The Wonderful Wizard of OZ

As a young girl I remember watching the Wizard of Oz. I also remember using my stuffed animals and dolls to recreate my own little adventure down the yellow brick road. I never was traveling to see the wizard but instead I was looking for the Witch of the North. I thought of her as a fairy godmother much like the one from Cinderella. Watching the movie again (about 10 years since the last time) I realized how much of the movie I didn't really understand or notice while watching as a young girl. I had never before realized that the movie started out in black and white and then transformed into color as Dorothy opened the door to the Land of Oz. As a child growing up with a color television the change to color was not an extreme shock. However now as I watched the movie I could at least imagine and appreciate what it may have been like the hear the gasps in the theater as color filled the big screen. Also I had never realized that the Tinman, the Scarecrow and the Lion were really the recreation of the three men that work on the farm where Dorothy lives. The men each talked to Dorothy before she ran away and gave her the idea for their character. Also the mean neighbor that wanted to take Toto was the character that would soon be labeled as the Wicked Witch of the West. Now watching the film years later I realize how obvious it was that these characters are the same ones that joined Dorothy on her adventure. As a child I had always believed that Dorothy really went on this adventure, I had never thought that it was all just a dream. Although now as I watch the movie again and a lot of what seemed so magical to me as a child I could look past and see the truth I could still find myself being carried away with Dorothy on her adventure down the yellow brick road.