Movie for Everybody

Rating: 9/10 (13 November 2007)

I recently saw this movie again after a hiatus of several years. I was able to view it with a more objective eye; the movie didn't disappoint.
Two facts stick out at me when pondering this film. First, it creates the hugest impact when the viewer sees it as a child. I still remember trembling at the Wicked Witch of the West at the tender age of seven. To a child, the Witch is terrifying--she'll scare the living Beejeesus out of him. The underlying subconscious motives of children are all addressed, in a most direct fashion, in this movie--the desire to get away, the loss of security, our feelings towards our Mothers (the Antie Em figure) and our fear of scary things. Nothing could possibly be more horrifying to a child than the crystal ball sequence, where our beloved Mother figure (Antie Em) turns into this horrible, cackling, Id-figure Witch.
People who see the movie first as an adult are less impressed; one acquaintance said,"The movie's no big deal--you're not missing much." They have missed the child's Wizard of Oz experience and can't understand the impact.
The other fact that strikes me is that this movie is truly Pan-Human--there's absolutely nothing in the film that would offend anyone, whether he be Muslim, Jewish, Christian, African, Russian, Chinese, or green or blue or purple. It truly is a film that transcends all human boundaries.
There are a few plot holes in the film made necessary by cutting the film due to over-length. I wish I could see an unabridged edition; Margaret Hamilton has said that her part was cut drastically because the children in preview audiences got too scared. I believe, in retrospect, the deletion of the Jitterbug number was a mistake; its deletion causes a glaring plot hole, obvious to those who watch the movie closely.
A little piece of errata--I remember very clearly a scene in the Witch's Castle that is either lost, or been deleted. It's when Dorothy is gazing at the hourglass. Seeing that the sand is getting ready to run out, she desperately tries to turn it over--but fails; the hourglass won't budge. Does anybody else remember this scene?
All in all, this is a wonderful movie. If you and your children haven't seen it, run--not walk-- to the nearest store and buy it.