A crowded Thanksgiving dinner brings a host of family together in a small Harlem apartment, where a shy, twenty-four-year-old schoolteacher named Dorothy (Diana Ross) lives with her Aunt Em (Theresa Merritt) and Uncle Henry (Stanley Greene). Extremely introverted, Dorothy is teased by Aunt Em for never having been south of 125th Street, as she has delayed moving out to start her own, independent life as an adult.While Dorothy cleans up after the meal, Dorothy's dog Toto runs out the open kitchen door into a violent snowstorm. She succeeds in retrieving him, but finds herself trapped in the storm. A magical whirlwind made of snowÂ â the work of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South â materializes and transports them to the realm of Oz. Released by the snowstorm, Dorothy smashes through an electric "Oz" sky sign as she descends from the atmosphere, and which falls upon and kills Evermean, the Wicked Witch of the East who rules Munchkinland. As a result, Dorothy frees the Munchkins who populate the playground into which she lands; they had been transformed by Evermean into graffiti for "tagging" the park walls.Dorothy soon meets the Munchkins' main benefactress, Miss One, the Good Witch of the North (Thelma Carpenter), a magical "numbers runner" who gives Evermean's pretty charmed silver slippers to her by teleporting them on Dorothy's feet. However, Dorothy declares she doesn't want the shoes and desperately just wants to get home to Aunt Em. Miss One urges her to follow the yellow brick road to the capital Emerald City and seek the help of the mysterious "Wizard" who she believes holds the power to send Dorothy back to Harlem. After telling her to never take the silver shoes off, the good witch and the Munchkins then disappear and Dorothy is left to search for the road on her own.The next morning, Dorothy happens upon a Scarecrow (Michael Jackson) made of garbage and rags, and saves him from being viciously teased and picked on by a group of humanoid crows and whom she befriends. The two of them discover the yellow brick road and happily begin to follow it together. The Scarecrow hopes the Wizard might be able to give him the one thing he feels that he lacks â a brain. Along the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy, Toto, and the Scarecrow meet the Tin Man (Nipsey Russell), in an abandoned turn-of-the-century amusement park and the Cowardly Lion (Ted Ross), a vain dandy banished from the jungle who hid inside one of the stone lions in front of the New York Public Library. The Tin Man and Lion join them on their quest to find the Wizard, hoping to gain a heart and courage, respectively. Before the five adventurers reach the Emerald City, they must face obstacles such as a deadly subway where they meet a crazy subway peddler (a homeless man) who unleashes evil puppets in his control. They narrowly escape the subway and then encounter the "Poppy" Girls (a reference to the poppy field from the original story), flamboyant prostitutes who attempt to put Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion into an eternal sleep with magic poppy perfume.Finally reaching the Emerald City (an analogue of the real-life World Trade Center plaza), the quintet gains passage into the city because of Dorothy's ownership of the silver slippers; they marvel at the spectacle of the city and its sophisticated, fashion forward dancers. They are granted an audience with the Wiz (Richard Pryor), who lives at the very top of the Towers. He appears to them as a giant fire-breathing metallic head. He will only grant their wishes if they kill the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, Evillene (Mabel King), the Wicked Witch of the West, who runs a sweatshop in the underground sewers of Oz. Before they can reach her domain, Evillene learns of their quest to kill her and sends out the Flying Monkeys (a motorcycle gang) to kidnap them.After a long chase, the Flying Monkeys succeed in capturing their targets and bring them back to Evillene. Vengeful for Dorothy having killed her sister, she dismembers the Scarecrow, flattens the Tin Man, and tortures the Lion in hopes of making Dorothy give her the silver shoes. When she threatens to throw Toto into a fiery cauldron, Dorothy nearly gives in until the Scarecrow hints to her to activate a fire sprinkler switch, which she does. The sprinklers put out the fire but also melt Evillene. She is flushed down into her throne, the lid of which slams shut like a toilet. With Evillene finally gone, her spells lose their power: the Winkies are freed from their permanent costumes (revealing attractive humans underneath) and their sweatshop tools disappear. They rejoice in dance and praise Dorothy as their emancipator. The Flying Monkeys give her and her friends a triumphant ride back to the Emerald City.Upon arriving, the quartet takes a back door into the Wizard's quarters and discovers that he is a "phony". The "great and powerful Oz" is actually Herman Smith, a failed politician from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who was transported to Oz when a balloon he was flying to promote his campaign to become the city dogcatcher was lost in a storm. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are distraught that they will never receive their respective brain, heart, and courage, but Dorothy makes them realize that they already have had these things all along. Just as it seems as if she will never be able to get home, Glinda the Good Witch of the South (Lena Horne), appears and implores her to find her way home by searching within and using the magic of the silver slippers by clicking the heels together three times. After thanking Glinda and saying goodbye to her friends, she takes Toto in her arms, thinks of home and the things she loves most about it. When Dorothy clicks her heels, she immediately finds herself back in her neighborhood of Harlem. Now a changed woman, Dorothy carries Toto back to their apartment building; implying she now has the strength to face her fears and move forward with her life.
Output: Question: What is Dorothy's profession?, Answer: Schoolteacher