The series features stories derived from characters created in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Several characters are given additional names, including Dandy the Cowardly Lion, Rusty the Tin Man, and Socrates the Strawman. In this adaptation, rather than being dropped by a tornado, Dorothy and Toto are blown in from Kansas through a hole cut out of the landscape.
Each episode is a brief vignette about an adventure that the characters are involved in, often centering around the Wizard's attempts to fulfil the characters' wishes.
Artistic renditions of the Oz characters created for this series were later featured in the hourlong television specialReturn to Oz. The series was also adapted to a comic book for a one-shot issue in Dell'sFour Color #1308 (March–May 1962).
As of 2018[update], this series has yet to be released on DVD.
^Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 911–912. ISBN978-1476665993.