What can be written about The Wizard of Oz that hasn’t
already been said in any of the many, many extras and stories and documentaries
on the making and history of it? Those
have covered everything from the happy (impact on children) to the sordid (Garland being on drugs to
make it through the long working hours) to the ridiculous (Pink Floyd’s album
Dark Side of the Moon supposedly being written to sync up with it – it wasn’t). There’s no way to top those, especially the
Pink Floyd one, but I can write about the personal aspects of it. I can also write about the far less well
known book upon which it was based.
Note – if you’ve somehow never seen this movie there will be
spoilers in this post since I need to compare the ending of the film with the fact
that the story in the book continues on to other adventures.
When I was growing up there were only the three basic
broadcast channels – NBC, ABC and CBS.
There were some things you could count on with them: they would show
cartoons every Saturday morning; they would show Christmas specials every
December; and there were a small set of movies they would show once every
year. The Wizard of Oz was one of those.
This meant that an entire generation (and maybe more) grew
up seeing the film as children, and watching it year after year. It would be exciting to know it was coming on
in a few nights. And it was actually
broadcast at a time where kids could watch the whole thing before their bedtimes.
What all of this means is that it is impossible for me to be
objective with this movie as an adult watcher.
Sure, I can intellectually acknowledge that it really is a simple story
just made for kids. There’s overacting
in it, especially with the Cowardly Lion.
There’s not much doubt about what’s going to happen at the end. None of that means anything to me because
when I’ve happened to see it as an adult all the emotional connections made as
a child come back to me.
So, if you never saw this film until you were a fully grown
and jaded adult cinephile then I can understand if your reaction was along the
lines of “That’s it? That’s the movie that has received all
the hype over the years?”
One of the things the film was celebrated for was the
fantastic colors. The scene where the door opens to Oz and the films
transitions from black and white to color is quite something. Here’s the thing: most of the years I was
growing up watching this I never got to see that. My family didn’t have a lot of money. All we had in the house was a black and white
TV, so most of the times I have seen this film it was never in color. When I finally did get to see it in color it
was quite something.
I remember one time when I was really little I was scared
when they first met Oz and the Cowardly Lion ran away and jumped out through a
window. Apparently my mother thought I
was too scared so she made me stop watching it and go to bed. Note to parents: the worst possible time to
put a kid to bed is right after he’s just been scared out of his wits by a
movie, especially if you let him watch 5-10 more minutes to see that everything
will be okay.
At some point in my later childhood I happened upon a book
copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel. I read a lot growing up so I sat down and
made my way through it. I noticed small
differences here and there – the biggest early on being no ruby red slippers – but
imagine my surprise when the book came to where the movie ended and I found
there was another entire section of the story that the film never showed us.
Either for time or budgeting reasons the film sends Dorothy
back to Kansas
right after the Wizard has taken off in his balloon. Glinda shows up, tells Dorothy about the
slippers, and we end happily ever after.
In the book Glinda never shows up.
Dorothy and the others now travel to meet Glinda – the Good Witch of the
South. That’s not a typo; in the book
it’s someone else who is the Good Witch of the North. In fact, the recent prequel Oz the Great and
Powerful (2013) confused some people by having Glinda correctly presented as
the Good Witch of the South.
On their way to Glinda there are other dangers, like
Hammerheads – beings who can rapidly stretch their necks to strike people with
their heads. Maybe it was figured there
was no way to shoot this in 1939, or maybe the filmmakers just figured the
story had gone on long enough and they cut out an entire large piece of the
tale.
If you have a child who loves this movie and you want to
give them a pleasant surprise (and show them how much more you can get from
reading) then give them a copy of this book.
It probably won’t have the impact it does in the movie Zardoz (1974),
but it might just get them into reading more.
And if your child likes this book then there is a whole series of Oz
novels written by L. Frank Baum. I have
only read the first and most famous one.
In regards to film versions I have not seen the 1985 movie
Return to Oz nor the 1978 film The Wiz, so I cannot comment on them. I do recommend 2013’s Oz the Great and
Powerful. It does a good job with filling
in how the man we meet in Emerald
City came to be who he
is. Finally, I have seen the 1910 short
film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the oldest surviving motion picture
version. I have embedded it at the
bottom of this post, if you want to see it.
If you have children then I highly recommend you introduce
them to this film, old as it may be. I
think there’s something in it that most any child, even the most
technologically and socially plugged in ones, can appreciate. And if you’ve never watched it since you were
a child yourself, well, just realize that there may be places that you now see
it differently as an adult, but hopefully there will also be places where it
will be able to recapture the magic for you.
I give it my highest recommendation.
Chip’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Right or wrong, I'm of the opinion that you probably shouldn't trust someone who doesn't like The Wizard of Oz at least a little bit.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, my mom has a complete set of the Oz books. Shame on me that I lived with them for years and never read them.
I can't remember where I ran across the copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that I read. I don't think I knew there were other Oz books until many years later - maybe when The Return to Oz came out.
DeleteIn regards to early 20th century book series, I own and have read all eleven of The Martian Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs. And years ago I tracked down most or all of the Lensman series by E.E. Doc Smith because Robert Heinlein had often mentioned reading them when he was young. I've never gotten around to reading them myself, though.
I grew up on the John Carter books, not that Carter is the central character in about half of them. I realize as an adult that they are pulp crap, but I love them anyway.
DeleteMy experience with this film was similar to yours. We had a black and white set when I was small and we watched The Wizard of Oz every year. When we got a color TV, the movie started as usual, but when Dorothy goes to Oz-the movie turned to color and truly became downright magical! In the days before home video, watching it every spring was truly a spring ritual.
ReplyDeleteI was struggling to remember when it came on every year. Thanks for filling in that blank.
DeleteWizard of Oz (1939) has a special place in my heart as well, so I too cannt be objective. It's a film that makes brilliant use of color and b/w, in how the story plays out. Never knew there was a Wizard of Oz from 1910! Gonna give that a look today
ReplyDeleteI believe there was also a silent version in the 1920's. If so I haven't seen it. There was also a TV miniseries titled Tin Man that reimagined the story as science fiction, not fantasy. I haven't seen that, either, although it sat in my Netflix Instant queue for some time before disappearing.
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