Wizard Of Oz Research Paper

585 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis alice in wonderland

Formal Research Paper “The best films are built around a statement that teaches us something.” (Petrie and Boggs). Great films often have a deeper meaning compared to what is shown simply on the screen. The Wizard of Oz is an example of a film that has multiple meanings beyond the context displayed. Through the film the main actor, Dorothy, is trying to back home and meets a series of friends who have a common goal to seek what they want most in life and they believe that the mystical wizard, Oz, can give it to them. Dorothy starts the movie living in a dull prairie in Kansas and is always saying how to wants to go somewhere. A storm hits and she travels to a colorful world of Oz. The world is filled with strange people and happy people. She

Show More
Related

  • Political Symbolism Of The Wizard Of Oz

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz is one of the most controversial movies in American history because there is no clear and cut meaning of the film. Everyone has a different interpretation of what the film Wizard of Oz really means. Some people believe that the movie has Christian religious symbolism or atheist symbolism, others believe that the illuminati was behind the making of the Wizard of Oz to brainwash people, others believe that there is a more political based meaning of the Wizard of Oz with a connection to what was going on in the history of the United States. During the 1800’s society faced many issues and although the Wizard of Oz can be interpreted in many different ways it is believed that the most significant meanings of the

    Read More

  • Dorothy's Heroic Journey in The Wizard of Oz

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...are similar in both her ordinary and special worlds, and she must work throughout the rest of the film to resolve them. The Wizard of Oz can be analyzed in many different ways, but the depth of the plot is what gives this movie its timeless qualities making it a favorite still today, and one can’t also help to note how cinematically advanced this movie was for its time making it truly a masterpiece.

    Read More

  • Cinematic Techniques In Wizard Of Oz

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the film, Dorothy sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, where she quotes “If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow why, oh, why can’t I? Portraying to the audience that Dorothy wants more than the life she has. However, as the film progresses, she does indeed understand that this fantasyland is not her home and she has obligations to her aunt and uncle. She is not swayed by the Land of Oz to the extent that she wants to reside there and realises that her roots and identity lie back in Kansas. The director uses the quote ‘There’s no place like home’ as it represents the major theme and reinforces an understanding of the importance of being true to where you come from. Finally, at the end of the film, Dorothy acknowledges the lure of faraway places while affirming that her emotional compass always points homeward in the quote "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard," Dorothy says to further illustrate her awakened state of mind she has acquired through her adventures in the Land of Oz.

    Read More

  • The Hero's Journey In The Wizard Of Oz

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz the movie demonstrated all three stages Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero’s journey. The first stage or known as the departure of the hero. The hero in the movie is Dorothy. Dorothy’s call to depart is to run away from home to protect her dog Toto from being taken away from her inferior neighbor. While running away Dorothy comes upon Professor Marvel, a fortuneteller. Professor Marvel tells her that her Aunt Em is in danger and needs her assistance back on the farm. When returning to the house a twister hits the ground. As the winds started to get heavier the hero’s house moved across the air uncontrollably, but then she leaves home and enters a new world of talking animals and colorful objects. In the new world of the Oz

    Read More

  • Wizard Of Oz Analysis

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    Scene: This scene in the film comes just after the house has been picked up in the twister. Dorothy's house has been lifted up into the sky and suddenly dropped back down to earth in the middle of the Land of Oz. In the scene itself, Dorothy leaves her home to see that she is "Not in Kansas anymore," and finds the new and amazing world of the munchkin city in front of her. She also meets Gwendela the good witch as her journey in Oz begins.

    Read More

  • The Wizard Of Oz Film Analysis

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Set in the middle of Kansas, the viewer gets a sense of boredom and bareness. It seems as if the only people in that whole state are Dorothy, her immediate family and the farmhands! However, after her house gets lifted up and redeposited, she opens the door to a world of Technicolor. Your eyes are shocked as the screen is filled with bright colors. The colors of Munchkin Land symbolize a vibrant, surreal, dreamlike adventure.

    Read More

  • Visual Effects In The Movie: The Wizard Of Oz

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz is the 1939 film musical released by the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that became a cultural icon defining family entertainment for decades after its initial release. Though it did not turn a profit until 1956 when it aired on television, it has been considered a wide success, spawning several re-releases and sequels. The Wizard of Oz set the precedent for visual effects, innovations Hollywood still utilizes today in an age of computer generated images. The film has stood the test of time with its special effects, paving the way for the future of movie magic.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Wizard Of Oz Book And Book

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    the film that was produced after the book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. The main

    Read More

  • The Usefulness of Structuralism as an Analytical Tool for Uncovering How Meaning is Generated in The Wizard of Oz

    1920 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the words of Michael O’Shaughnessy, ‘narratives, or stories, are a basic way of making sense of our experience’ (1999: 266). As a society and a culture, we use stories to comprehend and share our experiences, typically by constructing them with a beginning, middle and an end. In fact, the order that a narrative is structured will directly impact the way it is understood, particularly across cultures. This idea originated through Claude Lévi-Strauss’s concept of structuralism in anthropology which ‘is concerned with uncovering the common structural principles underlying specific and historically variable cultures and myth’ in pre-industrial societies (Strinati 2003: 85). In terms of media studies, structuralism’s inherent objective is to dig beneath the surface of a media text to identify how the structure of a narrative contributes to it’s meaning. Structuralism encompasses a large range of analytical tools, however, this essay will examine Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and Claude Lévi-Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions. Through analysis of Victor Fleming’s film, The Wizard of Oz (1939), it will be shown that although the monomyth and binary oppositions are useful tools with which to unveil how meaning is generated in this text, structuralism can undermine the audience’s ability to engage with their own interpretations of the film.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Film Response

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    We can start off with something that we all easily take granted for in movies and that is the imagery. We all have imaginations that can produce an accurate image depending on what we read or see, but something the books or plays couldn’t accomplish is give the image to us. So we wouldn’t have to seco...

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Setting and Tone of the The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

    2469 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz is a fiction story written by L. Frank Baum. The story has two main settings. The first setting is, Dorothy’s home, the Kansas prairies. The prairies are described as dry and gray. The second setting is the land of Oz. Oz is opposed from Kansas, it is colorful, bright, and full of joy. The Wizard of Oz has a grate theme or message behind the story. The message is that we all have good qualities in us, but it is up to us to use them.

    Read More

  • Wizard Of Oz Film Analysis

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wizard of Oz is a film created by MGM Studios in 1939, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, Frank Morgan as the Wizard and Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz is commonly known as the classic film of American cinema and is loved by many people. It can be classified as a Family, Fantasy, Musical film due to the touching messages told throughout the film, the magical special effects featuredn and the beautiful musical numbers highlighted in the film.

    Read More

  • The Wizard Of Oz Theme Analysis

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every single film we watch has a major theme. The text describes theme as, “an idea, plot, or topic of some kind that pervades the plot. It is not so much what happens, but rather what the movie is about, part of the meaning you are expected to take away from the work” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The theme of The Wizard of Oz is made very clear within the film because it is announced by Dorothy herself; stating, “there’s no place like home” (Langley, Ryerson & Woolf, 1939). I believe this simple phrase is the major theme, viewers were supposed to take away from this fascinating work. No matter where you go or what they have to offer you, there will be no other place you can truly call home, other than that in which you have grown to know as home. Many different techniques and elements from The Wizard of Oz contribute to this production to reveal on of the most meaningful major movie themes of all times.

    Read More

  • Thelma And Louise Research Paper

    480 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the movie of Thelma and Louise there is an unclear situation is spurred from a brush with rape. There’s one of the lead characters, Thelma, who at the beginning of the movie was kind of seen as a very oblivious and naïve lady. After a great night at a bar, a man attempted to rape her in the parking lot. Thelma’s girlfriend Louise appeared on the scene to come rescue her. She was so pissed of what her best friend just victim of that she ended up killing the rapist.

    Read More

  • Why Do People Watch Movies?

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.

    Read More

More about Wizard Of Oz Research Paper

Open Document