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Author Topic: Wizard Of Oz Thoughts  (Read 28879 times)
Mr. DS
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« on: November 11, 2007, 11:53:22 AM »

I was watching Wizard Of Oz last night and something occurred to me.  I've talked to a lot of people who worship the film yet sneer at the fact I love B-Movies.  To me the Wizard Of Oz seems to fit all the fundamentals of a B-Movie.  A few examples;

1.) Midgets, Witches, Talking Trees
2.) Unresolved plot questions like why shouldn't the Wicked Witch be mad with Dorothy?  If someone killed your sister and stole your rightful property wouldn't you be PO'd? That and did the Wizard really give anything to anyone they didn't have already?
3.) Singing numbers about odd things.

Anyone else feel this way?
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« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2007, 12:40:23 PM »

I'd say it definitely fits the "B' movie fold.  Not saying I didn't like it or anything cause I did, but I wouldn't say it compares to say, The Godfather in terms of like, a great script, acting, etc.

Plus, any movie with flying monkeys and a tree that throws apples gets a  Thumbup in my book.
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« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2007, 02:21:44 PM »

Good points, especially since many of the actors who played the Munchkins were also in The Terror of Tiny Town.

I'd never consider it a b-movie, though.
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« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2007, 02:32:33 PM »

 I like it too...but ya gotta admit...it's not quite as cheezy or bizzare as K.Gordon Murry's import kiddie stuff...

  LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD and the MONSTERS
   
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   HAHAHAHAHA! Jebus...I gotta get this movie...!


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« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2007, 03:56:02 PM »

I like it too...but ya gotta admit...it's not quite as cheezy or bizzare as K.Gordon Murry's import kiddie stuff...

  LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD and the MONSTERS
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhPemapM18

   HAHAHAHAHA! Jebus...I gotta get this movie...!





 Buggedout

That looks insane!  Did the narrator say "Frankenstink"?
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« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2007, 04:01:47 PM »

i want that!!i collect k.gordon murray,my fave is santa claus...
have y'all heard about tinman?it looks interesting..we'll see,i guess...
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« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2007, 08:15:19 PM »

I was watching Wizard Of Oz last night and something occurred to me.  I've talked to a lot of people who worship the film yet sneer at the fact I love B-Movies.  To me the Wizard Of Oz seems to fit all the fundamentals of a B-Movie.  A few examples;

1.) Midgets, Witches, Talking Trees
2.) Unresolved plot questions like why shouldn't the Wicked Witch be mad with Dorothy?  If someone killed your sister and stole your rightful property wouldn't you be PO'd? That and did the Wizard really give anything to anyone they didn't have already?
3.) Singing numbers about odd things.

Anyone else feel this way?



I love this film. It showed on TBS last night. It's a film that I can watch over and over again.  The flying monkeys and the witches music especially when she rides the bike before the storm. It played nationally on the big screen about 7 years ago and we went to see it. All the characters and when the good witch comes to help Dorthy at the end of the film. Wait........I have to stop. I'm starting to cry. There is no place like home. 

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« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2007, 10:29:32 PM »

I just loved this movie when I was a kid.  I wanted to escape to the Emerald City and live there (mainly because my real home life was a nightmare).  Because of this I never understood why Dorothy wanted to go home.

I never thought about it being a B-movie though.  I bought the DVD a few weeks ago because it was in the bargain bin, otherwise it would only have been a film I watched when it came on telly.

I enjoy it, but I don't love it like I did when I was a kid.  But I suppose some child hood movies can be like that.  Still, it makes me blub now just like it used to.   Smile

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« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2007, 11:06:02 PM »

The opening title card says this movie's for the young and the young at heart...and it is 100% correct.

I'm a pretty cynical guy but I still love the Wizard of Oz.  It's pure Horatio Alger.

I still get a little misty when I watch the movie.  It's so iconic and one of the few, timeless movies ever made.  Seriously, what movie can appeal to all demographics like the Wizard of Oz can.

I'd like to see a more faithful adaptation but until the folks in Hollywoodland do I'll take a pre-pills Judy Garland, a goofy guy from Boston, a gentle character actor and a vaudeville comedian any day.  Plus, the wonderful Frank Morgan as the Wizard/Professor Marvel/The gatekeeper, et al.  ("Well!  Bust my buttons!!!)

The movie is truly magical...
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« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2007, 12:31:26 AM »

I was watching this on TBS the other night, it having been one of my all time favorite childhood films, and it struck me how many references there are to death and dying:

"We'd have to kill her to get it!"

"This is how much longer you've got to be alive..."

"I may not come out of there alive..."

"But what if she kills us first?"

"The last to go will see the first three go before her."

"My dear, you're speaking to a man who's laughed at death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophy..."

"Those shoes will never come off...as long as you're alive. But that's not what's worrying me-it's how to do it..."

It's funny, one of the reasons Baum decided to write the stories the way he did was to provide the fairytale experience without the Grimms style violence (not that I personally have any problem with violence, fairytale or otherwise).
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« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2007, 05:35:17 AM »

That and did the Wizard really give anything to anyone they didn't have already?

That was the point. He just helped them recognize those qualities in themselves.

2.) Unresolved plot questions like why shouldn't the Wicked Witch be mad with Dorothy?  If someone killed your sister and stole your rightful property wouldn't you be PO'd?

There is actually a book, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, that addresses that very question. Maguire wrote a book that encompasses the entire life of the Wicked Witch of the West, exploring her background and her motivations. It's written from her point of view and based on the idea that The Wizard of Oz was an account written by the victors. For example, the Wizard did not come to Oz by accident, he was more than the benevolent fraud people believed him to be, and his government was a fascist dictatorship. His motivations for sending Dorothy after the witch are also more complex and sinister than originally believed.
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« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2007, 05:44:52 AM »





There is actually a book, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, that addresses that very question. Maguire wrote a book that encompasses the entire life of the Wicked Witch of the West, exploring her background and her motivations. It's written from her point of view and based on the idea that The Wizard of Oz was an account written by the victors. For example, the Wizard did not come to Oz by accident, he was more than the benevolent fraud people believed him to be, and his government was a fascist dictatorship. His motivations for sending Dorothy after the witch are also more complex and sinister than originally believed.

Hmmmm...! That sounds interesting....I may just have to dig that book up....!  Thumbup
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« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2007, 07:48:26 AM »

Quote
There is actually a book, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, that addresses that very question. Maguire wrote a book that encompasses the entire life of the Wicked Witch of the West, exploring her background and her motivations. It's written from her point of view and based on the idea that The Wizard of Oz was an account written by the victors. For example, the Wizard did not come to Oz by accident, he was more than the benevolent fraud people believed him to be, and his government was a fascist dictatorship. His motivations for sending Dorothy after the witch are also more complex and sinister than originally believed.

Its a book I've been meaning to get around to and I've heard good things from the people who read it.  The Emerald City always hit me as odd.  To paraphrase their song they wake up at 11, go to work at 12, work for an hour and go home after a small bit.  Seems like an odd civilization to me.  For some reason when I watch it as an adult it just seems creepy to me in parts.  I've always sympathized with the witch, even as a kid.

Yeah, yeah I know its just a movie and one of the greatest at that.  I just think its fun to explore different opinions and theories on the film.  Indeed, no on can deny the impact of the film on our culture and how far ahead of it's time it was. We all know the songs and can sing them.  That and I'm sure we quote this film in our lives at least once a year. 
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« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2007, 08:14:39 AM »

Quote from: RCMerchant link=topic=116670.msg169056#msg169056
Hmmmm...! That sounds interesting....I may just have to dig that book up....!  Thumbup
[/quote

I wouldn't recommend it...It's basically set up like a chick flick (if you're into that sort of thing).  The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda are roommates at Witch College before becoming the witches of the North and West.   Lookingup

I thought it was kinda lame...
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« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2007, 08:50:06 AM »

The Wizard of Oz is probably my favorite movie of all time, even over Star Wars or any other more recent movie. It is far better than it has any right to be.

HappyGilmore says that its script doesn't compare with movies like The Godfather. I would respectfully disagree. TWOZ is a journey of self discovery that can work as well for adults as it does for children. In the beginning of the movie, Dorothy is in crisis: Toto, who amounts to her best friend, has been threatened because of the mischief he has wrought upon Miss Gulch. She feels powerless to save him, so she turns to the adults around her for advice. "Be smart!" "Be courageous! Stand up to her!" These are qualities she doesn't feel she possesses, and the advice, mixed with her own feelings of hatred for Miss Gulch, make her confused and guilt-ridden, so, after Miss Gulch takes Toto and he escapes, Dorothy tries to "escape" by running away. Professor Marvel, the only truly understanding adult up to this point, steers her back home. The tonado knocks her out, and she "travels" to Oz.

While in Oz, she learns that intelligence, understanding and courage do reside within her: each of the characters is an embodiment of a quality she is seeking in herself. The witch, an obvious representation of Miss Gulch, is also the darker feelings Dorothy has, from which she wants to escape. Her adventure shows her that she does indeed possess intelligence, understanding (love) and courage, and she is "rewarded" with this knowledge by the Wizard, who in effect represents Wisdom in that he rewards reflection over one's life with the trappings one usually accumulates in getting experience: Intelligent people get college degrees, caring people get philanthropic awards, and courageous people get medals (keep in mind this is all through a child's perspective). At this point, Dorothy has recognized these qualities in herself and has banished the darker feelings. She is ready to face reality again, and so she finds a way home through Glinda, a representation of all goodness.

This movie is one of the few exceptions to the general rule that "the book is always better than the movie." The film has a far more literary structure and is far deeper than the book. I love the Oz books and read them all as a young man. The books, unfortunately, don't hold up as well to adult reading, but the movie grows more each time I watch it. It's not about nostalgia, though that is part of it. TWOZ is simply an amazing film. We have lost most of our ability to be charmed by musicals, and, yes, the acting is not as "realistic" as more modern films, but TWOZ still has the ability to touch us and teach us a bit about ourselves. I wouldn't even try to categorize this movie: It's not a kid's movie, nor is it just a musical. It is not necessary, in my opinion, to classify it as an "A" movie or "B" movie; it transcends those types of classifications, as do all really well-done, literary classics.

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