The Australian artist who helped bring The Wizard of Oz to life

A fortnight before Nazi Germany marched into Poland and plunged the world into yet another war, a movie premiered in Hollywood that would entertain the world for decades to come.

The Wizard of Oz was a transformational movie, bursting into wondrous colour before a mesmerised audience.

It premiered on August 15, 1939 and has spurred countless remakes, still entertaining new generations of viewers.

But what is less known is the role the small town of Kaniva, and even smaller settlement of Lillimur, in far western Victoria, played in the success of the film.

Percy Leason was born in 1889 on a wheat farm at Lillimur before his family moved 10km into Kaniva.

He would go on to become Australia's most successful illustrator of his time.

With six children, Leason decided he needed to broaden his horizons to support the family, and in 1937, with one of his children in tow, he moved to the United States.

It was hard going. He'd gone from being Australia's highest-paid illustrator to being just one of countless illustrators trying to eke out a living in a depression-hit US.

According to Leason's grandson, David Kuhfahl, the family was down to "two potatoes" when he received an offer: Would he like to illustrate a book to promote an upcoming film about a girl called Dorothy from Kansas?

"They contacted a publishing company … and they went out for testing, I guess you'd call it, for someone to do this children's book, a short, truncated book that everyone could afford and would get people excited about The Wizard of Oz."

Leason jumped at the opportunity, illustrating The Wizard of Oz Picture Book, based on L Frank Baum's original book, and, in the process, sketching his place in cinematic folklore.

After the publisher's initial cheque bounced, he finally got paid and was able to bring his wife and the rest of his children from Victoria to New York.

The early years

Leason's parents had recognised young Percy's artistic ability at an early age, prompting them to sell their farm and move to Kaniva, where they built a shed for him to sketch.

At the age of 15, he was sent to an art school in nearby Nhill for painting lessons, a move that may not have been a success.

According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Leason said of this period: "The town's name represents what I learnt."

From there, it was off to Melbourne, where he worked as a lithographic artist, then as a book illustrator, before becoming a prominent cartoonist in popular publications The Bulletin, Table Talk, Punch and The Sydney Morning Herald.

He was also emerging as a leading figure in the tonal art movement, which focused on atmospheric landscapes.

It was during this period he travelled to Lake Tyers in Victoria's east in 1934 to paint 28 portraits of what was then thought to be the last of Victoria's Aboriginal people.

But a bigger stage called, so Leason headed to New York.

A wonderful father

Nancy Fenton is Leason's only surviving child. At 103 years of age, she lives in Los Angeles.

"Oh, he was a wonderful father," Ms Fenton told the ABC.

"He was always taking us places or showing us things," she said

"We went camping a lot, and he taught all of us how to paint."

Ms Fenton said her father's career grew out of his drawings.

"He just started drawing, and his parents thought he was so good," she said.

"And I think he won a prize in the local church for a drawing he did."

Allus has wan at 11

To Australian eyes, Leason's Wizard of Oz illustrations are possibly not his most recognised work.

That honour would go to his painting of an Irish immigrant at Warburton, north-east of Melbourne.

As art researcher Su Jamison tells it, Carlton and United Brewery launched a competition in 1907 for artwork to promote its beer.

"Leason and a colleague decided to enter. The pair walked into Paddy McPhee's Upper Yarra Hotel and standing at the bar was Sam Knott," Ms Jamieson said.

It was not just his look and pose, but Sam's now-famous declaration, "I allus has wan at eleven, It's a habit wot's gotta be done, Cos if I don't has one at eleven, I allus has eleven at one."

The pair photographed Sam, and Leason then illustrated his image.

Their entry won, and Leason's famous poster was used by the company for decades, even popping up in TV commercials for the company's beer.

Kaniva's cartoon tribute

Kaniva local Helen Hobbs was working in the town's tourist information centre more than 20 years ago when an American man came to the door.

He told Helen the fantastic tale of Percy Leason and his artistic prowess.

That man was another of Leason's grandsons, Mike Fenton, who was visiting Kaniva to learn more about his family's roots.

That conversation sparked the town's determination to recognise its famous son, culminating this weekend with the launch of the Wiregrass Heritage Trail.

Wiregrass was Leason's popular cartoon series first published 100 years ago, in which he depicted life in a regional town, using Kaniva as his inspiration.

Now, artist Sharon Marrett has re-imagined Leason's illustrations, with 43 images throughout the town along a 45-minute walking trail.

"It is finally good to see Percy getting the recognition he deserves," Ms Hobbs said.

Home is where the heart is

Percy died at his Staten Island home in New York in 1959 aged 70 from, according to daughter Nancy, a "bad heart".

He'd previously suffered a heart attack, which had affected his career.

"You had to have an agent and I remember when he had his first heart attack, they said, 'Oh, we can't hire you anymore because he had a heart attack,'" Nancy said.

He may have also suffered a broken heart.

Nancy said moving to the US was the saddest thing her father did, as his heart belonged in Australia.

"He always wanted to return home to Australia, but he could never afford it."

It seems Leason had taken The Wizard of Oz's most famous line to heart: "There's no place like home".