Visiting Classics | The Wizard Of OZ

There is no doubt that the book The Wizard of Oz, written and published by L. Frank Baum in 1900, marked the childhood and lives of many people.

This is because, in addition to being widely adapted into different formats, Dorothy’s adventures also serve as inspiration for other stories and new works, often being mentioned in other shows.

The best-known film, however, was released in 1939 with Judy Garland as Dorothy and directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind).

And, you guessed correctly, I never watched it! I mean, now I can say I watched it, right?

But anyway, let’s get to the point!

What’s the story?

When Dorothy’s dog “attacks” one of her neighbors, the woman decides to take it away from the girl and euthanize it. In the desperation of the moment, Dorothy manages to recover Totó and decides to run away from home, to live in peace with her little dog.

On the way she meets a magician who tells her to go back to her aunt and uncle’s house, as her aunt is very sick and worried (spoiler: her aunt hadn’t even noticed her absence yet).

While making her way back, the girl and her companion are surprised by a tornado that blows Dorothy’s house up and leaves her in Oz, a magical and colorful world.

By accident, Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the East, which enrages the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) who decides to seek revenge.

From here, we follow his journey to return home and help his new friends.

Is it worth watching?

I believe it is impossible to answer this question in a negative way, because The Wizard of Oz has become a great reference in our pop culture and with good reason.

The film has charming visuals, Oz is a colorful city that fills our eyes and captures our attention.

Furthermore, the characterization of the characters is by far one of the best parts of the film, each character has a unique personality and appearance.

A lion, king of the jungle, who has no courage, a tin man longing to have a heart and a scarecrow wanting to have a brain.

Each one with its own objective brings a pinch of humor and new details to a story that might not hold us as much if it didn’t feature these characters.

With the confirmation of a new adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s book by Warner Studios, and the promises of a direct homage to previous adaptations, watching the classic version will certainly make your future experience more fun.

The remake does not yet have a release date and no names have been mentioned for the cast. The direction and script will be done by Kenya Barris, creator of the Black-ish series.

Fun fact:

In 1972, an animation called Return to the Wonderful World of Oz was produced by Filmation.

Despite not being a direct continuation of the 1939 film, the film featured some of its cast members this time in new roles. Margaret Hamilton, originally the Wicked Witch of the West, returns in the animation as the voice of Dorothy’s aunt.

In place of Judy Garland, who passed away in 1969, we have her daughter, Liza Minnelli, lending her voice to the most famous character played by her mother.

Despite not being a box office success, the film Return to the Wonderful World of Oz was shown several times on ABC in the United States.

The animated musical is not available on any Brazilian streaming platform, but can be watched on YouTube.

The film The Wizard of Oz (1939) is available on the HBO Max streaming service and you can watch it at any time.

Conclusion

Visiting Oz was a very interesting experience, despite the problems surrounding the recordings, the film transports us to a unique and extremely colorful world.

When I finished, I felt that I had taken too long to watch this film, perhaps it is not one of my favorites, but I was enchanted and enthralled from the beginning by its quality and visuals.

For now, The Sound of Music remains my favorite. I’ll be back soon with another post, this time focused on “Gone with the Wind” (1940), may the universe help me on this journey.