Due to the fact that more people saw the movie than read the original book, there was, for a very long time, the idea that Oz existed within a dream held entirely by one girl from Kansas named Dorothy Gale. In the books, however, Oz was very real, and Dorothy not only went there several times but ultimately moved there for the rest of her life.
In the 1985 movie "Return to Oz," they once again portrayed Dorothy's second visit to Oz as a dream, however there was an interesting nuance to it. The things happening in her dream were reflecting the spiritual significance of what was happening in Kansas. They still did the actor swap like the original movie did, but those characters were all spiritually linked to their Ozian counterparts. It all mattered.
Once again, Oz is not really a dream, but "Return to Oz" actually is a far more relevant film that the original, even with it being a dream. One can even say that she really did go to Oz, because Oz is in the realm of dreams. What's wrong with a place existing in dreams? Sounds like the perfect place for a fairyland to exist.
In the first movie, the opening number suggests that Oz exists somewhere "over the rainbow." How is that any different than Peter Pan's "second star to the right and straight on till mooning"? The first movie still gave the idea that Oz was somewhere special that could only be achieved by going to it in a very specific way. I don't really approve of how they handled the whole dream thing, but they still created a fairyland atmosphere and travel method that was fascinating to those of us who obsess over fairy tales.
Over the course of the book series, the tornado travel method only happened twice, in the first and fifty-eighth book. But there were a wide number of other little disasters that transported Dorothy and other children to Oz. Sometimes adults went to Oz as well. Even an original knight of the round table ended up there one time. Despite this ongoing variation of travel, the media tended to stick to the tornado as the main transition method since the original movie was so ingrained in our culture. At the very least, I have been seeing less and less of that dream nonsense.
Will there ever be a movie series that is more like how the book represented Oz? Probably not. Honestly, I think we've gotten to a point where the 1939 movie actually is the standard for Oz. That said, if you are ever interested in seeing an Oz movie that is the closest to the books, watch "Return to Oz." It isn't perfect, but it takes so much from the source material that it's frankly good enough.
This blog was written on December 28, 2023.
Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also stop by my Amazon.com listing by clicking this link: https://www.amazon.com/T.K.-Wade/e/B07BQK9RTZ
Check out my books! Thanks!
Dorothy insisted twice that Oz was real... and was not a dream. She was frustrated and asked, "Doesn't anybody believe me?" and they lied and insisted they did. It was left to the audience to decide whether Oz was real or not... unless you accept RETURN TO OZ as canon. It answered the unanswered question, for the much better.
ReplyDeleteRight. If "Return to Oz" is true, than everything matters.
DeleteI never liked the whole dream ending from the movie with Dorothy being frustrated. Seems like a bit of pandering to the more serious adult audience. I did enjoy "Return To Oz" fully as it had both feet in Oz.
ReplyDelete"Return to Oz" was the best Oz movie ever to be made and it was this because it followed the books closer than anything else.
DeleteJust because something happened in a dream, that does not make it irrelevant. There are beings who use dreams to communicate, often in a negative fashion. Dreams are like a fairyland filled with wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteI think my main complaint about the dream thing was that it turned the whole experience into a literal fever dream. She wakes up and nothing she went through actually matters. She may not even believe it.
Delete