DVD Spotlight

Over the years, The Wizard of Oz has meant many things to many different people: a technical marvel for those fortunate enough to be alive for its release, a sentimentalist favorite for those brought up on it and even a horror film for youngsters. As our country grew and changed, so did our people’s perception of the picture, to the point that it held an almost organic quality. The film took on the role of an old friend more so than a piece of art; it was always there when we needed it and knowing that was—and still is—oddly comforting.

I don’t rank Oz amongst my personal favorites, though its presence and impact are undeniable. The narrative is a bit rigid for my taste, the themes flighty, and the moral issues too crisp. Still, ambition can be a great equalizer. Oz combines a visceral air of filmic lucidity with the jocular expressiveness of song and dance. The movie oozes iconography, particularly in its lush Technicolor dreamscapes, which show a world that transcends most imaginations. The care demonstrated in the visuals and scoring of the film give it an almost silent picture quality—it can be viewed as something purely experiential. I doubt that the variability of how people would come to enjoy the film was foreseen back in 1939, but perhaps this helped cement its popularity. Sure, the story itself is timeless, but the movie is, as Alfred Hitchcock would put it, “pure cinema.”

Packaging

Hats off to Warner Bros. for putting together a breathtaking collective of imagery and memorabilia, all packaged in an elegantly decorated box. The container itself is reminiscent of a lavish, over-sized cigar box with clean, relevant graphics that do well in representing the tone of the film. I would question its durability, but its functionality is that of a display piece and probably won’t be subject to much wear and tear. Each set is numbered, as only 243,000 were produced.

The contents of the box also impress. A hardcover book entitled Behind the Curtain welcomes fans as they first open the set—a high-quality product comprised of glossy images illustrating the complexity of production. Actor profiles, script revisions, set designs and candid photos are all represented with more than a dash of visual aptitude. In its entirety, Behind the Curtain is 52-pages long and would not look out of place on a coffee table.

A complete campaign booklet illustrating MGM’s “media onslaught” lays just below, showcasing the lengths the studio went to in promoting the film, which strikes me as ironic given that Oz lost money during its first theatrical run. Still, the picture’s inventiveness led to some creative promotional tactics, as well as merchandising that ranged from refined to haughty. The pages are filled with demonstrative displays for theater managers and showcases hundreds of posters and design concepts.

Extras

Over the four discs that accompany the set, every nook, cranny, stone, and yellow brick of Oz is overturned … twice. Yes, the supplemental footage can come off as a bit repetitive, though I suspect that most fans won’t go on an all-out extras binge as I did. When spaced out, the features—some old, some new—provide viewers with multi-faceted looks at what made the movie the cultural staple that it is today. I found myself most impressed with the newest featurettes, particularly “Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman” which illustrates his numerous technical abilities and cinematic achievements, rather than merely celebrating him as “That guy who had a great 1939.” The older features are an amalgamation of interviews, television specials, and the like, which champion nostalgia—specifically what the cast and crew took away from the experience, as well as how the film has been perceived over the years.

Having always been fascinated with the technical side of things, I was not disappointed in the supplement dealing with the restoration of the movie, as it serves as a link between generations past and present. Just as Fleming and his crew worked tirelessly to produce the movie, so too have the technicians who reconditioned the film to its original splendor. The resulting coloration is rich, the sound pristine. Those involved should pride themselves in their work, for it goes beyond refurbishing celluloid to something more – restoring dreams.