What if MGM Animation remains open?/The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American Animated musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and it's MGM Cartoon Feature division. Widely regarded to be one of the greatest films in cinema history, it is the best-known and most commercially successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Directed primarily by Victor Fleming (who left the production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind), the film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale alongside Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr.

Characterized by its legendary use of Technicolor (although not being the first to use it), fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters, the film has become an American pop culture icon. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind, also directed by Fleming. It did win in two other categories: Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow" and Best Original Score by Herbert Stothart. While the film was considered a critical success upon release in August 1939, it failed to make a profit for MGM until the 1949 re-release, earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget, not including promotional costs, which made it MGM's most expensive production at that time.

The 1956 television broadcast premiere of the film on the CBS network reintroduced the film to the public; according to the Library of Congress, it is the most seen film in movie history. It was among the first 25 films that inaugurated the National Film Registry list in 1989. It is also one of the few films on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The film is among the top ten in the BFI (British Film Institute) list of 50 films to be seen by the age of 14.

The Wizard of Oz is the source of many quotes referenced in contemporary popular culture. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but others made uncredited contributions. The songs were written by Edgar "Yip" Harburg (lyrics) and Harold Arlen (music). The musical score and the incidental music were composed by Stothart.

Plot


Dorothy Gale lives with her dog Toto on a Kansas farm belonging to her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. One day, Toto bites neighbour Almira Gulch on the leg, leading her to obtain an order from the sheriff to euthanize him. In spite of Dorothy's pleas and Aunt Em's resistance, she takes Toto away in a basket, but Toto escapes and returns to Dorothy; she decides to run away, in order to ensure Toto won't be euthanized. Not far from the farm she meets Professor Marvel, a kind fortune teller who uses his crystal ball to make Dorothy believe that Aunt Em may be dying of a broken heart. Horrified, Dorothy heads home as a tornado starts; she arrives just as the tornado takes hold, and just after Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and the farmhands take shelter in the storm cellar. Unable to be heard begging for entry, Dorothy seeks shelter in her bedroom. The window is blown from its frame and hits Dorothy on the head, knocking her unconscious. The house is sent spinning in the air as she awakens to see various figures fly by, including Miss Gulch on her bicycle, who transforms into a witch on a broomstick.

The house lands in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz. Glinda the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins welcome her as a heroine, as the falling house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, arrives to claim her ruby slippers, but Glinda transports them onto Dorothy's feet first. Enraged, the Wicked Witch of the West swears revenge on Dorothy and vanishes. Glinda tells Dorothy to keep the slippers on and follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, where she can ask the Wizard of Oz to help her return home. On her journey, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, who wants a brain; the Tin Woodman, who desires a heart; and the Cowardly Lion, who needs courage. Dorothy invites them to accompany her to Emerald City, where they can also ask the Wizard for help. Despite the Witch's attempts to stop them, they reach the Emerald City and are eventually allowed to see the Wizard, who appears as a ghostly head surrounded by fire and smoke. He agrees to grant their wishes if they prove their worth by bringing him the Witch's broomstick.

As the foursome and Toto make their way to the Witch's castle, the Witch captures Dorothy and plots to kill her and retrieve the slippers. Toto escapes and leads her three friends to the castle. They ambush three guards, don their uniforms and free Dorothy. The Witch and her guards chase and surround them. The Witch sets fire to the Scarecrow, causing Dorothy to toss a bucket of water, inadvertently splashing the Witch, who melts away. The guards rejoice and give Dorothy her broomstick.

Upon their return to the Emerald City, the Wizard stalls in fulfilling his promises until Toto pulls back a curtain and exposes the "Wizard" as a middle-aged man operating machinery and speaking into a microphone. Admitting to being a humbug, he insists that he is "a good man but a bad wizard". The Wizard then gives the Scarecrow a diploma, the Lion a medal and the Tin Man a ticking heart-shaped watch, helping them see that the attributes they sought were already within them. He then offers to take Dorothy and Toto home in his hot air balloon, revealing that he is also from Kansas, originally a carnival worker, before a tornado brought him to the Emerald City and he accepted the job as Wizard due to hard times.

As Dorothy and the Wizard prepare to depart, Toto is distracted by a cat and leaps from Dorothy's arms. As she pursues Toto, the balloon disembarks with the Wizard, leaving Dorothy behind. Glinda appears and tells Dorothy that the ruby slippers have the power to return her to Kansas. To do this, she must tap her heels together three times repeating "There's no place like home". Dorothy complies and wakes up in her bedroom surrounded by family and friends, including Toto. Everyone dismisses her adventure as a dream, but Dorothy insists it was real and says she will never run away from home again, before declaring "there's no place like home!"

Cast

 * Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale
 * Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz/Emerald City Doorman/the Cabby/Emerald City Guard/The Wizard of Oz angry face projection.
 * Ray Bolger as "Hunk" / Scarecrow
 * Jack Haley as "Hickory" / Tin Man
 * Bert Lahr as "Zeke" / the Cowardly Lion
 * Billie Burke as Glinda
 * Margaret Hamilton as Miss Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West
 * Clara Blandick as Auntie Em
 * Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry
 * Pat Walshe as the Winged Monkey King
 * Terry as Toto
 * Mitchell Lewis as the Winkie Guard Captain (credited only in the IMAX version)
 * Adriana Caselotti as the voice of Juliet in the Tin Man's song "If I Only Had a Heart" (uncredited)

Note

 * it was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first animated film.
 * it was also Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first color film.
 * it was the highest-grossing animated film of 1939.
 * it was the second animated feature film produced by an American studio after Walt Disney Productions' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as MGM had commissioned the feature in response to the success of that film.