wicked

Our fantasy book discussion group met on Sunday to discuss Gregory Maguire's Wicked, in commemoration of the recent release of its musical's movie. How much the book, or the musical, is based on the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie as opposed to Baum's book was a major topic of discussion. Our answer was: mostly. Not too much of the distinctively Baum in it.

I got a confirmation of that when I checked the DVR today to see what was on Great Performances lately and found they had shown the Movies for Grownups Awards, sponsored by AARP. Alan Cumming hosted, boasting that he'd just turned 60, the spring chicken, but he and his show were far preferable to the average Oscar host and show. It moved along briskly, didn't waste time with a lot of follies, and Cumming's little songs were funnier than the average Oscar host's little songs ("Hey, Mr. Chalamet man, sing like Bob for me").

Anyway, the screenwriting award went to the writers for the Wicked movie, and Jeff Goldblum, who played the Wizard in that movie, introduced the winners by saying that their movie was based on a stage musical which was based on a book which was based on a movie which was based on another book. And there's your officially blessed answer: Maguire's book was based on the 1939 movie.