Synopsis[]
One of the oldest classic films ever, it's about Dorothy who lives on a farm with her aunt and uncle. One day, a woman named Almira Gulch comes over to take Dorothy's dog, Toto, to the sheriff, because she thinks he's a menace to the community. After he manages to escape from her bicycle's basket, he and Dorothy run away. Before that, they meet Professor Marvel, and as Dorothy sees her aunt dying in the crystal ball, she runs back home. While that occurs, a twister (er, cyclone) lifts the house up that Dorothy's in, and it lands on the Wicked Witch of the East... in Munchkinland, which is far over the rainbow, changing the screen from Sepia Tone to Color. Dorothy first meets the Good Witch of the North, Glinda. All over the place are tiny people called Munchkins. They thank Dorothy for killing the Wicked Witch... until the other Wicked Witch appears, who's from the West. As she reaches for the ruby slippers that her sister has, they disappear, and are now on Dorothy's feet. Glinda tells Dorothy that in order to find the Wizard of Oz, she must follow the yellow brick road. Along the way, she meets the Scarecrow, who is in need of a brain; the Tin Man, whom the tinsmith forgot to give a heart; and the Cowardly Lion, who has no courage. Before they reach Emerald City, they have to cross a patch of poison flowers that puts them to sleep. Fortunately, they can be wiped out with snow. Before meeting the Wizard, the four are tidied up a bit. Then, the Wicked Witch writes smoking words "SURRENDER DOROTHY" in the sky. The Cowardly Lion disguises himself as king of the forest. And when the four finally meet the Wizard, they are first to prove themselves worthy of granting requests -- by bringing him the Wicked Witch's broomstick. First, they go through the Haunted Forest, and are caught by the Winged Monkeys. They also take Dorothy and Toto away to the Wicked Witch's castle, because she wanted the ruby slippers. But she couldn't touch them, so she had no choice but to make Dorothy stop living. The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion run to rescue her, and the Witch ends up melting after trying to burn the Scarecrow. When they arrive back to Emerald City with the broomstick, the Wizard decides to let them come back tomorrow, but Dorothy wanted to go home now. The Wizard is revealed in his true form, and gives the Scarecrow a diploma, the Cowardly Lion a medal that reads "Courage", and the Tin Man a testimonial. But as for Dorothy -- well, the Wizard has to take her home by a hot-air balloon. It comes loose, and he leaves on his own. Then Glinda arrives, and tells Dorothy to close her eyes, tap her heels three times and think to herself, "There's no place like home."
Cast[]
Character's name | Portrayed by |
---|---|
Dorothy | Judy Garland |
The Wizard | Frank Morgan |
Hunk/Scarecrow | Ray Bolger |
Zeke/Cowardly Lion | Bert Lahr |
Hickory/Tin Man | Jack Haley |
Glinda (Good Witch of the North) | Billie Burke |
Miss Gulch (Wicked Witch of the West) | Margaret Hamilton |
Aunt Em | Clara Blandick |
Uncle Henry | Charley Grapewin |
Toto | Terry the Dog |
In Other Languages[]
Language | Title |
---|---|
Spanish | El Mago de Oz |
Portuguese | O Mágico de Oz |
Japanese | オズの魔法使 |
Chinese | 綠野仙蹤 |
Korean | 오즈의 마법사 |
Thai | พ่อมดแห่งเมืองออซ |
Production timeline[]
- January 1938: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights to The Wizard of Oz, and Judy Garland was cast to play Dorothy. In addition, Ray Bolger was assigned to play the Tin Woodman, and Buddy Ebsen for the Scarecrow. Shortly afterwards, their roles were switched.
- February 1938: On February 3, Mervyn LeRoy signed a contract for production of the film, and Samuel Goldwyn agreed to sell the rights to The Wizard of Oz on February 18.
- April 5, 1938: The first draft of the script was written by Noel Langley.
- July 25, 1938: Bert Lahr was assigned to play the Cowardly Lion.
- August 12, 1938: Charley Grapewin was cast for the role of Uncle Henry.
- September 22, 1938: Frank Morgan was cast to play the Wizard of Oz, and Terry the dog was Toto.
- October 8, 1938: The final draft of the script was completed, following numerous rewrites during the rest of 1938 and in early 1939.
- October 10, 1938: Margaret Hamilton was cast for the Wicked Witch of the West.
- October 21, 1938: Although Buddy Ebsen's vocals for "If I Only Had a Heart" and "We're Off to See the Wizard" survived all the way to home video releases, the actor himself suffered an allergic reaction to the dust in his Tin Woodman makeup. Therefore, he was replaced by Jack Haley.
- November 3, 1938: Victor Fleming became the permanent director for the film.
- November 11, 1938: The Munchkinland scene began shooting, which took more than one month to complete, until December 18.
- December 23, 1938: Margaret Hamilton suffered burns while filming her departure from Munchkinland, and she did not come back until February 11, 1939.
- March 16, 1939: After a lot of revisions to the final script, which were completed by the end of February, principal filming of The Wizard of Oz was completed on this date.
These facts were revealed online just before the film was re-released in theaters from Warner Bros. Pictures in 1998.
Release timeline[]
Format | Country of origin | Date |
---|---|---|
Original theatrical | USA | August 25, 1939[1] |
First re-issue in theaters | USA | June 1949 |
Second re-issue in theaters | USA | June 17, 1955 |
Third re-issue in theaters | USA | October 10, 1970 |
VHS | USA | October 25, 1980 |
Laserdisc | USA | 1982 |
VHS re-release | USA | August 1985 |
VHS | South Korea | October 6, 1988 |
VHS | UK | 1989 |
VHS (50th Anniversary Edition) | USA | August 15, 1989 |
VHS re-release (from 1989 print) | USA | September 1991 |
VHS | Japan | November 22, 1991 |
VHS re-release | UK | 1992 |
Laserdisc re-release with bonus material | USA | November 17, 1993 |
VHS re-release with soundtrack | USA | September 26, 1995 |
Last VHS re-release by MGM/UA Home Video | USA | September 10, 1996 |
VHS re-release | Japan | October 31, 1996 |
DVD | USA | March 25, 1997 |
Last VHS re-release by MGM/UA Home Video | UK | 1997 |
DVD | Japan | November 1, 1997 |
Re-issue in theaters by Warner Bros. | USA | November 6, 1998 |
DVD/VHS release by Warner Home Video | USA | October 19, 1999 |
DVD | South Korea | February 1, 2000 |
VHS release by Warner Home Video | South Korea | April 20, 2000 |
DVD | Latin America | 2000 |
DVD | France | June 7, 2000 |
DVD release by Warner Home Video | Japan | July 14, 2000 |
DVD | Australia | September 4, 2000 |
DVD | UK | November 5, 2001 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Latin America | October 24, 2005 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition and Three-Disc Collector's Edition) | USA | October 25, 2005 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition) | UK | November 7, 2005 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition) | South Korea | November 11, 2005 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Australia | November 15, 2005 |
DVD (Two-Disc Special Edition) | France | November 23, 2005 |
DVD (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) | Japan | November 25, 2005 |
Blu-ray Disc (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) | USA | September 29, 2009 |
Digital Video | USA | September 29, 2009 |
On Netflix | USA | October 3, 2009 |
Blu-ray Disc (Sing-Along Edition) | Australia | October 28, 2009 |
Blu-ray Disc (Sing-Along Edition) | UK | November 2, 2009 |
DVD (Three-Disc Emerald Edition) | USA | December 1, 2009 |
Blu-ray Disc | Japan | December 9, 2009 |
Blu-ray Disc | Brazil | March 13, 2010 |
DVD (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Edition) | USA | March 16, 2010 |
Blu-ray Disc | South Korea | May 20, 2010 |
Blu-ray Disc | France | October 19, 2011 |
Digital HD | USA | September 1, 2012 |
Blu-ray Disc | UK | April 15, 2013 |
Trailer for IMAX 3D re-release | Worldwide | July 1, 2013 |
IMAX 3D re-release in theaters | USA | September 20, 2013 |
DVD/Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | USA | October 1, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | Australia/France | October 2, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | South Korea | October 10, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | Taiwan | November 1, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | Brazil | November 7, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | Japan | November 20, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc (3D/75th Anniversary version) | UK | November 3, 2014 |
Home video timeline[]
- Main article: Home video timeline for The Wizard of Oz
Weblinks[]
- http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com (1999–September 2005) (as "The Wizard of Oz")
- http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com (October 2005–December 2008) (as "The Wizard of Oz on DVD")
- http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com (September 2009–2013) (as "The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Edition on DVD")
- http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com (2013–September 2016) (as "The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary")
- http://www.thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com (October 2016–present) (as "Wizard of Oz")
Gallery[]
Posters[]
VHS[]
Laserdiscs[]
DVD[]
Blu-ray[]
Digital Video[]
Screenshots[]
Videos[]
Rankings[]