Why THE WIZARD OF OZ Still Looks Like a Billion Bucks

[@RadioJonophone]

My parents took me to see this film at the cinema when I was five or so. I was transfixed by the story and the colours. My dad asked me afterwards which character I liked the most. The Tin Man, I replied, then the little dog, Toto. I know we are supposed to identify with Dorothy, but I just liked them all - except the wicked witch, of course. That impact has stayed with me over seventy years later.

[@InternetThugger123]

Hi, if you don’t mind me asking how old are you? Also what was you favorite time period? How was the 70s?

[@tylerch8]

@@InternetThugger123This movie wasn’t released in the 70’s but it has been played in theaters many times since 1939

[@jonnaking3054]

Sure you can tell all the background scenes in the distant are clearly painted, but I think that's what gives it it's charm... This film will always capture a certain nostalgic magical feeling

[@ResidentWiseacre]

Higher resolution make it really stand out. I have always loved that aspect of the film too. 1:37 My favorite background is right here was when they arrived at the front gates of the Emerald City and how Oz stretches off into the horizon.

[@HalfEatenMedia]

It looks great because it was hand made. Everything you see was done by hand. Our human brains appreciate and perceive it as higher quality. We love what is physically created for the set to sell the story. It looks better than the best cgi available because of it. We also are willing to suspend our disbelief if the film is shot like a soap opera rather than being to realistic.

[@_what._.]

That's one of the reasons why I'm obsessed with Wicked. The sets that they built are gorgeous and absolutely insane.

[@themaxcollective]

@@_what._. the sets for Wicked are too much, too busy, not as refined or thought-out or well-framed, as 1939's film.

[@sammykewlguy]

I was surprised when you said Judy Garland won an Academy award for her performance, so I had to look it up. Sure enough, she won an Academy Juvenile Award for the film, which is no longer given out! Wow, I never knew about that! Very cool.

[@realbadger]

The 1939 classic is my favourite film (I literally can recite the entire feature). People think they can stump me, if I know Almira is Miss Gulch's first name. I like to see if _they_ know the name of Professor Marvel's horse (it's Sylvester), or how many chops it takes to break in the Witch's door (11). While Herbert Stothart won for Best Score, he did cheat a little, using Mendelssohn's Opus 16 #2 for Toto's escape from the Witch's castle, and Mussorgsky's _Night on Bald Mountain_ for Dorothy's rescue.

[@biggerock]

Miss Gulch’s name is Elvira.

[@Texaslawhorn]

She definitely deserved it! They should still have that category. I know another favorite of mine, Hayley Mills, also won that award.

[@Yensid951927]

Two things that amaze me about The Wizard of OZ: 1. It's managed to still be relevant even to this day when so many more sophisticated films have come out since. 2. Building off of the first point, the success of Wicked in no way overshadowed the love for the original film and only seemed to get people talking about how they love it even more. That in my mind shows just how evergreen this movie truly is, that it still gets people talking about a defining era in film history when we live in an era where that kind of appreciation is slowly dwindling to the next big throwaway trend.

[@csilt]

There are many esoteric layers to this film which make it unique and one of a kind. They'll never be another Wizard Of Oz.

[@keithnieto2882]

Special effects created for the first time, brilliant color, amazing performances, truly magical production values then add Judy Garland...what more can be said that hasn't already been said about this treasure?

[@tagoldich]

Three-strip Technicolor was the Omnimax of its day, and it STILL looks great! The Wizard of Oz remains utterly unique. It's one of the greatest ever works of sentimental art. It features the single greatest score ever written. And it's simply the greatest "head" movie ever made!

[@tayplaysgaymes]

One of my all-time favorites, even to this day. Such a beautiful and heartfelt movie.

[@Hgn843cozy]

One of the greatest films ever! 💯

[@allengumm1157]

Thanks for this. About the box-office success of the movie in 1939, it was actually the fifth top money maker that year. It was because of the costs of the movie...including haveing to mount at least two ad campaigns because the movie's release date kept changing...that the movie did not make a profit. About the set design, it may look dated, but to me it does not look *out*-dated.

[@biggerock]

Yes. In this case “dated” means “better than we do today.”

[@Somedei]

Imagine release this on theaters and 2 weeks later Germany invades Poland....and all that came after....this is how old the movie is and how advanced at its time was. 85 years later its still a thing.

[@Texaslawhorn]

I'm looking forward to enjoying the 100th anniversary of this and "Gone With the Wind" when the time comes.

[@biggerock]

My mother saw “The Wizard of Oz” when it was first released. She remembered how brilliantly green the Emerald City was. She said it was the greenest green she’d ever witnessed.

[@diethermanicat]

Imagine if Wicked was this colorful.

[@hued2542]

Wicked isn’t a dream . And technicolour was at its maximum saturation for musical numbers majority

[@manuelorozco7760]

In spite the minor glitch, I still think they got it right with Wicked

[@YoungBlaze]

What's wicked

[@JoshuaVarghese]

@@YoungBlaze It’s a prequel to Wizard of Oz that rose to popularity in the mid 2000’s as a Broadway musical. It’s come out as a movie just recently that is also pretty good according to critics

[@biggerock]

I hate Wicked. It’s a crappy piece of schlock.

[@Valkonnen]

The first use of foamed latex in motion pictures! The bald heads were created with thin vinyl bald caps . They applied these over the hair and then melted the edges with acetone for a smooth blend. They needed so many that they made them by melting old celluloid film and adding a plasticizer to make them flexible enough to apply. It would not be Until the 1960s with "The Planet of the Apes" that they used that many foamed latex prosthetics on such a grand scale.

[@joebezz9894]

My dad saw this film in a movie theater in 1939! He was 6 years old! He told me that the entire theater gasped when Dorothy opened the door to oz! That moment was forever etched into his memory!

[@Texaslawhorn]

What an incredible moment that must have been, especially during the Great Depression.

[@RaymondGarci]

Judy Garland didn't win an Academy Award for her performance in The Wizard of Oz. Rather, she was honored with an Academy Juvenile Award.

[@familyvideos8703]

I'm still amazed how convincing the tornado is, considering how they made it

[@Knappa22]

The cyclone is still scarier than anything CGI can come up with.

[@rommee]

Return to Oz and Wizard of Oz were both old films to me as a kid BUT yet the 1939 film was always my fave and despite it being an older film didnt feel as old or as tacky as the the 80s one and yet they were nearly 50 yrs apart. The Wizard of Oz (1939) truly is magical and is an absolute timeless classic.

[@KROMAprd]

1:14 The Substance literally came out this year lol it had so much pop to it, classic french cinematography

[@gerwique3146]

that was relaxing. thank you ~

[@wolfcrow]

You’re welcome!

[@Texaslawhorn]

Technicolor was so beautiful back when it was brand new in the late '30s and '40s. Similar to when TV switched to color in the mid '60s. Those TV shows were so beautiful from 1965 to the early '70s. Then the color seemed to fade.

[@theessentials450]

Discovered it on television in late 1970's when they would air it on CBS once a year for the next 20 years.

[@Btn1136]

Just watched it on Max with the family. We were locked in the whole way. It looked amazing.

[@r2d2rxr]

AI will never replace actors. What a silly world that would be.

[@timdanyo898]

The wicked witch was terrifying. Absolutely nuts scary for me as a kid.

[@manuelorozco7760]

Because of the musical Wicked, I partially never look at her from the same innocent lens

[@Valkonnen]

@@manuelorozco7760 Right, but that was written by people other than the creators of these stories. I have never seen the play, but I certainly won't see this now film. How can the point have been lost where they think that just putting some green paint on a round faced black actress is creating a "Witch"

[@gregorykollarus8190]

Love return to Oz. I think the original movie and returned to Oz are just going for something very different.

[@Kingdom_Of_Dreams]

Great commentary, but I do have to correct you on your little diss on Avatar. Avatar doesn't rely on action. It relies on impressive visual effects that bring Pandora to life. We watch those films to escape Earth for 3 hours, and with the impressive and elaborate world-building of Pandora's biological structures and their connection to its inhabitants make for a beautiful and interesting world.

[@SuperSonicBaroque]

Eh… the avatar creature characters are just a little too alien to thoroughly identify with. The non-human characters in Wizard of Oz feel more human, thus more empathetic

[@Texaslawhorn]

1939 was such an amazing year for movies, both color and black and white.

[@cupajoe99]

i was hoping this would be more of an in depth look at its cinematography and effects

[@stephennicholas1590]

Great art transcends time.

[@deardaughter]

Can you explain the 3 Color Technicolor process more in depth?

[@wolfcrow]

Check out the link in the description to the Eastman website and video.

[@deardaughter]

@ You’re the man. Great video per usual.

[@themaxcollective]

wish Wicked looked half as good - the stage show was close ! the colors and textures and shapes chosen were part of what made it so successful and the film looks different

[@kennethrohloff7535]

Really good video, sir

[@wolfcrow]

Thank you!

[@lordcoco_]

6:24 “except they’re blue” lol

[@familygonzcartwright]

Interestingly, the way Hollywood used Technicolor was never liked by the creators and considered that Jack Cardiff's use in the Arrows films as the right way to use it.

[@pavelow235]

Cool I have the Blu Ray edition.

[@Mergician]

Judy Garland won an Academy Award for her performance? Since when??

[@kp22kc]

Academy Juvenile Award

[@Mergician]

That should have been stated then in the video. Almost every Oscar nerd knows full well that Judy Garland never won a competitive Oscar (the closest being in 1955).

[@john26660]

@@Mergician Then every Oscar nerd should know she won an Academy award.

[@Mergician]

@ That’s fair and all, but without the distinction made, anyone is left to assume they mean the Oscar for best actress. It’s borderline misinformation.

[@c.a.savage5689]

Very well done. Thank you. Only thing: 'sepia' is pronounced 'SEApia.' Otherwise it's perfect.

[@wolfcrow]

Thank you!

[@PunkMonster]

Americans pronounce it that way maybe, but no one else.

[@c.a.savage5689]

​@@PunkMonster So Americans don't believe in dictionaries? That explains a lot.

[@c.a.savage5689]

@@PunkMonster So Americans don't believe in dictionaries? That explains a lot...

[@stephencaramenico8698]

It is that special

[@manuelorozco7760]

The Wizard Of Oz was my very first exposure to Hollywood’s Golden Age outside of the Disney Animation canon. And it’s one of those classic movies that I feel in the mood of revisiting once in a while. The Sepia tone for the beginning and ending is a rare technical marvel I just love it. But I sometimes feel bittersweet inside seeing the sepia back in the epilogue. Because the Technicolor is second to none! Unpopular Opinion: The recent Wicked Part 1 actually surpasses the Wizard Of Oz in more ways than one.

[@kenrock2]

As a kid back in the 80s.. I was wondering why girls wearing slippers.. Is it because it's more comfortable than a shoes? Lolz.. If you know what I mean

[@kennethrohloff7535]

Other than for a fun once in a while thing, I would only want ai films a little. I would want 99 % of future films to always have real human casts

[@j.lindback]

You don't need to worry, the main cast of movies will always be real actors, or else they wouldn't be marketable. AI actors for background shots were used as early as the LotR movies, and I see nothing wrong about that.

[@user-cb3vs3oh5h]

Most aren’t going to pay for a full ai film, no matter how “good” it is…. If you would, what is wrong with you? Why do you even want that?

[@SuperSonicBaroque]

Modern films lack the charm and bravura qualities of pre-2000 films, in part, because of the incessant strive for recreating “reality”; ie, we’ve all become too cynical to accept something as unadulterated as Wizard of Oz or any of a 100 films from the golden age.

[@JamesHawkeYouTube]

Something is lost in fake effects and sets. Authenticity.

[@DeyanIlievDoctora]

AVATAR is the cringiest hot garbage ever made.

[@Luis-l9r3f]

You love imperialist your easy to read

[@HeyQuinton]

This 'Billion Bucks' gimmick is really cringe

[@richardcarson7094]

Nonsense.

[@instantsiv]

It's currently 0.000265% of a billion bucks.

[@RaymondGarci]

Citizen Kane is boring.

[@codedlogic]

Thank you for mansplaining technocolor - literally a hundred year old technology.

[@crlclssic]

Most people don't know...quit being ignorant

[@codedlogic]

@ I think most people interested in film know about RGB. It’s taught in grade school.

[@bradfordwilson4742]

4 am - 7 pm? Well that explains the munchkin in the background on the VHS version. (No offense).

[@j.lindback]

Except for the fact that is a well-documented MYTH which have been debunked many times over by now.

[@Art_andBooks]

It was a large bird they had on set.

[@viciousvictortee1298]

Buddy The original tinman spent the rest of his life in a iron lung. He spent one day in that makeup. Pure Metal dust. P. S. Look up iron lung.

[@CoCotheTurtle]

That's why he was never able to star in The Beverly Hillbillies for over a decade.

[@Texaslawhorn]

​@@CoCotheTurtle😆👏

[@PeacocksEye]

This is insanely misinformed and a number of elements are not factual… genuinely the first video I’ve seen with minimal effort put into it by you. Things like Return not being a sequel, West Side being talked about more and more after having been overlooked for the winter Marvel entry with rising ticket costs, talking about the multitude of Oz adaptions post 39 and showing the multitude of adaptations that predated it…. Just wow…

[@devontehuntley6274]

It really doesn't. The background wall sets ruin this movie. If only they truly shot things on location with real skies, trees, mountains, etc. and if the cast did not have those 1930s accents, then this truly would stand the test of time.

[@wolfcrow]

It wouldn't have been practical with the ASA they were working with.

[@Demille40]

What an awful comment. 1930’s accents? It was made in 1939. Make Oz a real place on location in a real forest with real trees and skies? It’s a musical fantasy for Gods sake. Those backdrops are works of art. Pick up the book THE ART OF THE HOLLYWOOD BACKDROP to see the art and craft that went in them. And to dare to suggest THE WIZARD OF OZ doesn’t stand the test of time is the most egregious comment I’ve ever read. People are still watching it en masse 85 years later!

[@garytorresani8846]

Subjecting one of the film technology’s most influential films of the 1930s to 2024 assumptions is tragic. Those backdrops are works of art as is the film. They had 1930s accents because it was filmed in 1939. That same year gone with wind came out with the same technology and is also a classic. Enjoy the films for what they are in that time and place with what the artists of that time had to work with.

[@devontehuntley6274]

@@wolfcrow This comment was mainly for you but it might as well be for the other two that replied here (Demille and Garry Torres) as well since I'm gonna address things that I'm not gonna repeat to them. Practical? It would have saved them MORE MONEY if they simply went outdoors and did things in areas NOT OWNED BY A STUDIO than having to pay someone to MAKE fake/unconvincing works of art that took hours to do. You're gonna shoot mostly outdoor stuff then actually have your stuff BE OUTSIDE. Demille over here talking about "it's a musical fantasy" like yeah, but it was mostly forests and trees that look no different than our real world stuff. For the fantasy exterior stuff, I could see them throwing some fancy wallpaper designs, but to use set backdrops was pathetic. And yes, their accents are garbage especially when portions of this movie is to be "from the country" and these people talk like they're living in England. If they spoke then the way we do now and if they had shot on location with more practical set ups for the buildings, then this movie would truly be something grand, but it's not and remains overrated and dated.

[@Luis-l9r3f]

Those monkeys are still scaring kids 85 years later . That's stands test pf time it's immortal she was in a dream if see whole movie not in real life words