bOOK & ORIGINAL FILM:
There was trouble in paradise as soon as Harburg and Arlen were picked to compose the Oz score. Fellow songwriters grumbled, but MGM wanted to counter the commercial success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and spared no expense on this so-called "prestige loser". Ultimately costing the studio nearly $3 million---a record for the 1930's---it was one of the first full-length features to be filmed in colour.
In the black-and-white sequences that begin and end the film, Kansas is a flat, gray wasteland: the boredom of Middle America, the undeveloped frontier. This unforgettable depiction was one, which the state of Kansas would forever have to fight against in attracting tourists. Meanwhile, the Emerald City offered an image New York City was happy to adopt before Los Angeles got a chance. In the long-running Broadway musical “The Wiz,” a revision of “Wizard of Oz” which eventually became a Sidney Lumet film, New York City literally becomes the Emerald City. The Emerald City of “Wizard of Oz” represents the imagined dream-city of American culture: clean, happy, and glamorous.
In the black-and-white sequences that begin and end the film, Kansas is a flat, gray wasteland: the boredom of Middle America, the undeveloped frontier. This unforgettable depiction was one, which the state of Kansas would forever have to fight against in attracting tourists. Meanwhile, the Emerald City offered an image New York City was happy to adopt before Los Angeles got a chance. In the long-running Broadway musical “The Wiz,” a revision of “Wizard of Oz” which eventually became a Sidney Lumet film, New York City literally becomes the Emerald City. The Emerald City of “Wizard of Oz” represents the imagined dream-city of American culture: clean, happy, and glamorous.
Source(s) -
http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/The-Wizard-of-Oz-Remains-a-Symbol-Of-Social-Progress.php
http://emanuellevy.com/comment/wizard-of-oz-cultural-impact-9/
http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/The-Wizard-of-Oz-Remains-a-Symbol-Of-Social-Progress.php
http://emanuellevy.com/comment/wizard-of-oz-cultural-impact-9/
1975 fILM:
"The Wizard of Oz," was perhaps the most captivating movie of childhood and was a ‘game changer’ in that it transformed the way we watched films, whether it was the use of special effects, the design of the sets and costumes or the timeless narratives that both stories employed, this was a remarkable film for its time and there are many reasons why it's still viewed and loved today. The other thing that this movie has remarkable characters.
The Broadway Cost:
It opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theater on Jan. 5, 1975; by that point, Fox’s investment was close to $1 million. “The Wiz” cost $67,000 a week to run, but box office was only half that. After one week of performances and with minimal group/advance sales, the show posted a closing notice. However, producer Harper and Fox’s Warren Lieberfarb convinced 20th topper Dennis Stanfill to commit $110,000 more for a four-week promo blitz, including a then-radical concept: TV ads. Lieberfarb called television “a new media form for selling legit” the target was the 18-35 audience.
Fox spent $30,000 to produce the TV ad, and another $55,000 to buy 101 spots over two weeks. They surveyed audience members to see where they’d heard of the show; most said TV ads. According to the Variety Archives, the evening performances were 50-50 black-white, and many said they had never seen a Broadway show.
In the first week, the box office doubled and it continued to grow. In a Feb. 26, 1975, banner story, Variety certified that the musical went from “dubious legit prospect to SRO smash.” The show featured a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls; staging was by Geoffrey Holder (who had taken over from Gilbert Moses III), with musical staging by George Faison. It ran on Broadway for 1672 performances.
But the Yellow Brick Road was rocky again when it was adapted for the screen. The estimated cost of the 1978 “The Wiz,” from Universal and Motown Prods., was $30-35 million. (By comparison, “Jaws” a few years earlier cost $7 million; the 1980 “Heaven’s Gate” was estimated at $44 million.)
Fox spent $30,000 to produce the TV ad, and another $55,000 to buy 101 spots over two weeks. They surveyed audience members to see where they’d heard of the show; most said TV ads. According to the Variety Archives, the evening performances were 50-50 black-white, and many said they had never seen a Broadway show.
In the first week, the box office doubled and it continued to grow. In a Feb. 26, 1975, banner story, Variety certified that the musical went from “dubious legit prospect to SRO smash.” The show featured a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls; staging was by Geoffrey Holder (who had taken over from Gilbert Moses III), with musical staging by George Faison. It ran on Broadway for 1672 performances.
But the Yellow Brick Road was rocky again when it was adapted for the screen. The estimated cost of the 1978 “The Wiz,” from Universal and Motown Prods., was $30-35 million. (By comparison, “Jaws” a few years earlier cost $7 million; the 1980 “Heaven’s Gate” was estimated at $44 million.)