The creator of the popular Spawn line of comics and toys, Todd McFarlane, recently went on record as saying that screenwriter Josh Olson's adaptation of the works by famed writer L. Frank Baum wasn't "sexy" enough and that Warner Bros. executives were "lukewarm" to it.
Now Olson is striking back at McFarlane and his adult-oriented "Twisted Land of Oz" toys. In an open letter to the public, Olson said:
Just to clarify - the Oz project I wrote wasn't "twisted" in any way. McFarlane's involvement with the project and the fact that his line of toys live up to that epithet has led to a lot of confusion in the last couple years. The pitch I sold to Warners was entirely my own, based on events in several of the Baum books, combined with a story of my own creation.
But for the record, the project we sold Warners on was in no way based on the "Twisted Land of Oz" figures. There was no bondage Dorothy, and no gigantic Toto monster. I've never met Todd, never heard his take, and we had one brief telephone conversation after I sold the pitch in which no details of the project were discussed. To be honest, I don't even know if he's read my script.