in the wizard of oz......?

Question

why does it change from black and white to color when dorothy's house lands in munchkenland*?

Answer 1

It depicts the vibrance and imagination that is held within Oz. Kansas was a droll and boring place in comparison, which is why it was in drab black and white.

Answer 2

Answerer Deadnutgut is right, btw...it's symbolic of the difference between the two worlds, with Oz being bright and colorful and Kansas being grey and flat.

And it goes deeper, too. When you understand that the Baum books are actually economic polemics (which is a fancy word for asking smart questions without expecting any real answers) and they are intended to shed a light on the oppression of the working class workers. Oz SEEMS like the better place to be, especially in the movie where it's so bright and colorful, but watch the movie again and you'll see how frenetic and frantic Oz really is. In fact, it's downright strange how the people of Oz are so tied to their rules, and those rules are really dumb, too! Oz is the ideal world gone BAD! LOL Meanwhile, the regular people in thier B&W and flat Kansas by the end of the movie are shown to be "real" people living an authentic life of farming and caring for family and other "important" things like that.

Answer 3

The Kansas scenes were filmed in black and white as a contrast to the bright colors of Oz, and also as a way to translate to film a technique Baum and Denslow had used in the book, using different colors in the pictures to show different locations. It is not true at all that MGM ran out of money, and had to resort to black and white as a cost cutting measure. MGM was the biggest, richest movie studio of its day, and could easily afford to film Kansas in color if they chose to. For the initial theatrical release, the Kansas scenes were actually processed with a sepia wash, so that Kansas actually looked like it was brown and white. This process was not used again until a 1980s videodisk release, the 1989 video release, and the 1998 theatrical rerelease, so for many years Kansas actually was in black and white. Two instances of sepia remained, however, even during the black and white years: Dorothy's entrance into Munchkinland (which was actually shot in Technicolor with a double for Dorothy wearing a brown dress), and Aunt Em's appearance in the Wicked Witch's crystal ball.

Answer 4

I think they changed to color because of all the beauty of the flowers etc. I know color was knew to the tv back when they filmed The Wizard of Oz. I used to watch Walt Disney on Sunday nights and thought it was the prettiest thing I ever saw when I saw all the colors. Shows how old I'm getting!

Answer 5

actual truth is that when they made this movie they were trying to also save money. so instead of having ALL of the film in color which was very, very expensive in 1948....they put some in black/white and some in color...also because it made OZ look so bright and wonderful to be in. but, it really was because of the cost. just a little FYI. my favorite movie of all time.

also very true what Dorothy says before she leaves OZ....if you ever have to go past your own backyard to find happiness...you never really lost it at all. think about it.

Answer 6

In film's beginning they explain that I am unsure if any DVD's or VHS have that portion. OZ is a Magical place of fiction. Much like a cartoon. Film makers decided to enhance the idea of OZ being a fictional place of ones imagination they chose to make it color with segments outside of OZ in Kansas in black and white. Hope that helps

Answer 7

Because when that movie first came out it was when the color T.V.'s had just came out and most shows were still in black and white. It brought the colors to life and being that it happened when she went to munchkin land made it seem like an even more magical place.

Answer 8

Some very good answers here. But there is also the fact that at the time of its theatrical release, most movies were black & white still. So besides being a move to the "world of make-believe" it had a huge "WOW" factor for audiences at that time.

A classic movie.

Answer 9

The first screening of the WOO was back when most people had never seen color TV. WOO was the first color movie shown on TV and it was a defining moment for a generation of Americans. WOO changes to color to show Dorthy isn't in Kansas anymore!

Answer 10

becuase shes making a transition into wonderland. the place she was at before was black and white to reflect how empty and colorless it all seemed to her and when she went to oz, it felt brand new and fake, and so alive to her. dorothy went to oz and, once there, said to herself "this sucks". the moral of this is that once youre finished going to disneyland than you cant wait to get the hell out of here and go back home.

Answer 11

To enhance the contrast between the "normal" (and dull) Kansas and the fantasy-type world she lands in. She has gone "somewhere over the rainbow," just as she wished, and the color helps shows that.