Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz

Plot

Aunt Em prepares a Thanksgiving feast when Dorothy sees the Wizard of Oz stealing the mince pie. He has built a green turkey-shaped balloon for a Thanksgiving parade, but the balloon drifts away with Dorothy and Toto clinging to it, carrying them to Oz. Jack Pumpkinhead greets Dorothy, but a new menace, Tyrone the Terrible Toy Tinker, brings the turkey balloon to life and plans to conquer the Emerald City. Dorothy and Jack head to Tyrone's tower, encountering a living pie named U.N. Krust, the Hungry Tiger (a vegetarian), and Tic Toc the mechanical man.

The green turkey snatches Dorothy and brings her to Tyrone, whom she scolds and persuades to make Christmas toys instead. Queen Ozma rewards Dorothy by bringing her aunt and uncle to Oz permanently for a Thanksgiving feast with all their Ozite friends. The special includes three songs: "Oz Can Be", "Beans in Your Button", and "Christmas, Toys and Oz".

Reception

Paul Simpson, in A Brief Guide to Oz, described the special as not well regarded, though it incorporates elements of the original Baum saga rarely seen elsewhere. In The Road to Wicked, Kent Drummond, Susan Aronstein, and Terri L. Rittenburg noted that Thanksgiving in Oz introduced a recurring theme of loss and return in post-70s Oz narratives, using Oz to recall adults to their true selves.

Did You Know?

• The special aired on Showtime in November 1985 and November 1986.
• It aired on HBO in 1986 and 1987.
• The retitled version Dorothy in the Land of Oz was used for the CBS repeat on December 10, 1981 and all subsequent airings.