Stephen Sisters, Oz Collector
& Creator of MGM Oz Replicas

 

 

 

  Interview With Stephen Sisters
 (Conducted by Aaron Pacentine,
        on January 19th 2007)
                                      
   | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |

In late 1987, as merchandise started appearing, and events started gearing up for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of The Wizard of Oz, I began contemplating how I could contribute to the upcoming anniversary. Somehow I wanted to show my appreciation for the years of enjoyment the film had brought to my life by creating something to share with the rest of the Ozcommunity. I had dabbled in model building and miniatures in the past, and thought that possibly I could re-create one or more of the sets in miniature. At first, I looked into the possibility of building the Kansas set, but at that time, none of the set stills were available. (0f course, 10 years later, as we all know, some did indeed surface!) Then it dawned on me - what set could be more recognizable than Munchkinland? (Of course, it would also be the most challenging set to build, but I wouldn't discover that until I was too far into the construction to turn back!)


Overall, the construction of the model took approximately 18 months. Up until the beginning of August, 1989, when the model was nearing completion, I still did not know what I was going to do with it. But thanks to the efforts of John Fricke, I was able to display it just 2 weeks later at the MGM 50th Anniversary celebration in Culver City, Calif., alongside original props and costumes from the movie. It was purchased that very same day, and now resides in the collection of a prominent Oz collector.

 - Stephen Sisters
 (Photos and written text used with permission by Stephen Sisters. taken from: http://www.beyondtherainbow2oz.com/sisters.html )

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN WICKED WITCH BROOM (DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS)
Thank Shawn for providing this information, and for the use of Stephen's diagrams!


 

Stephen not only created this wonderful scale model of Muchkinland but he also created professional Kurt Raymond's broom that he uses in many of his performances and Oz events in southern California, and among other venues. Stephen also created a beautiful pair of ruby slippers that you can also see here as well! In this interview Stephen talks about participating in several Oz events, the creation of his Muchkinland model, his friends in the Oz community and much more. Stephen is very grateful for Elaine Willingham's work with BeyondtheRainbow2Oz.com and John Fricke for allowing him to make the right connections that gave him the honor of having his model displayed during the 50th anniversary celebration in Culver City, CA. He shares about all these things and more in the interview and we hope you enjoy it! I thoroughly enjoyed conducting this interview with you Stephen you are a gifted and very talented young man. Next to Kurt Raymond, I rank this interview as one of the top interviews that is located here throughout this web site!  Thank you also for your mentorship and friendship for a several years now, it has ment a lot to me.

- Aaron Pacentine