One of the most iconic scenes in The Wizard of Oz (1939) happens at the beginning of the movie. It’s when Dorothy’s house falls out of the sky, landing in an unknown land. As Dorothy opens her front door, her life changes. She steps outside with her dog Toto into a Technicolor world, eyes wide in wonder. It’s also the extremely satisfying moment the song “Money” by Pink Floyd starts if you’ve watched The Dark Side of the Rainbow version of the movie1.
Holding Toto tight, Dorothy wanders, exploring this strange yet fascinating place. Before her, bright yellow and pink flowers. A pond with giant water lilies floating on the surface. Adorable little houses with straw roofs. Lush greenery everywhere and endless hills in the distance. That’s when Dorothy says the iconic line “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
But I’m not here to talk about this scene. It’s great and has its rightful place as one of the most important movie moments of all time. I’m interested in a scene NOBODY ever mentions. My favourite.
This one.
Let’s address the horse first, shall we?
The scene starts with Dorothy and her friends, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion, hopping onto a horse-drawn carriage. Their driver, a citizen of Emerald City with a mustache just like my husband had before I made him shave it off due to unintentional nostril injury when kissing me, leads the way in song (I’ll get back to the song in a minute).
The horse is quite unique. He’s a deep shade of purple and looks great against the emerald green backdrop. Even Dorothy notices. “I’ve never seen a horse like that before!” she cries. I haven’t either, Dorothy. “There’s only one of him, and he’s it,” the driver replies. “He’s the Horse of a Different Colour.”
Excuse me the what? And then, all of a sudden, the horse changes colour and becomes ruby red. By the time they reach their destination, the “WASH AND BRUSH-UP CO.,” he’s sapphire yellow. I don’t know about you, but a one-of-a-kind horse with the qualities of a mood ring sounds way cooler than unicorns.
I love the song in this scene, “The Merry Old Land of Oz.” It’s catchy and it taught me everything I need to know about life in one lyric:
We get up at twelve and start to work at one/
Take an hour for lunch and then at two we're done/
Jolly good fun
Do you know what else I like about the song? All the laughter.
Ha ha ha/
Ho ho ho/
And a couple of tra la las/
That's how we laugh the day away/
In the merry old land of Oz
Does it praise emotional avoidance and escapism? Yes. Am I against that? Not necessarily. I love feelings, I love introspection, I love understanding why I feel the way I feel. However there’s such a thing as being too much in your head. Sometimes you just have to laugh and pretend everything is a-okay. Sometimes you need a distraction. A makeover perhaps? Which brings me to…
The WASH AND BRUSH UP CO.
In this sequence, Dorothy and her crew are given a glow up before meeting the Wizard of Oz. Scarecrow gets stuffed with new straw. Tin Man gets a good polish. Dorothy, I believe, gets her hair dyed a deeper shade of red and styled. And the lion? I wish I were him. The lion is sitting on a chair reminiscent of a throne, and is being tended to by not one, but five beauticians wearing the cutest green dresses I’ve ever seen. He looks like he’s really feeling himself with the luscious curls and bright red bow in his hair. I remember being a kid and loving his vibe. No wonder my moon is in Leo.
The scene as a whole is one of carefree living, joy, and pampering. It’s why I love it. Of course the fun doesn’t last forever: when they exit the WASH AND BRUSH UP CO., something bad happens, i.e. the Bad Witch appears in the sky above them and writes a threatening message with her broom. Maybe that’s when I learned all those years ago that the other shoe always drops. You can’t always sing and dance and be merry. No. Shit always finds a way to hit the fan. Does it really matter though? Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, and a couple of tra la las… that’s how I laugh the day away in the merry old land of Oz.
Ever since I started this newsletter two years ago, I’ve been thinking about how to write about my Wizard of Oz obsession. I’ve never known where to start. There are so many things I love about this movie: the story, the songs, the visual aesthetic, how shiny the ruby slippers are… I had such a crush on the Scarecrow. I remember thinking he was hot when I was five.
My fascination for this movie has followed me for decades. I’ve blasted the soundtrack on my way to school pick-up. I published a poem inspired by Dor’ and her friends in a zine a couple of years ago. I’ve made my kid watch it a couple of times already. “Pas encore The Wizard of Oz, maman! Laisse-moi regarder Garfield.”
How does one translate this multi-layered obsession into an essay? You can’t. There’s too much material. Too much to say. So that’s why I chose my favourite scene.
At its essence, The Wizard of Oz is a movie about a girl just trying to make her way home. But home isn’t in Kansas. Home is within her. Home is her inner voice, her inner strength, and Dorothy learns that she had the power to return home all along. It’s a movie about belief in oneself, but mostly, the power of the Self. And that, my friends, is something I am deeply obsessed with and will never stop thinking or writing about.
NEW! Obsession of the week
Feeling a bit homesick this week, so I’ve been listening to Jean Leloup’s “Je suis parti” song on repeat. It will probably appear in my 2024’s “Spotify Wrapped” for ‘most listened to’ song. Or maybe it will be “Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 Act 1: Dance of the Knights” by Prokofiev. I’ve been using it as the main theme for my Poetry Reels on Instagram, and in the mini video montage “Michelle Béland presents London & Friends” I made as a joke on IG the other evening (special appearance by my beloved crows, swans and a sneaky little tube mouse).
According to Wikipedia: “The Dark Side of the Rainbow – also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd – is the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon with the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. This produces numerous moments of apparent synchronicity where the film and the album appear to correspond.” I watched that version of the movie almost 20 years ago; that’s how I got my then-boyfriend (now husband) to watch The Wizard of Oz!
J'ai aimé ton mini montage vidéo Michelle ! La musique qui fait très dramatique, les prises de vues lointaines et rapprochées, au sol et en contre-plongée (--la première image de la corneille qui trône sur la couronne de la reine Victoria !), le regard de l'écureuil qui nous dévisage, la petite souris qui se sauve (--comment l'as-tu vue ?!) et le générique à la fin sont très bien réussis, en quelques secondes ! Love it! Merci Michelle !
Merci de me faire découvrir toutes sortes de "pelures" du classique The Wizard of Oz chère Michelle. Imagine-toi que je ne l'ai jamais vu ! Il me semble que l'espace cinématogrique de ce film est trop théâtral. Je n'aime pas le théâtre dans le film. Par contre, j'aime l'univers de la comédie musicale américaine d'après-guerre comme "White Christmas". Ça n'a rien à voir avec la cinématographie qui a évolué de 1939 (Wizard of Oz) à 1954 (White Christmas). "Gone With the Wind" est sorti en 1939 aussi. Je pense que l'illusion de "Gone With the Wind" est plus complète que "The Wizard of Oz", tu sais ?
Toutefois, ton essai me donne le goût de voir le film. Comme tu dis, "How does one translate this multi-layered obsession into an essay?". I'll have to find out! Je souris quand je lis qu'on a combiné "The Wizard of Oz" avec "The Dark Side of the Moon" de Pink Floyd. Wow ! Ça doit produire des moments synchroniques intéressants, surtout quand on pense que ces deux oeuvres possèdent leur univers artistique bien à elles.
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J'AIME Jean Leloup ! Ça fait longtemps que je n'ai pas écouté "Je suis parti". Quel bon choix pour exprimer ton ennui Michelle ! Je dois sortir mes CD de Joooooohn, the Wolf ! Moi aussi je m'ennuie un peu de chez moi dernièrement et j'éprouve un peu de nostalgie (tristounette) des années '90, tournant du XXIe siècle. Je suis sûre que Jean Leloup me fera grand bien !
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Je vais cliquer sur le lien "Michelle Béland presents London & Friends" à présent. Je vais envoyer mon commentaire auparavant, par crainte de le perdre. Je te reviens sous peu.
(En ce moment j'ai la chanson "We're off to See the Wizard!" en tête ! "Because, because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does!")
XX B.