My Opinion of the MGM Movie

So, in my last post, I told you how I was introduced to Oz. It of course, involved the book rather than any movie version (though I had seen clips of the movie, though I didn't know it at the time). Now I have to give my opinion of the movie.

Seeing it the time when we finally taped it was the first time I saw the very beginning of the movie. I thought the whole part abou the tornado would be cut out, and it would just show Dorothy falling asleep in bed. So, I sat down to watch the movie. It began in black and white, and Mom said, "Why is it in black and white? I don't want to tape the black and white version."

I did some quick thinking. I wanted to tape the movie badly, and answered, "Maybe only her dream is in color."

And my quick thinking turned out to actually be correct, because Mom immediately answered, "Oh, yeah! You're right! I forgot about that!"

The beginning of the movie dragged for me. I felt sad when Miss Gulch took Toto, and felt happy again when Toto came back to Dorothy. But my problem with the whole thing was that the whole "Miss Gulch Subplot" was never resolved in the movie. If you're going to add character development to the movie than do it right!

Of course, there are quite a few characters in Kansas that have their parcels in Oz. But I didn't notice this until a few years later. In fact, I didn't even realize that Miss Gulch was played by the same woman as the Wicked Witch of the Westm even though it shows her turning into a witch inside the tornado. That's because I thought that the Witch inside the tornado was the EAST witch instead of the west one. In fact, I still think that. Why shouldn't Margaret Hamilton play two witches? Frank Morgan plays four people in the Emerald City, so why is it such a stretch that Margaret Hamilton plays two witches?

And then there's the whole "dream" thing. I was disappointed when I found out it was dream. Had I had that whole Oz story had to me months ago, and totally missed the fact that it was a dream? As it turned out, I hadn't, because the Land of Oz really does exist in the book. Why did the movie change this? It's the most infamous thing that happened in this movie.

And then the fact that the movie wasn't animated. Though I wasn't too disappointed about it, I still wonder if I would have liked the movie better if it had been animated. As it was, I didn't really mind at the time, it was just different from what I expected.

And then Judy Garland as Dorothy. Ehhhhh. I never got the feeling reading the book that Dorothy was older than twelve. I'm sure she was probably twelve or under in the book. Judy Garland was sixteen when this movie was filmed, and it shows! She could NOT pull off playing a 10-12 year old girl. Yes, I agree she had that charm that all audiences liked, but she is NOT Dorothy!

And then Glinda. Why, oh why did they combine the two good witches into one character? Even as a kid, the moment never sat right with me. I NEVER bought Glinda's statement that Dorothy wouldn't have believed her about the magic of the Ruby Slippers.

And then we come to the Ruby Slippers. Now it might seem like a nitpick, but I just wish the movie had kept them silver. I remember telling Mom for the first time about how Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch in the book, and how it differed from the movie. I said, "The Witch steals one of the Silver Shoes from her."

Mom immediately said, "It's RUBY."

I said, "No, it's silver in the book."

But for some reason, Mom didn't believe me at the time. She thought I was just being difficult to reason with. It wasn't until she checked out an audiobook from the library a few years later that she listened to it and discovered that I was right all along.

But the whole thing still ticks me off. Why do the red shoes have to be so popular? The silver ones are the original ones, so they should be the iconic items!

And still today, I see people wearing silver shoes in public, and I say, jokingly "Do your shoes take you home when you click them three times?"

Then I have about twenty people arguing that I'm an idiot because I think that the shoes are silver and not red. But no, I don't think they're silver. I KNOW that they're silver. And the problem is, I don't know very many people that actually even know about the book. 

I think I should have rephrased my statement earlier. I'm not just ticked off because the red shoes are more popular than the silver ones. I'm ticked off because the movie is more popular than the book!

And as a last thing, I actually just think silver sounds more magical than ruby.

But then we have one of the things the movie actually did better than the book; the Wicked Witch.

Oh my goodness. I already knew that the Witch appeared earlier in this movie than in the book, but I thought her first appearance would be the Tin Woodman scene, which was the first scene I saw when I saw it the previous time.

But no, the Witch suddenly appears in Munchkinland, surprising all viewers who have read the book but not seen the movie. I was sure surprised!

But I wasn't scared of the Witch at all. This is probably because I had read the book first, and knew everything would be alright in the end, but it just goes to show you that I like movies to be a little bit dark.

I don't care what people say about this movie. The Witch is the star of the show in my opinion! One of the best things about the movie, in fact!

And I think the scene where Dorothy first meets the Scarecrow actually goes better in the movie than it does in the book. It's just such a funny scene that I'm sure Baum would have approved of.

Cutting out the backstories for both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman was a horrible idea though! It takes away from why they think they lack what they want (severely in the case of the Tin Woodman)!

And then let's talk about the Tin Woodman. It gets very annoying to hear him referred to as "Tin Man" most of the movie. I don't even recall them ever saying, "Tin Woodman." Yes, I know he is a tin man, but it needs to be more specific. He's a woodman. "Tin Woodman" is the name Baum used in the book, and as such is what the movie should have used.

Now some might argue that kids watching the movie might hear "Tin Woodman" and then get confused, because he's only made of tin. Not tin AND wood. But come on! Kids aren't stupid! I knew when I heard "Tin Woodman" that he had "wood" in his name because he CHOPPED wood, not because he was MADE of wood. And I was only six! I was a kid, and I wasn't confused! This world is so flawed, because the people in it believe that kids can't figure out these kinds of things!

And then the Lion. Oh my goodness, why? Why did they have to make him so cowardly in this film? Yes, he's the funniest character in the movie, and I wouldn't mind that if it could have been pulled off with the Lion still being very brave. But the Lion never does anything brave in this film. Every time it seems like he's going to do something brave, the movie turns it into comic relief by having him back out at the last second. What the Wizard told him at the end was rubbish. The Lion was a coward.

And then the poppy field. I like how the Witch creates the poppy field in this movie in order the stop the travelers.

But then the moviemakers have that Glinda character destroy the flowers with a snowstorm, rather than the companions working together to solve the situation.

Now some may argue that it was too hard to put mice in the movie. But if that was the case, why couldn't the makers of the movie choose one of the other obstacles from the book to show. They could have had the Witch create a ditch in the middle of the road, or the river. They didn't have to go and choose the poppy field out of all of them!

Now, the abridged version that had been read to me before I saw the movie had the poppy field as the only obstacle, so I didn't mind too much at the time. But after reading the full book, I decided that the poppy field was the least interesting of all the obstacles, and I still think that today. Why did they choose the least interesting obstacle, and then make it even less interesting? Why?

And then we have the Emerald City, which looks more like a stage than a city.

And then we have the song, "If I Were King of the Forest," which is just filler, and just holds up the story (I usually fast forward fought that song).

And then everybody goes in to the throne room at the same time, and we only see the Wizard as a great head. But I can forgive that one, because the book does get a little repetitive.

And then the Wizard asks for the Witch's broomstick rather than outright telling them to kill her. And this really doesn't make any sense because there is nothing the Wizard would need the broomstick for. Yes, it's true that it's very likely they won't survive fetching the broomstick, and the Wizard is just trying to get them to leave him alone, but the book actually works better. The Wizard sends the friends off to kill the Witch because it gets him something that he wants either way. If the friends fail the quest, the Wizard won't have to deal with them anymore. And if they do succeed, the Wizard will have a person he fears defeated. The movie doesn't make sense.

And then the Witch not sending wolves and crows and such after the friends. As a kid, I thought to myself, "Oh, they didn't have the part where the Tin Woodman chops the wolves' heads off! I wanted to see that part!"

Now some may say that the movie would be too dark for kids to watch if it had something like that. But as you can see, I was only six, and I wanted that part in the movie! From my experience, kids like violence and action. They like movies to be a little bit dark. Parents shouldn't guard their kids from every little thing.

And then Dorothy being a damsel in distress. I thought that Dorothy was protected by the kiss, but apparently, not in this movie. Nope, Dorothy needs rescuing in this one, rather than being the hero herself.

Some may argue that Dorothy throws a fit over losing a shoe in the book, but I don't really interpret it that way.

I've always interpreted that scene as Dorothy not wanting the Witch to use the power of the shoe to take over the Land of Oz. Now that the Witch has taken the shoe, Dorothy knows that the Witch will use it to take over the Land of Oz! Dorothy is afraid for what could happen to the citizens! She doesn't know what to do! 

That's how it goes in a script I wrote once for my own movie (which I'll go more in-depth about in a later post):

__________

Dorothy looks on with terror as the Witch slips the Silver Shoe onto her own foot. It's all over now, the Witch has won. She will use the power shoe to take over the entire Land of Oz! But Dorothy isn't about to give up yet!

Dorothy: Give me back my shoe!

Witch: Why should I?

Dorothy: Because, the Good Witch of the North gave the shoes to me!

Witch: But you have no use for them. You don't know how to use them. They're better off in my hands.

Dorothy: I'd rather have those shoes destroyed than have them in your hands! You will use them for evil purposes!

Witch: (angrily) Don't you dare tell me what I'm going to do with these shoes! Give me the other one now!

Dorothy: (bravely) No! You have no right to take my shoes!

Witch: You're probably right. But I took your shoe anyway! Now give me the other one, or I will find a way to get it from you myself, just as did with the first one!

Dorothy stares at the Witch in defeat. She's lost. The Witch has won. There's no point in prolonging the inevitable. Dorothy bends down to take the shoe off of her foot and hand it over. The Witch smiles evilly. But just as Dorothy is about to remove the shoe, she see's something out of the corner of her eye; the bucket of water she's been washing the floor with. Dorothy takes a moment to consider. What's the point in even trying? Throwing water on the Witch will just make her angrier. There's no point in prolonging the inevitable. And yet, there is a glimmer of hope. There's always a chance that it could work. Maybe the Witch will give up if she tries it. Maybe the Witch will fall over and the shoe will come off. It's worth a try.

With her last bit of courage, Dorothy grabs the bucket and hurls it with all her might at the Witch. The water splashes all over the Witch and soaks her from head to foot. The Witch screams in pain and puts her hands over her face. Dorothy notices her hands dissolving!

Witch: (in a voice of defeat) See what you've done! In a minute I will melt away!

Dorothy gasps in amazement. It worked! She has saved the Land of Oz! And she has also freed the Winkies!

Dorothy: I'm sorry! I didn't know that water would melt you. I just wanted to knock you over so that I could get my shoe back.

Witch: Well, you'll certainly get it back now won't you? You'll get more than that! You'll have the castle all to yourself! Ive been wicked in my day, but I never thought I would be defeated by a little girl like you!

The Witch dissolves down into what is now a large puddle. Dorothy stares at it in shock for a few seconds, and then picks up the silver shoe.

___________

That's always been MY take on it. Anyway, I like the book's solution better than the movie's solution.

And then we have Glinda just showing up at the end. It just seems too much like a deus ex machina. If they wanted to avoid the journey to the south, they could have had the Winged Minkeys take them to Glinda!

Ugh, there's just so much that's wrong with this movie, and not just the stuff I mentioned in this post either. There's just too much to put here! But those are the main things I don't like about this movie.

Now I don't hate is movie by any means. I've always quite enjoyed it. But the book is far better. In later posts I'll tell more about the Iz books and their adaptations. Stay tuned!