Vol. 64, no. 2 (Autumn 2020)
| Editor-in-Chief | Sarah K. Crotzer |
| Production Editor | Sarah K. Crotzer (uncredited) |
| Associate Editor | Nick Campbell |
| Bibliography Editor | Peter E. Hanff |
| News Editor | Zoe O’Haillin-Berne |
| Reviews Editor | Atticus Gannaway |
| Editorial Assistant | Christina Maffa |
Front cover art by Mike Ploog (Return to Oz)
Interior front and back cover art by Harley Jessup (sketches for Return to Oz)
Back cover art from the Walt Disney Archives (Return to Oz)
Autumn 2020 Selected Contents
This is a guide to the articles and reviews from the issue that will most benefit researchers, scholars, and collectors. The printed issue includes additional content such as news, editorial letters, and other commentary-based departments.
Outside Over There: In Praise of Walter Murch’s Return to Oz
Sarah K. Crotzer makes the case for a re-evaluation of Return to Oz, starting off this 35th anniversary issue.
Dancer in the Dark: Michael Sundin in Oz
Nick Campbell pulls back the curtain on the short but remarkable life of Michael Sundin, the young performer inside Return to Oz‘s Tik-Tok costume.
Unpleasant Dreams: Electroshock Therapy in Return to Oz
Karen Diket investigates the reality of electroconvulsive therapy and its anachronistic yet thematic use in Return to Oz.
Brooding Yet Beautiful: A Conversation with Harley Jessup
The Bugle is honored to be granted first printing of this interview between Walt Disney Archivist Kevin Kern and Pixar production designer Harley Jessup, originally conducted for Pixar’s oral history program. Jessup was a pre-production artist on Return to Oz and this issue includes nine of his paintings in full color.
30 Beautiful Heads: Return to Oz Through a Disability Lens
Coyote Shook examines the empowering iconography of Baum’s Oz as translated by Walter Murch’s film, a world where bodies come in imperfect forms and are all the more valued because of it, with antagonists threatening conformity, cure, and obliteration of personal identity.
There Must Have Been Some Magic Words: Novelizations of Return to Oz
Nick Campbell sits down to read the three published novelizations of the film, comparing the two textual variants of Joan D. Vinge’s feature-length work and the junior edition by “Alistair Hedley” (Neil Philip), all of which present a slightly different take on the screenplay—and occasionally include cut sequences.
Return to Elstree: Walter Murch and Oz at Elstree Studios
Historian Howard Berry shares excerpts from his interview with director Walter Murch, recorded for the famous British studio’s oral history project.