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"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas any more...."
Date of Review: Apr 2, 2000
As far back as my memory goes, I remember performing the ritual yearly.
Getting all cleaned up, putting our pajamas on and huddling together in front of the television set with my sisters to watch the Wizard of Oz.
The tornado scene was always a little scary for me as a child, even after watching it several years in a row. Dorothy trying to get into the shelter with the tornado ripping up everything in the background.
This always had me perched on the edge of my seat, covering up my eyes and then occasionally peeping through them. The music they played during the tornado scene (while the witch was riding her bicycle) will always be permanently imbedded in my memory as Tornado music.
To this day, I will not buy a house that does not have a basement.
Once the tornado scenes were over, the fun began. I can still remember sucking in my breath as the movie turned from dreary Kansas gray to the magnificent colors of Oz. Those little sparkling red shoes sticking out from the bottom of her house and the initial scenes with all the munchkins dancing had me in awe. (I had never seen a little person before this.)
Also impressive was when Dorothy finally arrives at the Emerald City.
The songs from this classic movie are renowned and I still sing certain ones, even as an adult. I scare people in stores sometimes.
For those of you who have seen the movie, do you still remember:
If I Were the King of the Forest
Over the Rainbow
We're Off to See the Wizard
If I Only Had a Brain
and Oeo, Oeeeo (the song the witch's guards sang as their feet marched in the tower)?
In this movie, fantasy abounds and it is sure to captivate your children.
It does have some nightmare potential (such as the scary scene where the flying monkeys abduct Dorothy and Toto and dismember the scarecrow) so I do recommend watching it with them the first time.
Since it's out on video and no longer reserved for once a year showings, I'm sure the excitement at seeing this will not the same as it used to be when I was a child.
In spite of this, it's a first-rate classic movie that your child shouldn't miss.
Click your heels three times.
There's no place like home.
