Top 5 Reasons “The Wizard of Oz” is Still Damn Good
Recently, I sat down to show the classic film The Wizard of Oz to my kids for the first time. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t shown it to them yet, but at the same time, I thought perhaps parts of it might scare them. The witch, the tornado, the creepy monkey men, all scary, just a little to me. But none of that scared my children. My 3 girls actually sat still for the entire movie! No one got up to play and no one complained that it wasn’t a Pixar movie! It made me realize that The Wizard of Oz is still a classic and I thoroughly enjoyed myself all over again! I was like a little kid myself, singing along! Here is my list of reasons why the movie is still damn good.
The Ruby Slippers
What little girl didn’t want a pair of those ruby slippers? They were red, they were sparkly, they were magic! I never had ruby slippers, but I would play in my patent-leather Sunday church shoes and pretend. Didn’t we all? Yes, I got in trouble for playing in my church shoes (I was also one of those kids who had ‘school clothes’ and ‘play clothes’).
Judy Garland
I really felt for Dorothy Gale, being taken up in a twister like that in her house and murdering people accidentally. But Judy Garland (16 years old at the time), really appeared innocent and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. The way she exclaimed “Auntie Em!” had me in tears. Can you believe the head of the studio at the time wanted to cast Shirley Temple or Deanna Durbin? I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing that role.
The Music
If you tried to tell me that you don’t sing along to “We’re Off to See the Wizard”, I wouldn’t believe you. Though I hadn’t heard it in years, I found myself singing along to “If I Were King of the Forest” also. “Over the Rainbow” has to be the most classic song from the entire film. It’s so beautifully sung by Judy Garland and won the Academy Award for best original song. Oh, and don’t forget “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”
Glinda the Good Witch
Okay, growing up, I didn’t aspire to be like Glinda the Good Witch. I aspired to be like Dorothy. I was a kid! Of course I wanted the adventure…and a dog. I didn’t have a dog growing up, unfortunately. But we all loved Glinda, am I right? I mean, she had on this huge sparkly prom dress and everyone loved her! And let’s not forget the magic wand! I also more recently found myself going to McDonald’s, who in celebration of the re-release of the film, included a toy version of the characters in happy meals. Did you know that you could pay $2 to buy a Happy Meal toy without buying a Happy Meal?! I think I might have just said too much about myself.
The Shocking Twist Ending!
Before The Sixth Sense and M. Night Shyamalan, there was The Wizard of Oz. All throughout the film, we’re thinking this poor girl got lost during a tornado, hit her head and her house had been sucked up and thrown into a magical land. All Dorothy wants to do is get home, but meets friends along the way and has to go to this powerful wizard to get her home. Now, stop reading if you haven’t seen the film, because spoiler alert, not only was the wizard a big, fat phony, she had the power to get home by clanking her shoes together all along! What?! Oh, and how about the biggest twist of all…she never went ANYWHERE! She had a head injury and dreamt the whole journey…or did she??
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