In 1939, the movie adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” appeared and instantly captured the public’s imagination. It’s 70 years later — seventy! — and the movie is still going strong in video sales, re-broadcasts on television, and pop culture references. 70 years later and the brand is as strong as it’s ever been.
How does the movie fare with today’s fast-forward, always-connected youth? My 5 year old and I sat down to watch Dorothy and her friends on their magical journey recently and it’s still just as fun and powerful as it’s ever been.
Even though the acting style is straight out of yesteryear — the intonations are just so earnest — the set pieces, the musical score, the saturated palette and the flying monkeys all combine to put the viewer fully into another world. And the characters are clearly delineated, everyone’s motivation is spelled out multiple times throughout, with the Wizard’s revelation in the end — that everyone except Dorothy had what they sought inside them all along — seeming the perfect cap to the festivities.
The Wicked Witch does come across as a little scarier than I might have remembered. She does set the Scarecrow on fire at one point, remember … not to mention the fact that he gets literally torn apart by the flying monkeys later in the film, which is a little gruesome if you consider him a human being instead of an animated golem of straw. But all in all, it’s still as wholesome and rewarding as you probably recall.
For those of you who haven’t actually read the classic novels, be warned: the movie doesn’t directly mirror the goings-on of the book. The entire series is a great deal weirder than expected, and just as delightful.
It’s kind of blowing my mind that 30 years from now on Oz’s 100th anniversary, I’ll still be around to get to see it with my son’s son (or daughter). And we’ll all jaunt off to see the Wizard to give us back the gift of our imaginations all over again.
