The Story and Songs of The Wizard of Oz is a vinyl record album that was released in 1969 by Disneyland Records. It runs for about 45 minutes and includes an illustrated 11 page booklet. It is based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which is retold as a radio theater-style way while featuring songs from the 1939 film to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The album has been described as a unique combination of the classic story from the original novel and the MGM film with the story being adapted by Jimmy Johnson. The record's case opens up into a giant-sized 11-page read-along picture storybook that contains magnificent and beautifully rendered full-color pastel painted illustration drawings by the Walt Disney studio's staff artists, where many characters have original designs, but some of the more classic characters are based on their classic designs.
The vinyl record adaptation is rather basic, but at times the text closely follows Baum's text, and the film's songs were licensed for the album. It opens with the studio chorus singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", then the story is narrated by Robie Lester as an adult Dorothy Gale, who introduces and tells the familiar classic adventure of how she and her dog Toto were taken from Kansas to the Land of Oz by a tornado. When Dorothy lands in Oz, the munchkins sing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" with the additional opening lyrics: "'till one fine day from Kansas way." The Good Witch of the North sends her off in the Silver Shoes to the Emerald City, then Dorothy meets the Scarecrow as he and the chorus sing "If I Only Had a Brain." Next they meet the Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion while "Follow The Yellow Brick Road/We're Off to See the Wizard" plays during the journey.
The kalidahs and the river are not included, the group encounter the poppy field, but the Lion falls asleep in the poppy field and is removed. The four friends visit the Wizard in the reverse order from the book with the Lion being first and Dorothy being last, then he sends them to destroy the Wicked witch of the West. The Wicked Witch's attacks are shortened to just the wolves, crows, and Winged Monkeys who take Dorothy to the witch, but there is no mention of the Golden Cap. "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead!" is reprised when the Wicked Witch of the West melts, and Dorothy rejoins her friends as they return to the emerald city where they discover that the Wizard is a humbug. The Wizard departs in his balloon, and Dorothy goes to Glinda to discover how to return home, and no details are told about the trip to Glinda, just that it was a long journey. At the end of the story, the song "In the Merry Old Land of Oz" plays.
