The Wizard of Oz: Film Analysis, Hero's Journey & Symbolism

Production Background and Cast

Released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz has become one of the most iconic and enduring motion pictures ever produced. Based on a novel of the same name by L. Frank Baum, the film has far surpassed its source material in terms of popularity and critical acclaim. It is a relatively rare example of an adaptation that brought the original novel to an entirely new level. Screenplay credits are shared by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allen Woolf.

Victor Fleming receives all official directorial accolades, but there were actually four additional uncredited directors on the film: George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, and King Vidor, who directed most of the Kansas scenes ("The Wizard of Oz: Full Cast and Crew," n.d.). Harold Rosson was in charge of cinematography, and The Wizard of Oz was among the first films to use Technicolor. The production company was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

The shining star of the film is Judy Garland, who plays the protagonist Dorothy. The titular character, by contrast, has very few lines or minutes on screen. In spite of being a minor character, the Wizard of Oz becomes a potent symbol driving Dorothy's actions and those of everyone around her as she travels to the Emerald City. The Wizard was played by Frank Morgan, who also appears in several other small roles, such as the Doorkeeper to Emerald City. Like several other actors, Morgan plays two roles because the film depicts two parallel worlds: the mundane world of Kansas and the fantasy realm of Oz. In Kansas, for example, Morgan plays Professor Marvel.

The most notable supporting roles, beyond that of Toto the dog, belong to the three companions who join Dorothy on her journey to the Emerald City. Ray Bolger plays the Scarecrow in Oz and a minor character named Hunk in Kansas. Bert Lahr plays the Cowardly Lion in Oz and Zeke in Kansas, while Jack Haley plays the Tin Man and a man named Hickory in Kansas. The most memorable supporting role, however, belongs to Margaret Hamilton, who plays Dorothy's antagonist in both worlds — Miss Gulch in Kansas and the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz. Elaborate makeup and costumes ensure that the audience does not recognize the actors in Oz, just as Dorothy does not fully realize she is in a kind of dream state.

Genre, Narrative Structure, and the Hero's Journey

Although The Wizard of Oz is classified as a fantasy by the American Film Institute, it can also be categorized as a family film or an adventure film, since Dorothy is on a quest to achieve a goal. The film is additionally a musical; songs frequently punctuate the narrative and add emotional dimensions that dialogue alone cannot capture. The story's arc follows the classic hero's journey, in which a crisis — the tornado — provides the impetus for a long and treacherous journey to Oz, followed by a return home having acquired great wisdom. In this sense, The Wizard of Oz is a bildungsroman: a coming-of-age narrative in which the protagonist undergoes meaningful personal development.

Dorothy's Character and the Kansas Conflict

Dorothy is an adolescent of undetermined age who is beginning to grapple with issues of independence, identity, and her role in society. She encounters conflict with a powerful authority figure, Miss Gulch, who insists that Toto be taken away because the dog trespassed on her lawn. Gulch's every appearance on screen is accompanied by a distinctive musical motif that underscores her sinister personality, showcasing the filmmakers' skillful integration of music into the narrative.

While her primary caregivers — Auntie Em and Uncle Henry — are prepared to capitulate to Gulch, Dorothy loves her dog too much and views Gulch as a "wicked" woman. Standing up to Miss Gulch, and tacitly to her elder caregivers, becomes a defining feature of Dorothy's character. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry appear weary, and the family lives in a poor rural community where they possess little political, economic, or social power. In this way, The Wizard of Oz depicts the triumph of the powerless over the "great and powerful."

A cyclone strikes Dorothy's rural community. Dorothy is hit in the head and enters an extended dream state that functions as a parallel universe to her life in Kansas. The cyclone scene uses special effects to show an array of images as objects and people literally fly past Dorothy's bedroom window. When she awakens, Dorothy and Toto find themselves in Munchkinland — everything Kansas is not: vividly colorful, populated by Munchkins, and filled with magic. The filmmakers achieve differentiation between the two worlds in a direct and tangible way, filming Kansas scenes in black and white and Oz scenes in Technicolor.

Dorothy is disoriented when she wakes in Oz, but an angelic figure — Glinda the Good Witch of the North, dressed in white as a symbol of purity — appears to guide her. Glinda informs Dorothy that her arrival caused a house to fall on the Wicked Witch of the East. It is as if the cyclone has become a manifestation of Dorothy's anger and frustration toward the arbitrary, rigid rules epitomized by Miss Gulch in Kansas.

Dorothy is initially filled with remorse that her actions could have caused another person's death, but it turns out the Wicked Witch was so reviled in Munchkinland that the otherwise timid Munchkins emerge to celebrate. They dance and sing "Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch Is Dead!" The Munchkins — a cast of little people — perform several songs before Dorothy leaves. Although their role in Dorothy's journey is minor, the Munchkins accentuate the surreal imagery of the parallel universe.

Dorothy is curious about Oz but desperately wants to return home to Kansas. Glinda tells her that the Wizard of Oz may be able to help and gives her the dazzling ruby slippers taken from the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East as a talisman. Dorothy is also warned that the Wicked Witch of the East has a sister — the Wicked Witch of the West — who will not be pleased to hear of Dorothy's arrival.

References

Griswold, J. (1987). There's no place but home: The Wizard of Oz. The Antioch Review, 45(4), 462–475.

MacDonnell, F. (2004). "The Emerald City was the New Deal." E.Y. Harburg and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Journal of American Culture, 13(4), 71–75.

Payne, D. (1989). The Wizard of Oz: Therapeutic rhetoric in a contemporary media ritual. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75(1), 25–39.

"The Wizard of Oz: Full Cast and Crew." (n.d.). IMDB. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/fullcredits-ref_=tt_ov_dr#directors