Disney to do his next trilogy focusing on Oz, and game developer American McGee is pursuing a similar video game/movie franchise.

As far as live action is concerned, television has also brought several versions of Baum’s tale to life. However, the only two one might remember were recent shows – The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz and the steampunk postmodern miniseries SciFi’s Tin Man.

For comic books, Oz has been used several times, from the DC spoof series, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew to today’s Fables by Bill Willingham. Likewise, Alan Moore (V For Vendetta) recently wrote an erotic comic where Dorothy’s trip to Oz is shown as a series of sexual encounters. Illusive Arts Entertainment’s Dorothy is another dark look at Oz, but unique as a comic book in that they use models and pictures for each frame instead relying solely on illustrations. Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane also released a series of toys based on Wizard of Oz, but very graphic in presentation – Dorothy is a submissive S&M enthusiast, and the Scarecrow is a mutilated zombie.

Of course, these are just the big adaptations. Oz is referenced all the time, in shows like Scrubs, Futurama and even Stargate SG-1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, possibly in part of these adaptations, has become a staple in our collective consciousness.