The Wizard of Oz: All Grown Up!

Most people hear the words 'The Wizard of Oz' and the first thing that comes to mind is red sparkling shoes and a yellow brick road. As they should, that is what this movie was created for after all. Am I right? Kind of. Frank L. Baum wrote this American Classic with no intentions of it coming into one of the greatest American Classics of all time, but since it became just that, he rode the success of it.

Dorothy is one of the cetral figures in American history. She is the damsel in distress that we see in most stories of American Literature. She is swept away from her home by a devastating tornado and is forces to battle the top dogs (The Wicked Witch of the West), in attempt to reach the Wizard who can get her home. She encounters different speedbumps and accumulates companions who help her along her journey to get home.

All of this plays out to the simple fact that home was always in Dorothy's heart....just like all of the other missing pieces were to the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man. It is a classic theme in American Literature....through the bad and uneasy times, good usually prevails and a message is learned. That is what we see as adults....kids still see the ruby slippers and yellow brick road!