The Wizard of Oz (film)/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Adaptation Displacement: The MGM movie adaptation is much better known than the Oz books. Some of the more recent sequels to The Wizard of Oz -- such as Wicked -- are based on the movie and not the book version.
    • Not completely. The only detail that Wicked takes from the movie is Elphaba's green skin (which she didn't have in the book). It features several characters like Boq the Munchkin, who didn't appear in the movie at all. And it features regions of Oz like Gillikin and Quadling country, which the movie never mentioned.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: This Cracked article deconstructs the entire movie and makes you wonder whether or not Glinda is in fact the real villain here.
  • Award Snub: The only reason this movie didn't win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1939 was because it had to compete with Gone with the Wind. It also failed to receive any acting nominations for Judy Garland in Lead Actress, nor Margaret Hamilton in Supporting Actress, nor Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, or Jack Haley in Supporting Actor.
  • Broken Base: The fandom is largely split between fans of the books and fans of the MGM movie.
  • Complete Monster: The Wicked Witch of the West comes off as one due to the sheer pure evil of the performance. Where do you think the trope "And Your Little Dog, Too" comes from?
  • Draco in Leather Pants: The Wicked Witch of the West being played by Margaret Hamilton really helped this.
  • Ear Worm:
    • "We represent, the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild..."
    • "We represent, the Lullaby League, the Lullaby League, the Lullaby League..."
    • "Over the Rainbow"
    • "We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz..."
    • "Ding, dong, the witch is dead! Which old witch? The Wicked witch!"
    • As coroner, I must aver/I thoroughly examined her./And she is not just merely dead/But really most sincerely dead.
  • Fridge Horror/Paranoia Fuel: As if the Wicked Witch wasn't scary enough on her own, they had to add in all the scenes of her watching the heroes in her crystal ball...making it abundantly clear that she can see you wherever you are. And if she wants to hunt you down? She can teleport anywhere instantly. Whenever she wants.
  • Memetic Mutation: "Ding Dong! (The Witch is Dead)" has pretty much become the standard song to play whenever someone hated dies (or when a hated politician is voted out of office/ends their term).
  • Narm Charm: The whole film runs on it, especially to a modern audience.
  • Nightmare Fuel: It may not be a horror film, but still...Margaret Hamilton's performance as the Wicked Witch runs on Nightmare Fuel. Everything about her is insanely terrifying if you're a kid, and still genuinely creepy if you're an adult. The acid green skin, the eerie shrill voice, the not-quite-human face...and admit it, the creepy laugh has made everyone shiver at least once.
  • Older Than They Think: Movie fans are often surprised to learn that The Wizard of Oz is based on a book that was published in 1900 and the book had sequels published over the span of 50 years.
    • Similarly, many fans of the movie are unaware that it's actually the third film adaptation of the book to hit theaters--the first was a short film that came out in 1910, and the second was a silent movie starring Oliver Hardy that came out in 1925.
  • The Problem with Licensed Games: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System adaptation has a lot of clunky controls and gameplay, most notably with trying to jump on platforms only to fall through them, and the Tin Man unable to duck, run or jump. This is all lampshaded by The Angry Video Game Nerd in his review on the adaptation (which, surprisingly, can be synched in correct timing to the first four songs of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in reference to the film soundtrack synching Urban Legends).
  • Vindicated by History: While it did okay when it first came out, much of the movie's popularity was gained in the 1950s with yearly telecasts. Some serious film critics even consider it to be superior to Gone with the Wind, which was released (and won the Best Picture Oscar) the same year.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: The twister scene still holds up quite well even by today's standards.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(film)/YMMV?oldid=1949542"