In the novel, Ozma's father King Pastoria is said to be dead. In this play, the Scarecrow asks "Isn't Pastoria dead and gone?" to which Glinda replies "That is the popular belief." This may be an allusion to the Oz works of Ruth Plumly Thompson, the author licensed to continue the series after L. Frank Baum's death. In The Lost King of Oz (1925), a rescue party searches for Pastoria, who is living with amnesia in a remote region of Oz, surrounded by decoys and red herrings.
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, was written by L. Frank Baum, and published on July 5, 1904 by Reilly & Britton publishers in Chicago.
The mad scientist Dr. Nikidik was only mentioned briefly in the book. A previous adaptation, The Land of Oz (1960), had Jonathan Winters play "Lord General Nikidik", who was essentially a male version of Jinjur.
In his original sequel to The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum responded to the popularity of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman in their 1902 stage incarnation, and made them the focus of advertising. Dorothy Gale was left out, because her stage incarnation was not very popular. However, readers expressed indignation the lack of Dorothy. Baum came to realize that this was a great mistake, so the third Oz book Ozma of Oz was written with her as the centerpiece, much as in the original Wizard story. Baum included Dorothy in all subsequent Oz book projects, although in some she was only a cameo appearance. The Cowardly Lion also returned in Ozma of Oz and subsequent books, but never had a starring role in Baum's version.
This is the third known feature-length adaptation of the novel to survive on film/video. It is more faithful than The Land of Oz (1960) and The Wonderful Land of Oz (1969). The cartoon Journey Back to Oz (1972) was only broadly based on the novel.