The Wizard of Oz (1939)

“The Wizard of Oz” is an 80 year old classic musical that has brought joy to millions; it features iconic songs and lines that have bled into every corner of pop culture. So, was it good?

I was surprised how bearable “The Wizard of Oz” was, I expected it to be a tedious, overly sweet and painfully annoying nightmare but it turned out to be decent enough. It didn’t light the world on fire but it was fairly enjoyable.

There were two previous occasions when I attempted to watch “The Wizard of Oz”, both times I failed to get further than the Munchkin’s song (the Munchkins are arguably the worst part of this movie.) This time however, I gritted my teeth and endured the squealy chipmunks. Thankfully, the other songs in “The Wizard of Oz” resembled more than a million toddlers bawling, they were catchy and well-staged; I still don’t particularly like musicals but this one at least was watchable.

This is a difficult film to critique because of how ANCIENT it is; it would be childish to bash “The Wizard of Oz” for its “outdated” special effects and extremely obvious painted backdrops. Fortunately, this movie has held up fairly well. The special effects are eye-catching, the sets are great and the cinematography is excellent. Even by today’s standards, the transition from monochrome to vivid colour looks spectacular!

The cast are good, each actor brought something unique to the story. But the one that gave the most beautiful, gripping and poetic performance was Terry in the role of Toto (who earned more money than many of her human co-stars.) Let’s be honest, Toto is the best character in “The Wizard of Oz”, he’s the most loveable and memorable part of this already very famous film.

That’s all I have to say about “The Wizard of Oz.” Grating Munchkins aside, I don’t really have any criticisms with it; it’s not a bad way to spend 100 minutes as there is entertainment to be had with it. It wasn’t the movie to end all movies but it was fun. I would recommend it.