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The Wizard of Oz(1939)

G
1h 42m

Release Date: Aug 25, 1939

Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the other...

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Aug 25, 1939

1949 Re-release | Jun 1, 1949

1955 Re-release | Jun 17, 1955

1989 Re-release | May 19, 1989

1998 Re-release (Warner Bros.) | Nov 6, 1998

2002 Re-release (Warner Bros.) | Jan 4, 2002

2009 NCM Fathom Event | Sep 23, 2009

2013 3D/IMAX Release (Warner Bros.) | Sep 20, 2013

2019 Re-release (Fathom Events) | Jan 27, 2019

2024 Re-release (85th Anniversary) (Fathom Events) | Jan 28, 2024

Box Office

All Releases (10)
Total US & Canada:
$24,668,669
Total International
$969,000
Total Worldwide:
$25,637,669

Total Worldwide:
$9,799

Director & Top Cast

Victor Fleming
Director

King Vidor
Director

Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale

Frank Morgan
Professor Marvel

Ray Bolger
'Hunk'

Bert Lahr
'Zeke'

Jack Haley

'Hickory'

Billie Burke

Glinda

Margaret Hamilton

Miss Gulch

Charley Grapewin

Uncle Henry

Pat Walshe

Nikko

Clara Blandick

Auntie Em

Terry

Toto

The Singer Midgets

The Munchkins

Gladys W. Allison

Munchkin

John Ballas

Munchkin

Franz Balluck

Munchkin

Josefine Balluck

Munchkin

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is an orphaned teenage farm-girl who lives with her Auntie Emily Gale (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry Gale (Charley Grapewin) on a Kansas farm in the early 1900s. She daydreams about going "over the rainbow" after Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton), an aggressive neighbour, hits Dorothy's dog Toto (Terry) on the back with a rake, causing Toto to bite her. Miss Gulch shows up with an order to take Toto to the sheriff to be euthanise him, but Toto jumps out of the basket on the back of Miss Gulch's bicycle and runs back to Dorothy. Fearing that Miss Gulch, who does not know that Toto has escaped, will return, Dorothy takes the dog and runs away from home. She meets an itinerant phony fortune teller, Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan), who immediately guesses that Dorothy has run away. Pretending to tell her fortune and wishing to reunite Dorothy with her aunt, he tells her that Auntie Em has fallen ill from worry over her.Dorothy immediately returns home with Toto, only to find that the wind is picking up and a massive tornado is approaching. Unable to reach her family in their storm cellar, Dorothy enters the house, is knocked unconscious by the cyclone's violence, and apparently begins to dream. Along with her house and Toto, she's swept from her dull sepia-toned world to the magical, beautiful, dangerous and Techni-colourful Land of Oz, a faraway fantasy realm. The tornado drops Dorothy's house on the Wicked Witch of the East (also link=nm0002121) , crushing and killing her. The Witch ruled the Land of the Munchkins, dwarfish humanoid people who think at first that Dorothy herself must be a witch. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton again), who is the sister of the dead witch, appears and threatens to kill Dorothy for revenge. But Glinda (Billie Burke), the Good Witch of the North, gives Dorothy the dead witch's enchanted Ruby Slippers, and the slippers protect her. Glinda advises that if Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas, she should seek the aid of the Wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City. To get there, Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road.Before she has followed the road very far, Dorothy meets a talking dim-witted Scarecrow living in a field whose dearest wish is to have a brain. Hoping that the wizard can help him, the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) joins Dorothy on her journey. They come upon an orchard of talking apple trees, where they find a tin statue of a lumberjack. The Tin Woodsman (Jack Haley) then begins to speak, explaining he was caught in the rain and is so rusty and cannot move. When they oil his joints so he can walk and talk again, he confesses that he is a heartless robot and longs for a heart; he then too joins Dorothy on the quest. As they walk through a dense forest, they encounter the talking Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who wishes for courage and joins the quest in the hope that the Wizard will give him some. Dorothy begins to realise her three friends resemble the three farmhands who work for Dorothy's aunt and uncle back in Kansas.On the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy and her friends are hindered and menaced by the Wicked Witch of the West. She incites trees to throw apples at them, then tries to set the Scarecrow on fire. Within sight of the city, the witch conjures up a field of poppies that cause Dorothy, Toto, and the lion to fall asleep. Glinda saves them by making it snow, which counteracts the effects of the poppies.The four travelers marvel at the wonders they find in the Emerald City a guard (Frank Morgan) does not let them in but agrees then, the horse driver (Frank Morgan again) takes them for a drive and takes time to freshen up: Dorothy, Toto and the Lion have their hair done, the Tin Woodman gets polished, and the Scarecrow receives an infusion of fresh straw stuffing. As they emerge looking clean and spiffy, the Wicked Witch appears on her broomstick and sky-writes "Surrender Dorothy" above the city. The friends are frustrated at their reception by the "Great and Powerful" Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan again) -- at first the guard won't receive them at all. When they finally see him The doorkeeper (Frank Morgan again) lets them in because he had an Aunt Em himself. The Wizard then appears as a gigantic fiery green ghostly face, and declines to help them until they bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. Daunted but determined, they set off again.The Witch sends her minions, the Winged Monkeys, to attack Dorothy's party before they reach her castle; the monkeys snatch Dorothy and Toto and scatter the others and bring them to the Witch's lair in the Winkle Castle. When the Witch finds that the Ruby Slippers cannot be taken against Dorothy's will as long as the girl is alive, she turns her hourglass and threatens that Dorothy will die when it runs out. Meanwhile, Toto has escaped and run for help. Dressed as guardsmen, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow sneak into the castle and free Dorothy. They are discovered before they can escape, however, and the Witch and her Winkle Guards corner them and set the Scarecrow on fire. Dorothy douses him with a pail of water, also inadvertently splashing the Witch by accident. Somehow, the water causes the Witch to disintegrate and dissolve to death ( as she screams "I'm melting!"). The guards are happy to let Dorothy have the Witch's broomstick, and Dorothy and her friends return to the Emerald City.The Wizard is not pleased to see them again. He blusters until Toto pulls aside an emerald curtain in the corner of the audience chamber to reveal an ordinary old magician man (who resembles Professor Marvel) pulling levers and speaking into a microphone -- the so-called wizard, as the Scarecrow says, is "a humbug". He is abashed and apologetic, but quickly finds ways to help Dorothy's friends via tokens which grant their wishes: a diploma for the Scarecrow, a medal of valor for the Lion, and a testimonial heart-shaped watch for the Tin Man. Then he reveals that he is from Kansas himself and came to Oz in a hot-air balloon, in which he proposes to take Dorothy home.The Wizard appoints the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion rulers of Oz in his absence. Just as the balloon is about to take off Toto runs after a cat and Dorothy follows him. Unable to stop, the wizard leaves without Dorothy. But Glinda appears and explains that Dorothy has always had the power to get home; Glinda did not tell her before because Dorothy would not have believed it. Bidding her friends a tearful good-bye, Dorothy taps her heels together three times, repeats "There's no place like home," and the Ruby Slippers teleport both her and Toto back to Kansas.Dorothy wakes up in her own bed with a washcloth on her head as Auntie Em and Uncle Henry fuss over her. Professor Marvel and the farmhands Hunk (Ray Bolger again), Hickory (Jack Haley again), and Ezekiel (Bert Lahr again) stop by to see how she is doing. She raises indulgent laughter when she tells them about Oz and tells them that she had seen them there, but she is so happy to be home she does not mind that they do not believe her. Miss Gulch is never mentioned again.

Storyline

When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical Land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and on the way, they meet a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The Wizard asks them to bring him the Wicked Witch of the West's broom to earn his help. — Jwelch5742 After a tornado hurls through Kansas, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are swept away from their home to the colorful and vibrant Land of Oz. In order to find their way back home, they must embark on a journey to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz resides. On the way, they are accompanied by a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. They are hopeful that the Wizard will be able to fulfill their wishes, but not far behind them is the Wicked Witch of the West, who is out for revenge on Dorothy after she accidentally killed her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. — goddangwatir After being swept away in a tornado, a young heroine named Dorothy and her dog Toto end up in a wonderful land called Oz where she embarks on a journey to see the Wizard of Oz in order to get home and makes friends with a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tinman who wants a heart, and a Lion who wants some courage all while avoiding a wicked witch who is after her ruby slippers. A young female and her dog find themselves in a strange new world. With the help of new friends, they travel far across the new world for help to get back home. However, they all are being hunted by a witch who wants to stop them from getting home. — RECB3