The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

1939

Director: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, King Vidor

Writer: L. Frank Baum, Noel Langley , Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf , Irving Brecher, William H. Cannon, Herbert Fields, Arthur Freed, Jack Haley, E.Y. Harburg, Samuel Hoffenstein, Bert Lahr, John Lee Mahin, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Jack Mintz , Ogden Nash, Robert Pirosh, George Seaton, Sid Silvers

101 Minutes

Every year, around Easter, The Wizard of Oz played on television. It was a family event for a family film. Dorothy (Judy Garland) sang into our hearts by wishing “Over the Rainbow,” while her friends skipped down the yellow brick road singing “Off to See the Wizard.”

Dorothy was us, scared to be away from home and lost in an upside-down world.

She had her hair in pigtails, a beautiful blue dress, and striking ruby red slippers. Her best friend was a dog, while her biggest supporter a scarecrow, soulmate a tinman, and a cuddlely lion as escorts through pastures, forests, and fields. A wicked witched chased her. A wizard denied her. And a good witch saved her.

Her name was Glinda (Billie Burke), the beautiful good witch.

In the scene above, Dorothy has made it through the frightful task of retrieving the Wicked Witch of the West’s (Margaret Hamilton) broomstick and has delivered it to the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan). After some convincing, the Wizard grants three wishes to Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Lion (Bert Lahr), and Tin Man (Jack Haley), but has nothing for Dorothy. Nothing, except a ride home.

One hot air balloon.

On the departure day, Dorothy misses her ride home when Toto jumps out of the hot air balloon. Suddenly, Glinda appears. The good witch informs Dorothy she has had the power to return home all along, but had to learn it for herself.

Tin Man asks, “What have you learned, Dorothy?”

“Well, I - I think that it - it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em - and it's that - if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?” she says.

A message for every child trying to leave home on an adventure; this film teaches us that life isn’t lived on the road, away from the ones you love. It’s about accepting the family around you and being grateful for a place called home, however difficult it can be. It’s about recognizing the loved ones around you. Most of all, it’s about appreciation.

Three clicks on the ruby slippers and “…there is no place like home.”

The Wizard of Oz remains in our hearts with one title: classic.

Dorothy’s ruby slippers remain in Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution, though the red carpet in front of the attraction needed to be replaced numerous times due to wear and tear. The MGM casino in Las Vegas was build with a Wizard of Oz décor, including life-size models of each character. And in 2007, the Munchkins were giving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Wizard of Oz is a part of us, it's magic grabbed us, and somewhere over the rainbow there is a wizard waiting to save us.