The Story line to the Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of
Oz,
originally a book by L. Frank Baum, is best known in the film version starring
Judy Garland. At the beginning of this beloved fantasy story, we see
Dorothy living on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. No one has
much time for the young girl, and she is left to her own devices. She daydreams
about a fantasy place "over the rainbow." A big twister comes
up, and she is knocked unconscious by a window frame blown into her bedroom. She
dreams the house is lifted from its foundation by the wind and lands in Oz.
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, appears
and says Dorothy has freed the Munchkins from the Wicked Witch of the East, who
was crushed under Dorothy's house when it landed.
The Wicked Witch of the West then appears and wants her dead sister's
ruby slippers. When Glinda arranges
for the slippers, which have magical powers, to go to Dorothy, the Wicked Witch
vows revenge.
Dorothy wants to get home, and Glinda advises
her to walk to Oz and consult the Wizard. On the road Dorothy acquires three
companions: a Scarecrow who hopes the Wizard will be able to give him some
brains, a Tin Woodsman who wants the Wizard to give him a heart, and a Cowardly
Lion , who hopes to acquire some courage.
They survive several attempts by the Wicked Witch to
destroy them, arrive at the Emerald City, and finally get into the chamber of
the Wizard, whom no one has ever seen. There is a big stage effect of smoke, and
they hear the impressive voice of the Wizard telling them that before he will
grant their wishes they must prove their worthiness by bringing him the
broomstick of the Wicked Witch.
They go into the enchanted forest, and the Wicked
Witch instructs her army of winged monkeys to bring back Dorothy and her dog.
The Witch still wants the ruby slippers. But they won't come off Dorothy's feet,
and the witch decides she'll have to kill Dorothy to get them.
Toto escapes, finds the others in Dorothy's
group, and leads them back to the Witch's castle and the room where Dorothy is
being held. The Woodsman breaks open the locked door with his ax. But the Witch
corners them before they can get out the front door and sets fire to the
Scarecrow. Dorothy grabs a bucket of water and throws it on him. In the process,
some of the water gets on the Wicked Witch, who melts away.
The four of them go back to the Wizard with her
broomstick, and he tells them to come back tomorrow. But Toto pulls aside a
curtain, and they see a man running all the machinery that creates the
impressive stage effects. They realize the whole thing is an illusion (the
Wizard being a Three), and they won't get the things they seek, after all.
But the Wizard gives the Scarecrow a diploma,
which attests to his brains, and once he believes he has brains, he does. The
Lion, says the Wizard, is suffering from disordered thinking. All he needs to
attest to his courage is a medal, and the Wizard produces one. The Tin Woodsman,
who needs a heart, is given a testimonial: "A heart is not judged by how
much you love, but by how much you are
loved by others."
The Wizard plans to take Dorothy back to Kansas
in the balloon he arrived in years ago. But once they are ready to go, Toto
jumps out of the balloon basket, Dorothy runs after him, and the balloon takes
off without her.
Dorothy is in despair of ever getting home, but
Glinda appears and tells her she has always had the power to go home. All she
needs to do is close her eyes, click the heels of her ruby slippers together
three times and think three times, "There's no place like home."
She
wakes up in her bedroom, thrilled to be home, and vows never to leave again.
