The Wizard of Oz

[zedz]

This is going from rusty memory, but I believe its showing in the Lists Project round before last (you'll have to check with swo for the details of last time) was primarily from a number of middling to low rankings from some forum regulars and high rankings from several unfamiliar people who rarely post(ed), which might account for the lack of enthusiastic defence. And, as is usually the case with these things, the more people there are voting, the more the list is going to skew towards the films that everybody has seen, even if nobody seems to be especially passionate about them.

For my part, I never saw the film as a child (though I devoured the Oz books and would have loved to have seen it - but it was never the seasonal TV fixture it was in the US). When I caught up with it in my teens, it was terribly underwhelming, and I've always found it clunky and charmless for the most part.

[swo17]

Looking back at the last '30s vote, it didn't get a ton of mentions, but those who did list it tended to place it very high. Only a couple of the votes came from forum regulars, one of whom was none other than the alter ego of Nothing.

[scotty2]

I recently kicked off my cultural history of the Great Depression class with the film to get history students thinking about responses to hard times. The Vidor-sepia sections evoke the documentary photography current at the time (think Lange especially and also Vidor's own Our Daily Bread) while Fleming's Technicolor fantasy codes the escape Hollywood was so good at providing during the decade (more films made in Hollywood in that decade than any other). There is much more that students identified or that I presented as Depression-resonant, from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--lyrics by the same Yip Harburg who penned "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" a few years before--to speculation about the Wizard's meaning (FDR? Huey Long? Father Coughlin? Fascists from across the sea? All of them media manipulators to one degree or another), the tornado as a stand-in for the Dust Bowl, the terrible floods and other disasters of the 1930s, and the idea that the qualities the characters seek are precisely those needed to make it through the Depression: a brain (FDR's braintrust with its New Deal ideas), a heart (empathy: think Farm Security Administration photographs), and courage (FDR's inaugural: "we have nothing to fear but fear itself"). Obviously there is a lot going on in the film as a musical, as one of Hollywood's great technical achievements in the ultimate golden year of 1939, Judy Garland, Freed getting going as associate producer, the concerns of the source text itself, etc. But these are some things that situate the film in its own time, something I almost never see in discussions of it and an angle that may in fact be more interesting than the "timeless" pop-culture joke it in many ways has become. All but one of the 24 students had seen it before but none had thought of it as an artifact of the Great Depression. They were seeing it anew through that lens.

[Brian C]

I actually grew up thinking - in what I imagine was a not-uncommon belief for someone my age growing up (I'm 33) - that it was the first color film. The way it transitions to color, with Dorothy opening the door, makes it feel like something so new, that the filmmakers felt like they had to show off. So for me, part of the appeal is probably due to the residual power of that mistaken belief, because even as a small child I always found it so easy to imagine myself back in old times, watching the amazing splendor of color unfurl in front of me. Even though I know better, I still think about that when I watch the movie.

I also remember, even as a small child, being impressed by the blatant artificiality of all the sets. From time to time someone will use the movie as an example of why you don't need complicated special effects for the "suspension of disbelief", but to me that misses the point. I'm tempted to say it's like a dream, but that's not quite right. Instead, I'd say that the movie looks like how a kid would imagine it, with finite horizons and an emphasis on current surroundings to the exclusion of all else. Because after all, what does a kid know about forever? If it's not right in front of you, it doesn't exist.

Which, actually, probably sums up the movie in a way. Basically, the experience of watching it never changes for me. With other movies that I remember watching as a child, when I watch them now I see them through the eyes of an adult. What this means is that I've either outgrown them or I appreciate them now in a much different way. But The Wizard of Oz just never seems to change. I can see why people might push back against that, or why someone who didn't know it as a child would reject it. I'm not even particularly nostalgic by nature, but I find it a valuable reminder of how the world looked and felt when I was a child.

[Roger Ryan]

I didn't think I would have to defend the film on this forum, but THE WIZARD OF OZ manages to do almost everything right despite having too many hands involved (by comparison, GONE WITH THE WIND has trouble overcoming MGM's factory approach). Perhaps it is Freed's strong influence, but OZ maintains the light vaudevillian tone that I imagine the successful stage production(s) had done twenty years earlier while delivering the high production values MGM was known for. I was charmed by the film as a child, but there are many things I appreciate now as an adult. Namely, the Arlen/Harburg songs are just great and I especially love the wacky wordplay and cock-eyed rhymes ("If I only got to thinkin', I could be another Lincoln") that seem just right coming out of the mouth of a talking scarecrow. The performances are pretty strong throughout and I think Frank Morgan was never better. Note how his portrayal of the title role is an exaggerated take on the "professor" that Dorothy encounters in the real world; both are lonely con men who use misdirection to deflect scrutiny.

Much has been made of the idea that the Emerald City appears to be MGM studios itself and Dorothy is the wanna-be starlet who, ultimately, is being encouraged to stay home. Some of this does seem to have found its way into the text as does the Depression allusions "scotty2" mentioned. The intrusion of the darker aspects of the real world hold greater resonance with me as an adult viewer. With each passing year, those flying monkeys look more and more like air raid bombers. Certainly there is a reason why the phrase "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" stays with us. Breaking through the illusion and understanding what drives ourselves and others is still heavy stuff and goes beyond what we would expect from a mere children's film.

[Feego]

I really have to echo what Roger Ryan, Brian C, scotty2, and Matt have already said. I guess I can see why many people now reject Oz, as -- like Casablanca and Gone with the Wind -- it's a film that has been so shamelessly pushed in our faces by the studio (Warner for all three) as a TIMELESS CLASSIC we must run out and buy every three years. This attempt at manufacturing memories is distasteful and is enough to put off even genuine fans.

There are a great many movies and shows I grew up watching and loving, and I do consider myself a rather nostalgic person. But when I watch those movies today, I often find myself cringing and wondering what I ever liked about them, thinking that if I had children, I would never expose them to such junk. That doesn't happen with Oz. While I don't watch it often, when I do, I become genuinely caught up in it, moved by Judy Garland's emotion, enamored with the music, and still exhilerated by the witch (she gave me nightmares for years). I never cease to be impressed with Margaret Hamilton's performance for its no-holds-barred outrageousness and (something I only now see as an adult) for her ability to actually draw some sympathy. I must say I feel a bit sorry for the old biddy Miss Gulch who takes out her social/sexual frustrations on a little girl's dog. As the witch, Hamilton explodes into something much bigger and troubling -- adding to the political interpretation, she does come off as a Fascist leader with her army of stormtroopers. We take for granted today that our collective notion of a classic Halloween witch owes everything to Hamilton.

I have also long thought of The Wizard of Oz as a celebration of film escapism, especially considering how important that was during the Depression. This farm girl, trapped and stifled by her grim surroundings, is literally carried away for fantastic Technicolor adventures, engages in musical numbers, fights an evil villain, and saves the day. In the end, she must return to the real world, but she comes back richer for her experience in the Dream Factory.

OK, I really am just an unabashed fan of this movie. And for the record, I HATE High Noon and LOVE Ford and especially Hawks.

[Matt]

The Wizard of Oz Fantasy Glamour Dorothy Barbie Doll

[see also Lee Meriwether/Julie Newmar Catwoman Barbie Doll, which is actually kinda cool]

[domino harvey]

Starring Olivia Wilde as Judy Garland. It's the role she was born to play!

[Gregory]

Those arms are scarily thin. And great choice to change the ruby slippers to red stiletto heels — so much more appropriate for the fantasy of a 1930s farm girl from Kansas.

[zedz]

Sounds like a great excuse for a re-re-re-re-re-release of the film!

[Matt]

In that case, don't miss the IMAX 3D release of the film this fall and the FIVE DISC 75th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition coming in October!

[mfunk9786]

Those arms are scarily thin.

To be fair, I don't know how you design something that's already not tremendously proportionate and then slap on meatier arms. It'd look kind of bizarre.

[Gregory]

It's hardly a new or original critique to make, but they could have designed it so that the arms were still thin but not scary-thin. It seems like Mattel has taken an already-thin doll and gradually made certain areas even thinner, and it looks like the arms have crossed over to Isabelle Caro territory. That the Paris-runway type of glamour is the only one they're able to recognize is a bit outrageous and sad. When Barbie Dorothy goes to Oz, I wonder if she brings her How to Lose Weight book.
Let's license her out for a sassy Bratz doll version next!

[zedz]

In that case, don't miss the IMAX 3D release of the film this fall and the FIVE DISC 75th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition coming in October!

That's a much better punchline than I could have come up with. Comedy gold, Warner Brothers!

[Roger Ryan]

A video showing some of the work that went into creating the new 3D IMAX version of the film. I like the quote "the 3D helped a little bit..."! I didn't have a problem noticing Garland's freckles and the Scarecrow's burlap-textured face when watching the film projected from a standard 35mm print, but I guess you can't miss stuff like that at double or triple the size.

[domino harvey]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Gregory]

Quote from Blu-ray.com forum discussion:

I finally watched the 3D version that I purchased. It looks amazing in 3D! Although, I forgot when I purchased it how much I haaaaaaaaate this movie. I wanted it for my collection though, so I don't mind.

[Feego]

I know The Wizard of Oz is not the most beloved movie around this forum, but even as a diehard fan, I hate to see what Warner is doing with it. What was once a cherished experience that people looked forward to seeing once a year on TV has been forever cheapened by Warner's constant need to reissue it every five months with new bells and whistles, in 3D, with holograms, or what have you.

[domino harvey]

I still only own this in the original snapper-case DVD that came in the Judy Garland Signature Collection

[Minkin]

has been forever cheapened by Warner's constant need to reissue it every five months with new bells and whistles, in 3D, with holograms, or what have you.

To be fair, this is only the 14th* release of the movie on Blu in the US.

*Sadly, not kidding, it gets like 3 different versions every year since 2009.

[knives]

That's actually a worse average than he joked.

[tenia]

To be fair, it's only an exclusive packaging from Best Buy getting a non-exclusive release, not really a new one.
So when you look at it, due to the movie getting each time multiple sets, there are only been 2 different releases in the US, the 70th and the 75th.
But then, each release had at least 5 variants...

[hearthesilence]

Moron believes "ruby" slippers used as props had real rubies, steals a pair from a museum only to discard them when a fence tells him he's an idiot.