Top 10 Reasons to Love 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)

"Wizard of Oz" (1939) is a timeless tale that will never fade away. It's full of magical images and songs. The musical is adapted from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," with many changes from the original story. Below are ten reasons to love "The Wizard of Oz." There are many others but this is a start.

Colors

The colors in Oz are so vibrant that they just look surreal and almost good enough to eat, like the colorful candy and candy wrappers found in candy stores or the candy section of convenience stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies. The Technicolor technique looks so good, even by today's standards, that it is hard to believe it was done in the 1930s! Of course, today the movie has been digitally re-mastered to look even better but to think that this was done over 70 years ago is mind-boggling to me.

Music

"The Wizard of Oz" is a musical and of course the songs are very important and integral parts of the story. This musical is filled with over 22 memorable numbers. It's very hard to choose favorites but some of the more popular songs include "Over the Rainbow" (Dorothy), "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" (the Munchkins), "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" (Dorothy and the Munchkins), "If I Only Had a Brain" (Scarecrow and Dorothy), "We're Off to See the Wizard" (Dorothy and the Scarecrow), "If I Only Had a Heart" (Tin Man), and "If I Only Had the Nerve" (Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Dorothy).

Acting

The acting is superb and no one stands out as giving bad performances. Some roles had many other people in line for them but the cast used is perfect as is.

Judy Garland (Dorothy) is perfect in the role and a terrific singer. Ray Bolger (The Scarecrow), Bert Lahr (The Cowardly Lion), and Jack Haley (The Tin Man) had to pull double duty as men and later as their Oz counterparts -- imagine the difficulty of dancing and singing while in hot and awkward costumes! Margaret Hamilton is just phenomenal as The Wicked Witch of the West with a spot on cackling. Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel / The Gatekeeper / The Carriage Driver / The Doorman / The Wizard of Oz) does a great job in several roles. Let's not forget all of the Munchkins and Toto, each doing his or her part to make the musical as great as it is.

Story

The main story of Dorothy travelling to Oz and seeking out the Wizard's help to return home is quite simple but, as the story progresses, dozens of other elements are thrown into the mix and build a complex story with layers of subplots. Munchkinland lives in fear of the Witches of the east and west, the witches of the north and south are at odds with the witches of the east and west, Scarecrow needs a brain, Tin Man needs a heart, Cowardly Lion needs courage, and the Wizard is out of place in Oz but made the most of it. There are many other elements at play if you delve deeper with repeated views. I find it all fascinating.

Mystery

The story also contains many mysteries from start to finish; some are answered, some are not. We learn a little about each character in Kansas as well as Oz but not with any great detail -- just enough to get to know their personalities and a little bit of their background histories. We learn who the Wizard is and how he got to Oz but not how or why he came to garner such respect and power. We learn why the Wicked Witch of the West wants the Ruby slippers and that she's wicked but not why she became wicked, who her sister (Witch of the East) is, and why she despises the good witches.

Some unexplained mysteries include, how The Scarecrow was brought to life, what happened to The Tin Man's creator, the background of the flying monkeys and the Winkies (soldiers), the reason the Yellow Brick Road was created and where the crossroads lead, what happened after Dorothy left, among many other mysteries. The whole origin of the land of Oz is a mystery. It's fun to ponder these things even though some of them are answered in the many Oz books and possible answers are given in the sequel, "Return to Oz" (1985), SyFy channel's 2007 reinterpretation/sequel, "Tin Man," and even the 1995 book/musical, "Wicked." The movie made some changes from the books, so some things will have different explanations.

Sets

The sets are phenomenal with so much detail and colors that they almost look real, as if transporting you to a real city of Oz. They resemble some of the colorful and quirky sets from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971). There are painted backdrops in some scene to add depth far off in the distance but they blend almost seamlessly with the real, physical sets and props. Who can forget the bright Yellow Brick Road, the creepy Forbidden Forest, the luxurious Emerald City, or the foreboding witch's castle?

Special Effects & Costumes

The special effects and costumes are stunning, some seeming unbelievable for the 1930s.

The costumes and make-up on the countless people and creatures in Oz is almost beyond words -- kind of makes you wonder if real creatures were hired for some parts and not people in disguise. Many of the characters, like the Munchkins, only don quirky, colorful costumes and a little make-up, yet each had unique personalities expressed through their clothing and mannerisms. Who can forget the Lollipop Guild?

Some characters, like the Wicked Witch of the West and the Winkies (the witch's soldiers similar to those in England), wear some face paint in addition to their costumes. Taking it another step further, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion, wear elaborate costumes. The winged monkey servants of the witch have to be the most realistic "creatures" in the musical.

As for non-costume effects, there are quite a few camera techniques that must have been cutting edge for the 1930s. The Technicolor is the best I've ever seen in any film before the 1960s. Some cool effects include the tornado and the house spinning, Glinda's pink bubble, the witch's red smoke bomb, the living trees, the flying monkeys, the Wizard's "Oz" head, the witch's crystal ball, and the witch's melting, to name a few. They might be easily done now but for 1930s, it's simply phenomenal!

Magic

"The Wizard of Oz" contains a heap of reasons it is magical aside from the obvious magic used by the witches and other characters in the story. I'm talking about the magic involved with creation of the sets, costumes, the colors, the filming techniques, the dancing choreography, the musical numbers, the singing, the acting, the cast, and everything work so well, so seamlessly that it just feels magical. The sense of wonderment is almost overwhelming to the point of feeling magical. It's just like the feeling viewers get when watching "Harry Potter" (2001).

Longevity

"The Wizard of Oz" has lasted over 70 years without any sign of losing its popularity and will probably last forever as a timeless classic. The sense of magic created is eternal.

Allegories

It is rumored that "The Wizard of Oz," the book and, in turn, the musical, contain allegories that represent the 19th century political issues concerning monetary policy and bimetallism (silver added to the gold standard). It has not been substantiated as Baum's intent but it's still an interesting idea, true or not, and the pieces fit when you really think about it. During Baum's lifetime, big industry wanted to keep a gold standard and the Populist Party, representing workers, wanted to add silver into the mix. Below are just a few of the rumored allegories but you be the judge -- it's interesting to ponder.

The tornado represents the silver movement, the Yellow Brick Road -- the gold standard, and the Silver Shoes (Ruby slippers in the movie) -- the Populist Party's desire to have gold and silver standard. The Wicked Witch of the West and East represent the wealthy railroad and oil barons of the Western U.S. and the financial interests of the Eastern U.S. that wanted to stick with gold alone. The Good Witches of the North and South represent the coalition of Southern tenant farmers and Northern industrial workers and wanted a gold and silver standard. The Wizard represents the President of the United States. The Scarecrow represents farmers, the Tin Man -- workers dehumanized by industrialization, and the Cowardly Lion -- William Jennings Bryan, a leading supporter of the silver and gold standard.