Frank Baum is the author of one of the most famous children’s stories in history; The Wizard of Oz. First published in 1900, the book has seen many, many adaptations in its nearly 120-year existence. In fact, the first time The Wizard of Oz ever was done as a film was in 1908 with The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays and Baum was involved playing the Wizard. As the case is with many adaptations, many of the various incarnations of The Wizard of Oz have held the general theme of the story and characters, but they haven’t been completely faithful to the story. Regardless of that, the one which has become the most famous is undoubtedly the 1939 musical, The Wizard of Oz, which Warner is now once again releasing on home video only this time it’s making it’s 4K debut.
We’re all familiar with the story of young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a farm girl living with her Aunt Em (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry (Charles Grapewin) somewhere in Kansas. Dorothy longs for what she considers to be a better life, somewhere over the rainbow and after running away only to return back home, she and her dog Toto find themselves in a tornado that sweeps the house away. When Dorothy awakes, she finds herself in that place that she was hoping for, a place known as Oz. Her arrival however has resulted in some rather unexpected fortunate for the munchkins who live in the area. The house has crushed the Wicked Witch of the East and Dorothy only wants to return back home.
Glinda (Billie Burke), the Good Witch of the North, advises her to find the wizard living in the city of Oz, a place she’ll find if she follows the yellow brick road. Dorothy’s journey isn’t going to be easy though as the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) wants to get the ruby slippers that Glinda has now put on Dorothy’s feet. On her way, Dorothy makes new friends, all of whom decide to journey to Oz with her. First is a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who hopes that the wizard can give him a brain, then the Tin Man (Jack Haley) who is looking for a heart, and last but not least, the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) who longs for courage. The Great Oz though isn’t going to just hand out the things they seek and has a simple task for them; bring the broom of the Wicked Witch, and together the four try and figure out a plan so that they may get their hearts desires granted at long last.
Regardless of who attempts to transform the books into a film, I think that this version will always be the one that is remembered and any adaptation will find that it difficult to surpass this now classic film. The Wizard of Oz is a bit different in this film adaptation. In the novel, the shoes are silver while they were changed to ruby slippers, though they really don’t look like slippers at all in my opinion. Many of Dorothy’s encounters were eliminated and as we typically see in cinema from this golden age, Dorothy is shown as being the standard damsel in distress and not the strong, resourceful character that is featured in the novels. Despite the changes though, audiences have always remembered the movie and there are some things that have become accepted by those who never read the books at all. I’m guilty of this as well and never realized the differences between the shoes for example, not until quite some time later.
The Wizard of Oz harkens back to those gentle days of film where musicals were all the rage, a genre that tries to make a comeback here and there today but is nothing more than a pale imitation of what directors and studios achieved decades ago. The unique approach to the film, starting in black and white to reflect the life that Dorothy believes to be ordinary and drab, and then transforming everything to color once she arrives in Oz is something that today seems insignificant, but I feel that it’s a very important moment. Audiences had seen color film before, but giving them the old standard of black and white only to treat them to the vivid and lush world of Oz makes the journey more memorable. Virtually every scene that is set in Oz is something that sticks in your mind, even more so for children who found that the Wicked Witch was an incredibly frightening personality.
The film was also, for the time, very inventive with the special effects that it used. By today’s standard they might seem primitive to some, but understanding that even the most basic effect is crucial. Seeing the Wicked Witch “vanish” in a puff of some, an easy achievement by having a trapdoor in the floor, would have impressed audiences and even now, it’s quite a feat to see since it was done in a single take. That trick is used a few more times over the course of the movie, but sparingly and as rudimentary as it is, still is a very effective visual. The farmhouse caught in the tornado was also a very easy to create visual but again, it’s one that comes across as being brilliantly thought out. Many of the visual effects seen during The Wizard of Oz are and all done without the need of computers.
The casting in the film is ingenious as well with Garland undoubtedly being the top bill, just the thing to draw in audiences. Out of all the cast members though I feel that the best member of the cast without a doubt is Ray Bolger; his facial expressions and body language add so much to the character of the Scarecrow that it’s hard to forget him. Frank Morgan is also a great asset, taking on a multitude of roles in the movie and even though he’s easily recognizable in each of them, he brings something unique to each of them.
The high definition transfer isn’t perfect, but we’re also dealing with a movie that’s seven decades old. You’ll see some noticeable grain which is expected. The Wizard of Oz also wasn’t shot in widescreen, something quite uncommon to see in cinema back in those days, and while I had hoped that Warner would have done like Disney has with some of their releases and added in another viewing option that would filled in those annoying black bars on either side of the picture with a background. Outside of those things though, The Wizard of Oz really is quite a stunning picture, though it’s a bit hard to notice in the black and white segment, but once Dorothy reaches Oz, the clarity shines through.
This is now the 80th anniversary of the film and while it’s great to see Warner taking the 4K releases seriously, I’m a little surprised they didn’t do something more with this particular home video release. The 70th anniversary edition has a very cool, limited edition boxset which included a book, a watch, reproductions of the lobby cards and a few other goodies. The 75th anniversary edition came with a little pair of ruby slippers, included a 3D version, and some other items but for the 80th, we only get the movie without any additional frills. The 4K version also doesn’t really include anything additional which hasn’t already been released on blu-ray or DVD, not that I would expect that somewhere over the last few years something new has been unearthed. The 3K disc features the commentary as well as a special that aired on CBS back in 1990. The other extra material is found on the blu-ray. However, if you’ve never seen any of that bonus material, there is A LOT to dig into.
Even after eighty years The Wizard of Oz hasn’t lost its charm or appeal. There is still merchandise for the movie, costumes that appear every Halloween, and even LEGO has mini-figures for a majority of the characters. The film making it’s way to ultra HD is going to be a huge even for many especially for those who might not have converted the film into digital back when it was on blu-ray and, unlike a few other studios, even if you do own it already, the UHD version will be added without putting in a separate entry. The Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic that, after eighty years, is still going to be enthralling audiences for just as long in the future and certainly longer.
*This 4K release was provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for review purposes.
Mike is the resident reviewer for Couponing to Disney and his own site Underland Online. He has a young daughter and is obsessed with Haunted Mansion and all things Disney. You can read Mike’s complete bio here.