One of the best known films and a piece of American popular culture “The Wizard of Oz”, is known for its fantasy storytelling, and unusual characters. The marriage of a classic story like “The Wizard of Oz” with a Christmas theme would be an effortless draw for any audience. “Wizard of Claus”, is a new holiday tradition which is an obvious parody of the classic tale conceived by Adam Kreutinger, Jason Bravo, and Justin Karcher.
What Happens?
Sally is a spunky 12-year-old girl who’s feeling a little left out. Her parents just had another baby, and have not been paying as much attention to Sally. Frustrated with her parents, Sally heads outside to begin building a snowman.
A sudden storm takes Sally to a gray world. A place of mystery and magic – a winter wonderland. There she meets a snowman who is her guide and best friend in this new world.
On her Quest, Sally finds a magical shovel, but suddenly the evil Krampus appears and demands Sally hand over the shovel to her. Armed with the power of the shovel, Sally continues on her journey and meets new friends. The unlikely quartet make their way to the City of Claus to warn the Wizard about Krampus before it’s too late. Along the way, Sally learns the true meaning of friendship and family.
What’s the Show About?
The show is a creative tour-de-force featuring original music, dialogue, innovative puppetry and new characters. All the while, the show harnesses positivity and pride, using it as a thematic force teaching young ones that it is fine to be who you are.
The three fantastical characters (puppets) all deal with specific issues and phobias. Candy – the candy cane thinks no one likes her. Dry-Clean-Only, the snowman, thinks he has snow for brains and isn’t very smart. And Antler, the reindeer is afraid of everything!
The Wizard Of Claus is also an exploration of family relationships. How children perceive and deal with the addition of a new baby to the family, and how parents learn to be sensitive to the needs of older children after a baby is born.
Lessons for the Classroom
Teachers can use the “Wizard Of Claus” as a teaching tool too. Students could read the classic “The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz” by L. Frank Baum in their classrooms and then compare and contrast, venn diagram style, between how the “Wizard Of Claus” Christmas adaptation of the story was different/similar to the original story. This would be a great way of discussing the concept of story adaptations as well.
