Note also that the fourteen Oz books by L. Frank Baum (listed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oz_books along with lots of Oz books by other people) are all available at Project Gutenberg: see http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/b#a42 .

So why does she go home the first time? “My greatest wish now is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it.” Quite a different motivation!

Furthermore, I think much of the modern day appeal of Oz comes from watching it through the lens of irony and frankly after a work has been reduced to a series of loaded signifiers, pop-cultural in-jokes, high camp and innuendo you get something so crass and insincere, so smug and familiar, that you might as well be watching Shrek the Third. Mind you, I’m not suggesting that’s how you are viewing it. Artiface need not be insincere.

Additionally, while there are many comparably famous and distinctly American myths I concur that Star Wars and Oz definitely stand as the prime examples of American Fairy Tales. I too had a similar aversion to A Christmas Carol (and I’ve worked on at least 5 stage versions of that) but I’ve since grown to appreciate it. Your friend should definitely give Wizard of Oz a chance. It’s like Moby Dick or Sgt. Pepper’s – whether you ultimately enjoy it or not, everyone eventually should get around to it.

Truth be told, I think my reaction to the Wizard of Oz is more about not really wanting to go home, or feeling like if home was Kansas, then give me Oz. Which I think why the Waters clip resonates.

Trixie, I think it’s worth seeing the real deal. I sort of felt the same way about A Christmas Carol, but finally reading it a year or two ago was well worth it; there is just a lot that is lost in repetition over the years (e.g. it’s less about Scrooge being wealthy as it is about Scrooge being miserly, there are whole scenes that I didn’t know about (Christmas in a lonely lighthouse) that I’ve never seen in any film production)

I am going to make a broad proclamation, and say that there are two true American fairy tales: the original Star Wars trilogy, and the Wizard of Oz.

Terri also had some interesting thoughts about comparing the whole thing to Alice in Wonderland, but, geez, I gotta save some of her own thoughts to put in her own blog.

I’m not impervious to magic, but repetition tends to dilute its effects. To be honest, I wanted to revisit Oz with fresh eyes, but my opportunity was tied to that miserable production. Trust me, when The Wizard of Oz is the soundtrack to two unhappy, stressful months, it tends to sour the experience somewhat. Maybe in another 20 years I’ll be ready again.

And as rich as my fantasy life is (and it is) I still prefer to find beauty in the here and now – although it’s not always easy, I grant you. If anything, I think that’s the real message of Oz – she could go home anytime and everything that Dorothy loved about Oz always existed in her world, she just had to be woken up to that. Like the song says, “Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn’t already have.”