The Wizard of Oz Movie vs Book Andre Duvall Dr. Friedman October 10th 2014 US Hisotry Block 7 The Wizard of Oz has been a popular and symbolic film throughout our previous history. Both the book and movie have been recognised as classic literature for children and adults alike. Although they share the same concept, there are a few important differences between the novel and the film. In the movie: It tells the story of a girl named Dorothy, who ends up in a tornado and gets hurled away from her farm in Kansas to a land that is not like anything she has experienced before. After Dorothy’s house falls and kills the Wicked Witch in the first scene, Dorothy is welcomed by the Munchkins. The kind witch, Glinda, appears and explains to Dorothy that in order to find out about getting back home, she needs to follow the yellow brick road. This road leads her to Emerald city, where she must ask the grand Wizard to get her back to Kansas. Along her way down the yellow brick road Dorothy encounters some characters who all have something they want to ask the wizard. However, when they finally arrive at the Emerald City, they discover the wizard is just a fraud and that everything they had been searching for they can find deep within themselves (metaphorically rather than physically). What most individuals can 't seem to decipher is that The Wizard of Oz referenced several late 1800’s political issues and ideas. Whether these references are true or not is difficult to say.
Dorothy start on her way down the yellow brick road and meets three important characters. First she meets the scarecrow with no brain. He represents Farmers and agricultural workers who are ignorant of many city things but honest and hardworking. Farmers were string supporters of the populist movement and the scarecrow ends up being a strong supporter of Dorothy throughout the entire film. Next they meet the tinman. The tinman represents industrial workers. He is a lumberjack whose body has been replaced with metal. This represents how many workers had been dehumanized and viewed as only a means to make money. Finally they meet the cowardly lion. When they first meet the lion he does his best to scare them but ends up being afraid of them. He tells them he wants to go the emerald city so the wizard can give him courage. He represents politician William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was a populist presidential candidate and the out spoken leader of the populist movement. He had been criticized as being a coward for not supporting the U.S. and its decision to go to war with Spain. Bryan wanted to get into Washington so he could change American politics. This reflects the lion wanting to go to the emerald city to get his courage from the wizard. Along the way they run into the wicked witch of the west. She tries to stop them from getting to the emerald city.
The Wizard of Oz is a classic known by all. The plot is fairly simple. Poor bored Dorothy is sick of her normal boring life on her Aunt and Uncles farm in Kansas and decides to run away to a more exciting life. Her plans are changed when she meets a fortune teller who convinces her to go back home. Unfortunately, as she is headed back home a horrible storm starts and she and her dog Toto are blown away, along with her house. When she lands, she comes outside to see that she has landed on a person with red shoes. She is met by tiny people and a witch called Glinda who tells her that she has landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy tells Glinda she wants to go home, and Glinda tells her if she follows the yellow brick road she will end up in the Emerald City where the Wonderful Wizard of Oz can help get her home.
The placement of a prop or altering the way the light shines on a scene, however insignificant they may seem, are ways that the director can select and control meaning in a film. Such is in The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939), specifically during the scene where Dorothy (Judy Galand) has been locked in the Wicked Witch of the West's (Margaret Hamilton) castle room by herself; many aspects of mise-en-scene are noticeable. Many of the elements of the scene she is in contribute to her state and other aspects of the movie. The setting and props of the film all seem to centralize to where she is and how she got there. The light focus' just on Dorothy but also amplifies the intensity of the situation she is in. The behavior of
The Wizard of Oz uses film form by using similarity and repetition. With Dorothy being the main character, she is always reappearing in the film. As well as all of the characters, The Tin Man, The Lion, and The Scarecrow, have similarities to Dorothy. Each of them need something, Dorothy needs to go back home, The Tin Man needs a brain, The Scarecrow needs a heart, and The Lion needs courage. The film also progresses from the beginning to the end, as well as the characters. Dorothy starts at one spot, follows the yellow brick road and eventually makes it to her destination to see The Wizard of Oz, gets what
Judy garland who is purportedly named Dorothy dale in the move the wizard of Oz is the main protagonist in most of the Oz novels. Frank Baum created the fictional character who has been idolized in the American movie culture because of the character she has played in most movies, books, animations, games and on TV. At first she appeared in the novel the wonderful wizard of Oz which was created in 1900 and thereafter, she was able to reappear in most of the sequels showing her importance in various adaptations, notably, in the 1939 film named the wizard of Oz (Pfefferman, 2013). in the movie, the wizard of Oz, she acts as a young orphaned girl from one of the farms in Kansas which was owned by uncle henry and aunt Em. Life in the farm is considered to be composed of hard work and it provided little opportunity for Dorothy to have excitement in the farm. She is able to express her desires of exploring what was beyond Kansas through the use of a wishful song of what might be lying at the other end of the rainbow. One of the richest people in the town gets a permit of obtaining her dog, Toto, and she tries to save her life by running away. She changes her mind and decided to go back home when a tornado drops from the sky and everything changes radically in the movie.
Scene: This scene in the film comes just after the house has been picked up in the twister. Dorothy's house has been lifted up into the sky and suddenly dropped back down to earth in the middle of the Land of Oz. In the scene itself, Dorothy leaves her home to see that she is "Not in Kansas anymore," and finds the new and amazing world of the munchkin city in front of her. She also meets Gwendela the good witch as her journey in Oz begins.
The book, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900, was the inspiration behind the movie the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The problem, though, is that the movie does not follow the book at all. Most of the movie plays off the ideas and characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while following a general plot of Dorothy’s quest to the Emerald City. The biggest, and most important difference between the book The Wizard of OZ and the movie edition is that in the movie, Dorothy is simply dreaming, and in the other, she was carried to the land of OZ because of the tornado that swept through Kansas. The Wizard of Oz the movie portrays the story as a dream that Dorothy is having, with people in her life showing up as characters in the dream. This is a clever twist on the story plot, and it provides a little more entertainment, for the viewer, than the first chapter of the book, which gives a dull description of the Kansas prairie.
Finally, the last way in which the book and movie are different is how Oz gifts the characters. Scarecrow wants a brain so he is the first to speak with Oz. In the book Oz gives scarecrow a brain made of bran, pins, and needles. Whereas in the movie he gives him a diploma and Scarecrow instantly knows all. The Tin man is next in receiving his gift from Oz. He gives him a heart made of silk stuffed with sawdust in the book. In the movie Oz gives him a testimonial that make the Tin Man very happy. The Cowardly Lion is after Tin Man and he wants courage. In the book Oz has him drink some green liquid, while in the movie he gifts him a medal of honor. Dorothy is the last to get what she wants. In the book she has to goo on another journey, but to see The Good Witch of the North in order to get home. She doesn’t know how she will get home now
“The Wizard of Oz” was written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum. In America, a heavy presence of populism was upon the land. Dana Moore stated, “Populism has many characteristics similar to Socialism.” The Populists’ goals were to free the coinage of silver and other reforms, such as a progressed income tax on the American citizens and the election of senators in the government. In addition, the Populist Party was formed mostly of lower class farmers. One of their main goals was to regulate railroads due to the high price to pay to transfer their crops. (Moore) Ranjit Dighe states in his article, “New research about L. Frank Baum indicated that he had little sympathy for the Populists or Bryan”.
Primarily, The Wizard of Oz focuses on Dorothy (Judy Garland), a young, beautiful girl from Kansas, who is taken, along with her dog Toto (Terry),
In The Wizard of Oz, the ordinary world and the beginning of the adventure are presented with stunning visual effects. Dorothy, the protagonist, is shown struggling in her ordinary world. She is confronted by the mean neighbor Miss Gulch who wants to take away Dorothy’s dog Toto and give him to the animal control authorities because of Toto’s bad behavior. Dorothy reacts childishly with a temper tantrum, begging her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em not to let Miss Gulch have her way. She confronts Miss Gulch when she tries to take Toto, saying, “You wicked old witch! Uncle Henry, Auntie Em, don't let 'em take Toto! Don't let her take him -- please!” (The Wizard of Oz). In a fit of temper, Dorothy decides to run away because she thinks that it is the only way she can protect her dog from Miss Gulch. The plot picks up the story of Dorothy’s life at a rather bleak point. Dorothy is portrayed as powerless and directionless and she does not appreciate the gifts she has in her family and life. Her character flaws and areas of growth are clear from such behavior. She seeks to be the leader of her own life but she lets temper get in the way of her enacting effective change. Furthermore, in her decision to run away Dorothy shows that she does not appreciate those who love her or the blessings of her loving home.
“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”, repeated Dorothy. A young girl trying to go back home to Kansas after a cyclone lands her and her dog, Toto, in the Land of Oz. There Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the TinMan, and the Cowardly Lion who are all in need of something that is considered important to them; a brain, a heart, and courage. Along the way, they have to travel to Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz, directed by the Good Witch of the North, especially for Dorothy to get back home. However, Dorothy and the gang run into problems with the Wicked Witch of the West, who wants Dorothy’s ruby slippers (which was originally the Wicked
There always seems to be some discrepancy when a film is adapted into a movie. Often times, crucial scenes, or even characters, can be left out in order to satisfy the directors’ and screen writers’ visions. Unfortunately, such changes can clearly be seen in the film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The movie leaves out characters such as the Witch of the North and the queen of the field mice, but adds characters such as Professor Marvel and Miss Gulch. However, while many changes were made, there are still a few instances where this “fairy tale” novel almost directly translates into the film. One scene in particular that is closely mirrored to the novel is when Dorothy first meets the scarecrow. This scene is nearly an exact word for word adaptation including dialogue, vivid visual images for the viewer, and how point of view directs the attention of the audience.
Wizard of Oz is an original American fairy tale that follows the adventures of Dorothy Gale and her pet dog Toto, and begins the royal histories of the lands and peoples of Oz. The 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz is considered a musical.
“The cyclone had set the house down into a country of marvelous beauty.” is merely just the beginning of the tale of Dorothy traveling through a mysterious land, making interesting friends, and eventually slaying an evil witch. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an epic by L. Frank Baum is known by children and adults alike all over. And what exactly makes this tale of a naive little girl an epic? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an epic due to its characteristics, conventions, archetypes, and the way it follows the stereotypical hero’s journey.