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November 15, 2007 3:39 AM

The Wizard of Oz

Check out atarumyth's playlist on YouTube. She appears to have uploaded some cracking movies in their entirety.

posted by The Ultimate Olympian (57 comments total)

if ever - a - wever a wiz there was
posted by quonsar at 3:47 AM on November 15, 2007

Not no way, not no how.
posted by chillmost at 4:00 AM on November 15, 2007

copyright violations are fun.
posted by seanyboy at 4:10 AM on November 15, 2007

Now how the hell am I, after duly getting stoned out of my gourd, supposed to sink up Dark side of the Moon to this?
posted by From Bklyn at 4:29 AM on November 15, 2007

Ahh, just how cinema was meant to be enjoyed: in shitty little badly compressed youtube clips, spread out over 10 parts with inane commentary provided in the comments below.

Awesome.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:33 AM on November 15, 2007 [3 favorites]

Butbutbutbutbut...

You can watch these munchkinized movies on your I-piddle (in the future, you'll believe a postage stamp can move!), and they're short enuf to not strain your micro-attention-span.
posted by hexatron at 4:44 AM on November 15, 2007

Countdown to when Ted Turner goes all legal on her (or Google's) ass, starting...now... But that is awesome that she did all that work.

So, what's the video equivalent of Audacity?
posted by fuse theorem at 4:45 AM on November 15, 2007

Just this past weekend I was with my family at a small hotel on Maryland's Eastern Shore. We were having dinner in the bar/restaurant, just us, the owners, and a few locals, when the bartender decided to tune the bar TV to Turner's broadcast of The Wizard of Oz. The adults were transfixed. The 11-year-old son of the owners, however, was unimpressed. He had never seen the Wizard, and decided it didn't have enough action. The adults, though, were all obviously re-living intense childhood memories (as was I). I know my kids get sick of hearing this, but when I was a wee lad back in the mid-1960s, the annual showing of the Wizard was an event, and the imagery--the tornado, those damned flying monkeys--was engraved into my subconscious. For my kids, though, it's just a goofy old movie.
posted by Man-Thing at 4:50 AM on November 15, 2007 [2 favorites]

Those soldiers on the ramparts going yow-ee-yow scared the crap out of six-year-old me back in the same time period Man-Thing refers to. Flying monkeys? Now that's a horse of a different color.
posted by Sk4n at 5:01 AM on November 15, 2007

What makes the Hottentot so hot?
What puts the "ape" in apricot?

I saw this many times as a wee lad in the 60's on our black-and-white TV set.
In 1969 I was at a friends house watching it on a color set for the first time. When Dorothy stepped out of the house into Munchkinland and it turned into color, I was astounded.
I never knew.
posted by MtDewd at 5:07 AM on November 15, 2007 [11 favorites]

For my kids, though, it's just a goofy old movie.

Not for my kids. It blew them away. But that's because they haven't been raised on a steady diet of Disney. I'm slowing introducing them to movies so they make an impact. I can count the number of movies they've watched on two hands and name every one of them.
posted by DU at 5:11 AM on November 15, 2007 [6 favorites]

My three year old knows all the words by heart, PLUS, when the scarecrow says, "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.", she always yells out, "George Bush!"

(My wife is trying to teach her to say, "Daddy" when the scarecrow says, "Of course there are those who go both ways.", but it hasn't stuck yet.)
posted by ColdChef at 5:15 AM on November 15, 2007 [18 favorites]

When the Cowardly Lion jumps through the window - sometimes, my mom had to put me to bed before that happened so I wouldn't freak out.

And when the scarecrow says, "Of course there are those who go both ways," I always say, "ColdChef!"
posted by tizzie at 5:43 AM on November 15, 2007 [2 favorites]

Now how the hell am I, after duly getting stoned out of my gourd, supposed to sink up Dark side of the Moon to this?

Here you go.
posted by Poolio at 5:57 AM on November 15, 2007 [2 favorites]

I'm wondering when these links will not only be merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.
posted by thewalrusispaul at 5:59 AM on November 15, 2007 [8 favorites]

SPOILER: It was all a dream. Or a hallucination. Or something. Except for the part about the copyright violation and the takedown notice. That was real.
posted by veggieboy at 6:01 AM on November 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Meh, who needs this? I have the special-super-ultra-deluxe-collector's-anniversary-director's cut-yes I'm a horrible fangirl-widescreen-fancy schmancy-let's put all kinds of leet sounding labels on it to get people to buy this DVD again-edition of the Wizard. It's been my favourite movie since the first time I saw it as a wee tot, and it always will be.

I think if I had kids and they thought this was a silly movie, I'd sell them on eBay. But only if I got enough for them to enable me to buy a pair of authentic ruby slippers (even though in the books they were silver and that's always really, really bugged me no end. That, and the fact that they left out the incredibly vicious hottentots, who I always thought were really cool).
posted by perilous at 6:28 AM on November 15, 2007

sink up Dark side of the Moon to this?

sink up is what you do in the mens room at a really crowded pink floyd concert.
posted by quonsar at 7:15 AM on November 15, 2007

Is it gay if you really want to bang Dorothy with those shoes on?
posted by autodidact at 7:16 AM on November 15, 2007

Are you wearing the shoes or is Dorothy wearing the shoes? I think we need some clarity.
posted by thewalrusispaul at 7:24 AM on November 15, 2007

Is it gay if you really want to bang Dorothy with those shoes on?
Wait. Who's wearing the shoes in this scenario? Because I think that makes all the difference.
posted by ColdChef at 7:24 AM on November 15, 2007

ah, What a treat. Thanks so much The Ultimate Olympian. It's nice to have the clips at a click.

Probably like many others here, I have the video, watch it once or twice a year, ever in awe of Judy's spectacular version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow...what a great story, incredible songs and characters.

One of my favorite clips is the o in of, with The King of the Forest song and then the a in Wizard with If I Only Had a Brain, lyrics. And then the z in Oz and then the ...dang, so much to love.

If you've never heard Eva Cassidy sing Over the Rainbow, please do. That's her more moody version, this is the lighter one.

omg, Poolio, I loved that! Thanks.

If atarumyth's wonderful playlist is deleted from YouTube, there are hundreds of amazing public domain movies to watch, listed and linked in Wikipedia.
posted by nickyskye at 7:25 AM on November 15, 2007 [3 favorites]

Jinx!
posted by ColdChef at 7:25 AM on November 15, 2007

Does this mean I can't type until someone types my name? Damn... If that's the case, I'm in a heap of trouble.
posted by thewalrusispaul at 7:36 AM on November 15, 2007

When my two pieces of nieces were little and I was a young teenager in the eighties, they were over old disney - I was crying at Bambi and they were laughing at me - but The Wizzard of Oz tore their shit appropriately up. I hate to think of kids today finding it a silly old movie. It's a classic quest journey. With music! And Judy Garland! And and and. . .wow.
posted by rainbaby at 8:02 AM on November 15, 2007

Thanks, Poolio.
I knew about this but had never seen it before.
I thank you a lot.
My employer, not so much.
posted by MtDewd at 8:09 AM on November 15, 2007

Weird. Just yesterday, for no reason, I was hunting around for info on the famous "Munchkin Suicide"

Found this great piece of film. A beautifully made shot of the tornado rolling over the farmhouse. What a shot!(clicking will lead to a WMV download)
posted by JBennett at 8:12 AM on November 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Has anyone seen any of the silent versions directed by Frank Baum? I've always been curious about them. I did find this clip from a 1925 version (starring Oliver Hardy) that was directed by Frank Baum, Jr.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:45 AM on November 15, 2007 [2 favorites]

My kids don't think it's a silly old movie. It's one of their absolute favorites. My five-year-old loves to be scared, and that witch and those damn monkeys really get her where it tickles.
posted by padraigin at 8:46 AM on November 15, 2007

Let me just say that I think "Over the Rainbow" represents the acme of Hollywood popular songwriter, and so, by extension, stands high among the very best American songs ever written. From its soaring, full octave jump at its opening to its wistful, childrens storybook lyrics -- which are deliberately, naively optimistic, seeing as it was written during the depression -- its a completely exquisite package.

That being said, flying monkeys freak my shit out.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:52 AM on November 15, 2007

You know what weirded me out about the Wizard of Oz?

Okay, so it's the 70s and my sister is listening to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, right? And there's this one song that just strikes me weird. (Here it is performed by Arthur Fiedler.) It's so familiar and creepy and gave me this sense of foreboding. I JUST COULDN'T STAND IT.

Then I realized... it's the same song that plays at 2:28 as they're running away from the witch's guards. So NO WONDER it freaked me out. But then I got freaked out that the song was in both movies, as a kid I was like "How does that happen and why does nobody notice this and complain that they stole it from The Wizard of Oz?" (I guess the song was originally written by this guy in 1867. But naturally I didn't know that.)
posted by miss lynnster at 9:04 AM on November 15, 2007

Atom Eyes. I haven't seen them, but at least two versions of the FB silent Wizard of Oz's were included on the third disc of the "collectors edition" DVD. Seems like a nice package worth owning.

From the Amazon link on disc III:
The third disc of the three-disc collector's edition includes the complete versions of those treatments and more. They are four silent films: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1910, 13 min.), "The Magic Cloak of Oz" (1914, 38 min.), His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914, 59 min., written and directed by Baum himself), The Wizard of Oz (1925, 72 min., Larry Semon). The fifth treatment is Ted Eshbaum's 1933 Technicolor cartoon short which has songs and sound, and is the first depiction of Kansas in black and white and Oz in color.
posted by JBennett at 9:07 AM on November 15, 2007

Oh, and a little trivia about "Over The Rainbow" (I'm a big Harold Arlen fan)... when they were writing it, they couldn't figure out how the bridge should go at first. The melody for "And then I wish upon a star" was actually the tune that he used to whistle to call his dog. It ended up fitting there perfectly.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:07 AM on November 15, 2007

I had heard that the opening full-chord jump was inspired by the sound of the sign outside Schwab's, whose neon buzzing likewise jumped an octave.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:15 AM on November 15, 2007

the famous "Munchkin Suicide"


That's no munchkin.


That's the ghost of 1¢ gas.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:32 AM on November 15, 2007

For you Austinites out there, I also taught my daughter to yell, "Oil Can Harry's!" every time the Tin Man says "Oil can."

Wife doesn't think this is funny, either.
posted by ColdChef at 9:48 AM on November 15, 2007

A beautifully made shot of the tornado rolling over the farmhouse.

The best part is when Godzilla's next to the house.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:01 AM on November 15, 2007

Wow, she's got Rope. That's really interesting. Once upon a time, Hitch had some fun trying to fake a continuous shot on nine reels. Now we try to fake a continuous picture on eight embedded videos.

Also recommended by soppy ol' me: Top Hat!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:06 AM on November 15, 2007

Such a great film. I'm perpetually amazed that it was made in 1939.

I'm sure some of my appreciation for it is based on the annual childhood TV viewings (in the '70s and early '80s, immediately pre-VCR). Now kids can watch hundreds of movies a year, so any given film makes less of an impact.

But still, there's something about the blend of art and craft that makes this one special. It's almost 70 years old, but the world it creates is so seamless. What they did with matte paintings, sets, and costumes (and storytelling, and music, and acting) is more magical than most of what is done with millions of dollars' worth of CGI today.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:14 AM on November 15, 2007

For my kids, though, it's just a goofy old movie.

Not for my kids. It blew them away.

I thought it was a silly movie when I saw it as a kid in the '80s (or maybe late '70s, whatever) but not because I was too cynical or sophisticated or something. It was for the same reason that the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie seemed silly - I had read the book. In my mind, Dorothy was a real girl from Kansas. In the movie, she was obviously far too old and glitzy and fake; she was nothing like a real girl. She was a hollywood starlet.

Now the movie is fun because it's glitzy and glammy and fake - but as a kid I had loved the wizard of Oz books in a more sincere way, and the movie seemed to kind of miss the point. It's a musical, everyone overacts, they skip over details... in the book, they don't sing and give each other silly looks. It's a story about a real girl who you can identify with, who makes friends, and has fears and hopes and so on. THe movie is much more fun the way they made it, but it is much sillier too.
posted by mdn at 10:17 AM on November 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

P.S. Name the blockbuster American fantasy film that I'm describing below:

Teenager living on the farm with aunt and uncle longs to get out, see the world, and have adventures. Encounters strange, mystical, somewhat disreputable old man. Eventually falls in with a strange group of companions, including a metal man and a big furry guy. Must journey into the heart of the enemy fortress and confront the deformed, sinister arch-villain. In the end it all comes down to a question of faith.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:19 AM on November 15, 2007 [8 favorites]

Artifice_Eternity: also, heroes saved by small speechless sidekick.
posted by ColdChef at 10:32 AM on November 15, 2007

ColdChef: Oh, yes, I forgot about Toto/R2.

I think I once figured out several other correspondences as well.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:35 AM on November 15, 2007

Having grown up in Kansas pre-cable, I can tell you they would show this every year. In the spring. During tornado season.

Oh, Artifice_Eternity, is it Charlotte's Web?

On preview: Oh, shoot, it's ET.
posted by sleepy pete at 10:36 AM on November 15, 2007

Artifice_Eternity: also, Han The house shot fell first. Poor Greedo Wicked Witch of the East!
posted by CynicalKnight at 10:46 AM on November 15, 2007

Also:

Munchkins = Jawas (and later, Ewoks).

Flying monkeys = stormtroopers.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:57 AM on November 15, 2007

Yeah, my kids were not impressed, and their grandpa was disappointed. He's a serious fan, with the standing cardboard cutouts and everything. Somehow, their completely ignoring it made me nitpick every scene, and then I was unimpressed as well. I miss the blissful ignorance and suspended belief of childhood.

On a separate note, the King of the Forest song is the stuff of nightmares for me, and it's the song that my father-in-law sings to my kids every time he sees them. *shudder*
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 11:08 AM on November 15, 2007

I'm perpetually amazed that it was made in 1939.

That was an annis mirabilis for movies: Beau Geste, Dark Victory, Destry Rides Again, Gone With the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Gunga Din, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Roaring Twenties, Stagecoach, The Women, and Wuthering Heights all were released in 1939.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:10 PM on November 15, 2007

The King of the Forest song is pure camp! How could a lion with a perm like that give you nightmares?
posted by tizzie at 12:23 PM on November 15, 2007

Okay, this is a good spot for the poll I've always wanted to do: Raise your hand if your nightmares from this movie were of the talking trees.

Anyway, hurrah, and thanks for this! I skipped straight to part 3 for the ruby slippers, The Most Beautiful Objects Ever Filmed, but I'll be back when I have some headphones.
posted by jinjo at 12:34 PM on November 15, 2007

Those flying monkeys scared the fuck outta my mom when she was a kid.
posted by cortex at 12:50 PM on November 15, 2007

Raise your hand if your nightmares from this movie were of the talking trees.

My nightmares were actually about the tin man. I mean, he's basically a male, gladhandingly stealth version of Evil Maria, or a low tech Gigolo Joe. He's so romantic and all, but if you carry that through to it's logical conclusion, where the ken doll groin plate comes away to reveal something that clicks and whirs, it's a little 1939 tetsuo moment. He's heavy and he leans all freaky, and ugh the oilcan. I was way too imagnitive about that oilcan of his.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:58 PM on November 15, 2007

The flying monkeys were scary indeed. The juxtaposition of a familiar and generally non-threatening (at least in a child's imagination) animal like the monkey, with the also-familiar wings of a big bird like an eagle, resulted in something, well, oddly unsettling and ultimately terrifying. I'm reminded of that much more recent, famous photograph of a human ear grafted onto a mouse. That was scary, too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:48 PM on November 15, 2007

"In the end it all comes down to a question of faith."

That faith thing seems to be going around.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:48 PM on November 15, 2007

Zeke: Get in there before I make a dime bank out of you!
posted by wafaa at 4:35 PM on November 15, 2007

Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man, that he didn't, didn't already have

(Now go crazy trying to figure out the rest of that damn song)
posted by evilcolonel at 6:55 PM on November 16, 2007

Uhhh... well, there's some nonsense about "cause" not being a reason for the evening. (Which... huh?) And then there's some crap about the Tropic of Sir Galahad. Which I believe is located somewhere near Bakersfield.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:16 AM on November 17, 2007