Customer Reviews (1)

A great classic
A great classic and very well written score.Condition of the music was very good.It is getting harder to find this vintage of sheet music that is in usable condition.
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Dear Readers,

I will never forget the morning that Meinhardt Raabe’s agent called me and insisted on stopping by my office that very same day. "I’ve got a Wizard of Oz project that you have to see to believe." From the moment I looked at Mr. Raabe’s charming memoir and his remarkable collection of Oz memorabilia, Iknew this would be a book unlike any that I have published.

Memories of A Munchkin, written by Meinhardt Raabe with Daniel Kinske, almost feels like three books in one.

Part one is a memoir by Raabe who stepped into film history at the age of 23 when he played the Munchkin coroner in THE WIZARD OF OZ. It’s a charming and inspiring story that begins on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, moves to his appearance in a special "Midget Village" exhibit at the 1934 World's Fair and on to Hollywood. Through an agent, Raabe was cast in THE WIZARD OF OZ and much of the memoir is devoted to his account of working on the most beloved film of all time - enduring tough auditions, watching as the glorious Munchkinland set was built, putting up with long days of rehearsal, being costumed by legendary MGM designer Adrian, hob-nobbing on the set with the stars, witnessing various mishaps during filming, being visited on the set by curious Hollywood royalty such as Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable, and much more. Here, too, is Raabe's life after THE WIZARD OF OZ: His career as an accomplished pilot with the Civil Air Patrol during World War II; more than 30 years as "Little Oscar," spokesman for the Oscar Mayer ompany; his charity work and his role as advocate and kindred spirit to Little People everywhere. Mr. Raabe’s memoir is lavishly illustrated with the most incredible material such as! blueprints of the Munchkinland set, Adrian’s costume sketches, MGM’s original Oz matte paintings, and many rare, behind-the-scenes photos from director Victor Fleming’s personal scrapbook.

Part two of the book is the most complete collection of OZ movie posters and lobby cards ever published. Included are a beautiful watercolor painted by the legendary Al Hirschfeld, and the jumbo window card that was originally displayed in Mr. Raabe’s hometown theater of Watertown, WI!

Part three is a collection of specially commissioned Oz art from some of the world’s best-known and best-loved illustrators – people like Al Hirschfeld, Frank Frazetta, Mort Drucker, Jack Davis and Frank Kelly Freas. I especially like Ron Dias’ painting of what he imagines the interior of a Munchkin house would look like, and Philo Barnhart’s piece that combines the main characters of Oz with those of Snow White. Duck Edwing’s piece, Hearse of a Different Color, could not be more colorful or more charming. And you won’t believe all the detail – and clever humor – in Tom Bunk’s piece depicting the Kansas tornado at the beginning of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Put it all together and you have a treasure trove of Oz stories and memorabilia. No fan of this beloved Hollywood classic will want to be without Memories of A Munchkin.

Mark GlubkeSenior EditorBack Stage Books ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Going to keep as a collectors item
This is the second purchase for this item. The Second seller had the item. The book is in collector quality. (In our humble opinion).

Memories of a Munchkin
My sister was a drama major in college and has been extremely involved in theater for many years.I live at Penney Retirement Community where Meinhardt Raabe lives, so my sister has had a chance to meet him and have a short visit with him.Each time he appears at some Wizard of Oz function and gets his picture in the paper in this area, I cut it out for her.She has quite a collection by now.I purchased the book for my sister's birthday, and Meinhardt signed it.I wrote the dedication, as he is not able to write more than his name at this point.But he was very happy to sign it for her.She received it and was thrilled!The book arrived in excellent condition and in a timely manner.Thank you so much.

Memories of a Munchkin review
Memories of a Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down the Yellow Brick Road The book came in a timely manner and in great shape. I have a personal interest in this book and am researching all I can about Meinhardt Raabe. I recently found out I am a relative of Meinhardt Raabe. My mother, who has met him only once, is a second cousin to him. She met and spoke to him after singing in the church choir one Sunday morning around 1946 when she was 15 years old. Supposedly Meinhardt lived only a half mile up the road from my grandparents farm. I am truly amazed at what an active and adventurous life he experienced. Taking full advantage of his short stature. When Mienhardt passes, he will be buried next to his wife in the same cemetery as many of my relatives. I wish I had known about him sooner because I used to drive to Florida, where he lives in a retirement community, and could have stopped in to meet him but now I fly only to South Florida and it would take an eight hour trip by car to visit him at Penney Farms. So I need to make special plans in order to meet him for he is now 94 yrs. old.

Thanks,
Randall Buchta

An Extraordinary Piece of Work
This book surpassed all my expectations.

A classy, large-format layout, nicely-designed, and loaded with illustrations.

You get the memoir of the Munchkin Coroner, Raabe, which provides a lot of making-of perspectives and the tale of someone who was a regular inhabitant of such show biz oddities as "Midget Villages" early in his life.

Additionally, a whole boat of notable 20th century artists are on board to celebrate and riff on the image of a Munchkin Coroner. This, in itself, is worth the price of admission. Hirschfeld, Frazetta, Aragones, Jack Davis, Drew Stuzan, Drew Freidman, Aragones, Severin, et al. My personal favorites are a photo-realist and highly commercial image of Garland by Stuzan that really captures the essence of her in the role and a kicky EC Comics parody by one Don Perlin.

It is just a big, goofy celebration of the fact that this film has burned itself into the collective conciousness of the 20th century.

A very charming read
As an avid Wizard of Oz fan for almost 20 years now, I've read just about every book about the making of the movie. I was beginning to feel that there was nothing more for me to learn about this movie, until I read this book. Mr. Raabe's book gives a very interesting, fresh perspective about making the film, or at least the Munchkinland sequences. His writing style is conversational, so you feel as though he's sitting right there telling you all about what it was like to be on the beautiful Munchkinland set (describing details that I had missed in my many viewings of the movie), what it was like to meet Judy Garland, and other behind-the-scenes tid-bits. His Munchkin Coroner career aside, Mr. Raabe has had a fascinating life as the original Little Oscar mascot for Oscar Mayer, and as a flight instructor for the Civil Air Patrol. In addition, there are many photos from the making of the film, which I have never seen before, as well as original art that was commisioned for this book and shows many different artists' interpretations of Oz and Munchkinland. I very highly recommend this book for any Oz fan! ... Read more

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In 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced Boys Town, a timeless classic about Father Flanagan's home for wayward boys. Now you may read how MGM's "Dream Machine" came face to face with a celebrated priest's "Character Factory." New research presents the backstory to fans of the film. Movie mogul Louis B. Mayer and Father Edward J. Flanagan held winning hands in a high-stakes movie biography. Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney starred. Gene Reynolds (Tony Ponessa), Martin Spellman (Skinny), and Frankie Thomas (Freddie Fuller), explain how a half-dozen proposed scripts created a legendary Oscar-winning movie in exclusive interviews. ... Read more

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"There is a particular spot in those wild regions which lie somewhere near the northern parts of Baffin''s Bay, where Nature seems to have set up her workshop for the manufacture of icebergs, where Polar bears, in company with seals and Greenland whales, are wont to gambol, and where the family of Jack Frost may be said to have taken permanent possession of the land." ... Read more