The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

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Movie Reviews of The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

Movie Review: Nice DVD Release
Summary: 4 Stars

Summary of The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

DVD features
The Wizard of Oz DVD released in 1999 was loaded with extra features, but it's now safe to throw away that version in all its cardboard-package glory in favor of the new three-disc edition. First things first: All the bonus material from the earlier disc is there. That includes the Angela Lansbury-hosted documentary The Making of a Movie Classic; the outtakes and deleted scenes, including Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" reprise and the home-movie recording of "The Jitterbug"; the sketches and stills and composer Harold Arlen's home movies; the audio underscores and radio programs; the 1979 interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley; and other items too numerous to mention. (Some text introductions to the features have been replaced by narration by Lansbury, for whatever reason.) Brand-new to the 2005 edition is a sharp restoration using Warner's Ultra Resolution process and an accompanying featurette on how it's done. The technicians also discuss how the sound was remixed, though that would have been more effective had it included surround-sound demonstrations (the featurette is in 2.0). Other features on the new set include a commentary track by critic John Fricke supplemented by vintage cast interviews (he offers a lot of trivia, and debunks the myth that Shirley Temple was ever close to getting the Dorothy role); profiles of nine cast members and clips of other movies they appeared in (including Toto); a lightly animated 10-minute storybook again narrated by Lansbury; 2001 and 2005 behind-the-scenes featurettes; and a 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast.

The 1999 disc also included one-minute excerpts of three early treatments of The Wizard of Oz. The third disc of the three-disc collector's edition includes the complete versions of those treatments and more. They are four silent films: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1910, 13 min.), "The Magic Cloak of Oz" (1914, 38 min.), His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914, 59 min., written and directed by Baum himself), The Wizard of Oz (1925, 72 min., Larry Semon). The fifth treatment is Ted Eshbaum's 1933 Technicolor cartoon short which has songs and sound, and is the first depiction of Kansas in black and white and Oz in color. The third disc also has a 38-minute biography of L. Frank Baum, and collector's-edition supplements include a gorgeous set of photo cards among other materials. --David Horiuchi

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by John Fricke and multiple cast and crew members.
Biographies:We Haven't Really Met Properly - includes 9 orginal cast biographies
Deleted Scenes:If I Only Had a Brain; If I Only Had a Heart; Triumphal Return to Emerald City; Over the Rainbow; The Jitterbug
Documentaries:L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain; Memories of Oz -2001 TCM documentary
Featurette:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook; Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz; The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz; Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
Music Clips:Audio Vault Includes: Over the Rainbow; Munchkinland Medley Rehearsal Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Sequence Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Voice Tests; If I Only Had a Brain; We're Off to See the Wizard; If I Only Had a Heart; If I Only Had the Nerve/We're Off to See the Wizard; Emerald City/The Merry Old Land of Oz; If I Were King of the Forest; The Jitterbug; Over the Rainbow/Triumphal Return to Emerald City; Kansas Underscoring; Munchkinland Underscoring; and more
Music Only Track:Audio Vault Includes: Over the Rainbow; Munchkinland Medley Rehearsal Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Sequence Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Voice Tests; If I Only Had a Brain; We're Off to See the Wizard; If I Only Had a Heart; If I Only Had the Nerve/We're Off to See the Wizard; Emerald City/The Merry Old Land of Oz; If I Were King of the Forest; The Jitterbug; Over the Rainbow/Triumphal Return to Emerald City; Kansas Underscoring; Munchkinland Underscoring; and more
Newsreel:Cavalcade of the Academy Awards Excerpt - 1939 newsreel
Other:The Wizard of Oz - 1910 short; The Magic Cloak of Oz - 1914 short; His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz - 1914 feature; The Wizard of Oz - 1925 feature; The Wizard of Oz - 1933 animated short; and more
Photo gallery:Oz on Broadway; Pre-MGM; Sketches and Storyboards; Costume and Make-up Tests; Richard Thorpe's Oz; Buddy Ebsen; Oz Comes to Life; Behind the Scenes; Portraits; Special Effects; Post Production; Deleted Scenes; Original Publicity
TV Special:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic - 1990 TV special
Theatrical Trailer:1939 What is Oz? Teaser; 1940 Loews Cairo Theater Trailer; 1949 Re-issue Trailer; 1949 Grownup Re-issue Trailer; 1970 Children's Matinee Re-issue Trailer; 1998 Warner Bros. Re-issue Trailer; Texas Contest Winners [1939 trailer]

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