The Wizard of Oz (film)
"The Wizard of Oz" is a landmark 1939 fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, adapted from L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Directed by Victor Fleming and featuring Judy Garland as the central character, Dorothy Gale, the film opens in sepia-toned Kansas, where Dorothy dreams of a happier place away from her troubles. A tornado transports her to the vibrant, Technicolor Land of Oz, where she seeks the help of the Wizard to return home. Along her journey down the Yellow Brick Road, she befriends the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, each searching for something they believe they lack.
The film weaves themes of friendship, self-discovery, and the idea that what we seek often lies within us. Iconic music and memorable characters, including the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, have made "The Wizard of Oz" a cherished part of American culture. Its imagery and songs continue to resonate, offering an escape from the realities of life, particularly in the context of the hardships faced during the Dust Bowl era. Overall, the film endures as a classic that celebrates the importance of home and resilience.
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The Wizard of Oz (film)
Identification Film about an ordinary Kansas girl who travels to a magical land of witches and wizards
Director Victor Fleming
Date Released on August 12, 1939
The Wizard of Oz provided the perfect fantasy for a nation recovering from the Great Depression. It shares with Gone with the Wind(1939) the distinction of belonging to what many consider to be Hollywood’s greatest year. Though the film’s initial box-office receipts were disappointing, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning for original song, “Over the Rainbow,” with music written by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, and for original score. Mickey Rooney presented Judy Garland with a special award for best performance by a juvenile actor.
After the success of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer approved its own fantasy film, The Wizard of Oz. A succession of directors, writers, and actors worked on the film before it came together under producer Mervyn LeRoy and director Victor Fleming. The story was adapted by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Music and lyrics were composed by Arlen and Yip Harburg, and the score was written by Herbert Stothart.
The Wizard of Oz opens in sepia-tinted Kansas with Dorothy Gale (Garland) trying to save her dog Toto from the cruel Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) and yearning to be in a faraway, happy place. A tornado approaches, picking up Dorothy’s house with her and Toto in it and depositing them in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz, a Technicolor wonderland. There, Dorothy acquires a friend, Glinda the Good (Billie Burke), who tells her she must seek the help of the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) in the Emerald City. She also gains an enemy, the Wicked Witch of the West (Hamilton), bent on vengeance because Dorothy’s house crushed and killed her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, whose ruby slippers Dorothy involuntarily acquires and wears. Glinda sends Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road to get to the Wizard, who can send her home where she will be safe from the Wicked Witch.
Along the way, Dorothy meets three magical friends, a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) longing to have brains, a Tin Man (Jack Haley) on a quest for a heart, and the talking Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) in search of courage. After a harrowing journey through dark woods and deadly poppies, they arrive at the Emerald City and meet the Wizard. He is willing to grant their wishes if they bring him the Wicked Witch’s broomstick, so the four friends set off for her castle in the land of the Winkies. Along the way, they are menaced by flying monkeys, and Dorothy is carried off to the Witch’s frightening castle and held prisoner. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion help her to escape, and she destroys the Witch by melting her with a bucket of water. They return to the Emerald City and discover the Wizard is just a humbug, though he helps Dorothy’s friends to understand that the things they were seeking were part of them all along. With the aid of the ruby slippers, Dorothy returns to her home in Kansas, where she wakes up and realizes her visit to Oz was but a dream.
Impact
At a time when the desolate scenes of Kansas, with its fearsome cyclone, reminded viewers of the catastrophic Dust Bowl, the beauty of Oz offered a wondrous escape. The Wizard of Oz endures as a classic, celebrating friendship, home, and selfhood. Its songs and language are indelible in American culture, and its characters and places iconic.
Bibliography
Fricke, John, et al. The Wizard of Oz: The Official Fiftieth Anniversary Pictorial History. Warner Books, 1989.
Hark, Ina Rae, editor. American Cinema of the 1930s: Themes and Variations. Rutgers UP, 2007.
Harmetz, Aljean. The Making of “The Wizard of Oz”: Movie Magic and Studio Power in the Prime of MGM—and the Miracle of Production #1060. Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.
Maguire, Gregory. "An Early Script of The Wizard of Oz Offers a Rare Glimpse into the Creation of the Iconic Film." Smithsonian.com, July 2014, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/early-script-wizard-oz-offers-rare-glimpse-creation-iconic-film-180951858/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Rushdie, Salman. The Wizard of Oz. Reprint. British Film Institute, 2002.