The Wizard of Aaaahs!
MGM’s feature film THE WIZARD OF OZ was released just one month before the start of the Second World War. Dreams of life "over the rainbow" and yearnings of "no place like home" were brutally crushed at the hands of the Nazis and resulted in the deaths of over 50 million souls.
Screen-legend Shirley Temple was MGM’s original choice for the role of Dorothy. The relatively-unknown Frances Ethel Gumm (aka Judy Garland) eventually got the part. Garland was initially outfitted in a blonde wig, and her blue gingham dress was chosen for its blurring effect on her figure, which made her look younger. In Baum’s original story, the slippers were silver, not ruby. The change was made by MGM to enhance the Technicolor delight of the film.
Victor Fleming directed most of the movie, though he did not remain to finish the job; early in 1939 he left to take over another troubled shoot, Gone With The Wind, from the director he replaced on OZ, George Cukor. Gone With the Wind and Victor Fleming both won Academy Awards in 1940. Fleming holds the achievement of being the only film director to have two films listed in the top 10 of the American Film Institute's prestigious 100 Years...100 Movies list.
The original film was not a box office success, but it has gone on to earn nearly $250 million with its various re-releases. It has inspired numerous prequels, sequels, and adaptations - of the live-action, animated, and Muppet-kind.
While the 1978 Motown-inspired film The WIZ, starring a young Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, never really captured the magic of the original, it continued to prove just how iconic Dorothy and her journey down the Yellow Brick Road were and continue to be.
The Tony-Award winning sensation WICKED, now in its 19th year on Broadway, has revived an interest in all-things OZ. It is told from the perspective of the witches; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz and includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's West-End revival of the musical allowed the legendary composer to put his own signature spin on the classic story. The show spawned a reality TV series and a North American tour.
