Adventure | Auteur Theory

Directed by: Victor Fleming

Cast: Judy Garland [Dorothy Gale], Ray Bolger [Scarecrow, Hunk], Margaret Hamilton [The wicked witch of the west, Almira Gulch]

Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog Toto are transported to the land of Oz after being struck by a tornado back home. In a search for a way back, they follow the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City to meet the Wizard, while on the journey become friends with an unintelligent Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a heartless Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who are all heading to the Wizard to help them.

Based on: “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, written by L. Frank Baum

My rating: 9/10

Judy-Garland-and-co.-in-The-Wizard-of-Oz

Narrative aspects

‘The Wizard of Oz’, directed by Victor Fleming, and based on the famous written story, takes the audience on a rather magical trip through the normal life in Kansas juxtaposed to the thrilling nature of the world of Oz. The film follows a linear narrative and progresses one step at a time as characters develop along the way through new situations and stepping into the unknown. Dorothy, a young girl who lives on a farm in the normal ‘human world’, is just as clueless as the audience when she is transported to Oz after a rough storm. The audience shares the adventure of finding a new land with the protagonist, not knowing what would happen at any moment in the future. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ fits into the concept of the ‘Hero’s Journey’, a theory that states that the ‘hero’ of a story goes through twelve stages in completing a given task, which forms the plot, from the ‘call to adventure’ to ‘returning with the elixir’:

1) ORDINARY WORLD

Dorothy is at her countryside home in Kansas, US. The audience is introduced to her simple farm life, with small interactions with her relatives. Dorothy is a normal young girl, unsuspecting of what adventures could happen in her life.

2) CALL TO ADVENTURE

A harsh tornado causes Dorothy’s house to travel and transport to the land of Oz, and firstly to Munchkin Land. Dorothy is very confused about this new land and the beings that live in it. She is in search of a way to get home after the Wicked Witch threatens her for her ruby slippers.

3) REFUSAL OF THE CALL

The Good Witch tells her to follow the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City to ask the Wizard for help. Dorothy feels concerned and unsure about how capable she is to do that.

4) MEETING THE MENTOR

Dorothy meets with the Scarecrow after travelling on the Yellow Brick Road for a while and becomes quick friends with him. She invites him to come along with her to visit Oz, who could maybe give him a brain.

5) CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

Dorothy meets a bunch of trees which surprises her, faced with a problem. She solves the issue and wins a few apples to eat then is faced with another stranger, the tin-man. She sees the Wicked Witch once again, who threatens her for the second moment while watching her every step.

6) TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES

Dorothy meets the Cowardly Lion as well and the team travelling to Emerald City is complete. They stumble upon a poppy field that makes her fall asleep when they are almost at Emerald City. The Good Witch helps them to wake up with snow, a trusted ally.

7) APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE

Dorothy finally reaches the Emerald City and so, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, though he refuses to see them at first. This makes Dorothy very sorrowful, questioning why he refused. Though finally, they meet up with the Wizard, who frightens them more than helps them.

8) ORDEAL

Dorothy and the team are asked to retrieve the Wicked Witch’s broomstick as a condition to fulfil their requests of getting a brain, a heart, courage and going home. The tension rises as she faces the Wicked Witch, who takes her away. Dorothy must choose between keeping the slippers and letting her dog go or giving them to the Witch who would use their power in the worst way. Dorothy is broken about it, then sees Aunty Emily in a large crystal ball.

9) REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORD)

Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch, by throwing a pale of water on her, and is reunited with her friends the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. She collects the broomstick and takes it to the Wizard, who then helps fulfil his promise. Everyone is happy and pleased, satisfied with what they receive.

10) THE ROAD BACK

The Good Witch comes to visit Dorothy and tells her that she always had the way of reaching home. Dorothy realizes that all she needed for her happiness is back home. She says goodbye to her friends. Dorothy reaches home after clicking the heels of her ruby slippers, in an instant, while reuniting with her family.

11) RESURRECTION

(unclear about this stage since Dorothy does not face any fatalities)

12) RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR

She wakes up, realizing it was all just a dream with her friends and family playing some character in it. She tells her family that she loves them and that she would never imagine leaving her home.

The film is a musical and the songs are brilliantly written and also the performance choreographed. This element makes the film more capturing for audiences watching while giving it a family and children-friendly element as well. Moreover, the music compliments the colourful set design, character costumes and transition from sepia-toned Kansas to full technicolour Oz. The soundtrack in this film is captivating and affects the mood of the audience by altering according to the scenes. When the witch is on screen, the music grows darker and with added suspense while when Dorothy is strolling with her friends from Oz, the music is usually accompanied by lyrics and is lively.

In addition to Dorothy being the protagonist, the supporting characters bring a lot of brightness to the film in terms of the story and their actions. Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion at different instances along her trip to Emerald City, getting to know them better and inviting them on her expedition so that they could ask the Wizard to grant them something too. Comedic moments ensue, making it a fun pass-time for an audience to watch. When the plot becomes tense, comedy equalises it to keep it enthralling. What is more is that the same actors that play Dorothy’s friends and family in Kansas play characters in Oz. This brings familiarity to the audience but also to the Dorothy since at the end of the film it is found that it was all a dream, after being knocked unconscious by the tornado.

Infer & Deduce: The film shares the title of the book on which it is based, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, though omits the word ‘wonderful’. This could be because of its tongue-twister type of nature or that it would be too long for a film title. However, the direct title of the book is part of one of the main songs in the film:

We’re off to see the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
We hear he is a whiz of a wiz
If ever a wiz there was
If ever, oh ever a wiz there was

The Wizard of Oz is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the wonderful things he does
We’re off to see the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz

Technical Aspects

The ‘Wizard of Oz’ is an astounding example of technological advances and choices for the time that it was produced in. Being a 4:3 aspect ratio film is one thing that sets it apart from the films of the modern day. Technicolour technology using three film strips of dyed different colours was run through the camera to combine together and form a final picture that is coloured. Along with this, other camera techniques like shots types and angles with camera movement varies according to the scene and the characters on screen. There are a lot of eye-level shots with not much of the over-the-shoulder jump-cuts that normal conversational sequences are made of. Characters are usually gathered in one shot and converse with each other in one take. Many scenes in the film are long one-shots where the camera follows the characters around, like during a sound performance (‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow, when Dorothy is in Kansas before the tornado). A varied use of cross-fades from one scene to another is used to show time skips to quicken the pace of the plot.

The film uses an array of special effects to capture the magical mystery of the world in which Dorothy and her friends live in. Whether it is the Wicked Witch throws a red-orb fireball at the Scarecrow or the Good Witch travelling using a pink bubble and appearing on the screen magically, the film utilises special effects in a very interesting way. Moreover, the set design is intricate, realistic and very fitting for the fantastical world that Oz is. There are a lot of extras used to add more realism and complexity to the sets and background of the film, for instance, in Munchkin Land or Emerald City. Other than all these characters being dressed in clothing appropriate for the scene, it makes the scene more believable as a civilization that actually exists. It makes the world of the film more captivating.

Favourite Scene

After the tornado strikes the small farm Dorothy lives on in Kansas, she’s whisked away with no idea that she has landed in another place called Oz. This scene exhibits an amazing use of technology to capture a wonderful and unique way of dividing the film’s outlook between Dorothy’s own home in Kansas and the new land of Oz that is miles away from what she knows. This scene would have brought amazement to the audiences that had watched it at the time of release because from a sepia and dull-toned film canvas, transforming into a vibrant palette of colour much like the real world they would have lived in. This transition also clearly signifies the transition from Kansas to the land of Oz, which aids the story progression.

To add on, the advantage of using the technicolour technique is that it captures the bright tones of colour from the brilliantly built set pieces, which would have looked plain and mundane if the film continued on its sepia-toned path. This could have altered the interest of an audience since the new and more exciting setting of the story is no different than her own home, in terms of its appearance and filter. This scene was, personally, a surprise for me when I watched the film for the first time. I was not expecting such a transition and to think that it was made in 1939 and to achieve such colour and vibrancy blew me away. The very concept of altering the colour tone to enhance the difference between the normal realm and the fantasy realm helps with the amazement of the audience and the characters as well.

While researching this film I found out that the film crew used a stunt double of Dorothy for the scene to make the entrance of Judy Garland’s Dorothy easier. This was done due to the minor limitations of technicolour, where unlike today, one cannot cut out a portion of the film and edited a different filter of colour. The crew had to paint the entire house a shade of sepia, along with the actress herself for the shot where she runs to the door only. Then the normal, coloured clothing Dorothy stepped in instead of the double. It’s brilliant to think that for such a short shot, the production crew would have to go to so much trouble to make a scene work in the past. Now, with the wonders of editing, everything is so simply done.

What would I do differently?

Making the film with modern day technology and skill would definitely impact the quality, reach and reception of it. The effects would be more realistic with a lot of it being CGI animation and greenscreen chroma-key rather than having sets built for all the locations. Personally, I would use motion capture technology for the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion so that they look more realistic and the time put into preparing actors with prosthetics and makeup. The widescreen format would also have much more of the set on screen, giving the audience more detail from the mise-en-scène.