Plot
Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) lives with her Aunt Em (Clara Blandick), Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin), and three farm hands, Hickory (Jack Haley), Hunk (Ray Bolger), and Zeke (Bert Lahr); however, no one pays any real attention to her. When Miss Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) is bitten by Dorothy's pet Cairn Terrier, Toto, she gets a sheriff's order and takes him away to be destroyed. He escapes and returns to Dorothy, who, fearing for his life, runs away with him. Dorothy soon encounters a traveling fortune teller named Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan), who guesses she has run away and tells her fortune. He convinces her to return home by falsely telling her that Aunt Em has fallen ill from grief. With a tornado fast approaching, she rushes back to the farmhouse, but is unable to join her family in the locked storm cellar. Taking shelter inside the house, she is knocked unconscious by a window frame blown in by the twister.
Dorothy awakens to find the house being carried away by the tornado. After it falls back to earth, she opens the door and finds herself alone in a strange, beautiful village. Arriving in a floating bubble, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke) not the South as in the Oz books, informs her that her house landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East. The timid Munchkins come out of hiding to celebrate the Witch's demise by singing "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead". Their celebration is interrupted when the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) suddenly appears in a cloud of red smoke and tries to claim her dead sister's powerful ruby slippers. But Glinda magically transfers them onto Dorothy's feet and reminds the Witch of the West that her power is ineffectual in Munchkinland. She promises Dorothy "I'll get you, my pretty... and your little dog, too!" before vanishing. When Dorothy asks how to get back home, Glinda advises her to seek the help of the mysterious Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City, which she can reach by following the Yellow Brick Road, and warns her never to remove the ruby slippers.
On her way to the city, Dorothy meets a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who lament that they lack respectively a brain, a heart, and courage. The three decide to accompany her in hopes that the Wizard will also fulfill their desires, although they demonstrate that they already have the qualities they believe they lack: the Scarecrow has several good ideas, the Tin Man is kind and sympathetic, and the Lion, though terrified, is ready to face danger. After Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion nearly succumb to one of the Witch's traps, the quartet enters the Emerald City and see the Wizard, who appears as a disembodied, intimidating head. In a booming voice, he states that he will grant their wishes if they bring him the Wicked Witch's broomstick.
The group set out for the Witch's castle, but she detects them and dispatches her army of flying monkeys, who carry Dorothy and Toto back to her. When the Witch threatens to drown Toto, Dorothy agrees to give up the slippers, but a shower of sparks prevents their removal. While the Witch ponders over this, Toto escapes and leads Dorothy's companions to the castle. After overpowering some Winkie guards and disguising themselves in their uniforms, they free her. The Witch and the Winkies corner the group on a parapet, where she sets the Scarecrow's arm ablaze. Dorothy throws water on her friend and accidentally splashes the Witch, causing her to melt. The Winkies are delighted to now be free, and their captain gives Dorothy the broomstick.
Upon their return to the Wizard's chamber, Toto opens a curtain, revealing the Wizard to be nothing more than an ordinary man (Frank Morgan). Apologetic, he explains that Dorothy's companions already possess what they have been seeking all along, but bestows upon them tokens of esteem in recognition of them. Also born in Kansas, he was brought to Oz by a runaway hot air balloon. He offers to take Dorothy home in the same balloon, leaving the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion in charge of the Emerald City. As they are about to leave, Toto jumps out and Dorothy runs after him. The Wizard, unable to control the balloon, leaves without her. Glinda appears and tells her that she always had the power to return home. Following her instructions, Dorothy closes her eyes, taps her heels together three times, and repeats "There's no place like home". She awakens in her bedroom somewhat dazed, surrounded by family and friends who were worried sick about the girl. Despite nobody believing her, she tells them of her adventures.
Read more about this topic: The Wizard Of Oz (1939 film)
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