Adaptations and Allusions
In Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch, the Emerald City is a much darker place than in Baum's novels. It does have splendid palaces and gardens, but also sections beset by crime and poverty. Son of a Witch introduces Southstairs, an extensive political prison located in the caves below the Emerald City. The green glasses that are worn by the citizens are often used as a way to stop them seeing what is going on around them.
David Williamson (whose brother-in-law wrote the Oz-inspired musical Oz) wrote a play in 1987 called Emerald City. The term is used as a metaphor by the character Elaine Ross, describing Sydney as "the Emerald City of Oz", where people go expecting their dreams to be fulfilled, only to end up with superficial substitutes and broken dreams. The 2006 Sydney New Year's Eve Festivities were entitled "A Diamond Night in Emerald City" also in reference to Williamson's play and the "Diamond Night" alluding to the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2007. (The bridge was the centerpiece of the celebrations). Subsequently "Emerald City" has occasionally been used as an unofficial nickname for the city of Sydney. The Sydney based merchant banking and private equity firm Emerald Partners head office is on top of the Museum of Contemporary Art building located right on the Sydney Harbour foreshore at Circular Quay. The firm was named after Baum's book and the David Williamson play.
The city of Seattle, Washington, of the United States has used "The Emerald City" as its official nickname since the 1980s, because of how green it is in that region of the world, although that was previously in use by Eugene, Oregon.
A "Central City" is one of the chief settings of the 2007 Sci Fi television miniseries Tin Man, a re-imagining of Baum's world that makes allusive references to many of the locales of Oz. The "Outer Zone" (O.Z.) is described as a bleak rendition of the beautiful world of Oz. Central City is a completely computer-generated set, one of the largest for a television series of its time, according to the production designer, Michael Joy. Its scenic design features heavy elements of steampunk and also pays visual homage to Blade Runner, according to co-creator Craig van Sickle.
Video Game Emerald City Confidential portrays the Emerald City as a film noir place with private detectives, widespread corruption, mob bosses, smugglers, and crooked lawyers. Set 40 years after the events of The Wizard of Oz, its described as "Oz, seen through the eyes of Raymond Chandler".
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