Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum Adapted in a 1939 Movie Wizard of Oz

Books are a crucial part of active entertainment. By active I mean, along with our sensory stimulation we are taken into a new realm of our own imagination. The diversity in the imagining the characters adds to the beauty of it. It is totally up to the reader how he comprehends the situation given in the book and how he feels about the character. Although a writer chooses to give a generalized perspective, the difference in the outlook of readers makes its taste assorted. Books describe scenes by the way of detailing. The details actually provide the actual feel of the scene, to me, this must be the most difficult part of writing a book.

Coming over to the book, the book never seemed off-beat to me. Impeccable characterization with immaculate detailing and strong plot can be attributed to the success of the book. Also, the Victor Fleming-directed film “The Wizard of Oz” has been successful in portraying the story on the screen (Twiddy, David, 2009). But there are some changes done in the movie to make it adaptable.

At the beginning of the movie, Dorothy runs after her dog, Toto on the road in the immensity of Prairies. She lives in Kansas along with his Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry. They own a farm in which the chickens along with the horses are reared. In the book, the writer starts with the house wherein he writes about the house, kitchen and the stable. The difference is in the location of trap-door for the emergency pit. In the book, the trap door is present inside the house while in the movie it is present outside of it, beneath a tree.

The moment when the tornado (described as cyclone by L. Frank Baum) hits according to the book, Dorothy is present inside her house and at the penultimate moment Toto hides beneath the bed and in the meantime, the trap door gets closed leaving Dorothy and Toto inside the house. In contrary to this, the movie shows that Dorothy has actually left the house with Toto as she fears that her dog may be taken away by Miss Almira Gulch again. Actually, she has been bitten by the Toto before that.

In the movie, while Dorothy is carried away along with her house by the powerful Tornado, she sees people flying alongside her, outside her window, she sees men riding bicycles, Miss Gurch pedalling her bicycle and after a moment she sees her turn into a witch, which later is introduced as wicked witch of west. In the book, it is mentioned that the house keeps on flying for hours and after a large interval of time, she falls asleep on the bed and as she wakes up she has landed into a new world of Oz.

Due to budget constraints, I think there is no mention of the creek in the movie. In the book, she washes her face and drinks water from it. To make the movie brief I think they have also omitted the resting of Dorothy in her house. In the book, she is kissed by the good witch of the north while in the movie although she is welcomed by Glinda the good witch of the north, she doesn’t kiss her.

Dorothy is asked by the good witch to put on the ruby slippers in the movie while in the book, silver is the colour of slippers. To make the slippers conspicuous on the yellow brick road as the film was technicolour, the alteration was done (Rhodes, Jesse, 2009).

Dorothy attends a banquet held by one Boq, a munchkin and starts her journey the next day. This is written in the book while in the movie there is no mention of Boq. In the movie, she interacts with the muchkins by the way of songs which adds to the beauty of the film. The songs are critically acclaimed.

The encounter with Scarecrow is also shown differently in the movie as compared to the book. The wayward behaviour of Scarecrow is shown more in the movie. Although the tripping of Scarecrow on the smooth roads is depicted in the movie, the actual scenario is written in the book with its cause. Since the Scarecrow has no brains so he falls into ditches and doesn’t go around them.

In the movie, they have added one thing, the fiery apple trees. These trees find no mention in the book although later on angry trees are mentioned. Before meeting the Tin-man Dorothy along with the Scarecrow stay in a cottage for a night. The cottage belongs to the Tin-man and it is from where they get the oil can. In the movie, it finds no mention.

There is no mention of Kalidahs, dainty China country and most of the things that make the book a treat to read. The unfolding of events in a gradual pattern makes one believe that the film is not the actual adaptation as it doesn’t transcend upon the legacy that the book has created due to its tranquillity and serenity in its structure.

There are many other things that find no mention in the movie, like the presence of a river, the making of the raft by the Tin-man, the untrollable drifting-away of the raft. The temporary detachment of Scarecrow in the river. Also, there is no mention of poisonous poppy fields in the film and omission of the mouse queen can’t be ignored; lots of elements are missing in the movie.

Another thing to mention is the quirkiness of Wizard in the movie who bestows Scarecrow with a brain by giving him degree unlike in the book where he has to perform a straw surgery to fix his brainless problem, amusing.

The presence of the gold cap in the movie could have added some flavour. The wayward faithfulness of monkeys diminishes as soon as they see their master dead. But the book gives a legitimate excuse to the winged monkeys to obey the wicked witch of the west.

Apart from the menial changes, there are some drastic changes also. The story of Tin-man is altogether omitted. The wicked witch of west’s animosity with him doesn’t get screen time. The ultimate twist in the plot; although in the film it all seems that the land of Oz is just a dream. But the book doesn’t deem the land of Oz as fictional. As at the end of the book, Dorothy returns formally and hugs Aunt Em while in the movie she is being treated by Aunt Em before she wakes up from her sick sleep.

In the film, Victor Fleming has tried to carve the plot from the characters that are already present with Dorothy. He tries to portray the real people attached to Dorothy as different characters in the dream. While in the book L. Frank Baum has not tried this.

A point worth noting is that the film has shown the derived reactions of brainless Scarecrow as they are; for instance, he doesn’t show any behavioural changes while he traverses through the woods facing hardships. One reason could be less screen time. But in the book the writer tries to convey that in spite of believing that he has no brains his contribution towards problem-solving is more than those with brains. It holds true for other characters also. In the film, there is no depiction of the facts that the alleged brainless Scarecrow, heartless Tin-man and courageless Lion actually have all the traits they yearn for. But in the book, this feature is shown vividly.

Also, it is pertinent to mention that the use of violence and graphic content has been nullified in the film. But in the book, the encounter with the flying monkeys in the quest of the broomstick isn’t less graphical.

It is important to mention that although there is a stark difference between the movie and the book, the target audience doesn’t change. Both the book as well as the movie are meant to entertain children while emphasizing the aspects of wit, love and courage.

 

 

References

 

1.      Rhodes, Jesse (January 2009). "For Those Ruby Red Slippers, There's No Place Like Home". Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution.

2.      Twiddy, David (September 23, 2009). "'Wizard of Oz' goes hi-def for 70th anniversary". The Florida Times-Union. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2019.