Reading Wizard of Oz, and then later watching the movie at the end of this summer brought about some interesting realizations. Being the great iconoclast it is, I was obviously unable to exist without wizard of oz entering my paradigm, regardless of having not read or watched the film. This being said, comparing my expectations to what I actually witness and read in the Wizard of Oz, I saw great differences between my mind’s version of the text, the actual text, and the movie it was based on.
I had pictured a production that was more similar to many of the Disney classics; a light novel containing a very linear plot almost entirely lacking in content of underlying themes/values outside of the importance of appearances/beauty.
The movie itself actually did meet some of these expectations; I saw in it a heavy idealization on beauty (the wicked witch is obviously evil due to her grotesque appearances, and the good witch’s beauty is noted as evidence of her benevolence). This being said, most of the major differences I noted between the film and the literature were aesthetic; choices being made to glorify the on screen production, and make elements more easily readable (viewable on screen). One huge change I noticed was shifts in the color palate, noticed both in Dorothy’s iconic footwear and also in the actual lands themselves; we saw in the book a very strong emphasis on different lands and associations made with the people and creatures that inhabited them and the choices they made in color of apparel as a result. I found this note particularly interesting, as I would have foreseen the movie adopting such strong color decisions, particularly due to the inception of Technicolor and the establishment of color being a valid choice in film.
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