The Wizard of Oz Retrospective: The Conclusions

THE WIZARD OF OZ RETROSPECTIVE: THE CONCLUSIONS

The Wizard of Oz has a hold on the American psyche that will never be broken. The tale of little Dorothy Gale, swept into a magical, fantastical world filled with wicked witches and talking scarecrows, is so ingrained into the American culture that it hardly seems like there was a world before L. Frank Baum began the first of fourteen Oz books. The Oz franchise is thoroughly and uniquely American, built out of the world of the Midwest that always was expanding. You can find Oz's roots in European fables, but could any of them have come up with flying monkeys? 

I think only an American, who held to an optimistic spirit, could have created the world of Oz. In a curious way, Baum reflected that westward expansion that pushed the pioneers onwards; born in New York, then moving to the Dakota Territory and later Chicago before settling in California, L. Frank Baum, probably unconsciously, held to that desire to explore what was over the rainbow.

As I looked on the various takes of Baum's works, I think that they do reflect the American past and its desire to reinvent, to take what has come before and have it fit for the times the new creations were made. It is impossible to not think on the 1939 musical version when we think of the world of Oz. 1939, to my mind, is the greatest year in film, where so many perfect films were released. The Wizard of Oz is one such film from that miracle year.

The music is perfection, as I've said it is one of the most literate songbooks committed to film. It helps that Judy Garland's rendition of Over the Rainbow is filled with such longing, such yearning, such richness and beauty that it truly is one of if not the greatest song written for film. The impact and power of The Wizard of Oz is so great that even those who may not have seen it will probably understand such expressions as "Ding-dong, the Witch is Dead" and "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too". 

Will Wicked, the modernist reimagining of Oz with the Wicked Witch of the West being center stage have that kind of impact? It has on certain audiences who I think feel a kindred spirit with Elphaba, our not-so-wicked-witch. I do not think, though, that its songbook will play outside a niche audience. Apart from Popular and Defying Gravity, I think most people would not know or recognize these songs, let alone from their source material. 

The same goes for The Wiz, which took Baum's story and transplanted it to Harlem. The all-black version is probably better on the stage than the film version. However, it too managed to have a couple of songs that have entered the popular consciousness. A Brand New Day (Everybody Rejoice) and Ease on Down the Road are in the spirit of Baum and his work. In them, I find them to carry that sense of optimism and joy at finding the power of friendship and the joy of home and family. 

Two other musical adaptations: The Muppets' Wizard of Oz and VeggieTales: The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's also build on those themes of strength in unity and the need for home. 

Conversely, other adaptations make an almost fierce or apologetic effort to not have any songs. Both Oz the Great and Powerful and Return to Oz kept far from making music part of the experience. More than likely to try and establish their own identity as well as copyright issues, their ways of avoiding songs was interesting. The former took a mostly amused manner to things, suggesting such things were silly. The latter was in my view rather dark, making things almost depressing. 

If we lose sight of something from time to time, it is the brilliance of L. Frank Baum, the originator of this fantastical world. He was The Dreamer of Oz, but I think at times Baum's creativity and imagination get lost or forgotten in an effort to build up a myth around him. Did he have ideas that were wrong then are still wrong now? Yes, but before we condemn a man for being the product of his times, we should also look to how Baum was also a man of virtues as well as faults. He supported women's suffrage at a time when such ideas were not in the mainstream. Dorothy herself can be seen as a positive role model. She had the courage to face her fears and was the leader of the other figures. Granted, they had to rescue her, but I doubt anyone would have been able to escape a horde of flying monkeys.

As I finish up the Wizard of Oz Retrospective, I give my own quick views as to why The Wizard of Oz and its various adaptations, reimaginings and spoofs continue to have a hold over us. I think the story appeals to our collective childhood yearnings to find something beyond our own backyards, to find strength and safety among friends, and to overcome great evil with courage we did not know we had. The story, with its fantastical characters and theme of searching for a way back, hits us all. 

The Wizard of Oz, in all its forms be they books, movies, musicals, what have you, will live on for as long as children have imaginations.