Experience ‘The Wizard of Oz’ all over again, through the eyes of a 7-year-old
All of us have a few classic movies which we've seen over and over again.
We know every scene and we know all the classic lines or songs, but it can be fun to experience those movies from a whole new perspective.
View "The Wizard of Oz" through the eyes of 7-year-old who is seeing it for the very first time.
My daughter had never seen "The Wizard of Oz" until just recently. She had heard some of the music and knew some of the characters, but this was her first time seeing the movie.
The new perspective opened my eyes a bit.
It used to be if you were going to watch "The Wizard of Oz" you had to plan your night around it. The TV broadcast happened once a year. That all changed once you were lucky enough to have access to a VCR.
Yes, a VCR.
Now we don't wait for the TV broadcast. We just wait for Netflix to deliver.
Our setup included a blu-ray and an HDTV. This was the first time I'd seen "The Wizard of Oz" in years and the first time ever on a screen bigger than about 30 inches.
No rabbit ears and a bigger, clearer picture. There's no place like a home theater.
The movie holds up very well, but it only took seconds for my 7-year-old to notice a big difference.
It's black and white. (Spoiler Alert: only for a while)
A few other notable moments and comments from my 7-year-old:
- The biggest laughs came as Uncle Henry misunderstands Miss Gulch explaining that Toto bit her. "She bit her dog, eh?" is hilarious!
- Dorothy needs a lesson in tornado safety. "She really shouldn't be out in a tornado," says my daughter as the storm approached.
- The Lollipop Guild is the highlight of Munchkin Land. We knew that already, right?
- As they head through the forest Dorothy notes that the forest is "dark and creepy". My daughter yells at Dorothy that "all forests are dark and creepy!". Apparently that line was unnecessary.
- As the guards chant "oh-WEE-oh" she points out that this is where "Wreck-It Ralph" got it from. Big points for knowing which came first!
- The highlight for me, the huge smile which instantly came over her face as Judy Garland begins singing "Over the Rainbow".
Looking forward to watching more of these classics with my kids in the years to come and gaining a whole new appreciation of these movies.