The Wizard of Oz is an incredible film based on the fairy tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The special effects are amazing for the time the film was made (1939) and the story and acting are just as amazing.
living in Kansas
The film begins in Kansas, probably around the turn of the century. Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is a 12-year-old orphan who lives on a farm with her aunt Em and uncle Henry. Dorothy is worried because her dog Toto has bitten the stern Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton, Zauberer who later portrays the Wicked Witch of the West) and Dorothy fears the worst of her. She tries to get advice from her three farm hands, Hunk (Ray Bolger, who later plays the Scarecrow), Hickory (Jack Haley, the Tin Man), and Zeke (Burt Lahr, the Cowardly Lion), but they don’t take her concern too seriously. Almira returns with an order from the sheriff authorizing her to have Toto destroyed, after which she puts Toto in a basket and rides away on her bike. Toto escapes the basket and returns home while Miss Gulch rides away. Dorothy then decides that she needs to run away with Toto, so she runs to Professor Marvel’s (Frank Morgan, who later plays the Wizard as well as other roles) house. He glances at a photograph of Aunt Em , then pretends to see her in a crystal ball and tells Dorothy that he sees her crying to dissuade her from running away. Dorothy and Toto then rush back home. Meanwhile, a cyclone begins to appear. When Dorothy returns home, everyone hides in the storm cellar. Dorothy goes to her room, where the wind blows the window out of its frame, hitting her head and knocking her unconscious. She awakens to find her house being carried away by the cyclone. She looks out the window, first sees some people she knows, then she sees Miss Gulch riding a bike and turning into a witch and her bike into a broomstick. Moments later, the house, along with Dorothy and Toto, ends up in Munchkinland , a beautiful village of tiny houses, trees, and streams (now shown in bright colors).
Munchkin country
Greets Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who arrives in a bubble and tells her that her house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. The Munchkins, the inhabitants of the land, come out and introduce themselves to Dorothy. Once satisfied that the Wicked Witch is indeed dead, they celebrate and praise Dorothy. But then the Wicked Witch of the West, who happens to be the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, shows up and threatens to make things right with both Dorothy and Toto. Glinda causes the Wicked Witch of the East’s ruby red slippers to appear on Dorothy’s feet so the Wicked Witch cannot harm her. The Wicked Witch then disappears. Dorothy expresses her desire to return to Kansas. Glinda and the Munchkins tell her that to get home, she must follow the yellow brick road that leads to Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz lives who can take her home.
Dorothy’s journey
Dorothy takes her advice and begins her journey along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. Along the way, she meets a talking scarecrow who claims he needs a brain, a tin man who says he needs a heart, and a cowardly lion who needs courage. In the end, the four travel together to see the magician who hopefully can solve all their problems. The Wicked Witch tries to stop them a few times. When they finally see Emerald City from a field of poppies, she casts a spell to put them to sleep, after which Dorothy, Toto, and the lion fall asleep. However, the Tin Man and Scarecrow are immune to the spell and call for help. Glinda casts a counterspell by making it snow, which wakes everyone up, from where they proceed to the Emerald City gate.
Emerald City
As soon as they arrive they try to ring the bell but the man at the gate tells them he shows them a sign on the door that says “bell out of service please knock” whereupon they knock on the door and he answers them. Then they tell them that they came to see the magician, but he tells them that no one can see him. He finally lets her in when Dorothy shows him the ruby red slippers she is wearing, to which he says, “That’s a horse of a different color!” He then takes her around Oz on a horse that changes color several times. From there, they are taken to a saloon and treated in various ways. As they go to see the Wizard, the Wicked Witch flies overhead on her broomstick and spells out “SURRENDER DOROTHY” in skywriting.
The Wizard
Eventually the four are ushered in to see the wizard appearing in a large room in the form of a large floating head surrounded by fire and smoke. He tells them that the only way he can help them is if they bring him the Wicked Witch’s broomstick. Shortly after they leave, the Wicked Witch unleashes a flock of flying monkeys who capture Dorothy and Toto and carry them back to the witch’s castle.
Dorothy’s capture and rescue
Once in the castle, the Wicked Witch tries to get Dorothy’s slippers but is unable, realizing that they will not take off as long as Dorothy lives. So the witch tries to kill Dorothy, turns over an hourglass and tells her that once the sand runs out, she will die. Meanwhile, Toto escapes from the castle and joins Dorothy’s friends who then try to rescue her. They manage to find her and rescue her from the castle just as the last sand falls from the hourglass. Outside, the witch lights the scarecrow. Dorothy pours a bucket of water over him, some of which splatters on the Wicked Witch, melting her and leaving behind her dress, hat, broomstick and some puffs of steam. To everyone’s surprise, the witch’s soldiers are happy that she is dead after they are freed, and they praise Dorothy for killing them.
Return to the Wizard
Now, broomstick in hand, the four return to the wizard and ask him to keep his promises, but he still refuses. Toto then runs to a curtain and grabs it, revealing a man behind the curtain working on a directional pad. The magician’s voice says, “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain!” They soon discover that this man is really the wizard in disguise. However, as a man, he turns out to be very good and solves any of their problems. First he presents the Scarecrow with a diploma, then the Tin Man with a heart-shaped watch, and finally the Cowardly Lion with a Medal of Honor for his help in rescuing Dorothy and fighting the Wicked Witch. He then tells the four that he arrived in Oz in a hot air balloon from Kansas and offers to take Dorothy and Toto with him. But just before takeoff, Toto spots a cat outside and runs out of the balloon basket to chase it. Dorothy goes after Toto, from where the wizard, no longer able to control the balloon, floats away on his own.
“There’s No Place Like Home”
Dorothy fears she is trapped in Oz with her friends, but then Glinda shows up. She tells Dorothy that she and Toto had the power to return home all along, the power rests in their slippers. She tells Dorothy that she didn’t tell her that at first because she wanted her to learn a Zauberer lesson, which is that true happiness lies in her own backyard. After Dorothy says goodbye to her friends, Glinda tells her to kick her heels together and repeat the words, “There’s no place like home.” She follows these instructions and actually returns home to Kansas, shown once again in sepia tone. She finds her friends in her room surrounding her, expressing their gratitude for surviving the cyclone. Dorothy revokes her trip. Everyone tells her it was a dream, although she insists it was real. In any case, she’s happy to be back and concludes that there really is no place like home.