Netflix delivered a copy of The Wizard of Oz to our mailbox today, so tonight I put it in to watch it with the kids. As it started, I went into another room to get something and heard Girl’s voice calling out:
“Mommy, there’s no colors!”
I held myself back from giving my kids the speech about how all movies and television used to be in black and white, and that although we had color TV by the time I was a little girl, there were only four channels, and if we wanted to watch another show we had to get up and walk across the room to change the channel.
I figured the flying monkeys would scare them enough.
(Now that I’m almost 40 years old, you would think the Wicked Witch of the West would seem a little less frightening. Not the case. She is one scary old bag.)
P.S. Stay tuned for the Nightmare Diaries.
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Remember, if you leave me a comment between now and Tuesday, June 3rd, you’ll be entered to win a copy of A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
That Wicked Witch IS scary. OK, I haven’t seen the movie in a very long time, but I still get the shivers when I think of her. My husband says the flying monkeys are the scariest, but for me, it’s the Witch. I couldn’t believe it when my daughters watched the whole thing with no crying!
And yet, t.v. was way more fun back then.
Jenn @ Juggling Lifes last blog post..A Little Too Close Too Home . . .
You are taking your life in your hands with the old Witchipoo and kids. I’ll look forward to the Nightmare diaries.
JCKs last blog post..Fishnets or cash?
Did you know that in modern releases of WOO that there have been a major change? There was a little person that hung themselves on set and in the original you can actually sing him swinging from a tree on set, in later releases, he was animated out
flutters last blog post..Hunger
You demonstrated amazing restraint.
suburbancorrespondents last blog post..Gone Visiting
I remember my father telling me the visual impact of two movies as he grew up (strangely, both came out in 1939 when my dad would have been 9 yo). One was the Wizard of Oz, when the movie changes from B/W to color. People actually gasped in theaters. The second was the scene in Gone With the Wind showing the wounded and dying Confederate soldiers in Atlanta. One final thought, I work with a guy who has two kids (10 and 7, I think), and they watch one family-friendly B/W movie per month. Not a bad idea.
I know someone who had his children convinced for years that the whole world used to be in black and white before they invented colour. Not just the movies and television shows but everything…
Hilarys last blog post..After Dark
LOL we didn’t have colour television until I was in my 20′s! I was telling eldest grandson about when I was a little girl, he said “Was that in the olden days?”
Akelamalus last blog post..Saturday Wordzzle # 15
We love the Wizard of Oz. Zack does a mighty Lollipop Guild dance. (That is the title, right? Heard to understand those lyrics.)
Flutter’s comment might give me nightmares.
Are you going to play it with Dark Side of the Moon as the soundtrack? That would be a trip for the kids . . .
Ha!
tysdaddys last blog post..Root Beer and Pizza
Isn’t it kind of surprising, give the lack of special effects, just how scary those monkeys are/were?
But really – ALL I wanted were those red, sparkly shoes!
Anns last blog post..Best of Comments Vol. 1, With Cookies
The Wizard of Oz is still a family favorite of ours no matter how old it is.
Treasias last blog post..You’ll Always Be My Baby
You had me at flying monkeys but then you said Virginia Woolf. Will you marry me?
Julie Pipperts last blog post..Where’s your comfort zone? Great, now jump out of it for the Hump Day Hmm!
Wizard of Oz is my younger daughter’s favorite movie ever! She has the most beautiful pop-up book from the story!
She has a Dorothy dress and shoes; but she actually loves the witch :0
Lisas last blog post..Facing My Fears, Making a Change
yeah, just put auntie madge on the phone and i’ll squash ‘em like little bugs — just remember the whole “31 days in May” thing……
Madges last blog post..Winner!! Winner!!
wizard of oz is one of my favourite movies! gosh, this brings back some memories!
polonas last blog post..formations
Its a great old movie .. now buy/read them Wicked
:-Daryl
Daryls last blog post..
I am dating myself horribly, but I do remember the days of black and white tv, fondly in fact…..I miss the great sitcoms.
BTW, those flying monkeys STILL scare me!
-suz
Suzannes last blog post..The Glass Mystery: Chapter 21 – The Moscow Diaries
Those monkeys scarred me for life-I avoid the primate section of the zoo to this day.
Mrs. G.s last blog post..The Big Little Announcement
Shortman used to sing, “We represent the Lollipop Guild” to me on occasion. And I still have the sign on my desk, “Don’t make me get out my flying monkeys!”
Hee
Rees last blog post..May Hotlight – How does your garden grow?
I can relate to this!
And remember – I live in Oz!!
Really enjoyed your previous post, too, Jennifer.
david mcmahons last blog post..Verse And Worse
YES! She was one scary little woman! And that cackle? *shudders*
Sandy (Momisodes)s last blog post..Weekly Winners
I hate that movie. And I hate that witch. Scares me to DEATH. My poor kids will never get to see it.
the mama bird diariess last blog post..q + a
Flying monkeys! *shudder*
Hatchets last blog post..Toadal Score!
I still have nightmares about the flying monkeys and that freaky-deaky witch. I don’t know who gave the green light for content like that in a children’s classic, but someone needs to get fired. Seriously. And what is all this about you getting up to change the channel? What are you, like, ninety?
Carolyns last blog post..sale! sale! sale! today only. five posts for the price of one.
Jennifer and I actually had a black and white television for our first few years, but it was eventually replaced with a color television (with a remote, if I remember correctly).
I remember watching The Flintstones in black and white and making up the colors in my head.
Lucky!
We only 3 had channels. The 4th one was too fuzzy to watch with getting a migraine.
Jenny, Bloggesss last blog post..I will murder my husband this Wednesday
no colors?! heavens!!!
livs last blog post..
The monkeys are the scariest…the witch I can handle. In fact, I’ve nearly perfected the costume and green skin for Halloween (and I wonder why I have so much candy left…..).
leendaluus last blog post..
How pathetic is this – every year when The Wizard of Oz would come on TV, we’d all fiddle with the dials b/c it was in black and white – then we’d COLLECTIVELY remember that it’s supposed to be black and white. I kid you not. Awesome movie and yes, the witch still scares the poop out of me. Only reading WICKED helped me to make her a little less scary (awesome book).
The Girl Next Doors last blog post..P.S. "interesting mail" and Same Keys
She was a scary witch. Her and that guy with the nose in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang got me every time.
Oh…and I don’t know what day it is so maybe I’m in anyway?
Grandys last blog post..A Long-Awaited Biased Review
I’ll never forget the first time I saw TWOO…of course it was a black and white set, I was about 8…lol…imagine my surprise when I was 12 we were the proud owners of a color set and CBS showed it every Easter (I think it was CBS) and when Dorothy landed in Oz, there it was….a rainbow! Love this post, can’t wait for the rest…David sent me..
Sandi McBrides last blog post..Tomato Gravy Sunday
I remember the guy I dated when VCRs just got real popular, with VHS edging out Betamax (yep! I’m that old!). We bought a VCR and a handful of movies; one of them was Wizard of Oz. (and of course, Raiders of the Lost Ark. If we’d stayed together, our first child would have been named Indiana Jones. No lie.) He hadn’t seen it since he was a kid, and he was *shocked* that the Land of Oz was in color.
And I’m with Grandy… *shudder* at the CCBB guy.
Dharmamamas last blog post..I’m Worried About My Mind
When I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz used to come on once a year, and it was a BIG deal! It remains an awesome movie.
Daves last blog post..Fissure