Not quite up to date in its message but still worth watching

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2005)

Not growing up in the United States, my primary reason to watch this movie was because Pink Floyd made Dark Side of the Moon... I guess you know the story.
*** The following text primarily discusses the messages this movie has without telling any plot elements. If you consider that a spoiler, stop reading ***
About the movie: Well... for my taste the story is way too simple and unfolds too slowly. And, one main message is "There is no place like home". I think there are way too many people living too long with their parents, (possibly including me some day), and those should not get false encouragement. On the other hand "You already have everything in yourself, you don't need a wizard" is useful. Also, a confident woman as the protagonist in a movie, which is not a "love/relationship-movie", is still a rather rare sight nowadays. But, all in all the characters are way too simple for my taste. While they work well for delivering the primary messages of the movie, there are nearly no hidden, underlying, secondary themes or messages to think about, unless you count quotes such as "But sometimes people without brains talk a lot! - Yes I guess that is true..."(When Dorothy meets the scarecrow) . Also, what conclusion is a child supposed to make when it is told good-looking=good, ugly=evil... And, there were more questionable plot elements: - Why put up an hour glass, when it has no meaning at all? - Why are the antagonists so stupid and laugh all the time? - It is extremely unimaginative story wise that Dorothy kills the "bad guy" with luck!
And, most importantly: Why does the evil witch need to be killed at all? A peaceful solution would have been way more appropriate. I think this is really sending a wrong message to kids, especially considering the current world situation....
Don't get me wrong, I can see that this was a great movie in its time, but I can understand it very well if younger people do not find it interesting, and in my opinion there really are better movies with similar messages out there, for example "Spirited Away".