Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

The MGM musical version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz turned 70 this week. It wasn't the first time it was a movie, nor the last time it was a movie or a movie musical. [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Aug 28, 2009 - 53 comments

The Wizard of Oil Some well-done Photoshop fun to start the week - "Somewhere under the radar, way down low. There's a land that I heard of once, where the oil still flows. Somewhere under the radar, folks are screwed. And the schemes that you dare to scheme really do come through. One day I wrecked the family car, and daddy and my mummy Bar remind me, Of my troubles taking acid drops, the night they had to call the cops, And then they fined me. Somewhere under the radar, I'll get high. Drink Rye under the radar, Try, oh yes I'll still try Why, why must I be dry?
posted by jackspace on Aug 28, 2006 - 12 comments

'The Jitterbug' is a somewhat bizarre scene from the original The Wizard of Oz movie that cost $80,000 to produce and took five weeks to rehearse but was ultimately cut from the final film because, according to the studio, it would "date the film." However some say the scene represents Dorothy's loss of innocence and that this is the reason why it was cut. What makes it even more freaky is that the scene was shot by producer Harold Arlen on a home movie camera, making the whole thing look grainy and which casts the whole scene in a sort of pink-purple hue. Check out the scene for yourself over at Youtube.
posted by Effigy2000 on Aug 3, 2006 - 43 comments

Most of us saw The Wizard of Oz when we were kids, and discovered Dark Side of the Moon in high school. At some point someone decided to combine the two, and we ended up with the Dark Side of Oz (or Dark Side of the Rainbow). To set this up at home, you needed to start the album just as the MGM lion roared for the third time. Or you could watch it on Turner Classic Movies (who showed the film synched with DSotM in 2000). And now you can watch it on Google Video, while it lasts. My favorite part is when Dorothy walks out into the colors of Oz just as the cash registers of Money kick in.
posted by Who_Am_I on Jul 15, 2006 - 74 comments

The Warriors of Oz "The Heroes of Oz as You've Never Seen Them!" You got that right. Three words: "Warrior Maiden Dorothy". Not Safe For Wizard Fans
The picture on the site doesn't do justice to all the excruciatingly awful detail, but if you get a Sunday dead tree newspaper, there's an ad in most coupon sections.
posted by wendell on Apr 9, 2006 - 47 comments

The Synchronicity Archives includes the well known synchronization of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with a viewing of The Wizard of Oz, as well as other entertaining combinations. Has anyone tried Led Zeppelin and Lord of the Rings ?
posted by mecran01 on Jul 9, 2003 - 21 comments

You may have heard of the Dark Side of the Rainbow, the synching of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz. But this isn't the only mystery that surrounds the band. The Publius Enigma is the story of an anonymous Usenet poster connected to the band in some way that claimed that The Division Bell album held a very tangible and real prize. Was it a cosmic mystery of an esoteric nature or just a gimmick to sell records?
posted by euphorb on Mar 28, 2002 - 26 comments

Pink Floyd and the Wizard of Oz? "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." While no one involved with Pink Floyd has ever admitted to any link between the band's seminal 1973 album "Dark Side of the Moon" and the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," urban legend purports that the album was conceived as an alternate soundtrack to the film.
posted by 120degrees on Jun 22, 2000 - 7 comments