Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Yesterday marked the 85th anniversary of “The Wizard Of Oz” movie. It premiered on August 25, 1939 starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, Ray Bolger as The Scarecrow (and Hunk), Jack Haley as The Tin Man (and Hickory), Bert Lahr as The Cowardly Lion (and Zeke), Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch Of The West (and Miss Gulch), Frank Morgan as the Great & Powerful Oz (and Professor Marvel) and Billie Burke as Glinda The Good Witch.

An online image that claims to be the original movie poster from 1939. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The first time I saw this movie I was maybe 6 or 7 and it just destroyed me. I could not understand why Dorothy wanted to leave her three beautiful friends. I got that she wanted to get back to her Aunt & Uncle, but since the chances of Dorothy catching another flying house to Oz were virtually zero, by leaving she was never going to see her friends again. I think I started sobbing when she told the Tin Man, “Don’t cry, you’ll rust so dreadfully”, and I never stopped.

After that my mother never let me watch it again and I was fine with that. Honestly I could not bear that pain again, plus the Munchkins freaked me out a little. Then when I was in high school I was babysitting for a few kids who wanted to watch the movie. This time I fell in love with the farm, the relationships between Dorothy and her friends both in and out of Oz, the exquisite beauty of Garland’s voice and Glinda’s dress and almost everything else (except the Munchkins who still creeped me out). I watch it whenever I can now and still appreciate the magic of the story which at its core for me is about Dorothy finding her people. I do not believe I will ever tire of it.

And I was today years old when I discovered there is an All Things Oz Museum in Chittenango, New York-the birthplace of L. Frank Baum-the author of all 14 Oz books which began with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900.

“If happy little blue birds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can’t I“.

Four iconic images from the film: One: An MGM official still of the main cast (L-R): Jack Haley as The Tin Man, Bert Lahr as The Cowardly Lion, Frank Morgan as the Great & Powerful Oz (with Toto the dog by his feet), Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale and Ray Bolger as The Scarecrow. Two: Haley, Garland, Bolger and Lahr in costume. Three: Billie Burke as Glinda The Good Witch. Four: Margaret Hamilton (L) as The Wicked Witch Of The West with Dorothy (Garland). (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Judy Garland: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (1939, written by Harold Arlen and Edgar Yipsel “Yip” Harburg).

Stay safe & well.