I’ve done something that few of you all have done, I’ll wager. I’ve been to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz on an actual movie screen!
It’s not for naught that this is the movie at the top of my list of favorites of all time. There’s nothing I like in movies that this one doesn’t have, short of zombies. But even at that, what is the scarecrow after? Braaaaaaains.
The music is fantastic. The songs stick in your head like blood sucking leeches. There’s awesome dancing and slapstick comedy. Wordplay and puns. A tornado with a flying cow. Dark magic. Two creepy forests (one with spooks). Drug references (poppies, poppies, poppies) and flying monkeys. An animal star. A child star. One guy playing five roles. Explosions. And, right off the bat, they put the show stopper right up front. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” would have been the highlight of any other movie, but they toss it in at the beginning like it’s just another song. For some strange reason, it always makes me cry (I don’t have a clue why).
As you can guess, I’ve seen this movie a hundred times. It was the springtime staple for us as kids. Watching it on the big screen with the newly remastered film (HD as the host, Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies introduced it), I was amazed to see so many details that I had never noticed. And as soon as I saw the opening credits in front of that black-and-white cloudy sky, I was transported back to that time.
So, if you ever get a chance to see this movie in HD on a big screen with big sound and I hear that you skipped it on purpose, you’re getting your membership in the cool kids club revoked. I just may come to your house and rip the medal off your chest, reclaim your testimonial and tear up your diploma.
We recently had the chance to see the original Willy Wonka in a theater here, it is by far the best way to get the full impact of those classic films. The Plaza here in Atlanta does the same thing, it’s an indie owned theater that hosts a ton of older classics as well as cool events like the Silver Scream Spook Show which I hope is giving more kids and adults the opportunity to see films the way they were intended.
I saw “Wizard” on a big screen for the first time about fifteen years ago. Just a normal 16mm print, nothing hi-tech, but it does indeed completely transform one’s appreciation of the film after a lifetime of only ever seeing it on little TV screens.
For me, seeing it on the big screen revealed TOO MANY details I didn’t really want to notice, like the painted backdrop of Oz that shimmies when Judy Garland bumps into it, and the wire on her foot when she is walking on the top of the pig pen that was supposed to keep her from actually falling in during the take. But, as you know, I am a heartless cynic and cannot be trusted with things like magic.
What gets me is that this is 1939. It’s not today or even the 40’s or 50’s and the big, colorful musicals that we know and love. I came away for the first time truly appreciating how incredibly awesome this movie must have been that year. It must compare with my first viewing of Star Wars or The Matrix or Fellowship of the Ring…just totally blowing away people who had never seen anything close to this on a screen before.
We have it digitally remastered on DVD. We watched it on our 5.1 surround sound on a 50″ plasma. I guess that counts as HD on a big screen, right? We watch it every year at this time. It’s a tradition. I love the cowardly lion — he’s my favorite.
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I don’t expect that I’ll ever see it on a big screen here. I’ll have to go CLD’s route and watch it on my 37″ HD TV again sometime, with the remastered DVD. I shall try and make that a priority to arrange after the Christmas season. It is a good project.
On a related note, have you ever done the Wizard of Oz/Dark Side Of The Moon combo? I’d also like to try that, for fun. Supposed to be pretty cool.
That totally sounds like something I should see. I LOVE this movie!