Jump to content

The Wizard of Oz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Aaya35 (talk | contribs) at 07:26, 23 November 2007 (→Differences from original novel). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Redirect6

The Wizard of Oz
File:Wizard oz movieposter.jpg
Original film poster
Directed byVictor Fleming
Uncredited:
Richard Thorpe
George Cukor
King Vidor
Written byNovel:
L. Frank Baum
Screenplay:
Noel Langley
Florence Ryerson
Edgar Allan Woolf
Produced byMervyn LeRoy
StarringJudy Garland
Frank Morgan
Ray Bolger
Jack Haley
Bert Lahr
Billie Burke
Margaret Hamilton
Music byHarold Arlen
Distributed by1939-1986:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (all rights)
1986-1997:
MGM (video)
Turner Entertainment (TV and theatrical)
1998-present:
Warner Bros. (distribution rights via Turner)
Release dates
United States August 25, 1939
Running time
101 minutes
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$ 2,777,000

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming, among several other uncredited directors, and based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.[1] The film features Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman, Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Frank Morgan as the Wizard.

The film follows Kansas girl Dorothy Gale who lives on her aunt and uncle's depression-era farm while dreaming of a better place. After a destructive tornado hits the farm, Dorothy and her dog Toto magically transported to the land of OZ. Dorothy is instructed by the Good Witch of the North to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, to meet the Wizard of Oz who will return her to Kansas. During her journey she meets a Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, who aid her in her journey to the Emerald City hoping to receive what they each lack themselves (a brain, a heart and courage, respectiveley).

Initially, The Wizard of Oz was considered a commercial flop compared alongside its budget. However, the film received much attention after frequent television screenings and has since become one of the most beloved films of all time. It is often ranked among the top ten best movies of all-time in various critics' and popular polls, and has provided as many indelible quotes, entered upon the American cultural consciousness, as any other film in history. Its signature song, "Over the Rainbow," sung by the young Judy Garland, has been voted the greatest movie song of all time by the American Film Institute.[2]

Release History

In 1938, Metro Goldwyn Mayer purchased the rights from Samuel Goldwyn to the hugely successful novel, and Richard Thorpe signed on to direct the film on a $2,777,000 budget. He was quickly fired after the first few weeks of shooting proved unsatisfactory, and it was finally Victor Fleming who directed the majority of the film. When Fleming had to leave, King Vidor, who was uncredited in the final release print, shot the remaining scenes, which took place in Kansas. The film was released in 1939, and became only a moderate success at the box office, considering its then inconceivably large budget.

It was first re-released to movie theatres in 1949 by MGM (when it earned yet more money and became a bigger success than before), and again in 1955 by MGM (in a pseudo-widescreen version). It was sold to TV the following year, and was not given a major theatrical re-release again until 1998, when it was released by Warner Bros. (who currently own the rights to the film via their Turner Entertainment subsidiary). It was re-released again in 2006, but only in the United Kingdom.

Only when the film was screened on television in 1956 did it become the cultural phenomenon we know it as today.

Plot

Summary

The film centers on Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas, who is transported, along with her dog Toto, to the fantasy utopia of Oz by a tornado that sweeps her farmhouse home away. The storm carries the house with Dorothy and Toto to Munchkinland, a magical place far away from anything that Dorothy has ever seen or dreamed of. She is proclaimed a national heroine by the tiny inhabitants because the luck of the house's landing has caused the house to fall on and kill the Wicked Witch of the East, who holds power over the Munchkins. Suddenly, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, appears and explains all that has happened to Dorothy. Dorothy naturally wishes to return home. However, the sister of the now dead Wicked Witch of the East (the Wicked Witch of the West) makes a startling appearance. Dorothy receives protection from the Wicked Witch of the West by Glinda when magically the Ruby Slippers that were worn by the dead Witch of the East are now on the feet of Dorothy; as long as she wears the slippers, says Glinda, Dorothy will be safe. The Witch of the West leaves, and Dorothy is sent along the Yellow Brick Road by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North to find the Wizard of Oz and get his help to return to Kansas. Along the way, Dorothy overcomes various obstacles and meets a talking scarecrow (played by Ray Bolger), a tin man (played by Jack Haley) and a cowardly lion (played by Bert Lahr), who also are unsatisfied and need to find the Emerald City, of which the Wizard is master, believing that he will give them each what they desire. Instead, the Wizard sends the fellowship on a quest to kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

Extended

Orphan Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) lives a simple life in Kansas with Aunt Em (Clara Blandick), Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin) and three colorful farm hands, Hunk (Ray Bolger), Zeke (Bert Lahr) and Hickory (Jack Haley). One day the stern neighbor Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) is bitten by Dorothy's dog, Toto. Dorothy senses that Miss Gulch will try to do something dreadful, but her aunt and uncle, as well as the farmhands, are too busy with their work to listen. Dorothy yearns for a better place in the song Over the Rainbow. Miss Gulch shows up and takes Toto away to be destroyed, by order of the sheriff, over the impassioned protests of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Toto escapes and returns to Dorothy, who is momentarily elated but soon realizes Miss Gulch will return. She decides to take Toto and run away.

File:MargaretHamiltoninTheWizardOfOz.jpg
Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West

On their journey Dorothy encounters Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan), a lovable but fake fortune teller who, out of concern for Dorothy, tricks her into believing Aunt Em is ill so Dorothy won't run away from home. Dorothy rushes back to the farm but is knocked unconscious, inside the house, by a sudden Kansas twister that has already forced her family into the storm cellar behind the house.

A confused Dorothy awakens to discover the house has been caught up in the twister. Through the bedroom window she sees a parade of people fly by. Then she sees Miss Gulch, also caught in the tornado, and pedaling her bicycle in midair, transform into a witch. Moments later the twister drops the house, Dorothy and Toto over the rainbow and into Oz. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), arrives and informs Dorothy they are in Munchkinland. She tells Dorothy she has killed the ruby-slippered Wicked Witch of the East by "dropping a house" on her.

Encouraged by Glinda, the timid Munchkins come out of hiding and celebrate the demise of the witch singing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" among other cheerful songs until her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West (also played by Margaret Hamilton), appears to claim the powerful ruby slippers. Glinda magically transports the slippers onto Dorothy's feet and reminds the witch her power is ineffectual in Munchkinland. The witch vows revenge on Dorothy and leaves the same way she arrived, in a blaze of fire and smoke. Glinda tells Dorothy, who is anxious to return home, that the only way to get back to Kansas is to ask the mysterious Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City for help. Glinda advises Dorothy to never take off the slippers and "follow the yellow brick road" to reach the Emerald City.

On her way Dorothy befriends a Scarecrow with no brain (also played by Ray Bolger), a Tin Woodman with no heart (also played by Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (also played by Bert Lahr). The three decide to accompany Dorothy to the Wizard in hopes of obtaining their desires (a brain, a heart and courage respectively). Along the way they are plagued by a forest of angry apple trees and several failed attempts by the witch to stop them, notably the Deadly Poppy Fields. While they arrive at the Emerald City, they are interrupted by the Wicked Witch, who flies across the sky writing "surrender Dorothy". The group talks to the Wizard of Oz, who says that he will consider granting their wishes if they can bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch. The group then departs for the witch's castle.

File:WOO3.jpg
Dorothy comforts the Cowardly Lion

On their way to the witch's castle they are attacked by flying monkeys, who carry Dorothy and Toto away and deliver her to the witch, who demands the ruby slippers. When Dorothy refuses the witch tries to remove them but is prevented by a shower of sparks. She realizes the shoes cannot be removed as long as Dorothy is alive and plots on how to destroy her without damaging the shoes' spell. As the Witch is considering on how to kill Dorothy, Toto takes the opportunity to take escape from the Witch`s grasp with Dorothy crying "Run,Toto,Run !!". Outraged, the Witch screams at the Monkey, "Catch him,you fool!" but Toto manages to escape, much to Dorothy`s relief. The Witch, furious, snarls to Dorothy, "Which is more than what you will," and runs over to a large hourglass filled with red-blood sand and turns it over, gleefully telling Dorothy she will die when the hourglass empties. She puts the hourglass down and runs out of the chamber,locking Dorothy inside. Sobbing, Dorothy calls for Aunty Em, saying she`s frightened. Em appears, and Dorothy tries to tell her that she`s trying to get home.The witch appears, mocking and laughing at Dorothy. Meanwhile, Toto manages to find the lion, the scarecrow, and the tinman and lead them to the castle where Dorothy is awaiting her demise. Once inside they are barely able to free Dorothy and attempt an escape. The witch and her Winkie soldiers corner the group on a parapet, where the witch sets the Scarecrow on fire. To douse the flames, Dorothy throws water on them, and accidentally splashes water on the horrified witch, causing her to melt. To the group's surprise, the soldiers are delighted. Their captain (played by silent film actor Mitchell Lewis, who played the Sheik in the silent Ben-Hur) gives Dorothy the broomstick to thank her for their liberation from the witch. Upon their return the wizard tells Dorothy and her companions, "Go away and come back tomorrow." Thanks to Toto, though, they discover the wizard is not really a wizard at all, just a man behind a curtain. They are outraged at the deception, but the wizard solves their wishes through common sense and a little double talk rather than magic.

The wizard explains that he too was born in Kansas and his presence in Oz was the result of an escaped hot air balloon. He promises to take Dorothy home in the same balloon after leaving the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion in charge of Emerald City. Just before take off, Toto jumps out of the balloon's basket after a cat. Dorothy jumps out to catch Toto and the wizard, unable to control the balloon, leaves without her. She is sadly resigned to spend the rest of her life in Oz until Glinda appears and tells her she can use the ruby slippers to return home with Toto. Glinda explains she didn't tell Dorothy at first because she needed to learn "if you can't find your heart's desire in your own backyard, then you never really lost it to begin with." Dorothy and Toto say goodbye to their friends, and Dorothy follows Glinda's instructions to "tap your heels together and repeat the words, 'There's no place like home'." She awakens in her bedroom in Kansas surrounded by family and friends and tells them of her journey. Everyone laughs and tells her it was all a bad dream. A happy Dorothy, still convinced the journey was real, hugs Toto and says "There's no place like home."

When Dorothy wakes up from her trip to Oz, the issue with Toto and Miss Gulch appears unresolved and left to the audience to interpret; Miss Gulch may be intended to have died in the cyclone, possibly in conjunction with the deaths of the Wicked Witches of Oz.

Differences from original novel

File:Vc37.jpg
Publicity still showing main characters from 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.

The film expands the Kansas section, creating several characters (the farmhands, Miss Gulch, and Professor Marvel) who do not appear in the book. It also interprets the Oz experience as a dream, in which many of the characters that Dorothy meets represent the people from her home life. By contrast, in the book, her adventures in Oz are unambiguously meant to be real.

Nearly all of the Kansas characters have matching counterparts in Oz, and therefore most of the cast playing characters in Kansas play matching characters in Oz. Frank Morgan plays Professor Marvel, the Wizard, and several other people in the land of Oz. Margaret Hamilton plays both Miss Gulch and The Witch of The West. Ray Bolger plays Hunk and The Scarecrow. Jack Haley plays Hickory and The Tinman while Bert Lahr plays Zeke and The Lion.

Though the final film was far more faithful to Baum's original book than many earlier scripts (see below), the movie still had several notable differences. Due to time restraints a number of sub-plots from the book were cut. In the original, Dorothy and friends encounter a "Dainty China Country" where everyone is made of china, fight a gang of odd-looking "Hammer-heads," vicious half-tiger half-bear "Kalidahs" (who are made passing reference to in the film by the Scarecrow), and liberate an animal village from the rule of an evil spider king. None of these episodes appear in the movie, though the china country was invoked in the design of the Emerald City.

Likewise, some characters were merged or simplified for the purposes of the movie's plot. The film's character of Glinda is actually a composite of two book characters, the (nameless) Good Witch of the North and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who does not appear in the novel until the very end, and Burke's performance is a combination of the grandmotherly, less powerful Witch of the North and the young-seeming, wise, powerful, and dignified Glinda. In the novel, the Wizard likewise takes on various forms to fool Dorothy and friends--giant head, winged lady, terrible beast, ball of fire--but in the film he only takes the form of the giant head combined with the fire aspect. In contrast, Dorothy's family is given a much larger role in the film than in the novel.

File:OZ-07.jpg
Posed cast shot of The Wizard of Oz.

A notable visual change made to the film was the changing of Dorothy's Silver Shoes to Ruby Slippers [1], to make them visually dazzling against the yellow brick road on the Technicolor screens. Baum's original world was made dramatically more colorful overall; in his original story the different areas of Oz only had one color each, with the Munchkin country being entirely blue and the City of Emeralds being entirely green. This was originally done to save costs on printing illustrations. [citation needed]

The Wicked Witch of the West was much more cowardly in the novel, afraid of the dark, never left her castle, and carried an umbrella rather than a broom, for water would cause her to melt. The witch's skin was pale from lack of blood, but not green. She was also missing an eye, covered with a patch, with the other described "as powerful as a telescope". Her presumably blond hair (based on the original illustrations) was tied in three pigtails.

Perhaps the most severe change is that of Dorothy becoming a damsel in distress figure needing to be rescued by her male friends. In the novel, Dorothy administers the rescue of her friends after she has dispatched the witch. Her behavior toward the witch in the novel is much more aggressive; in the novel, the Silver Shoes can be taken off with no harm, and the witch trips Dorothy in order to be able to do this. Outraged, Dorothy deliberately douses her with the bucket of water, though still unaware that this will cause the Witch to melt.

Production

In January 1938, MGM bought the rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The final draft of the script was completed on October 8, 1938 (following numerous rewrites).[3]

The film's script was adapted by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf. Several people assisted with the adaptation without official credit: 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 and Sid Silvers. Victor Fleming signed on to direct, and Richard Thorpe (uncredited), George Cukor and King Vidor also have uncredited writing credits. Costume design was by Adrian Greenburg.

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 operetta, 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 Jaynes.[4] In addition, the song The Jitterbug, written in a swing style, was not intended for this sequence, but for the one in which the four are journeying to the castle of the Wicked Witch. It was supposed to have taken place just before the group was attacked by the flying monkeys. The Jitterbug was cut for the final theatrical version, and the video footage for the song has been lost (except in some silent home movie footage of rehearsals for it). But the soundtrack for the song has survived, and it is included in the 2-CD Rhino Record deluxe edition of the film soundtrack, as well as on the VHS and DVD editions of the film. An attempt has been made on both the videocassette and the DVD to synchronize the silent home movie footage with the soundtrack.

Buddy Ebsen originally cast as the Tin Man

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 role of the Tin Woodman. The Tin Man was originally slated for Ray Bolger, and Buddy Ebsen (famous for his later role as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies) was to play the Scarecrow.[3] Bolger was unhappy with being assigned the role of the Tin Man. Bolger convinced producer Mervyn LeRoy to recast him in that role. Ebsen didn't object to the change at first; he recorded all his songs, went through all the rehearsals and started filming with the rest of the cast.[5] But nine days after filming began, he suffered a reaction to the aluminum powder makeup, as it had coated his lungs as he breathed it in while it was applied daily. Consequently, Ebsen (at that point in critical condition) had to be hospitalized and leave the project. MGM did not publicize the reasons for Ebsen's departure and not even his replacement, Jack Haley, initially knew the reason.

The makeup used on Jack Haley was quietly changed to an aluminum paste makeup; although it didn't have the same dire effect on Haley, he did at one point suffer from an unpleasant reaction to it. Despite his near-death experience with the makeup, Ebsen outlived all the principal players, although his film career was damaged by the incident and he didn't 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 from complications from pneumonia on July 6, 2003 at the age of 95.[6]

The book The World of Entertainment (1975) by Hugh Fordin, created with the full cooperation of uncredited associate producer Arthur Freed before his death, is said to suggest that the actor was fired by Victor Fleming 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, test photos of different makeup styles remain.

Gale Sondergaard was originally cast as the Witch villain. 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 Dwarfs) into the familiar "ugly hag." She turned down the role and was replaced on October 10, 1938 with Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton was severely burned in the Munchkinland scene when she was to disappear in a puff of fiery smoke. When she returned from the hospital, Hamilton refused to do the scene where she flies a broomstick billowing smoke, so the directors chose to have a stand-in perform the scene instead. The stand-in was herself severely injured doing the scene after a malfunction occurred during filming. On July 25, 1938, Bert Lahr was signed and cast as the Cowardly Lion. Frank Morgan was cast as the Wizard on September 22, 1938. On August 12, 1938, Charley Grapewin was cast as Uncle Henry.

File:Vc38.jpg
Publicity still showing The Wizard of Oz in production, 1938

Filming commenced on October 13, 1938, with Richard Thorpe directing. After an unknown number of scenes were shot, Thorpe was fired and George Cukor, who was on his way to direct Gone with the Wind, took over until he had to leave to shoot the famous Civil War epic. 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 and Margaret Hamilton's makeup and costumes and told Garland to simply "be herself." This meant that all scenes Garland and Hamilton had already completed were discarded and refilmed. Cukor, who never actually shot any scenes for the film, had a prior commitment to direct Gone with the Wind, and left on November 3, 1938, when Victor Fleming took over the direction of Oz.

Coincidentally, on February 12, 1939, Victor Fleming replaced George Cukor in directing Gone with the Wind. The next day King Vidor 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). 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 concluded on March 16, 1939; with subsequent test screenings on June 5, 1939.[7]

Cast

Premiere and Reissues

Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale

The Wizard of Oz premiered at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin on August 12, 1939 and Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood on August 15 1939. The New York City 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 Rooney. They would continue to perform there after each screening for a week. The movie opened nationally on August 25 1939.

The film grossed approximately $3 million against production/distribution costs of $3.8 million in its initial release. It did not show a profit until a 1949 re-release earned an additional $1.5 million.

Beginning with the 1949 re-issue, and continuing until the film's 50th Anniversary videocassette release in 1989, the Kansas sequences were printed and shown in ordinary black-and-white, not sepia, and so TV viewers saw them in black-and-white for more than thirty years. However, with the film's fiftieth anniversary restoration, the sepia tone was brought back to the Kansas scenes, and beginning in 1990, the film was shown on television as originally released in 1939.

The film was again re-released in 1955 in a pseudo "widescreen" 1.85:1 aspect ratio version. Portions of the top and the bottom of the film were removed to produce the effect . The re-release trailer claimed "every scene" from Baum's novel was in the film, including "the rescue of Dorothy", though there is no such incident in the novel. The 1998 re-release again used the pseudo widescreen. The original theatrical release was 1.37:1 aspect ratio, which is projected in 1.33:1, with the additional width accommodating the soundtrack. All of the film's VHS and DVD releases have been in the original format, and not in the pseudo widescreen one.

The film was first shown on television November 3, 1956 on CBS, as the last installment of the Ford Star Jubilee. 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. On December 13, 1959 the film was shown (again on CBS) as a two-hour Christmas season special, and at an earlier time, to an even larger audience. 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 of 1963 as might have been expected, perhaps due to the proximity of the John F. Kennedy assassination November 22, 1963. 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 in later years (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , Baryshnikov's Nutcracker and Frosty the Snowman, among others, had yet to be shown, and the animation team of Rankin-Bass had not made their mark on Christmas TV specials yet. The only animated Christmas special showing in 1963 was Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol).

Still, the film was shown very early in 1964 so the showings still were only roughly a year apart. The January 1964 broadcast marked the end of the Christmas season showings, but it was nevertheless still televised only once a year for more than two decades. In the late 1960s, the film was bought for annual TV showings by NBC, but by 1976, it had reverted back to CBS. It is now shown several times a year, on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel, Turner Network Television, and the TBS Superstation, often several times during the same week "in rotation" on these three channels.[8](See the article The Wizard of Oz on television.)

The Wizard of Oz became the first videocassette released by MGM/CBS Home Video in 1980; all current home video releases are by Warner Home Video (via current rights holder Turner Entertainment). The first laserdisc release of The Wizard of Oz was in 1989, and again in 1993, and finally on 11 September, 1996. The long-awaited first DVD release of the film was on March 26, 1997, and contained no special features or supplements. It was re-released for its 60th Anniversary, on October 19, 1999, and contained an extensive behind-the-scenes documentary: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic, hosted by Angela Lansbury. Outtakes, the deleted music number known as the "Jitterbug sequence", clips from the 1925 Wizard of Oz and the 1933 animated short based on the book, trailers, newsreels and a portrait gallery were also included, as well as two radio programs of the era publicizing the film - all on one disc. In 2005, two exclusive collectable DVD editions were released. The film was completely restored with superior quality and new audio sound in a 5.1 audio, perhaps the biggest re-release of the film yet. One of the two DVD releases was a 2-disc "deluxe edition", featuring a large portion of rare special features: documentaries, trailers, various outtakes, newsreels, an in-depth look on the restoration of the new DVD release, a behind the scenes look at the set design of the film, radio shows, and still galleries. The 3-disc edition featured even more supplements, including the complete 1925 film and 1933 short and re-prints of the 1939 tickets for the opening night screening.

In 1999, the film had a theatrical re-release in Australia, in honor of the 60th Anniversary. The film was also scheduled for theatrical re-release in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2006.

Worldwide release dates

File:Vc57.jpg
Lobby card for the 1955 re-release of The Wizard of Oz.
Country Date
Brazil September 18, 1939
Argentina November 15, 1939
Sweden January 2, 1940
Denmark March 26, 1940
Australia April 18, 1940
Finland November 21, 1943
Spain March 19, 1945
France June 26, 1946
Belgium, Netherlands August 8, 1946
Hong Kong February 6, 1947
Italy December 5, 1947
Austria October 6, 1950
West Germany April 19, 1951
Philippines January 15, 1953
Japan December 22, 1954

Musical selections

Main article: Musical selections in The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is widely noted for its musical selections and soundtracks. Music and lyrics were by Harold Arlen and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, who won the Academy Awards for Best Music, Song for "Over the Rainbow".

The songs were recorded in a studio prior to filming. Several of the recordings were completed while Buddy Ebsen was still with the cast. So, while Ebsen had to be dropped from the cast due to illness from the aluminum powder makeup, his singing voice remained in the soundtrack. In the group vocals of "We're off to See the Wizard," his voice is easy to detect. Ray Bolger spoke with a distinct Boston accent and thus did not pronounce the r in wizard. By contrast, Ebsen was a Midwesterner, like Judy Garland, and thus pronounced the r.

Academy Awards

The film was nominated for several Academy Awards upon its release, including Best Picture and Academy Award for Visual Effects. It lost the award in the Best Picture category to Gone with the Wind (another MGM release), but won in the category of Best Song (Over The Rainbow) and Academy Award for Best Original Score, which went to, not the songwriters, but Herbert Stothart, who composed the background score. Judy Garland was given a special honorary Oscar 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 Arms). But rather incredibly, The Wizard of Oz did not receive an Oscar for its Special Effects - that award went to the film version of The Rains Came, for its monsoon sequence.

Winner of 2 Oscars

  • Music (Original Score) -- Herbert Stothart
  • Music (Song) -- " Over The Rainbow," Music By Harold Arlen; Lyrics By E. Y. Harburg

4 additional nominations

  • Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons, William A. Horning
  • Cinematography (Color) -- Hal Rosson
  • Outstanding Production -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie, Douglas Shearer
Special Award
  • Judy Garland received a miniature Oscar statuette for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile performer. This was not an award solely for "The Wizard Of Oz" but for her performances over all during the past year.

Awards and honors

The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most well known, beloved films of all time, and was one of the earliest films to be deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In June 2007, the film was listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

The film has gained many listings from the American Film Institute (AFI). In 1997, the AFI ranked The Wizard of Oz sixth on its "100 Greatest Movies" list; in its Tenth Anniversary Edition, it was rated tenth. Two songs from the film are on AFI's 100 years, 100 songs list ("Over the Rainbow" at #1 and "Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead" #82). In 2006, this film ranked #3 on their list of best musicals. In 1999, Entertainment Weekly released a guide celebrating the greatest films ever made, with The Wizard of Oz listed in the top 10. It is also in the top 100 on the IMDB Top 250 Films List. In addition, a 2005 poll by the AFI ranked Dorothy's line "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" as the fourth most memorable line in cinema history.[9][10] It was also placed at number 86 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[11]

In 1977, Aljean Harmetz wrote The Making of The Wizard of Oz, a detailed description of the creation of the film based on interviews and research; it was updated in 1989. ISBN 0-7868-8352-9

All of the film's stars except Frank Morgan lived long enough to see and enjoy at least some of the film's acclaim. The last of the major players to pass on was Ray Bolger. The day after his death, a prominent editorial cartoonist 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, nor co-screenwriter Edgar Allan Woolf, nor actor Charley Grapewin (who played Dorothy's Uncle Henry) lived to see the film become an icon of cinema and a television tradition. By a curious coincidence, Fleming, Stothart, and Morgan all died in the same year - 1949.

According to The Observer, the film has the greatest soundtrack of all time.[12]

File:Vc46.jpg
Ruby slippers. Original costume made of silk, leather, sequins, and rhinestones.
  • The Wizard of Oz was recorded live on Christmas day, 1950, and starred Judy Garland in this radio version of the classic film. Her daughter Liza Minnelli was in the audience (see link to audio in external links below)
  • Noel Langley penned a direct sequel based on The Marvelous Land of Oz that utilized similar conflicts created for this film, which centers upon a girl named Tippie living in an orphanage who dreams that she goes to Oz. The script is undated, but was probably created in the 1950s.
  • The Wizard of Oz has an official sequel, the animated production Journey Back to Oz (most of its work was done in 1964, but funding for finishing the project could not be raised until eight years later), featuring the voice of Liza Minnelli, Garland's daughter, as Dorothy, and Margaret Hamilton as the voice of Aunt Em. A section of the music at the start of the film, composed by Walter Scharf, is probably more familiar to viewers in the United Kingdom as the theme music for ITN's "News at Ten".
  • The 1974 John Boorman sci-fi film Zardoz starring Sean Connery is a look at a dystopian future that uses many elements from the classic story (including the abbreviated title).
  • The 1974 musical and 1978 film The Wiz were adapted from the same story.
  • The considerably darker Return to Oz, was made by Walt Disney Studios in 1985 starring Fairuza Balk as Dorothy. It holds the world record for for longest period of time for a film sequel. It would be 46 years after The Wizard of Oz when Return to Oz was in theaters.
  • An animated series set after the original movie was created for the ABC Network's Saturday morning lineup in the fall of 1990. According to the opening, Dorothy discovers the ruby slippers in her closet one day and uses them to return to Oz and reunite with her three friends. However, the Wicked Witch of the West, resurrected by a handful of remaining loyalists, returns to blow the Wizard's balloon off-course and steal the awards that he "gave" the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion their desired character traits. The series covers the heroes' journey through Oz to rescue the Wizard, reclaim their treasures, and utterly defeat the Witch. The cartoon lasted one season of thirteen episodes.
  • In 1995, Gregory Maguire released the critically acclaimed novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an other-side-of-the-story look at the witches of The Wizard of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman turned it into a musical entitled Wicked in 2003 with Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the show was a box office smash. In 2004, it was nominated for 9 Tony Awards, winning 3 (including one for Idina Menzel). There are currently five productions running, on Broadway, on a U.S. national tour, in Chicago, in Los Angeles, and in London's West End.
  • In 2005, Illusive Arts Entertainment launched Dorothy, a fumetti-style comic book series that is an updating of Baum's original story, though it also references numerous elements of the 1939 film, including starting out in a "colorless" Kansas and referencing dialogue from the film. Absent from the first issue at least is any reference to Toto. Like Return to Oz, this is a much darker take on the story, with Dorothy (portrayed in the photographs by Catie Fisher) depicted as a rebellious, disfranchised teenager who steals her uncle's truck as she runs away.
  • The Sci-Fi Channel has a mini-series entitled Tin Man with a dystopian futuristic look that is scheduled to air in December 2007, starring Zooey Deschanel as "D.G.", Alan Cumming as Glitch, a man with only part of a brain, and Neal McDonough as the title character: a law man with a "tin" badge, who is also tortured by the witch in an Iron Maiden-like device.
  • It was announced in August 2007 that Josh Olson, the Academy Award nominated screenwriter of "A History of Violence" would be adapting the next books in the Oz series for Warner Brothers.

Several versions were produced prior to the 1939 film:

See also

References

  1. ^ Fricke, John (1989). The Wizard of Oz. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0446514462.
  2. ^ Smithsonian Institute (2006). "Treasures of American History". National Museum of American History - Smithsonian Institute. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Warner Bros. "Wizard of Oz Timeline". Warnerbros.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Fordin, Hugh (1976). World of Entertainment. City: Avon Books (Mm). ISBN 9780380007547.
  5. ^ Fricke, John, and Jay Scarfone and William Stillman. The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History, Warner Books, 1989
  6. ^ newsfromme.com (2003). "Oz Stuff". povonline. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Jim's "Wizard of Oz" Website Directory. ""The Wizard of Oz"... A Movie Timeline". geocities.com. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/tvschedule
  9. ^ Reuters (2005). "'Frankly, my dear...' named number one movie quote". ABC News. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ American Film Institute (2006). "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes". American Film Institute. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Bravotv.com. "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments". Bravotv.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ The Observer Music Monthly (2007). "The 50 Greatest Film Soundtracks". Guardian Unlimited. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b c d e Included as a bonus feature on the 3-disc DVD set release of 2005.
  14. ^ Not actually an Oz-related film; the Oz title was added to capitalize on the popularity of the books, then removed when this proved box office poison.
  15. ^ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (2006). "Judy Garland Sings with the Liverpool Phil!". Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

Sources

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Wizard of Oz.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Wizard_of_Oz&oldid=173242598"