The Wizard of Oz ***

James (age 6): ***** I like the hourglass part, where Dorothy was going to die.

Jupiter (age 4): ** It was too long. I liked Dorothy and Toto.
I liked the nice witch. I liked when Toto was running away with Dorothy.
On Dec. 6, 2008 Jupiter requested the ranking of The Wizard of Oz to be raised from two stars to google stars. It's true, she has been ta.king about this movie ever since we watched it.

Justice (age 2 1/2):*** I liked the lion and the green city. I liked the witch and the monkeys.

Mama:* I was Dorothy for Halloween in 7th grade.
So I was on board with this movie, a classic, as a kick-off to movie night. But I spent most of this movie battling my repulsion. I've always had this uncanny valley effect with some illustration and animation--Dr. Seuss completely creeps me out. And as soon as Dorothy steps foot into the disturbing technicolor of Oz, I found myself trying to squelch my "ughs" and "Icks." As a kid I remember Glinda the Good Witch as being beautiful and sparkly. "Isn't she beautiful and sparkly?" I said to Jupiter and Justice, but the truth is Glinda the Good Witch is as disturbing to look at as Melanie Griffith's lip implants. James kept asking, "When's there another scary part?" And, "Is there another scary part coming soon?" And I wanted to say, "Look at that the prosthetic nose on the Tin Man and the greasy sheen to his metallic makeup! Look at the Cowardly Lion's mustardy jowls!" I can't even speak to the munchkin musical number. So much scarier than a melting witch.

Popi: *An endurance test.
I had forgotten that the characters from the real world become the characters from the fantasy world, and that was a sweet touch. Of course I liked the real world better. The sets were right out of David Lynch, especially Oz. I always liked that moment when the shoes were sticking out of the house and Dorothy first put them on. I can't think of another moment that brought me pleasure.
I'd always heard of the comic genius of the actors who played the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and The Cowardly Lion, but I didn't see anything funny. And I remember the flying monkeys as being scary, but the kids were unphazed. In fact those were the most unscary fucking flying monkeys ever. The color was somehow both garish and tedious. The only other time I saw color application like that was in Pyongyang.
I think the kids were curious because they'd never seen anything quite like it and they did seem to follow it it. Though they didn't talk about it later.