Happy 70th Anniversary to MGM's "The Wizard of Oz"

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 11:13am

You look dang good for seventy.

Premiere: August 12, 1939. Released: August 25, 1939.

[singtopher]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 11:26am

Still my all time favorite movie. I'll never forget watching it for the first time.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 3:27pm

Is that the one about that little girl and her dog?

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 12:48pm

Does this new version of "Wizard," have all the same extras as previous dvd releases?

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 1:42pm

Wow. Incredible. Still in love with it.

[sesot]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 4:53pm

This is my favorite movie of all time. It is such a classic. I have great memories of watching it every year, on CBS I believe at my grandmother's house.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 4:29pm

In theaters, one night only, September 23rd!

http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Premiere/WizardofOz_Exclusive.aspx?utm_source=TCM&utm_medium=exclusiveblast&utm_campaign=WizardofOz

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 11:24pm

Dang it besty, I was holding off for the 12th

nealb1- I believe it has all the same stuff and then a truckload of new and amazing offerings.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 11:49pm

Just what we all need. Another "Ultimate Edition" of the Wizard of Oz. I love the film, but a new edition every few years takes advantage of fans. Ill pass.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 1:39am

^ This one is worth it for the inclusion of "Dreamer of Oz" the TV movie starring John Ritter, Annette O'Toole and Rue McLanahan

[Q]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 3:25am

Tickets purchased - and I get to attend with the TinMan

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 9:43am

Dang! I thought I was the first one to know about the Fathom Event!

I wonder if I can use my employee passes for this...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 10:12am

Only a handful of the original Munchkins survive, many of whom were teenagers when they filmed the movie. Now they're all in their late 80s.

Several of them will be at the Oz Club's national convention in Kansas this October.

The community theatre is doing "The Wizard of Oz," and the original Munchkins will be appearing in it.

http://www.oztoberfest.com/

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 10:33am

Q, is the TinMan gonna go dressed like that?

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 11:21am

Ditto on the multiple "definitive" editions...I bought the last one and it's going to have to hold me for a while.

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/11/09 at 11:27am

*yawn* what bolderdash! i'm tired of these "ultimate", "definitive" editions. every friggin five years....they need to give it a rest.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 9:38am

Trailer for the new Blu-Ray release:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800019695/video/15000722

Am I the only one who doesn't notice any difference? Maybe it's my eyes, or something...but it looks the same to me.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 9:47am

Honestly, guys, this thread was just about the 70th anniversary of my favorite movie. Not about any new marketing scheme or product you need to buy.

Happy Birthday to TWOZ! You look great for 70.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 9:50am

^ Oh, I wasn't trying to make a marketing scheme...I just didn't know where else to put the Blu-Ray trailer.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 9:54am

I know, Husk. It wasn't just your last post. This whole thread seems to have shifted gears to be about "buying something."

I'm excited for the Blu-ray release myself, but my intent here was just to celebrate the movie.

Buy the new release if you want. Don't, if you don't.

MGM's The Wizard of Oz is 70 years old, regardless.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 10:59am

When we were little, they used to show it on television once a year--for free.

Now they re-market it once a year.

That tells you something about us, or the society we live in, but the movie itself is still perfect.

The one thing these new releases CAN'T capture is the magic an entire generation experienced seeing it on a color television for the first time, after having fallen in love with it in black-and-white. I was 3 in 1959 when it was first broadcast in color, but I don't think we had a color television until 1962 or 1963.

Those early color televisions may have been primitive compared to Blu-Ray, but the experience was magical in b&w and gasp-inducing in color the first few times I saw Dorothy open the door.

Updated On: 8/13/09 at 10:59 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 11:02am

True, PJ.

I was trying to convey to some younger friends what that was like; how it was one of the major events in the kid calendar--your birthday, start of summer vacation, Christmas . . . and "The Wizard of Oz."

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 11:19am

I came along at the time of the 50th anniversary. Oz was everywhere, and they had just restored the sepia tone to Kansas.

However, the way I first saw it, was an earlier VHS with questionable color, and a B&W Kansas. I still prefer it this way. It's still somehow more magical.

And, even though the DVDs sit on my shelf, I watch it twice a year. Thanksgiving and my birthday.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 11:32am

Well done, Husk!

[landryjames2]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 12:52pm

Thanks, Besty for creating this thread! Reading through a few of these posts, I have teared up just thinking about effect that Oz has had on individuals, as well as the great effect on myself.

I honestly think that most moments of true happiness in my life can be attributed to Oz, its legacy, the lessons it teaches, and the escape it provides. My mother said I was 2 years old when I when I first watched The Wizard of Oz on tv, and I sat transfixed and unmoved for the entire time. I have been transfixed ever since.

Of course, through the course of my childhood and young adult life, I have garnered other "obsessions" but none still come close to rivaling The Wizard of Oz.

Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary!