The Wizard of Oz is a 1939
AmericanThe cinema of the United States has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
musicalThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
/
fantasy filmFantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap....
directed mainly by
Victor FlemingVictor Fleming was an Academy Award-winning American film director, cinematographer, and producer...
from a script by
Noel LangleyNoel Langley was a successful novelist, playwright, screenwriter and director. While under contract to MGM he was one of the screenwriters for The Wizard of Oz...
, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, and others and based on the 1900 children's novel
The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M...
by
L. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker, best known today as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. The film stars
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
,
Ray BolgerRaymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hunk in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
,
Jack HaleyJohn Joseph "Jack" Haley, Jr. was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He also portrayed farmworker Hickory, who appeared in the Kansas sequences, in the film.-Career:Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian...
,
Bert LahrBert Lahr was a Tony Award-winning American actor and comedian. Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion and the farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, but was well known during his life for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway.-Early life:Born...
and
Frank MorganFrank Morgan was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
, with
Billie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
,
Margaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
,
Charles GrapewinCharles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
,
Clara BlandickClara Blandick was an American actress best known for her portrayal of Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins. It was released by
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
.
The film follows 12-year-old farmgirl
Dorothy GaleDorothy Gale is a fictional character, the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum and best friend of Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She also is the...
(
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
) who lives on a
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, but dreams of a better place "somewhere over the rainbow." After being struck unconscious during a tornado by a window which has come loose from its frame, Dorothy dreams that she, her dog Toto and the farmhouse are transported to the magical
Land of OzOz is a fairy country containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fairy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
. There, the Good Witch of the North,
GlindaGlinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, although a fairy in later books, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel...
(Billie Burke), advises Dorothy to follow the
yellow brick roadThe road of yellow brick is an element in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with additional such roads appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz...
to the
Emerald CityThe Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.-Fictional description:...
and meet the Wizard of Oz, who can return her to Kansas. During her journey, she meets a
ScarecrowThe Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
(Ray Bolger), a
Tin ManThe Tin Woodman is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and reappeared in many other Oz books...
(Jack Haley) and a
Cowardly LionThe Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
(Bert Lahr), who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart and courage, respectively). All of this is done while also trying to avoid the
Wicked Witch of the WestThe Wicked Witch of the West is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character also figures prominently in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book...
(Margaret Hamilton) and her attempt to get her sister's ruby slippers from Dorothy, who received them from Glinda.
Initially,
The Wizard of Oz was not considered a commercial success in relation to its enormous budget, although it made a small profit and received largely favorable reviews. The impact it had upon release was reportedly responsible for the release of two other fantasy films in
TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
the following year –
The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from the 1908 play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck...
and
The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with uncredited contributions by Alexander Korda, his brother Zoltan and William Cameron Menzies...
. The songs from
The Wizard of Oz became widely popular, with "
Over the Rainbow"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
" receiving the
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and the film itself garnering several Academy Award nominations, including
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
. In those days,
Over the Rainbow was occasionally heard on live radio.
The film was first telecast in 1956, but not repeated until 1959. But from 1959 to 1991,
The Wizard of Oz was an annual television
traditionThe word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
in the United States and through these showings, it has become one of the most famous films ever made. It is still shown on television; although, beginning in 1991, it began to be telecast more often than simply once a year. The film received much more attention after its annual television screenings were so warmly embraced and has since become one of the most beloved films of all time. The
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
names
The Wizard of Oz as the most-watched film in history. It is often ranked among the top ten best movies of all-time in various critics' and popular polls and it has provided many indelible quotes to the American cultural consciousness. Its
signature songA signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
, "Over the Rainbow," sung in the film by
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
, has been voted the greatest
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movie song of all time by the
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
.
Plot
Orphaned twelve-year-old
Dorothy GaleDorothy Gale is a fictional character, the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum and best friend of Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She also is the...
(
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
) lives a simple life in rural
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
with her Aunt Em (
Clara BlandickClara Blandick was an American actress best known for her portrayal of Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
), Uncle Henry (
Charles GrapewinCharles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
) and three colorful farm hands, Hickory, Hunk and Zeke. Shortly before the movie begins, the irascible townswoman, Miss Almira Gulch (
Margaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
) is bitten by Dorothy's dog, Toto. Dorothy is upset that Miss Gulch hit Toto over the back of the head with a rake, but her aunt and uncle, as well as the farmhands, are too busy to listen. Miss Gulch shows up with a sheriff's order and takes Toto away to be destroyed possibly by euthanasia. Toto escapes and returns to Dorothy, who is momentarily elated. When she realizes that Miss Gulch will soon return, she decides to take Toto and run away. On their journey, Dorothy encounters a fortune teller named Professor Marvel (
Frank MorganFrank Morgan was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
). He is a kind and lovable man who guesses that Dorothy is running away and feels unappreciated at home and he tricks her into believing Aunt Em is ill, so that she (Dorothy) will return home. As Dorothy leaves, there begin to appear signs of an oncoming storm. She rushes back to the farm's house just ahead of a sudden
tornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud...
. There, she takes shelter inside the house, where she is knocked unconscious by a loose window frame.
A confused Dorothy seems to awaken a few minutes later to discover the house has been caught up in the twister. Moments later, the twister drops the house back onto solid ground. Opening the door and stepping into full three-strip
TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
, Dorothy finds herself in a village and parkland of unearthly beauty.
GlindaGlinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, although a fairy in later books, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel...
, the
Good Witch of the NorthThe Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
(
Billie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
), arrives magically via bubble. She informs Dorothy that she is in
MunchkinlandMunchkin Country is the Eastern region in the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In Wizard it was originally called "the land of Munchkins," and "Munchkin Country" in all subsequent Oz books...
and that she has killed the
ruby-slipperedThe Ruby Slippers are the magical shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. In the film, Dorothy acquires the slippers after her house falls on and kills the Wicked Witch of the East, freeing the Munchkins from the Witch's tyranny...
Wicked Witch of the EastThe Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his classic books. Her name is Sally. Although not verifiably seen , the 1939 film helped to further the popularity of the character. The Witch is the ruler of Munchkin Country...
by "dropping a house" on her.
Encouraged by Glinda, the timid
MunchkinMunchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue....
s come out of hiding to celebrate the demise of the witch, while singing "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" and proclaiming Dorothy as their national heroine. The
Wicked Witch of the WestThe Wicked Witch of the West is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character also figures prominently in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book...
(also played by Margaret Hamilton), makes a startling appearance claiming the powerful ruby slippers. Glinda magically transfers the slippers from the dead witch onto Dorothy's feet and reminds the Witch of the West that her power is ineffectual in Munchkinland. The witch vows revenge on Dorothy before leaving the same way she arrived. Glinda advises Dorothy to seek the help of the mysterious Wizard of Oz in the
Emerald CityThe Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.-Fictional description:...
in her quest to return home to Kansas. Glinda explains that Dorothy can find Emerald City by following the
yellow brick roadThe road of yellow brick is an element in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with additional such roads appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz...
. She also advises Dorothy that she must never remove the slippers or she will be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West.
On her way to the city, Dorothy meets a
ScarecrowThe Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
(
Ray BolgerRaymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hunk in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
) with no brain, a
Tin ManThe Tin Woodman is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and reappeared in many other Oz books...
(
Jack HaleyJohn Joseph "Jack" Haley, Jr. was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He also portrayed farmworker Hickory, who appeared in the Kansas sequences, in the film.-Career:Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian...
) with no heart and a
Cowardly LionThe Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
(
Bert LahrBert Lahr was a Tony Award-winning American actor and comedian. Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion and the farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, but was well known during his life for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway.-Early life:Born...
) (these characters are portrayed by the same actors as the farm hands back in Kansas). The three decide to accompany Dorothy to the Wizard in hopes of obtaining their desires. Along the way, they behave in various ways which demonstrate that they already have the qualities they think they lack: the Scarecrow has several good ideas, the Tin Man is kind and sympathetic and the Lion is ready to face danger even though he is terrified. The group reaches
Emerald CityThe Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.-Fictional description:...
, where they are greeted kindly. The group talks to the Wizard of Oz, a disembodied and imposing head with a booming voice, who says that he will consider granting their wishes if they can bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch.
On their way to the witch's castle, they are attacked by a gang of
flying monkeysWinged monkeys are characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, of enough impact between the books and the 1939 movie to have taken their own place in popular culture, regularly referenced in comedic or ironic situations as a source of evil or fear.In the original Oz novels, these were just what...
who carry Dorothy and Toto away and deliver her to the witch. The Witch demands that Dorothy hand over the ruby slippers. After the witch threatens to drown Toto in the river, Dorothy agrees to give her the shoes, but a shower of sparks prevents their removal. The witch says that the shoes cannot be removed unless Dorothy dies. While the witch is distracted, Toto takes the opportunity to escape. The witch then locks Dorothy in a chamber and leaves to consider how to kill Dorothy without damaging the shoes' magic. Toto finds Dorothy's friends and leads them to the castle. Once inside, they free Dorothy and attempt an escape. The witch and her
WinkieThe Winkie Country is a division of the fictional Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color yellow which is worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings....
soldiers corner the group on a parapet, where the witch sets the Scarecrow's arm on fire. To douse the flames, Dorothy throws water on them while accidentally splashing water on the horrified witch, causing her to melt. To the group's surprise, the soldiers are delighted. Their captain (
Mitchell LewisMitchell Lewis , was an American film actor. He appeared in 200 films between 1914 and 1956. His best known role is Captain of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz, but he was uncredited....
) gives Dorothy the broomstick in gratitude as the heroes begin their journey back to the Emerald City.
Upon their return to Emerald City, Toto exposes the great and powerful wizard as a fraud; they find an ordinary man hiding behind a curtain operating a giant console which contains a group of buttons and levers. They are outraged at the deception, but the wizard solves their problems through common sense and a little double talk rather than magic. He explains that they already had what they had been searching for all along and only need things such as medals and diplomas to confirm that someone else recognizes it.
The wizard explains that he, too, was born in Kansas and his presence in Oz was the result of an escaped
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the...
. He promises to take Dorothy home in the same balloon, leaving the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion in charge of Emerald City. Just before takeoff, Toto sees a cat and jumps out of the balloon's basket. Dorothy jumps out to catch him and the wizard, unable to control the balloon, leaves without her. She is resigned to spend the rest of her life in Oz until Glinda appears and tells her that she has always had the power to return home, through the power of the ruby slippers. Glinda explains that she did not tell Dorothy at first because she needed to find out for herself that she doesn't need to run away to find heart's desire.
Dorothy says a tearful goodbye to the friends she has met in Oz and then follows Glinda's instructions to get home, which consist of closing her eyes, tapping her heels together 3 times and chanting "There's no place like home." Back in sepia tone, she awakens in her bedroom in Kansas (still chanting "There's no place like home," in her sleep) surrounded by family and friends and tells them of her journey. Everyone laughs and tells her it was all a dream, except Uncle Henry, who says sympathetically "Of course we believe you, Dorothy." Toto appears and jumps onto the bed. A happy Dorothy, still convinced the journey was real, hugs Toto and says one last time, "There's no place like home."
Differences from the original novel
For the most part, the movie follows the novel only in a very general way, though several phrases (e.g. "I am Dorothy, the Small and Meek"; and "Oh no, my dear, I'm a very good man; I'm just a very bad Wizard") are taken almost directly from the book. Many details are omitted or altered, while many of the perils that Dorothy encountered in the novel are not even mentioned in the movie. The Good Witch of the North (who has no name in the book) and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, are merged into one character. To take advantage of the new vivid Technicolor process, Dorothy's
silver shoesThe Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale's transport home. They were originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house landed on the Witch...
were changed to ruby slippers for the movie. Due to time constraints and the fact that some special effects were simply not possible in 1939, a number of incidents from the book, including the China County and the Hammerheads, were cut. The novel also never depicts Dorothy as a
damsel in distressThe subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or a monster and who requires a hero to dash to her rescue...
to be rescued by her friends, but rather the reverse, with Dorothy, a figure heavily influenced by the
feminismThe term Feminism can be used to describe an academic discourse, or to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing more rights and legal protection for women...
of
Matilda Joslyn GageMatilda Electa Joslyn Gage was a suffragist, a Native American activist, an abolitionist, a freethinker, and a prolific author, who was "born with a hatred of oppression".-Early activities:...
, rescuing her friends. Nevertheless, the film was far more faithful to Baum's original book than many earlier scripts (see below) or film versions. Two silent versions were produced in 1910 and 1925 and the seven-minute
animated cartoonAn animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
in 1933 (the
1925 versionWizard of Oz is a 1925 silent film directed by Larry Semon, who also appears in a lead role. The first major film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this film features a young Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man...
, which Baum had no association, made Dorothy a princess of Oz, rather like the later sci-fi TV miniseries
Tin ManTin Man is a 2007 six-hour miniseries co-produced by RHI Entertainment and Sci Fi Channel original pictures that was broadcast in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel in three parts. The first part aired on December 2, and the remaining two parts airing on the following nights...
). The 1939 movie interprets the Oz experience as a dream, in which many of the characters that Dorothy meets represent the people from her home life (such as Miss Gulch, Professor Marvel and the farmhands, none of which appear in the book). Oz is meant to be a real place in
L. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker, best known today as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's original novel, one to which Dorothy would return in the author's later
Oz books and which would later provide a refuge for Aunt Em and Uncle Henry when unable to pay the mortgage on the new house that was built after the old one really was carried away by the tornado.
Cast
- Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
as Dorothy GaleDorothy Gale is a fictional character, the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum and best friend of Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She also is the...
- Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
as The Wizard/Professor Marvel/Doorman/Cabbie/Guard
- Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hunk in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
as the ScarecrowThe Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
- Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was a Tony Award-winning American actor and comedian. Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion and the farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, but was well known during his life for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway.-Early life:Born...
as the Cowardly LionThe Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
- Jack Haley
John Joseph "Jack" Haley, Jr. was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He also portrayed farmworker Hickory, who appeared in the Kansas sequences, in the film.-Career:Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian...
as the Tin ManThe Tin Woodman of Oz is the twelfth Land of Oz book written by L. Frank Baum and was originally published on May 13, 1918. The Tin Woodman is unexpectedly reunited with his Munchkin sweetheart Nimmie Amee from the days when he was flesh and blood...
- Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
as Glinda the Good Witch of the NorthThe Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
- Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
as Miss Almira Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West
- Charles Grapewin
Charles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
as Uncle Henry
- Clara Blandick
Clara Blandick was an American actress best known for her portrayal of Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
as Auntie EmAunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
- Terry the Dog
Terry was a Cairn Terrier whose most famous role was Toto in the movie The Wizard of Oz . She was 6 years old when she was in The Wizard of Oz. She appeared in thirteen different movies but was only credited in the one....
as Toto
- Singer's Midgets as the Munchkin
Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue....
s
- Pat Walshe as Chistery Nikko
In the film credits, all actors with more than one role are listed only as playing their Kansas characters, not as their Oz characters. The dog Toto is listed as having been played by Toto, not by Terry. "Chistery Nikko" (Pat Walshe's character) is the leader of the Winged Monkeys, although he is never called by that name in the film's dialogue.
Color and sepia
All of the Oz sequences were filmed in three-strip
TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
. The
openingIn a television program, motion picture, or videogame, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
and
closing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture or television program to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the background or a...
, as well as the
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
sequences, were filmed in black and white and colored in a sepia tone. Publicity for the film mentioned the Technicolor but not the black-and-white or sepia, thus making it sound as if the entire film had been made in color.
Sometimes color and sepia would be juxtaposed in the film within seconds of each other. At one point, Dorothy sees her Aunt Em on the Wicked Witch of the West's crystal ball; she is then replaced by a vision of the Witch. Aunt Em appears only in sepia-toned black-and-white, while the Witch appears in the crystal ball in full Technicolor.
Development and pre-production
Development of the film started when the success of
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs showed that films adapted from children's stories and fantasy films could be successful. In January 1938,
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
bought the rights to the
hugely popular novelThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M...
from
Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
. The film's script was adapted by
Noel LangleyNoel Langley was a successful novelist, playwright, screenwriter and director. While under contract to MGM he was one of the screenwriters for The Wizard of Oz...
, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf. Several people assisted with the adaptation without official credit:
Irving BrecherIrving Brecher enjoyed early success as a screenwriter for the Marx Brothers; he was the only writer to get sole credit on a Marx Brothers film including At the Circus in 1939 and Go West in 1940...
, William H. Cannon,
Herbert FieldsHerbert Fields was a Tony Award-winning American librettist and screenwriter.Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1925 until his death, he contributed to the libretti of many Broadway musicals...
,
Arthur FreedArthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.-Biography:Freed began his career as a song plugger and pianist in Chicago...
,
E. Y. HarburgEdgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
,
Samuel HoffensteinSamuel "Sam" Hoffenstein was a screenwriter and a musical composer. Born in Russia, he immigrated to the United States and began a career in New York City as a newspaper writer and in the entertainment business. In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles where he lived for the rest of his life where he wrote...
,
John Lee MahinJohn Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter and producer.He was active in films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He worked on such films as Scarface and The Wizard of Oz, but his name does not appear on the credits to the latter film.He was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Victor Fleming...
,
Herman J. MankiewiczHerman Jacob Mankiewicz , was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker...
, Jack Mintz,
Ogden NashFrederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
, Sid Silvers,
Richard ThorpeRichard Thorpe was an American film director.Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and on the theatre stage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more...
,
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
and
King VidorKing Wallis Vidor was an acclaimed American film director whose career spanned nearly seven decades.He was born in Galveston, Texas, where he survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900...
. In addition, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr are known to have written some of their own dialogue for the Kansas sequence.
The script went through a number of revisions before the final shooting. The original producers thought that a 1939 audience was too sophisticated to accept Oz as a straight-ahead fantasy; therefore, it was reconceived as a lengthy, elaborate dream. Because of a perceived need to attract a youthful audience through appealing to modern fads and styles, the script originally featured a scene with a series of musical contests. A spoiled, selfish princess in Oz had outlawed all forms of music except classical and
operettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Operetta in French:...
and went up against Dorothy in a singing contest in which Dorothy's swing style enchanted listeners and won the grand prize. This part was initially written for
Betty JaynesBetty Jaynes was a B-movie actress in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She appeared as Molly Moran in Babes in Arms in 1939, then in a series of minor parts in seven MGM movies through 1944....
. The plan was later dropped.
Another scene, which was removed before final script approval and never filmed, was a concluding scene back in Kansas after Dorothy's return. Hunk (the Kansan counterpart to the Scarecrow) is leaving for agricultural college and extracts a promise from Dorothy to write to him. The implication of the scene is that romance will eventually develop between the two, which also may have been intended as an explanation for Dorothy's partiality for the Scarecrow over her other two companions. This plot idea was never totally dropped, however; it is especially noticeable in the final script when Dorothy, just before she is to leave Oz, tells the Scarecrow, "I think I'll miss you most of all."
The final draft of the script was completed on October 8, 1938 (following numerous rewrites).
Casting
Mervyn LeRoy had always insisted that he wanted to cast Judy Garland to play Dorothy from the start. However, evidence suggests that negotiations took place early in pre-production for
Shirley TempleShirley Jane Temple , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Shirley Temple Black, is an actress, singer, and tap dancer, who is best known for being an American child actress of the 1930s...
to play the part of Dorothy, on loan out from
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
. A persistent rumor also existed that Fox was in turn promised
Clark GableWilliam Clark Gable was an American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. In , the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time....
and
Jean HarlowJean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Platinum Blonde" and the "Blonde Bombshell" due to her platinum blonde hair, Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
as a loan from MGM. The tale is almost certainly untrue, as Harlow died in 1937, before MGM had even purchased the rights to the story. Despite this, the story appears in many film biographies (including Temple's own autobiography). The documentary
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic states that Mervyn LeRoy was under pressure to cast Temple, then the most popular child star; but at an unofficial audition, LeRoy listened to her sing and decided that an actress with a different style was needed. Newsreel footage is included in which Temple wisecracks "There's no place like home," suggesting that she was being considered for the part at that time. A possibility is that this consideration did indeed take place, but that Gable and Harlow were not part of the proposed deal.
Actress
Deanna DurbinDeanna Durbin is a Canadian singer and actress, nicknamed the "sensational Canadian songbird," who appeared in a number of musical films in 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
, who was under contract to
UniversalUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
, was also considered for the part of Dorothy. Durbin, at the time, far exceeded Garland in film experience and fan base and the two had co-starred in a 1936
two-reelerShort film is a technical description originally coined in the Indian Film Industry and used in the North American film industry in the early period of cinema. The description is now used almost interchangeably with short subject...
called
Every SundayEvery Sunday is a 1936 short musical film. It tells the story of two young girls and their efforts to save a public concert series, which was being threatened by poor attendance.Directed by Felix E...
. The film was most notable for exhibiting Durbin's operatic style of singing against Garland's jazzier style. Durbin was possibly passed over once it was decided to bring on Betty Jaynes, also an operatic singer, to rival Garland's jazz in the aforementioned discarded subplot of the film.
LeRoy and company also considered actress
Bonita GranvilleBonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
yet passed on her due to the fact that she had never made a musical.
Casting
The Wizard of Oz was problematic, with actors shifting roles repeatedly at the beginning of filming. One of the primary changes was in the roles of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.
Ray BolgerRaymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hunk in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
was originally cast as the Tin Man and
Buddy EbsenBuddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the 1960s television series, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones.-Early years:He was born Christian Rudolph...
(later famous for his role as Jed Clampett on the popular 1960s TV show
The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom. It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time...
) was to play the Scarecrow. Bolger, unhappy with being assigned the role of the Tin Man, convinced producer
Mervyn LeRoyMervyn LeRoy was an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
to recast him in the role of the Scarecrow. Ebsen did not object to the change; he recorded all of his songs, went through all the rehearsals as the Tin Man and started filming with the rest of the cast. However, nine days after filming began, Ebsen suffered a reaction to the aluminum powder makeup he wore as the Tin Man; the powder had coated his lungs from his breathing it in as it was applied daily. By that point in critical condition, Ebsen had to be hospitalized and left the project. MGM did not publicize the reasons for Ebsen's departure until
decadeA decade is a period of ten years. The word is derived from the late Latin decas, from Greek decas, from deca. The other words for spans of years also come from Latin: lustrum , century , millennium . The term usually refers to a period of ten years starting at a multiple of ten...
s later in a documentary about the movie and even his replacement,
Jack HaleyJohn Joseph "Jack" Haley, Jr. was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He also portrayed farmworker Hickory, who appeared in the Kansas sequences, in the film.-Career:Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian...
, did not initially know the reason.
The makeup used for Jack Haley was quietly changed to an aluminum paste makeup, with a layer of clown white greasepaint underneath to protect his skin; although it did not have the same dire effect on Haley, he did at one point suffer from an unpleasant eye infection from it. Despite his near-death experience with the makeup, Ebsen outlived all the principal players, although his film career was damaged by the incident. Because of his illness, followed by his subsequent service in the
Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
, his career did not fully recover until the 1950s, when he began a string of popular film and TV series appearances that would continue into the 1980s. Although his lungs had presumably recovered from the effects of the powder makeup, he eventually died of complications from pneumonia on July 6, 2003 at the age of ninety-five.
The book
The World of Entertainment (1975) by Hugh Fordin, created with the full cooperation of uncredited associate producer
Arthur FreedArthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.-Biography:Freed began his career as a song plugger and pianist in Chicago...
before his death, is said to suggest that Victor Fleming fired the actor when he took over as director. In a later interview (included on the 2005 DVD release of
Wizard of Oz), Ebsen recalled that the studio heads initially did not believe he was ill. No footage of Ebsen as the Tin Man has ever been released — only photographs taken during filming and test photos of different makeup styles remain.
Gale SondergaardGale Sondergaard was an American actress.Sondergaard began her acting career in theatre, and progressed to films in 1936. She was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Anthony Adverse...
was originally cast as the
Wicked WitchThe Wicked Witch of the West is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character also figures prominently in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book...
. She became unhappy with the role when the witch's persona shifted from sly and glamorous (thought to emulate the wicked queen in Disney's
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a American animated feature based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full color, the first...
) into the familiar "ugly hag." She turned down the role and was replaced on October 10, 1938 by
Margaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
. Sondergaard said in an interview for a bonus feature on the DVD that she had no regrets about turning down the part and would play a glamorous villain in Fox's version of
Maurice MaeterlinckMaurice Polydore Marie Bernard, Count Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life...
's
The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from the 1908 play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck...
in 1940. Margaret Hamilton plays a remarkably similar role in the Judy Garland film
Babes in ArmsBabes in Arms is the 1939 film version of the 1937 Broadway musical of the same name. The film version stars Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes and Betty Jaynes.-Production:...
released that same year. She is a busybody social worker who wants to remove Judy Garland's character from the custody of her parents, much as Almira Gulch wants to remove Toto from the Gale family.
On July 25, 1938,
Bert LahrBert Lahr was a Tony Award-winning American actor and comedian. Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion and the farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, but was well known during his life for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway.-Early life:Born...
was signed and cast as the Cowardly Lion;
Charles GrapewinCharles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
was cast as Uncle Henry on August 12.
Frank MorganFrank Morgan was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
was cast as the Wizard on September 22. Morgan's casting led to one of the many tales connected with the production of the film. According to
Aljean HarmetzAljean Harmetz is a Hollywood journalist and film historian. She has written as a Hollywood film correspondent for the New York Times since 1981....
, when the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan, they decided that they wanted a once elegant coat that had "gone to seed." They went to a second-hand shop and purchased a whole rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department and director Victor Fleming chose one they thought gave off the perfect appearance of shabby gentility. One day, while he was on set wearing the coat, Morgan turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had once belonged to
Oz author L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had once belonged to the writer of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum. Baum biographer
Michael Patrick HearnMichael Patrick Hearn is an American literary scholar and one of America's leading men of letters specializing in children's literature and its illustration. His works include The Annotated Wizard of Oz , The Annotated Christmas Carol , and The Annotated Huckleberry Finn...
disbelieves the story, it having been refuted by members of the Baum family, who never saw the coat or knew of the story, as well as by Margaret Hamilton, who considered it a concocted studio rumor.
Filming
Filming of
Oz began under the direction of
Norman TaurogNorman Rae Taurog was an American film directorBetween 1920 and 1968, Taurog directed over 140 films. He won the 1931 Academy Award for Best Director for the film Skippy and still holds the record as the youngest director to win it. He was later nominated for Best Director for the 1938 film,...
in September 1938. Taurog's only involvement on the picture was the filming of a few early test scenes. For unknown reasons, however, Taurog was replaced with
Richard ThorpeRichard Thorpe was an American film director.Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and on the theatre stage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more...
, who commenced filming on October 13, 1938 on the
MGM StudiosMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
lot in
Culver City, CaliforniaCulver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 38,816. The community is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also has a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County...
. Thorpe initially shot about two weeks of footage involving Dorothy's first encounter with the Scarecrow as well as a number of sequences in the Wicked Witch's castle. However, the sudden medical departure of Buddy Ebsen caused the film to shut down while a new actor was found to fill the part. LeRoy had taken this time to review the already shot footage and felt that Thorpe seemed to be rushing the picture along, creating a negative impact in the actors' performances. Thus LeRoy decided to have Thorpe replaced.
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
temporarily took over. Initially, the studio made Garland wear a blond wig and heavy, "baby-doll" makeup and she played Dorothy in an exaggerated fashion. Cukor changed Judy Garland's and Margaret Hamilton's makeup and costumes and told Garland to "be herself." This meant that all scenes Garland and Hamilton had already completed were discarded and refilmed. Cukor did not actually shoot any scenes for the film and, because of his prior commitment to direct
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
, he left on November 3, 1938, at which time
Victor FlemingVictor Fleming was an Academy Award-winning American film director, cinematographer, and producer...
assumed the directorial responsibility.
Ironically, on February 12, 1939, Fleming replaced Cukor in directing
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
. The next day,
King VidorKing Wallis Vidor was an acclaimed American film director whose career spanned nearly seven decades.He was born in Galveston, Texas, where he survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900...
would be assigned as director to finish the filming of
The Wizard of Oz (mainly the sepia Kansas sequences, including Judy Garland's singing of "
Over the Rainbow"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
"). In later years, when the film became firmly established as a classic, King Vidor chose not to take public credit for his contribution until after the death of his friend Fleming.
Filming was a long and cumbersome process that ran for over six months, from October 1938 to March 1939. Most of the actors worked six days a week and had to arrive at the studio as early as four and five in the morning, to be fitted with makeup and costumes and would not leave until seven or eight at night. Cumbersome makeup and costumes were compounded by the fact that the early Technicolor process required a significant amount of lighting to be used, which would usually heat the set to over a hundred degrees. According to Ray Bolger, most of the Oz principals were banned from eating in the studio's commissary due to their costumes. Margaret Hamilton's makeup could not be ingested and so she practically lived on a liquid diet during filming. Jack Haley's aluminum paste makeup caused the actor to receive a severe eye infection.
Filming could also prove to be chaotic at times. This was most evident when trying to put together the Munchkinland sequences. MGM talent scouts searched the country far and wide to come up with over a hundred little people who would make up the citizens of Munchkinland. According to Munchkin actor Jerry Maren, each little person was paid over $125 a week for their performances. Munchkin Meinhardt Raabe, who played the coroner, revealed in the 1990 documentary
The Making of the Wizard of Oz that the MGM costume and wardrobe department, under the direction of designer
AdrianAdrian Adolph Greenberg , most widely known as Adrian, was an American costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career, he designed costumes for over 250 films and his screen credits usually read as...
, had to design over one hundred costumes for the Munchkin sequences. They then had to photograph and catalog each Munchkin in his or her costume so that they could correctly apply the same costume and makeup each day of production. For years many exaggerated rumors existed revolving around the wild behavior of many of the Munchkin actors. One of the most famous rumors claimed that the completed film shows an actor who played one of the Munchkins committing suicide by hanging in the background of one scene. This has been shown to be false; the object in question is actually a wild crane used to populate the forest scene.
Filming also proved to be dangerous at times. Margaret Hamilton was severely burned in the Munchkinland scene. There was a little elevator that was supposed to take her down and then the fire erupted. As told by Hamilton in archival audio included on the DVD commentary, the first take went smoothly, and that was the take eventually used in the film. For the second take, the timing was off, and she was exposed to the flames. Her copper-based makeup had to be completely and quickly removed before her face could be treated. Her hands also suffered burns. When she returned from the hospital, Hamilton refused to do the scene where she flies on a broomstick billowing smoke, so the directors chose to have a stand-in, Betty Danko, perform the scene instead. Danko was also severely injured doing the scene after a malfunction occurred during filming.
Principal photography concluded with the Kansas sequences on March 16, 1939; nonetheless reshoots and pick-up shots were filmed throughout April, May and into June. At this point the film began a long arduous post-production.
Herbert StothartHerbert Stothart was a song writer, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning for his background music for The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:...
had to compose the film's score, while
A. Arnold GillespieAlbert Arnold Gillespie was an American cinema special effects artist.-Early years:Gillespie joined MGM as a set designer in 1925, a year after it was founded. He was educated at Columbia University and the Arts Students League. His first project was the silent film Ben-Hur, released that same year...
had to perfect the various special effects that the film required, including many of the rear projection shots. The MGM art department also had to create the various matte paintings that were to supply the background of many of the scenes. One significant innovation for the film was the use of "stencil printing" which was used for the film transition to Technicolor. Each frame was to be hand-tinted to maintain the sepia tone. However, because this was too expensive and labor intensive, it was abandoned and MGM used a simpler and less expensive variation of the process. Instead, the inside of the farm house was painted sepia and when
DorothyDorothy Gale is a fictional character, the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum and best friend of Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She also is the...
opens the door, it is not Garland but her stand-in, Bobbie Koshay, wearing a sepia gingham dress, who then backs out of frame. Once the camera moves through the door, Dorothy (Garland) steps back into frame in her bright blue gingham dress.[as noted in DVD extras]
Test screenings of the film began on June 5, 1939.
Oz initially was running nearly two hours long. LeRoy and Fleming knew that at least a quarter of an hour of the film needed to be deleted to get the film down to a manageable running time, the average film in 1939 running just about 90 minutes. Three sneak previews in
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
,
PomonaPomona is the fifth largest city in Los Angeles County, California . As of the 2000 census, the city population was 149,473. In 2005, its population was estimated as 160,815....
and
San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. The city, referred to locally as "SLO" or "San Luis", is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State University...
, California helped guide LeRoy and Fleming in the cutting. Among the many cuts was
The Jitterbug number, the Scarecrow's elaborate dance sequence following
If I Only Had A Brain, a reprise of
Over the Rainbow and
Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead and a number of smaller dialogue sequences. This left the final, mostly-serious portion of the film with no songs, only the dramatic underscoring.
One song that was almost permanently deleted was "Over the Rainbow." MGM had felt that it made the Kansas sequence too long, as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. The studio also thought that it was degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. Producer
Mervyn LeRoyMervyn LeRoy was an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
, uncredited associate producer
Arthur FreedArthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.-Biography:Freed began his career as a song plugger and pianist in Chicago...
and director
Victor FlemingVictor Fleming was an Academy Award-winning American film director, cinematographer, and producer...
fought for its inclusion and eventually won. The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Song of the Year. In 2004, the song was ranked #1 by the American Film Institute on the 100 Greatest Songs in American Films list.
After the preview in San Luis Obispo in early July,
The Wizard of Oz was officially released in August 1939 at its current 101-minute running time.
Theatrical
The Wizard of Oz premiered at the Strand Theatre in
OconomowocOconomowoc is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Pottawatomie term for "waterfall". The population was 12,382 at the 2000 census. The city is partially adjacent to the Town of Oconomowoc and near the Village of Oconomowoc...
,
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
on August 12, 1939, and
Grauman's Chinese TheatreGrauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is located along the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922...
in
HollywoodHollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, United States, situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonymy of American cinema...
on August 15, 1939. The
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
premiere at Loew's Capitol Theater on August 17, 1939 was followed by a live performance with Judy Garland and her frequent film co-star
Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
. They would continue to perform there after each screening for a week, extended in Rooney's case for a second week and in Garland's to three. The movie opened nationally on August 25, 1939.
The film grossed approximately $3 million against production/distribution costs of $2.8 million in its initial release. It did not show what MGM considered a large profit until a 1949 re-release earned an additional $1.5 million.
Beginning with the 1949 reissue and continuing until the film's 50th Anniversary
VHSVideo Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, was a video tape recording standard developed during the 1970s. It was released to the public during the latter half of the decade. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s it formed one-half of the VHS vs Betamax war, which it...
and
laserdiscThe Laserdisc is an obsolete home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, Laservision, Disco-Vision, DiscoVision, and MCA...
release in 1989, the opening Kansas sequences were printed and shown in ordinary
black-and-whiteBlack-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
, not sepia tone, and so TV viewers saw them in black-and-white for more than thirty years. This was done despite the fact that sepia tone had been specifically chosen for the picture to help mask the switch to Technicolor. The actual switch occurs before the door is opened from the transported house onto the Land of Oz. In the sepia prints, one doesn't notice any color until that door is opened, because the door itself is a shade of brown which matches the sepia tone. In black-and-white, one cannot help but notice the switch to color before the door is opened, which was precisely what the film's producers wanted to avoid. For the film's 50th anniversary restoration, the sepia tone was brought back to the opening Kansas scenes and beginning in 1990, the film was shown on CBS television nationally as originally released in 1939. It was also very common (and even an FCC requirement for early color broadcasters) for TV stations to turn off the color portion of their transmission during showing of a black & white show or movie. This was because unusual colors or "color noise" would be could be seen during the showing of black-and-white programming under some conditions. Though the opening Kansas scenes in
The Wizard of Oz was meant to be shown in sepia and though the sepia was restored to the film in 1989 for the film's 50th anniversary VHS and laserdisc reissue, a few local CBS affiliates still showed the sepia portion of the film with the color signal disabled for many years. Most of these were small market affiliates that ran some syndicated black & white shows as these stations were used to turning the color modes off during black & white programming. One CBS affiliate,
WGNXWGCL-TV 19 {virtual channel 46.1) is the CBS television station serving the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area. Its city of license is Atlanta, and the station is owned by Meredith Corporation, making it the largest-market CBS affiliate not owned and operated by the TV network...
, transmitted the opening Kansas scenes in black-and-white as recently as its 1996 showing because this station was an independent station that ran a moderate amount of black-and-white films before becoming a CBS affiliate.
1955 saw the release of a
widescreenA widescreen image is a film, computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the classical Hollywood cinema era. Silent film was projected at a ratio of four units wide to three units tall, often expressed as 4:3 or 1.33:1...
1.85:1
aspect ratioThe aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
version, with portions of the top and the bottom of the film removed via
soft matteMattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image with a background image . In this case, the matte is the background painting...
s to produce the effect. The re-release trailer falsely claimed "every scene" from Baum's novel that was in the film, including "the rescue of Dorothy", though there is no such incident in the novel.
The MGM "Children's Matinees" series re-released the film twice, in 1970 and 1971.
In 1986, the film was acquired by
Turner EntertainmentTurner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution.-Background:Turner Entertainment Co...
as part of a deal involving a majority of MGM's pre-1986 library. In 1996, Turner merged with
Time WarnerTime Warner Inc. is the world's largest entertainment conglomerate , as well as the world's fourth largest media conglomerate, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City...
, and since then Warner Bros. Pictures has been handling distribution for all media on Turner's behalf.
The film was re-released again in U.S. theaters by WB on November 6, 1998. The version was a new remastered print which contained the Warner Bros. '75th Anniversary' logo at the beginning and restoration and sound remixing credits at the end (none of these extra credits have appeared on any video release).
In 1999, the film had a theatrical re-release in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, in honor of the film's 60th Anniversary.
On September 23, 2009,
The Wizard of Oz was re-released in select theaters for a one-night-only event in honor of the film's 70th Anniversary and as a promotion for various new disc releases later in the month. This event also marked the first time the film was shown in High-Definition.
Television airings
The film was first shown on television November 3, 1956 on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
, as the last installment of the
Ford Star JubileeFord Star Jubilee was a usually live, ninety minute, color anthology series that aired once a month on Saturday nights on CBS from September 1955 to November 1956, at 9:00 P.M., E.S.T...
. It was shown in color (posters still exist advertising the broadcast and they specifically say
in color and black-and-white), but because most television sets then were not color sets, few members of the TV audience saw it that way. An estimated 45 million people watched the broadcast. However, it was not rerun until three years later. On December 13, 1959 the film was shown (again on CBS) as a two-hour
Christmas season specialChristmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists, writers, and weavers of folklore. Moviemakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptations of literary classics and new stories...
and at an earlier time, to an even larger audience (commercial breaks were much shorter then, enabling the film to run in a two-hour time slot without being cut). Encouraged by the response, CBS decided to make it an annual tradition, showing it every December from 1959 through 1962. The film was not shown in December 1963 as might have been expected, perhaps due to the proximity of the
John F. Kennedy assassinationThe assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade...
, which occurred on November 22 of that year and plunged the U.S. into a period of mourning. Others say that there was no room on the schedule, due to the fact that by then there were other Christmas specials on television, though not nearly as many as there would be in later years (
A Charlie Brown ChristmasA Charlie Brown Christmas is the first of many prime-time animated TV specials based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Meléndez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy...
,
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the children's book of the same title by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk below...
and
Frosty the SnowmanFrosty the Snowman is a thirty-minute animated television special based on the popular song of the same title. The program, which first aired on December 14, 1969 on CBS , was produced for television by Rankin/Bass and featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as narrator and Jackie Vernon as...
, all first shown on CBS in the 1960s, were still more than two years away).
Still, the film was shown very early in 1964 and the showings were therefore still only roughly a year apart. The January 1964 broadcast marked the end of the Christmas season showings, but
The Wizard of Oz was nevertheless still televised only once a year for nearly three decades. In the late 1960s, the film was bought for annual TV showings by
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
, but by 1976, it had reverted to CBS. CBS no longer retains the television rights; they are now in the hands of
Turner EntertainmentTurner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution.-Background:Turner Entertainment Co...
(through
Warner Bros. TelevisionWarner Bros. Television is the television production and distribution arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as...
), and the film is now shown several times a year (rather than annually) on or just before several notable holidays (including
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
, the
Fourth of JulyIn the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
,
ThanksgivingThanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October.*Thanksgiving...
and/or
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
).
Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
cable channel, TNT and the
TBS SuperstationTBS is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows sports and a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy.TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
now often show the film during the same week "in rotation."
Video
The Wizard of Oz became the first videocassette released by
MGM/CBS Home VideoMGM/CBS Home Video was the joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and CBS Video Enterprises. The company lasted from 1979 to 1982, when the company became MGM/UA Home Video after CBS's departure. MGM/CBS' first release was The Wizard of Oz...
in 1980; all current home video releases are by
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980...
(via current rights holder
Turner EntertainmentTurner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution.-Background:Turner Entertainment Co...
). The first
laserdiscThe Laserdisc is an obsolete home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, Laservision, Disco-Vision, DiscoVision, and MCA...
release of
The Wizard of Oz was in 1982, with two versions of a second, (one from Turner and one from
The Criterion CollectionThe Criterion Collection is a video distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to cinema aficionados. In 1984, Janus Films and the Voyager Company established The Criterion Collection as a privately held company concentrating exclusively upon the North American home...
with a commentary track) for the 50th Anniversary release in 1989, a third in 1991, a fourth in 1993, a fifth in 1995 and a sixth and final laserdisc release on September 11, 1996. The first
DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
release of the film was on March 26, 1997 by MGM and contained no special features or supplements. It was re-released by Warner Bros. for its 60th Anniversary on October 19, 1999, in snapper case packaging with its soundtrack presented in a new 5.1
surround soundSurround sound encompases a range of techniques for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. The three-dimensional sphere of human hearing can be virtually achieved with audio channels above and below the listener...
mix. The monochrome-to-color transition was more smoothly accomplished by digitally keeping the inside of the house in monochrome while Dorothy and the reveal of Munchkinland are in color. The DVD also contained an extensive behind-the-scenes documentary:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic, produced in 1990 and hosted by
Angela LansburyAngela Brigid Lansbury, CBE is an English actress and singer whose career has spanned seven decades. Her first film appearance was in Gaslight , for which she received an Academy Award nomination as a malevolent maid, and she expanded her repertoire to Broadway and television in the 1950s...
, which was originally featured in the 1991 "Ultimate Oz" laserdisc box set release. Despite being a one-disc release, outtakes, the deleted "Jitterbug" musical number, clips of pre-1939
Oz adaptations, trailers, newsreels and a portrait gallery were also included, as well as two radio programs of the era publicizing the film.
In 2005, two new DVD editions were released, both featuring a newly restored version of the film with audio commentary and an isolated music and effects track. One of the two DVD releases was a "Two-Disc Special Edition", featuring production documentaries, trailers, various outtakes, newsreels, radio shows and still galleries. The other set, a "Three-Disc Collector's Edition", included these features as well as the digitally restored 80th anniversary edition of the 1925 feature-length silent film version of
The Wizard of Oz, other silent
Oz movies and a 1933 animated short version.
The Wizard of Oz was released on
Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc...
on September 29, 2009 for the film's 70th anniversary in a four-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition", including all the bonus features from the 2005 Collector's Edition, new bonus features about
Victor FlemingVictor Fleming was an Academy Award-winning American film director, cinematographer, and producer...
and the surviving Munchkins, the telefilm
The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum StoryThe Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story is a film that stars John Ritter as Lyman Frank Baum, the man who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and eighteen of the other Oz books. Also starring in this TV movie was Annette O'Toole as Baum's supportive wife Maud, and Rue McClanahan who played Baum's...
and the miniseries
MGM: When the Lion Roars. The Blu-ray version of
Oz features a significant picture quality increase over all previous home video releases due to Warner commissioning a new transfer at 8K resolution from the original film, requiring 22 TB of disc space. This restored version also features a lossless 5.1
Dolby TrueHDDolby TrueHD is an advanced lossless multi-channel audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories which is intended primarily for high-definition home-entertainment equipment such as Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. It is the successor to the AC-3 Dolby Digital surround sound codec which was used as the...
audio track. A DVD version was also released as a Two-Disc Special Edition and a Four-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition. As previously mentioned, the September 23, 2009 one-day-only theatrical 70th anniversary showings were also a promotion for the various disc releases six days later.
Legacy
All of the film's stars except Frank Morgan, who died in 1949, lived long enough to see and enjoy at least some of the film's legendary reputation after it came to television starting in 1956. The last of the major players to die was Ray Bolger, in 1987. The day after his death, an editorial cartoon referenced the cultural impact of this film, portraying the Scarecrow running along the Yellow Brick Road to catch up with the other characters, as they all danced off into the sunset.
Neither director Victor Fleming, nor music arranger Herbert Stothart, screenwriter Edgar Allan Woolf, film editor
Blanche SewellBlanche Sewell was an American film editor.She had hoped to work as an actress in Hollywood, but became a negative cutter and then an editor. She was film editor on several notable MGM films, including The Wizard of Oz, though she did not live to see the film's spectacular success as a television...
, nor actor
Charles GrapewinCharles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
(who played Dorothy's Uncle Henry) lived to see the film's first telecast. By coincidence, Fleming, Stothart, Sewell and Morgan all died in 1949, which was also the year of the film's successful first re-release in movie theatres. Woolf had died the year before and Grapewin died in February 1956, nine months before the film's television premiere, and a few months after the film's second re-release. Costume designer
AdrianAdrian Adolph Greenberg , most widely known as Adrian, was an American costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career, he designed costumes for over 250 films and his screen credits usually read as...
died in September 1959, only three months before the highly successful second telecast of the film, the one that would persuade CBS to make it an annual tradition. The film's principal art director
Cedric GibbonsAustin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
died in July 1960, after the 1959 telecast, but months before the next TV showing on December 11, 1960. And principal makeup artist
Jack DawnJack Dawn was an acclaimed American make-up artist whose career spanned thirty-seven years, during which he worked on more than two hundred films, many of them regarded as classics by historians and moviegoers alike....
died in June of 1961, six months after the film's third telecast.
Co-screenwriter Florence Ryerson died in 1965, after the film's seventh telecast, and principal screenwriter Noel Langley, who reportedly hated the changes that Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf had made to his version of the script, lived to see the film become a television institution, dying in 1980, months after the twenty-second telecast of the film.
Oz song writers E.Y. Harburg and
Harold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music.Having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to being the composer of The Wizard of Oz, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook.His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow”...
also lived to see the film become a television immortal, both of them also passing away in the 1980's, as did
Oz director of photography
Harold RossonHarold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:...
. The principal creator of the special effects which were so much a part of the film,
A. Arnold GillespieAlbert Arnold Gillespie was an American cinema special effects artist.-Early years:Gillespie joined MGM as a set designer in 1925, a year after it was founded. He was educated at Columbia University and the Arts Students League. His first project was the silent film Ben-Hur, released that same year...
, passed away in 1978.
Music
The Wizard of Oz is widely noted for its musical selections and soundtrack. Music and lyrics were by
Harold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music.Having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to being the composer of The Wizard of Oz, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook.His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow”...
and
E.Y. "Yip" HarburgEdgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
, who won the Academy Awards for
Best Music, SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
for "
Over the Rainbow"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
." In addition,
Herbert StothartHerbert Stothart was a song writer, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning for his background music for The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:...
, who composed the instrumental underscore, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
The song "The Jitterbug", written in a swing style, was intended for the sequence in which the four are journeying to the castle of the
Wicked Witch of the WestThe Wicked Witch of the West is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character also figures prominently in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book...
. Due to time constraints, the song was cut from the final theatrical version. The film footage for the song has been lost, although silent home film footage of rehearsals for the number has survived. The sound recording for the song, however, is intact and was included in the 2-CD
Rhino RecordsRhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company, owned by Warner Music Group.-Company history:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of Pop Music, Rock & Roll, and R&B successes from...
deluxe edition of the film soundtrack, as well as on the VHS and DVD editions of the film. A reference to "The Jitterbug" remains in the film; the Witch remarks to her flying monkeys that they should have no trouble apprehending Dorothy and her friends because "I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them."
Another musical number that was cut before release occurred right after the Wicked Witch of the West was melted and before Dorothy and her friends returned to the Wizard. This was a reprise of "Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead" with the lyrics altered to "Hail! Hail! The Witch is Dead!." This started with the Witch's guard saying "Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead!" and dissolved to a huge celebration of the citizens of Emerald City singing the song as they accompany Dorothy and her friends to see the Wizard. Today, the film of this scene is also presumed lost and only a few stills survive along with a few seconds of footage used on several reissue trailers. The entire audio still exists and is included on the 2-CD Rhino Record deluxe edition of the film soundtrack.
The songs were recorded in a studio before filming. Several of the recordings were completed while Buddy Ebsen was still with the cast. Therefore, while Ebsen had to be dropped from the cast due to illness from the aluminum powder makeup, his singing voice remained in the
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
. [as noted in the notes for the CD Deluxe Edition] In the group vocals of "
We're Off to See the Wizard"We're Off to See the Wizard" is one of the classic and most memorable songs from the Academy Award-winning film The Wizard of Oz. Composer Harold Arlen described it, along with The Merry Old Land of Oz and "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead", as one of the "lemon drop" songs of the film.The melody's...
," his voice is easy to detect. Jack Haley spoke with a distinct Boston accent and thus did not pronounce the
r in
wizard. By contrast, Ebsen was a
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
erner, like Judy Garland and thus pronounced it. Of course, Haley rerecorded Ebsen's solo parts later.
Songlist
- "Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
" - Judy Garland
- Munchkinland Sequence:
- "Come Out, Come Out..." - Lorraine Bridges and The Munchkins
- "It Really Was No Miracle" - Judy Garland, Billy Bletcher and The Munchkins
- "We Thank You Very Sweetly" - Frank Cucksey, Joseph Koziel and Billie Burke
- "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" - The Munchkins
- "As Mayor of the Munchkin City" - Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colveg and JD Jewkes
- "As Coroner, I Must Aver" - Meinhardt Raabe
Meinhardt Raabe is an American actor. He is the oldest surviving Munchkin-actors from The Wizard of Oz, and is now the only surviving cast member with any significant dialogue in the film. He was born in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.Raabe graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1937...
and Billy Bletcher
- "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" (Reprise) - The Munchkins
- "The Lullaby League" - Lorraine Bridges, Betty Rome and Carol Tevis
- "The Lollipop Guild" - Jerry Maren, Billy Bletcher and Pinto Colvig
- "We Welcome You to Munchkinland" - The Munchkins
- "Follow the Yellow Brick Road/You're Off to See the Wizard" - Judy Garland and The Munchkins
- "If I Only Had a Brain" - Ray Bolger and Judy Garland
- "We're Off to See the Wizard" - Judy Garland and Ray Bolger
- "If I Only Had a Heart" - Jack Haley and Adriana Caselotti
Adriana Caselotti was an American actress and singer. She is the voice of Snow White in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.-Early life:...
- "We're Off to See the Wizard" (Reprise 1) - Judy Garland, Ray Bolger and Jack Haley
- "If I Only Had the Nerve" - Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Ray Bolger and Judy Garland
- "We're Off to See the Wizard" (Reprise 2) - Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr
- "Optimistic Voices" - MGM Studio Chorus
- "The Merry Old Land of Oz" - Frank Morgan, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr
- "If I Were King of the Forest" - Bert Lahr, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger and Jack Haley
Adaptations to other media
The Wizard of Oz was dramatized as a one-hour radio play on the December 25, 1950 broadcast of
Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series [NBC Blue Network ; CBS ; NBC ] which first adapted Broadway stage works, and then films to hour-long radio programs performed live before studio audiences...
, with Judy Garland reprising her earlier role.
Cultural impact
Regarding the original Baum storybook, it has been said: "
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is America's greatest and best-loved home grown fairytale. The first totally American fantasy for children, it is one of the most-read children's books . . . and despite its many particularly American attributes, including a wizard from Omaha,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has universal appeal." The television showings of the film have taken its fame to a level far above what it had been in the pre-TV and early TV era. It has become almost literally a national institution, a cultural icon recognized by millions.
The film also has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
, which selected it for preservation in the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
in 1989. In June 2007, the film was listed on UNESCO's
Memory of the World RegisterUNESCO's Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard humanity's documentary heritage against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction...
.
The scene in which the Wicked Witch captures Dorothy and threatens her in the castle placed at number 86 on Bravo's
100 Scariest Movie Moments. In 1977,
Aljean HarmetzAljean Harmetz is a Hollywood journalist and film historian. She has written as a Hollywood film correspondent for the New York Times since 1981....
wrote
The Making of The Wizard of OzThe Making of the Wizard Of Oz, written by film historian Aljean Harmetz, is a book about the production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz....
, a detailed description of the creation of the film based on interviews and research; it was updated in 1989.
Sequels and reinterpretations
An official sequel, the animated
Journey Back to OzJourney Back To Oz is an official animated sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz. Baum received no screen credit....
, starring
Liza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American singer and actress of film, stage and television. She is the daughter of entertainer Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, daughter of
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
, as Dorothy, was produced beginning in 1964 to commemorate the original film's 25th anniversary. The unfinished film lost financing early on and was not finished until 1972 when the producing studio,
FilmationFilmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
, had made enough profit from its television series to finish the film. It was released in the USA in 1974, and again in 1976 with additional live-action footage. In the movie, Dorothy is the victim of another minor head injury incurred during another Kansas tornado. She wakes to find herself back in Oz. There, she is reunited with her old friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion, but none of them have time to spend with her or the desire to fight yet another wicked witch (played by
Ethel MermanEthel Merman was an American actress and singer of the musical theatre. Known for her powerful voice, she was often referred to as "The Grande Dame of the Broadway stage".-Early life:...
). She befriends the kindly Pumpkinhead, played by the voice of
BewitchedBewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York , Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead and David White. It is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife...
star
Paul LyndePaul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry McAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
and a horse named Woodenhead Pinto Stallion III. Drama ensues, resulting in both the witch's death and that of Pumpkinhead, her creation. However, a single tear that proves her love for her friend, saves Pumpkinhead. Soon, Dorothy wakes to find herself back in Kansas with her aunt and uncle.
Disney made a sequel
Return to OzReturn to Oz is a 1985 film which is the semi-sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. It was made by Walt Disney Pictures without the involvement of MGM, the studio that made the 1939 film. However, no approval was necessary, because by 1985, all of the Oz books on which the film was based...
in 1985. Based mostly on the books
Ozma of OzOzma of Oz, published on July 29, 1907, was the third book of L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books...
and
The Marvelous Land of OzThe Marvelous Land of Oz, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is the only book in the series in which Dorothy Gale does not appear. This and the next...
, it fared poorly with critics and in the box office, although it has since gone on to become a cult classic.
For the film's 56th anniversary,
a stage showThe Wizard of Oz is a musical with a book by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
was based upon the 1939 film and the book by L. Frank Baum. It toured from 1995-2008, except for 2004.
In 1995 Gregory Maguire published the book
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995. It was written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. Based upon the writings of L...
, which was later on adapted into a Broadway musical,
WickedWicked is a Tony Award-winning Broadway and West End musical, with songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. The story is based on the best-selling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, a parallel novel of L...
, a back story to
The Wizard of Oz that describes what happened before Dorothy dropped into Oz and how the Wicked Witch became known as wicked.
LGBT culture
The Wizard of Oz has been identified as being of great importance to
LGBTLGBT is an initialism referring collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In use since the 1990s, the term “LGBT” is an adaptation of the initialism “LGB” which itself started replacing the phrase “gay community” which many within LGBT communities felt did not represent...
(
lesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
,
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
, bisexual and
transgenderTransgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to diverge from the normative gender roles....
) fans. One reason for this is Judy Garland's starring role; Garland would go on to be a
gay iconA gay icon is a historical figure, celebrity or public figure who is embraced by many within lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities; Dykon, a portmanteau of "dyke" and "icon," has recently entered the lexicon to describe lesbian icons....
and later in her career acknowledged the gay fans of her rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" from the film.
Numerous analyses of the film and its impact on LGBT-identified persons have been made. Creekmur and Doty, in their introduction to
Out in Culture, write that the films gay resonance and interpretations depend on
campCamp is an aesthetic sensibility wherein something is appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. When the usage appeared, in 1909, it denoted: ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical, and effeminate behaviour, and, by the middle of the 1970s, the definition comprised: banality,...
. According to the Jungian writer Robert Hopcke, the dreary reality of Kansas implies the presence of homophobia and transphobia for gay viewers and is contrasted with the colorful and accepting land of Oz. When shown in gay venues, it is "transformed into a rite celebrating acceptance and community." "
LGBT sociologists and authors (so-called
Queer theoristsQueer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of gay and lesbian studies and feminist studies. It is a kind of hermeneutics devoted to queer readings of texts...
) highlight a feeling of kinship felt by LGBT people for the misfit heroes (and villains) of the film, and attribute the feeling of identification to the hidden or double lives of the characters, drawing parallels to the problems faced by LGBT people in real life: "It's emotionally confused and oppressed teenage heroine longs for a world in which her inner desires can be expressed freely and fully. Dorothy finds this world in a technicolor land 'over the rainbow' inhabitied by a sissy lion, an artificial man who cannot stop crying and a butch femme-couple of witches."
Controversy and urban legends
An
urban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale, more properly a "'contemporary legend'" is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them...
claims that, in the film, a Munchkin can be seen committing
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
(
hangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. It hurts a lot. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", although it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would...
by the neck from behind a prop tree and swinging back and forth) far away (left) in the background, while the Tin Woodsman, Dorothy and Scarecrow are singing
We're Off to See the Wizard and skipping down the
yellow brick roadThe road of yellow brick is an element in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with additional such roads appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz...
into the distance; it is actually a bird borrowed from the Los Angeles Zoo, most likely a
craneCranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. There are fifteen species. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
or an
emuThe Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. The soft-feathered, brown, flightless bird reach up to in height...
, that was one of several birds placed on the indoor set to give it a more realistic feel.
Another popular urban legend claims that Miss Gulch swears during the scene early in the film where Toto is taken away, telling Aunt Em she'll "bring a damn suit that'll take your whole farm!"; the line in question is actually "...bring a
damage suit."
The pairing of the 1973
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
music album
The Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the Moon is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released in March 1973, the concept built on the ideas that the band had explored in their live shows and previous recordings, but it lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their...
with the visual portion of the film produces moments where the film and the album appear to correspond with each other in a music video-like experience. This juxtaposition has been called
Dark Side of the RainbowDark Side of the Rainbow
.
Awards and honors
According to
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a left-liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-History:The...
, the film has the greatest soundtrack of all time.
The film was nominated for several Academy Awards upon its release, including
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
and Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It lost the award in the Best Picture category to
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
(another MGM release), but won in the category of
Best SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
(
Over The Rainbow) and Academy Award for Best Original Music Score. Although the Best Song award went to E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen, the Best Original Score Award went to, not the songwriters, but Herbert Stothart, who composed the background score. Judy Garland received a special
Academy Juvenile AwardThis Academy Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is an honorary acting award. It is officially called either the "Special Award" or the Special Juvenile Academy Award. It was first awarded by the Academy for work in 1934 and continued sporadically until 1960. The...
that year, for "Best Performances by a Juvenile" (this meant that the award was also for her role in the film version of
Babes in ArmsBabes in Arms is the 1939 film version of the 1937 Broadway musical of the same name. The film version stars Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes and Betty Jaynes.-Production:...
).
The Wizard of Oz did not receive an Oscar for its now-famous special effects - that award went to the 1939 film version of
The Rains CameThe Rains Came is the title of a novel by Louis Bromfield, published in 1937, as well as the 1939 20th Century Fox film version which followed it...
, for its
monsoonA pennis is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but now is used to describe seasonal changes atmospheric circulation and precipitation The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the African and Asia-Australian monsoons...
sequence. Additional nominations were for Cedric Gibbons and
William A. HorningWilliam A. Horning is a multiple Academy Award winner. . Horning was married to Esther Montgomery until his death....
for Art Direction and to Hal Rosson for Cinematography (color).
In current reviews,
The Wizard of Oz is still praised by critics. On the film's
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
listing, 100% of critics give the film positive reviews, based on 65 reviews.
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten American films in ten genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community.
The Wizard of Oz was acknowledged as the best film in the fantasy genre.
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
recognition
- 1998 AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies #6
- 2001 AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills #43
- 2003 AFI's 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains:
- Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The character also figures prominently in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book...
, villain #4
- 2004 AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs:
- "Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
" #1
- "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," #82
- 2005, AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes:
- "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" #4
- "There's no place like home" #23
- "I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog, too" #99
- 2006 AFI's 100 Years of Musicals
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl on September 3, 2006...
#3
- 2006 AFI's 100 Years…100 Cheers #26
- 2007 AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #10
- 2008 AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
#1 Fantasy filmFantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap....
The film is among the top ten of the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.
Other noted honors
- 1999 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
's 100 Maverick Movies ranked #20.
- 1999 Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
's 100 Greatest Films ranked #32.
- 2000 The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper in New York City, United States featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City...
's 100 Best Films of the 20th Century ranked #14.
- 2002 Sight & Sound
Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute . Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today...
's Greatest Film Poll of Directors ranked #41.
- 2005 Total Film
Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdom's second best-selling film magazine. It offers film and DVD news, reviews, and features...
's 100 Greatest Films #83.
- 2007 Total Film
Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdom's second best-selling film magazine. It offers film and DVD news, reviews, and features...
's 23 Weirdest Films ranked #1.
See also
- The Wizard of Oz on television
The enormous popularity of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz among Americans is primarily due today to the large number of times it has been shown on U.S. network television, although it was a famous film even before then. Like Gone With The Wind or The Ten Commandments, and unlike Casablanca,...
- The Wizard of Oz stage show
The Wizard of Oz is a musical with a book by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
- "Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song.In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM...
"
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M...
- Dark Side of the Rainbow
Dark Side of the Rainbow
- Wicked, the book
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995. It was written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. Based upon the writings of L...
and the musicalWicked is a Tony Award-winning Broadway and West End musical, with songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. The story is based on the best-selling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, a parallel novel of L...
- Land of Oz (theme park)
The Land of Oz is a mostly now-defunct theme park located in the resort town of Beech Mountain, North Carolina. It was opened in 1970 by Grover Robbins, who had been successful with Tweetsie Railroad, and was fully operational until 1980...
External links