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Friday, October 07, 2011

TGIF: Bewitched

It's absolutely amazing how some shows tend to 'borrow' ideas from other shows. I mean, we see it all the time in movies. In the last few years alone, we've seen remakes of dozens of movies including The Bad News Bears, The Longest Yard, Psycho, Arthur, and coming soon, Dirty Dancing and Footloose will be remade for a 21st century audience.

Can someone explain to me why this is the case? I mean, has Hollywood completely run out of original ideas lately?

Even on television shows, we see new television shows being made that seem suspiciously familiar to other shows that have aired on television. Saved By The Bell, Hang Time, and City Guys had the same production team, so it wasn't uncommon to see those shows sharing the exact same recycled scripts. It was like they crossed out Zack Morris' name and substituted Sly Winkle's. That's how similar the scripts were. I've heard people say that Hannah Montana is a poorly imitated live-action version of Jem and the Holograms. And, don't even get me started on the revamped versions of Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210.

The worst is when television shows are remade into motion picture form, because more often than not, they turn out to be a huge disaster. Okay, sure, both The Simpsons Movie and South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut were quite successful at the box office. And, I'll admit to liking the 1991 Addams Family movie very much. But, then you had remakes of The Brady Bunch, Starsky & Hutch, and The Dukes Of Hazzard, and honestly, I'm just left scratching my head. I even hear that they're supposed to be remaking Baywatch in motion picture form.

I wouldn't mind this so much if this practice was used sparingly, and if the movies did the shows that they were based on justice. I singled out The Addams Family movie because I grew up watching reruns of the television show, and thought that the movie was well-written and brilliantly cast. I still think that Anjelica Huston was a fantastic Morticia. And, you know, later on in this blog, expect to see an Addams Family entry.

It just won't be today.

No, I'm going to talk about a television show that was actually made into a movie in the year 2005. The movie adaptation starred both Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Two people with obvious star power who have both had dozens of movies to their credit. And I honestly do believe that both actors tried their best with the material they were given to work with. But, sadly, the movie based on the television show bombed at the box office, with critics saying that it was a terrible idea from the beginning, and only holds a 24% approval rating on the movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes. That's not a great rating.

Of course, the movie wasn't all that great to begin with. At the very least, they didn't entirely remake the show. Rather, they sort of made the plot about a remake of the show, which in hindsight sounded just as bad. But, fear not. We will not be discussing the film, which the New York Times called 'an unmitigated disaster'.

No, we'll talk about the television show instead.



Continuing on with the spirit of Witches and Wizards week, today's topic is the classic television show, Bewitched, which debuted on ABC in September 1964. The show starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the main character of the show, Samantha, who happened to be a witch. Although having the appearance of a beautiful young woman in her twenties, she very well could have been hundreds of years old, being that witches generally lived a lot longer than that of mortals.

It's actually quite interesting to note that the show Bewitched was a bit ahead of its time. Certainly in the year 2011, people dating people of different races, religious backgrounds, and economic backgrounds is nothing unusual. Back in the 1960s, however, things were much more conservative in nature.

Bewitched kind of tackled the subject of 'mixed marriage' as best as they could in the 1960s, and although there was only so much that television could get away with back in those days, they handled it quite well.



As anyone who has seen the show knows, one of the main conflicts involved Samantha's marriage to Darrin Stephens (played by two different actors, but we'll get to that a little later). Darrin was a mortal who worked at an advertising agency, and Samantha was a witch. When the two fell in love and got married, Samantha made a pledge to forsake her witchcraft to become a suburban housewife. Samantha's family strongly disapproves of the 'mixed marriage' between mortal and witch, and like those nagging in-laws that will not go away, they interfere in the marriage of Darrin and Samantha in more ways than one. Considering that the show ran until July 1, 1972, that's eight seasons of meddling!

Despite Samantha's pledge that she made, Samantha is often seen performing magic. Unlike most other witches who use magic wands and cauldrons, Samantha managed to cast spells with just a twitch of her nose.



And in a lot of cases, the episodes of Bewitched usually had Samantha's magic powers causing a whole lot of problems. It mostly dealt with Samantha struggling to keep her powers from being discovered by other mortals that were not Darrin, but sometimes Darrin himself would find himself the unwilling guinea pig to some of Samantha's spells.

As I explained earlier, Samantha's family is largely opposed to her marriage to Darrin, but the one member of the family who seems to be the most opposed was Samantha's mother, Endora (played by Agnes Moorehead). Endora reportedly hated Darrin so much that she very rarely ever so much as referred to him by his real name. She would call him 'Dum-Dum', 'Darwin', or just plain 'Whatsisname'. She would frequently cast spells on Darrin (though not malicious enough to actually destroy him) in every effort to break up the marriage of Darrin and Samantha, but their love wins out every time. Other relatives who have interfered in the marriage have included Samantha's cousin Serena (in a dual role played by Montgomery), who frequently tries to seek attention from Darrin, as well as Darrin's boss. There's also Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), who plays pranks quite often, but isn't nearly as cold to Darrin as some of Samantha's other family members. Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) is also a relative that seems to treat Darrin fondly, but because of her klutzy, absent-minded behaviour, her spells usually end up going wrong on some level.



During the course of the series, Samantha and Darrin ended up having two children together. They have a daughter, Tabitha, in the second season of the series, and towards the end of the show have a son, Adam. Both children seem to have supernatural powers, and in 1977, Tabitha was given a spin-off, showing her as a young woman (who was played by Knots Landing actress and singer Lisa Hartman).



The show was also known for having several cast changes. Certainly, Tabitha was recast at least four times. By 1966, the role was assumed by twins Diane and Erin Murphy, but two years later, Erin became the sole Tabitha, as Diane and Erin began to look a little less identical (though Diane did fill in for Erin on a couple of episodes when she was ill.

Other roles that were recast on the show included neighbour Gladys Kravitz (the original actress passed away from cancer in March 1966), Louise Tate (the actress reportedly left to take care of an ailing husband), and Frank Stephens.



Of course, the most memorable recast on the show was that of Darrin Stephens. It was very rare for a show to recast one of the main players of a television sitcom, especially back in those days, but in the case of Bewitched, the producers really did have no choice.

When Dick York was first cast as Darrin Stephens, he had a problem with his back. Five years before Bewitched debuted, he was involved in a serious accident while he was filming scenes for the 1959 movie They Came To Cordura. The accident left York with a severely damaged back. For the first four seasons of the show, York managed to work around his chronic back condition, but by season five, the damage had caught up to him. He frequently suffered from back spasms on set, and many of his scenes had to be rewritten so that Darrin didn't have to move around set much (mostly his scenes were shot in bed or on the sofa. By the beginning of 1969, the pain proved to be too great for York, and after an incident where he passed out from the pain and was rushed to the hospital for treatment, York had no choice but to leave the program following the conclusion of filming for the show's fifth season.

His replacement came at the beginning of season six, and Dick Sargent played the role until the show's cancellation in the summer of 1972. Of course, the replacement of Darrin proved to get tongues wagging over which Darrin was considered to be the better Darrin. Almost 40 years after Bewitched aired its last episode, the debate still rages on today. I really have no opinion, as I thought both Dick S. and Dick Y. did a wonderful job in the role, but I guarantee you that there are some people who would get into flame wars over this very subject.

On a sad note, it is hard to believe that most of the cast of Bewitched is no longer alive. Bernard Fox (who played Dr. Bombay) is still alive, and of course, you can find Erin Murphy making guest appearances at events put on by TV Land. But most of the other ones passed away. Dick York ended up developing an addiction to painkillers as a result of his back injury, and succumbed to emphysema in February 1992. Dick Sargent passed away from prostate cancer on July 8, 1994. And Elizabeth Montgomery lost her battle with colorectal cancer just eight weeks after being diagnosed, on May 18, 1995.



Although, you can't help but wonder what all three of them would think of the dismal remake of their high-rated show if all three of them were still alive today. For all I know, they may very well have given their blessing. In fact, it's all possible that they may have liked it.

But no remake could ever replace the magic that the original show had.



Thursday, October 06, 2011

Wizards And Witches Week Continues...But First, A Dedication...

Before I go ahead with today's post, I'd like to briefly talk about something.  While the subject matter of today's blog really has absolutely nothing to do with this opening paragraph (which is why this is in Italics), it is something that given recent events, I have to speak about.

Yesterday, the former CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, passed away at the age of 56 after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.  Jobs was responsible for many of the directions that Apple embarked in over the last few years.  Without him, we wouldn't have the iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and various other technological devices that millions of people use each day.  The contributions that he and his company made were nothing short of remarkable, and I am sure that his name will live on for many, many years.  I am sure that his replacement will keep the Apple name in business for many years to come, but Steve Jobs will never be forgotten.  As a little tribute to him, here's a commencement address he made a few years back to the Stanford graduating class of 2005.  I could go on about all the things he accomplished, but I think it would be better if we heard it from him...



Steven Paul Jobs
1955 - 2011

And, now, on with today's blog post.

_____________________________________________________________________

There are billions of people living in this world, each one looking at the world through different sets of eyes. Each one seeing the world quite differently from that of someone else.

Some people are optimistic types, who look at everything in a positive manner, choosing to live their lives without letting anything bring them down. Others, are a little less positive, choosing to be grouchy and pessimistic about things, and seeing a need to bring others down to their level. Some people overanalyze things to the point of obsession, while others seem to miss simple signs and signals.

It's really a fascinating study, watching what makes people tick, and why people react the way they do.

One type of personality that always seems to get me to take notice are people who see things through child-like innocence. I guess I can understand those people more than other people can because in some ways, I kind of exhibit some of those traits. I don't really know how to quite explain it, but it always seemed to me as though I always saw things differently than some other people. That I could see things in a manner that they couldn't. In the past, I was accused of being naïve, or being ignorant because I couldn't see things the way that others did. But, that wasn't my fault...that was just the way I was. Maybe I attribute that to the rather sheltered upbringing that I had that caused it. Who can say?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really do appreciate people who look at things through those child-like eyes. Eager to learn about everything in the world, asking questions about how things work, acting as if they're seeing the world for the very first time. I admit there's something endearing about a personality like that, because it's been my experience that people with that sort of personality is quite rare.

The reason why I wanted to bring this point up is because it fits in well with the character that I want to feature in this edition of Thursday Night at the Arcade. And, fitting in perfectly with the theme of Witches and Wizards week, the subject of this entry features a wizard with massive magical powers, combined with a child-like innocence, essentially learning about the world through the adventures that he had during the course of the video game.



The person I want to talk about is Vivi Ornitier, black mage from Final Fantasy IX, released in 2000 for the PlayStation console. The game was very successful both in Japan and North America, and sold millions of copies worldwide, and some hard core fans of the Final Fantasy series would likely tell you that the ninth installment of the series was one of the last great ones in the whole series. I would disagree with that, as I found Final Fantasy X to be fantastic as well, but that's just the minor RPG playing nerd in me just waiting to come out.

Anyways, the plot of Final Fantasy IX is almost exactly the same as the previous eight before it. You have to save the world from being destroyed by evil, rescue some people along the way, solve puzzles that will unlock weapons, and restore peace to war-torn communities. There are some differences though.

For one, the main villain constantly changes. It changes to the point where you aren't exactly sure who you may be fighting. Originally, the main villain is supposed to be Queen Brahne of Alexandria, but we find out that she's being manipulated by a man named Kuja. Then, Brahne sends her best knight, Beatrix, out to steal precious gems from various towns and kingdoms in the world, and ordering her to kill off your party, and later on Beatrix joins your side. Then there's Kuja, who as it turns out is being manipulated by Necron, who takes on the form of a gigantic tree known as the Iifa Tree, and by the end of it, you're completely lost on who is on your side, and who is against. But, in my opinion, that's what made the game great.

Secondly, the motley crew of people you have in your party comes from all sorts of backgrounds and races, even. Your main character is Zidane, who looks mostly human, but for some reason has the tail of a monkey. Other characters include a bumbling knight (Steiner), the princess of Alexandria (Garnet), a flame-haired criminal (Amarant), a six-year-old summoner (Eiko), a gigantic creature in a chef outfit that can swallow monsters whole (Quina), and a female soldier of Burmecia who happens to be a rat (Freya).



And then there's Vivi.

And when the game begins, Vivi is actually one of the first people we meet. He's small in stature, but extremely powerful magic wise. He even almost sort of looks like the part of a wizard with his pointy hat and flashy clothing. The only thing is that you can never really see what he looks like because his face is almost completely covered. All you see are two bright yellow eyes blinking back at you. It's almost kind of eerie in a sense.

Oh, but don't let this deter you from getting to know him. He really does have a heart of gold.



When we're first introduced to Vivi, it is in the kingdom of Alexandria, where he ends up getting mixed up with theater group Tantalus, from nearby Lindblum. All Vivi wanted to do was see a performance of their play 'I Want To Be Your Canary', but somehow, he ended up stumbling right into the theater group and their plot to kidnap Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. When the theater ship that Tantalus boards is shot down and crashes into the Evil Forest, Vivi gets to know both Zidane and Steiner quite well, and they encourage him to embrace his magic powers so they can search for the missing princess inside Evil Forest.

Eventually, the group find Garnet, and after barely escaping Evil Forest, and traversing through a cavern made of solid ice, they end up in the backwater village of Dali, which upon first glance looks like a standard farming community. Little did the group know that this village would end up causing Vivi to question everything about his existence.

Sometime during the group's stay in Dali, Vivi ends up being kidnapped, and taken to an underground factory beneath the village. When Zidane and Garnet find their way through the factory in order to rescue Vivi, they stumble across something rather shocking.



So here's the situation. Apparently this factory is making dozens and dozens of what appear to be life-sized black mage dolls that seem to have their own minds and thoughts, yet barely say a word. They look a lot like Vivi, only taller, and with purple cloaks instead of the blue one Vivi is wearing. Naturally, Vivi is completely gobsmacked over this revelation. In many ways, these black mages are almost exactly like Vivi. They look like him, they cast magic spells like him, and yet, Vivi seems to be much different from them. He actually had a personality and feelings, while these copies didn't seem to have either.

Despite all this, Vivi seemed to feel some sort of bond with the Black Mage creatures, and tried to get them to open up to him, wanting to know where they came from in hopes that he too would understand where he came from. As part of the plot of the game, the group decides to leave Dali by stowing away on an airship en route to Lindblum, which also happens to have several of these black mages on board. During the flight, the group is attacked by one of Queen Brahne's Black Waltzes (one of three souped-up versions of the black mages being manufactured in Dali), and this scene happens.



For some reason, although the black mages that are destroyed in the attack didn't really do much in terms of communication, Vivi was still horrified at the sight. It broke his heart to see them get destroyed. It almost felt like he was losing a part of himself in the process. The attack on the black mages caused Vivi to develop the courage to take on the Black Waltz, and with help from Zidane and Steiner, the Black Waltz was defeated.



Still, having discovered the black mage factory, it really caused Vivi to question everything about himself. About what his origins were. About who his family were. When the group arrived at Lindblum and were filled in about the real purpose of the black mages, Vivi grew even more alarmed. Apparently, the black mages were being manufactured in Dali by Kuja, who in turn supplies them to Queen Brahne, who uses them as mindless soldiers in her quest to take over the entire Mist Continent. The mist from the Mist Continent is one of the essential ingredients needed to keep manufacturing the black mages, and the more mist is produced, the more black mages will be produced as well.

Of course, once Vivi discovers that the black mages are being used as nothing more than weapons, he wonders if maybe the sole purpose for his being alive was to become a weapon of mass destruction like the other black mage counterparts. Of course, Zidane, Garnet, and everyone else try to tell Vivi that this is ridiculous thinking. However, when Lindblum is later attacked by Brahne's army of black mages, the citizens of town seem to want to kill every black mage that crosses their path, leaving Vivi to hide out of sight for some time.

For much of the first part of the game, these questions seem to linger on in Vivi's mind. It almost seems as though he really is a lost child out in a huge world that he absolutely has no way of understanding. A lot of the ways of the world of Final Fantasy IX are complicated enough for adults to figure out, but imagine being someone like Vivi who grew up away from most of the conflict between kingdoms and settlements. Is it any wonder why Vivi was so confused and asked everyone a lot of questions? I mean, yes, Zidane and company tried to help Vivi out as they could, and Vivi did learn a lot about the world from the guidance and love his new friendships showed him. But something was missing.

It wasn't until they left the Mist Continent shortly after the attack on Lindblum that Vivi got the answers that he was looking for.

In the middle of a huge forest on the Outer Continent sits a hidden village. If someone can make their way through the maze-like forest, they'll find that they will enter a location that is surprisingly run by black mages.

No wonder the village is known as the Black Mage Village.

And unlike the black mages that were destroyed by the Black Waltz, the black mages here walk, talk, communicate, sell items, and take care of animals. Something that makes Vivi want to learn more.

Unlike Vivi, most of the black mages in the village are not named, but go by the number that they were given at the factory in Dali. It's unexplained as to how the black mages ended up there, but at some point became self-aware of who they were, built a town, and elected to live a life of peace until the day they 'stopped'.



Of course, Vivi had not heard the term 'when they stopped' before, and he went to investigate. He ended up befriending one of the mages, who went by the number 288, and he explained to Vivi that over time, the black mages stop working, and when this happens, they bury them in the ground. Some of the mage villagers seem to believe that they will come back up out of the ground, but what none of the villagers seem to understand (Vivi included) was that this was the way they showed death.

Like everything in the world, nobody had an infinite life span in the world. Black Mage No. 288 explained that after about one year, they would eventually stop (the black mage word for death). What's interesting is that when the stopped black mages were buried, they were given little memorials that resembled tombstones and memorial plaques. It was as if the black mages knew what death was, but didn't know how to explain it. Vivi is left confused by this though. If most black mages stopped after one year, why did Vivi (who supposedly is nine years old ) not encounter that same fate? It was explained by No. 288 that Vivi was perhaps one of the prototypes for the black mages, and was designed to live much longer than the ones produced after him.

This theory does make sense when you consider how Vivi originally grew up. Prior to Vivi arriving in Alexandria, he somehow ended up in a cliffside area known as Quan's Dwelling. Presumably, he fell off of a cargo ship en route to Alexandria, and ended up there. He was raised by Quan, a strange creature with an appetite stronger than that of Homer Simpson and Jughead Jones combined. Certainly, Quan showed him all about all the gourmet foods of the world, but he also taught Vivi the importance of setting out on his own to find his own destiny. When Quan passed away, Vivi set off on his own journey, presumably to Alexandria, where the game first begins.

This is interesting because we now understand why Vivi became so different from the other black mages, and why he has such a child-like way of viewing the world. It's because he grew up in a secluded place from all of the violence and war between the nations. That could explain why he seemed like he was so confused as to how the rest of the world was, and why he found everything and everyone to be so fascinating (in both good and bad ways).

But, I think it also explained why Vivi turned out so differently from the other mages. When the black mages were manufactured, they weren't given much in the way of nurturing. They served one purpose, and once that purpose was reached, they were rendered useless. But with Vivi growing up with Quan who cared for him and nurtured him (though admittedly Quan initially wanted to eat him when Vivi first came into his life), Vivi developed the necessary emotions and communication skills needed to fit into Zidane's group almost seamlessly.

When Kuja tried to mislead the black mages of the village into eternal life if they joined forces with him, Vivi immediately lead the charge towards making them see the truth. Once that was resolved, Vivi made a promise to the residents of the Black Mage Village that he would return after they dealt with Kuja to teach the residents of the village everything he learned from the outside world, both from Quan and his new friends. After all, the residents of the Black Mage Village had some skills that got them through the basics, but they were still very much the naïve, confused people that Vivi was at the beginning of the game.

By the game's ending, the fate of Vivi is somewhat undetermined. There are five black mages that look like Vivi that appear in the ending, but none of them are the real one. It is likely that Vivi himself 'stopped' some time after the end of the game, and that the five Vivi-lookalikes were his children (though it's never explained in the game how black mages were able to procreate).

But, for Vivi to grow into the person he eventually became...it was really nice to see. And it certainly makes one rethink the way they treat people who may not be like everyone else, for in the case of Vivi, they ended up becoming one of the best role models of all.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Across The Pond and Beyond (Part 2) - Deconstructing Hermione Granger

Of all of the characters in the Harry Potter series that have appeared in the seven volume set of novels (and believe me, there are quite a few of them), there is one that I seem to identify with more than any other character.

So, without hesitation, let's get right to it.



This is Hermione Granger, as played by British actress Emma Watson in the various movies that have been made in correspondence with the books, and as you can see, this character has a lot of qualities and layers to her. She's mostly filled with positive qualities, but she also has some flaws to her, as most people do. As I said before, there are a lot of things that I have in common with Hermione Granger, and I'll touch on these points as I come across them.

I already did an entry on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but in that entry, I mostly dealt with a blog entry that was plot driven. In this edition, I wanted to make this a character driven entry, because I firmly believe that in order to tell a fantastic story, you have to have fantastic characters. Hermione Granger happens to be one of those characters that have helped make the Harry Potter series a huge success.

So, let's get the basics out of the way first, and with these basics, it would seem as though we have nothing in common right off the bat. Hermione is female. I am male. Hermione is a wizard. I am not. Hermione attends a school for wizardry known as Hogwarts. I attended a high school filled with people who used to tease me and bully me.

You know something, Hogwarts doesn't sound too bad right about now.

Of course, if we were to look at Hermione through the shallow end of the pool, it wouldn't exactly be an accurate characterization. No, in order to find the real similarities between Hermione Granger and myself, we're gonna have to dig a little deeper.



When Hermione was born, she was not born into a wizard family. Her parents were non-magic using dentists (otherwise known as Muggles), and while they appeared not to understand the gift that Hermione had, still loved her all the same. And, right off the bat, we have our very first comparison towards Hermione and I. No, I certainly don't know how to use magic, but I did feel as though sometimes my family didn't understand me as well as they could have. That being said, I know that they were as supportive as they could be in regards me, and while not exactly ideal, I could accept it.

When Hermione Granger was created for the Harry Potter series, the concepts stemmed quite heavily from the personal experiences of the author, J.K. Rowling. While it wasn't initially her own intention to make Hermione a character that was just like her, the end result ended up being more like the author than she even realized, albeit an exaggeration. When Rowling was younger, she recalled that she was a little bit of a know-it-all in her youth, but that beneath it all, there was always that little hint of insecurity and fear of failure.



In many ways, Hermione Granger is the exact same way. In lessons at Hogwarts, she always seems to be the first one to hold her hand up in class, and she always seems to know all the answers. She was always the one who could come up with logical solutions to any sort of problems, and her brain power has helped her get out of tricky situations along with her friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Yet, Hermione was also quite insecure about herself. In the first movie, until she befriended Harry and Ron, it wasn't all that uncommon for her to be wandering around Hogwarts alone. She tried to make out as if it didn't bother her, and instead acted as though she knew everything about anything as sort of a defense mechanism to show everyone that she had everything together. Instead, it sort of made Hermione a lonely sort, who really wanted friends, but didn't know what to do to get them. She also was somewhat a bit on the jealous and insecure side whenever someone else did better on a test or a task than she did, because for the longest time, she was under the impression that her brain power was all that she had.

And you know something...that sounds really familiar. Because I was the same way.

There were a couple of labels that were assigned to me when I was in elementary school. As much as I despise labels, and what they stand for, I need to talk about them in order to express my point.

One label that I was given was that of the weird kid, and well, I can't really confirm or deny that label because everyone has their own definition of what weird is. The other label that I was given was that of the 'smart kid'.

I can remember when I was younger, kids would crowd around my desk to ask me how to spell certain words, and how to solve basic math problems like what 7+3 equaled. It was okay at first, except that I spent so much time 'helping' my classmates that my own schoolwork kind of suffered in expense. But, I remember not caring because when they needed help with homework, they acted kind and treated me like an equal. Of course, on the playground, the reaction was quite different.

I also remember being just like Hermione (and to a lesser extent, J.K. Rowling herself) because I was always the first person to raise my hand, and who knew the answers. I'm sorry to say that at times, I could be quite obnoxious with my answering abilities in my elementary school classes (which could explain why some people didn't like me in those days, but such is life, I guess).

I can understand why people found Hermione to be ignored by her peers. She did kind of act as if they were beneath her. Looking back on my elementary school days, I could probably see myself doing just that, but again, as an eleven year old boy, sometimes you aren't even aware that you're doing it until someone points it out. But just like Hermione, I think I sort of used that as a defense mechanism in a way. Because I noted that when I was helping my classmates with schoolwork it was the only time I wasn't picked on, I sort of made every effort to try and use that to my advantage because I thought it was the only way that the teasing would stop. It was a futile effort, but I thought it was worth trying.

I think in Hermione's case, she too used her brain power and her superiority complex as a defense mechanism to prevent people from finding reasons to intimidate and hurt her. Some of the more snobbish students of Hogwarts (Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and well, pretty much anyone sorted into Slytherin house, really) had rather misguided and closed-minded thoughts about wizards born into 'muggle' families, and they even went so far as to call them the rather offensive name of 'mudblood'. And as much as Hermione tried to put on a brave face, you could tell that label really bothered her. I could be totally wrong in my assessment, but I'd like to believe that Hermione gave off the impression that she was, at least, more book smart than that of her peers as a way to protect herself from being hurt.

The only thing is that by doing this, she really was hurting herself. Kind of like I was hurting myself by being the same way. Though I would also like to think that both of us learned that lesson as we grew older.

And, this nicely ties into the next thing that Hermione Granger and I both have in common.



You see, Hermione Granger really let comments made by other people really get her down. Between Draco Malfoy insulting Hermione by calling her mudblood at every given opportunity and having most of her classmates mocking her, Hermione showed that she wasn't as strong as she let on. In the first book, she was deeply hurt by the comments, and ran into a washroom to have a good cry. It was there that she was cornered by a troll who wanted to attack her. Had it not been for Ron and Harry coming by to fight off the troll at that moment, who knows what might have happened to Hermione?

After that incident, Hermione began to see Ron and Harry in a new light. Grateful that they risked their own lives to save hers, Hermione immediately developed a friendship with both boys, and in turn, Ron and Harry apologized to her for the way they treated her.



As a result of this, Hermione shows extreme loyalty to both Harry and Ron throughout the entire book series. And I am more or less the same way. As someone who had difficulty finding sincere friendships growing up, when I do find them, believe me when I say that I am extremely loyal to those friendships. That's not to say that we don't get into little disagreements every now and then. We do. I could list the number of disagreements and scuffles that Hermione got into with Harry and Ron (especially Ron), but I would need a whole blog posting for that one. Hermione is very protective and loyal towards her friends, and would do almost anything for them. Of course, it helps that Harry and Ron both treated Hermione with respect and kindness (although in Ron's case, it took a while to develop).



Though there are some minor differences in the personalities of Hermione and myself. I personally hated having to do homework, and would purposely try to get all my assignments done in class so I didn't have to work on it at home (for reasons that are way too deep to get into in this blog entry). Hermione, on the other hand, loved homework to the point where she was the only one visibly upset when Dumbledore canceled all final exams after the events in the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Although Hermione did manage to give Harry and Ron the information needed to slay the Basilisk before she became petrified by the beast (she later recovered).

Hermione's brain power and intelligence has greatly helped Harry and Ron immensely. It really all came together in the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With Hermione's Time-Turner device, she managed to save the life of a mystical creature known as a hippogriff, whom Hagrid affectionately called Buckbeak. She also managed to clear Sirius Black's name by exposing Peter Pettigrew as the man who tipped Voldemort off about the location of Harry's parents, who were slayed by the evil wizard.

For a teenage girl, Hermione certainly did a lot, didn't she?

By the fourth book of the series, we can launch right into another comparison. When Hermione discovered that the house elves were being treated cruelly by some of their owners, she founds a group known as the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (or S.P.E.W.) to gain basic rights for the elves. In a way, I've sort of done the same thing by wanting to try to stop bullying in schools, just because of the experiences that I went through in school, and because I don't want anyone else to have to experience that. I am very much into wanting respect for every individual regardless of skin colour, economic status, sexual orientation, and size, because to me, those things don't define a person. In the case of Hermione Granger, I know she feels exactly the same way.

There's one final comparison between Hermione and I that I kind of want to talk about in conclusion to this particular entry. We're both alike in this way to a point.
During the events of the fourth book of the series, Hogwarts has been chosen as the location of the Triwizard Tournament, and as a result, wizards from all over the world have been chosen to compete in the tournament. Of course, Harry Potter happens to be one of those wizards competing, but another person who happens to be in the tournament is Viktor Krum, a Quidditch prodigy from Bulgaria. Almost instantly, Viktor is attracted to Hermione, and it appears as though the feelings are mutual. He even agrees to be her date for the Hogwarts Yule Ball. It's actually interesting to see that Viktor and Hermione kind of act uncomfortable with each other at first, not because they don't like each other, but because both of them are so incredibly shy. I get the impression that both of them really liked each other, but for whatever reason couldn't admit that they did. In some ways, I can relate to this, because I always had crushes, but never once acted on them for fear of rejection. Let's just say that my self-esteem wasn't all that positive back in those days.

Once Hermione got over those butterflies and got to know Viktor (and vice versa), they found that they had more in common than they thought. Viktor was so smitten by Hermione that he even asked her to go away with him to Bulgaria. Of course, Hermione politely declined the offer, as she wanted to finish up her schooling at Hogwarts, and in hindsight, it was probably a good choice for her, as she ended up falling for someone else...someone she ended up fighting with at the Yule Ball...



And, well, I guess that's all I have to say about Hermione Granger, who ended up being a lot more like me than I thought.

No wonder she was always my favourite character in the serial.  Well-rounded, intelligent, and surprisingly headstrong.  Qualities anyone would be lucky to have, really.




Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Across The Pond And Beyond (Part I) - Juliet Mills

As part of Witches and Wizards week, it became clear that I would have to do a lot of research on choosing memorable characters and shows that featured wizards and witches, and I think I have successfully done exactly that.

I did reach a bit of a problem in selecting an entry for one possible day.

Today happens to be Tuesday. As you all know, Tuesday is generally known as a day of hodge-podge, miscellaneous things, and grab bags filled with goodies that just couldn't fit into any of the other six theme days. This is fine.

The following day happens to be Wednesday, which for now is dedicated to celebrating pop culture around the world. And this is where my problem came in.

I had two possible subjects for Across The Pond and Beyond Wednesday. One happens to have played a witch on daytime television. The other one was a teenaged female wizard. Both were British, and both had varying levels of popularity and talent. Both of them played characters that were both memorable and strong, and while both of them were very much different from each other, they both had their similarities.

But how could I possibly choose between two subjects for one day when they were both so good?

It was then that my brain cells finally kicked in and had the answer. Since Tuesday is the day where anything goes, why not just turn Tuesday into a second Across The Pond day?

So, let it be known that Tuesday, October 4 and Wednesday, October 5 will be known as the Across The Pond And Beyond...And Back Again In 48 Hours...or ATPABABA48!

Or, maybe not.

So, for today, we're going to take a look at our daytime television witch. Although the show she was on barely lasted an entire decade on the air, she was one of the cast members who stayed on the show for the entire run. And although she was initially overshadowed by her younger sister, she carved out her own star power herself, complete with Golden Globe nominations, an Emmy Award win, and a marriage that had tabloids and the public talking for years.

Shall we meet this person? I think we shall.



Meet Juliet Maryon Mills. She was born in London on November 21, 1941, making her just weeks shy of her seventieth birthday. She was born during the middle of World War II, at a time in which London was subjected to attacks. Her father, Sir John Mills, his wife, Mary Hayley Bell took Juliet with them to the countryside outside of the city, to avoid the bombs.

Because her mother was a playwright and her father an actor, it wasn't uncommon for Juliet to be surrounded by famous actors and actresses. Some of the people she met in her youth included Rex Harrison, David Niven, and Marlon Brando. Her godparents were actress Vivien Leigh and playwright Noel Coward.

With an upbringing like this, it almost seemed destined that Juliet would eventually have a career in the arts. After all, both her parents were famous in their own right, so if there was such a thing as an artistic gene, Juliet definitely was exposed to it through both parents.

Though, it took her a while to get to that point. Especially since one of her siblings seemed to have better luck than she did in getting roles.

Juliet ended up having two siblings. Her brother Jonathan Mills grew up to become a director, and actually wrote the 2000 documentary film on their father John. The film was called Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, and Juliet was interviewed in the film.



And then there was Juliet's sister, Hayley Mills, whom I am sure that most of you would probably seem to remember the most of the three Mills siblings. How could you not? Hayley had roles in various Walt Disney films when she was younger from Pollyanna to The Parent Trap. Hayley Mills was one of the most popular child actresses of the 1960s, and ended up having a minor recording career on top of that. Hayley Mills has since slowed down her acting commitments, but she still acts today. She played the role of Miss Carrie Bliss on the television show Good Morning, Miss Bliss (which later became Saved By The Bell), and she acted in various Parent Trap spinoffs. Her most recent role came in 2007, in the ITV drama Wild At Heart, a show which has also starred Juliet.

I could go on more, but this blog entry is about Juliet. If ever I do a blog entry on Hayley Mills, I will elaborate further.

Anyway, back to Juliet Mills, it took quite some time for Juliet to get her major breakout role. Though she technically started her career in 1942 when she was just mere months old, she had never really had anything that amounted more than a role as an extra, or roles that had minimal speaking parts. In 1960, she did get a role in a play called Five Finger Exercise, and earned a Tony Award nomination for her work.



One of her best known roles though came a decade later, in 1970. That year, Juliet Mills took on the role of Phoebe Figalilly on the American television program Nanny and the Professor. In the series, Phoebe possessed magical powers, and the series was often described as being an Americanized version of Mary Poppins.

Not that this had any effect on Juliet. Juliet loved playing the role. Partially because she had always held the belief that magic, witches, and fairies really did exist. Which was good, because just a couple of decades later, she would be playing at least one of these things.



Although the role Juliet held on Nanny and the Professor netted her a Golden Globe nomination in 1971, the show was taken off the airwaves that same year, citing a timeslot move as the main reason behind the dwindling ratings.

Still, this did not deter Juliet Mills from going ahead with her plan to make it in the world of acting. The following year, Juliet Mills landed a role in the movie Avanti, alongside actor Jack Lemmon and director Billy Wilder (a project that Juliet stated was the highlight of her film career). The film landed Juliet a second Golden Globe nomination in 1973. Just one year after that, Mills ended up winning an Emmy Award for her role in the miniseries QB VII.

In 1980, Juliet returned to the stage with a role in The Elephant Man, and this role would be one that would end up having a huge role in Juliet's future.

As far as Juliet's love life went, she had two failed marriages in her past. Her first marriage lasted from 1961-1964, which produced son, Sean. Daughter Melissa, came from Juliet's second marriage, which had ended in 1980.

So when Juliet started working alongside her Elephant Man co-star, Maxwell Caulfield (who starred in Grease 2 alongside Michelle Pfeiffer), sparks flew between the two immediately. It was a whirlwind courtship, and towards the end of the year, Maxwell became Juliet's third husband.



At the time, the pairing was rather unconventional, and immediately garnered some media attention. At the time they met, Juliet Mills was 39. Maxwell was only 21. Certainly, people speculated at to whether a relationship could last if the woman was eighteen years older than the man. I am happy to report that Juliet and Maxwell proved that age was just simply a number. On December 2, 2011, they will be celebrating 31 years of wedded bliss.

It appears as though the third time was the charm for Juliet to find her Romeo.

So, now that you know a bit about the actress, I think it's time to talk about one of the major roles she played on television in recent years. I already talked about how she played someone who had magical powers in the short-lived sitcom Nanny and the Professor. Well, this role that I would like to talk about was on a daytime soap opera that was canceled a few years ago. Yet it was a role that while unusual for a daytime drama, was quite the memorable character. A character that Mills loved playing.



When the daytime drama Passions began airing in July of 1999, it was the replacement show for Another World, which had just gone off the air just days earlier. But Passions wasn't exactly your typical daytime drama either.

Oh, sure, you still had your affairs, and your murders, and your love scenes. But this soap opera was something special.

Many of the storylines of Passions were supernatural in nature. Many storylines in that show surrounded such topics as witches, warlocks, and closet doors leading to Hell. The show employed a chimpanzee to act in a role as the servant of an elderly character on the show (and actually submitted a nomination for a Daytime Emmy award for the chimpanzee, which was rejected), and frequently reenacted several scenes from film, movies, and television as either dream sequences, or oddly enough were written into storylines.

Yes, Passions was definitely not your typical soap opera. It certainly stood out with its wacky plotlines and overexaggerated characterizations. The closest show that remotely resembled Passions was the 1960s daytime drama Dark Shadows, and even it wasn't as out there as Passions.

Regardless, Passions managed to last eight years on NBC and an additional season on DirecTV before ending its nearly ten year run in the summer of 2008.

And one of the main players of the soap opera was the character that Juliet Mills played for the entire series run.



When Tabitha Lenox was introduced onto the canvas just one day after Passions premiered, she was initially seen as being that of a crabby, cantankerous elderly woman who complained about everything and everyone. Of course, none of the residents of Harmony knew exactly what kind of secrets she kept behind closed doors.

Like the fact that Tabitha was a WITCH!!!

(I told you I'd find a wizards and witches connection in this entry somehow!)



Anyways...it's unclear just how old of a person Tabitha Lenox really was, but we know that she is at least three centuries old, as that's about the length of time she has resided in the town of Harmony. Because of her longevity, Tabitha has witnessed many significant historical events. In a few cases, Tabitha has claimed to have actually been the cause of many of these historical events. Among the list of events that Tabitha claimed she caused were the destruction of Pompeii, the Black Plague, the great fire of London, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Great Chicago Fire, the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and the sinking of the Titanic.

Quite the busy lady, wasn't she?

Tabitha was born to a mortal father named Darrin, and a Witch mother named Samantha (and if this sounds really familiar, you may want to check out my upcoming Friday blog post), and when Tabitha was a child, she initially had green hued skin, just like that of a frog. Apparently, her mother's side of the family was descended from a Frog Prince. Because of her skin colour, she was teased mercilessly by her classmates at the magic school she attended as a child (proving that in some weird way, racism was sadly alive and well in the world of witches). Her only friend was a fellow wizard girl who went by the name of Esmeralda. Esmeralda helped Tabitha hide her green skin with makeup until Tabitha learned a spell to permanently change her skin colour to a more normal shade (which actually kind of disappoints me because I would have wanted her to accept who she was, but then again, we're talking about a fictional witch, so what do I know?)

Tabitha was forced to separate from Esmeralda when she made the decision to study the Black Arts further, but she was never too far from her mind.

Going back to the story, Tabitha has a score to settle in Harmony. A score that was three hundred years in the making. Back in the 17th century, her witchcraft was exposed by a citizen of Harmony named Prudence Standish. And back in those days, if a person was suspected of being a witch, they were tied to a stake and burned alive. This was the fate that Tabitha suffered back then until the next time she was resurrected (because in the world of Harmony, witches possessed the power of immortality). Since that event, Tabitha's main goal in life is to make the people who burned her at the stake pay, especially the Standish and Crane families.

A few people seem to have remarked that Tabitha never seemed to age, and that she currently looked the same as she did when they were children themselves. Tabitha managed to keep the townspeople at bay by insisting that they were probably remembering her mother, who she claimed also had the same name.

Nobody said the townspeople of Harmony were intelligent...

If they had been, perhaps the might have figured out the truth about Tabitha a long time ago, and that the noises coming from the basement of her home weren't just coming from her boiler. Tabitha actually harbours a group of demons and devils called 'The Dark Forces' which oversee Tabitha's wicked doings on Earth.

Therefore, it is interesting to note that while Tabitha has ill feelings towards the people of Harmony, she does have a soft spot for some people. Particularly one person in particular who wasn't really a person at all.



In perhaps what was one of most unbelievable plots in the history of Passions...and quite frankly the whole genre of soap, Tabitha brings a MyBuddy style doll to life, and names her Timmy. Tabitha and Timmy set off towards their next act of evil. Remember how I said that Tabitha was burned at the stake because a woman named Prudence Standish ratted her out? Well, this time, Tabitha sought to get revenge on one of Prudence's descendants...one Charity Standish. Apparently, Charity was the embodiment of goodness, and according to the Dark Forces, Charity had to be stopped. Because if Charity was to mate with her one true love, one Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, the union would eradicate all evil from the world, and goodness would prevail.

And of course, they couldn't have that now...could they?

Of course, one problem that arose was the fact that Tabitha would send Timmy over to do the deed to harm Charity. What she didn't count on was that Timmy would develop feelings for Charity (are you weirded out yet?) and he couldn't bring himself to harm her. So to say that Tabitha had to get creative to get Charity out of the picture once and for all was an understatement. But in order for me to get into all of the things that Tabitha has done over the time she was on the show, I would need a whole week of blog entries. But some of the most dastardly things that Tabitha has done are...

  • Setting the Standish house ablaze to kill Charity, but ended up killing her mother Faith Standish instead.
  • Used Charity's cousin, Kay, as a tool to keep Charity and Miguel apart
  • Wrote a tell-all book that Timmy sent to a publishing company called Hidden Passions against her wishes (the book later ended up being published for real in 2001).
  • Made an enemy out of a woman called Norma Bates in a bizarre plotline based on the 1960 movie Psycho.
  • Had an affair with Julian Crane which against all odds resulted in Tabitha having a daughter named Endora (another reference to an upcoming entry)
  • conjured up a Demon Elf which wreaked havoc on the town of Harmony

By the end of the series, in a rather contrived plot (well, okay, all the plots of Passions were contrived, but I digress), Tabitha becomes a good witch after confessing over 400 years of sins to a priest. Nice to know that even the wickedest witches can turn good.

Of course, part of the reason why Tabitha went good was due to the love she still had for Timmy. In one plot line, Timmy had wished on a star to become human (which was a complete ripoff of Pinocchio, but again, Passions did this quite a bit), and when he did, he lost all of his immortality. So when he sustained deadly injuries trying to protect Charity from a doppelganger (aptly named 'Zombie Charity'), it really broke Tabitha's heart to say goodbye to what was likely the only friend she ever had.



And here's the kicker. Yes, Passions was a difficult show to understand, and the plot lines were more unbelievable than anything one could have read in any book dealing with the occult. But the thing is that Juliet Mills made the material work, and she was clearly one of the best actresses in the world. The scene was made even more poignant and sad when you consider that Timmy's final scene aired in August 2002...on the same day that Josh Ryan Evans (the actor who played Timmy) passed away at the age of 20.

Yes, the role that Juliet Mills played on Passions was unbelievable and hard to follow...but yet, her acting ability sort of made you want to root for her, and she easily become a favourite character on the show.

That's about all I have to say about Tabitha, and Juliet Mills for that matter. Her sister Hayley may have been the more famous of the two sisters, but don't count Juliet out either, because she had what it took to have a rewarding career in the arts.

More importantly, she loved every project that she worked on (or if she didn't, did a fairly good job of hiding it). And really, how can you fault anyone for loving what they do?

I guess if there's a lesson that one can learn from Juliet, it's that you really should never give up on your dream, because eventually, you'll find that it will come true. But, another lesson one can learn from her is not to reject any opportunity, no matter how bizarre or kooky it may sound...it could end up being one of the most rewarding and memorable things one ever does.

And, if there's one word you could use to describe Juliet Mills' portrayal of Tabitha Lenox, it would be memorable.

Monday, October 03, 2011

Monday Matinee: The Wizard Of Oz

Allow me to introduce all of you to the very first day of Wizards and Witches week on the Pop Culture Addict's Guide To Life.

From October 3 to October 9, we'll be taking a look at some of the wizards and witches that have appeared in various forms of pop culture. Some of them are wizards capable of casting magic spells. Some of them are witches who happen to be the star of the show. And in the case of the Sunday Jukebox, we have a singer who isn't really a wizard, but plays one on television.

I have chosen seven pop culture references that have at least some minor connection to a witch or a wizard, and as Halloween approaches, expect to see a lot more spooky entries as the month of October progresses. There will be some non-Halloween entries for October, but most of them will be positively 'spook-tacular'.

This first day...well, I suppose it doesn't really qualify as being overly scary, but it is the only pop culture reference that I have that has both a wizard AND a witch in the movie.

Before we get into that though, I would like to tell you a story about this movie as it relates to my childhood memories.

In Canada, we celebrate our Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. In the United States, however, their Thanksgiving is celebrated around the end of November. Back in the day, many of the television networks would have special programming that aired during the American Thanksgiving. During the day, you could watch the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, and during the afternoon, it was almost a guarantee that there would be at least one football game airing.

But during the primetime slots (at least as long as I can remember), CBS would air a screening of a particular movie that kept me glued to my seat as long as I can remember. I can even recall the very first time I watched this movie. It must have been sometime in the late 1980s, as I was probably no older than six at the time. My mom switched on the television as she made homemade popcorn on the stove (as we didn't own a microwave back in those days), and we sat down to watch a movie that was first released in 1939.



The Wizard Of Oz starred Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, a young girl from Kansas who lived on a farm with her little dog, Toto. The farm was the home of Dorothy's Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, and Dorothy helped out by doing various chores around the farm. She was assisted by three farm hands, Hickory, Hunk, and Zeke (Jack Haley, Ray Bolger, and Bert Lahr respectively), and life was idyllic for all.

Ah, who're we kidding? Dorothy couldn't wait to get out of Kansas. I mean, it was barren, desolate, sepia-toned...a rather bland looking place. Add to the fact that the nasty, sharp-tongued, bicycle-riding neigbour Miss Gulch was lurking around, and it was understandable as to why Dorothy felt like going somewhere over the rainbow.



Can I just state that I can so identify with Dorothy Gale? I know what it feels like to be in a place where you feel like you just don't belong, or you feel out of place. I especially know what it's like to have nasty, nosy neighbours prodding around, making your life a misery, whether intentionally or not. Heck, if I were Dorothy, I probably would have gone searching for that rainbow years ago.

Honestly, there are some instances in which I want to find my own rainbow myself. A place where troubles really do melt like lemon drops, and where dreams really do come true. Of course, I guess in some ways, I can achieve this through my writing. Whenever things get too much for me, or whenever something happens where I end up feeling alone, I can always write about it, and feel one hundred per cent better.

Therapy by way of blogging. Imagine that.

Of course, this was the summer of 1939, and computers (let alone blogging) did not exist. I suppose Dorothy could have penned a journal, but somehow, I don't think it would have been much help to her in the brown, brown, state of Kansas.

No, Dorothy's motivation to head somewhere over the rainbow was inspired of all people by Miss Gulch, and not in a good way either. Apparently, Toto hated Miss Gulch just as much as the others did, and showed it by biting Miss Gulch. Miss Gulch gets an order from the sheriff, and she takes Toto away to be put down. Luckily, Toto manages to escape, and when Dorothy finds her dog, she makes the decision to run away from home so that Miss Gulch would not be able to take Toto away a second time.

On the way, she happens to come across a traveling fortune teller named Professor Marvel, who correctly predicts that Dorothy has run away from home, but is otherwise lousy at his real ability to predict the future. Once Dorothy enters the wagon, the man manages to convince Dorothy to return home after spinning a tale about her Auntie Em falling ill from grief.
Unfortunately, at that possible moment, a tornado is fast approaching the farmhouse, and Dorothy and Toto arrive back home just seconds after the rest of the family evacuates to the storm cellar. She tries to take shelter inside the house, but when the window behind her shatters, a piece of the wooden frame knocks Dorothy out cold. When Dorothy awakens, she finds that the house is inside the tornado being blown far, far away from Kansas.

Okay, I'm going to interrupt this plot to talk a little bit about the production of the movie. The movie was based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, penned by author L. Frank Baum. The rights to turn the book into a movie were bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (better known as MGM Studios) in early 1938, and went through a number of writers and revisions before shooting for the film began later that year, with the final script being approved on October 8, 1938.

It is interesting to note that when the script was completed, there were a couple of ideas for scenes that were left on the cutting room floor or the wastepaper bin for whatever reason, but I'll get to that a little later.

The film was officially released at a small opening at a single movie theater in Wisconsin on August 12, 1939. Over the next few days, more theaters started to show the movie, and by August 25, 1939, the film was playing nationwide. What was interesting was that when the film was originally released in 1939, it actually was considered a bomb. The film initially made three million dollars at the box office (which works out to a little over $47 million in 2011 money) against the production/distribution costs of $2.8 million (a little over $44 million in 2011 money). So, the film did make a profit, but not a big one. However, when the film was re-released for the 10th anniversary, in 1949, the profits were much higher.



The film was memorable in a number of different ways, but perhaps the reason why so many people were fond of the movie was because of the fact that it was one of the first films to ever be seen in full colour. Using a process known as Technicolor, much of the movie was filmed using this new technology. The process to colour the film was a lengthy, long-drawn affair. The process took from October 1938 to March 1939 for it to be fully completed. Add the large, elaborate costumes and complicated make-up that the actors had to wear, and it made for an rather chaotic atmosphere on set.

Although as you can see in this clip where Dorothy first sets foot inside the land of Oz, it was well worth the effort.



"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.”

No, you most certainly are not, Dorothy. Gone are the dreary sepia-toned plains of Kansas. You're in the world of lush green trees, bright blue skies, and a gigantic yellow brick road.

Oh, and a whole bunch of little people known as the Munchkins of Munchkinland.

Dorothy looks around the weird, mystical place that the tornado seemed to drop her into, not even aware that the house had fallen right on top of somebody, killing them instantly. As it would later be revealed, this proved to be a blessing for the Munchkins, as thanks to an appearance by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, tells Dorothy that the person who the house fell on top of was the Wicked Witch of the East, a rather nasty woman who inflicted pain and fear into the hearts of the Munchkin community.

The Munchkins come out of hiding once they hear that the witch is dead, and celebrate by singing the song 'Ding-Dong, The Witch Is Dead', proving just how broken-hearted they are to hear of the woman's demise.



But, wait! The celebration is interrupted by the sister of the dead witch. The just as wicked, if not more, witch of the West!

Who strangely resembled Dorothy's annoying neighbour, Miss Gulch.

Anyway, the reason for the Wicked Witch of the West dropping in on the scared citizens of Munchkinland was to mourn her sister's passing. Oh, and to get her hands on the powerful ruby red slippers (which in the original novel were silver, but changed to red as a result of the Technicolor filming process). Glinda, proving that she is much more clever than either of the wicked sisters, managed to magically remove the slippers from the dead woman, and place them on the feet of one Dorothy Gale.



(On a side note, wearing a pair of shoes that were just worn by a dead woman...um...ick!)

At any rate, the witch threatens to get Dorothy and her little dog too before disappearing into thin air. At this point, Dorothy is afraid, and all she wants to do is escape this strange new world and go back home. She doesn't know how though. Glinda tells Dorothy that there is a wizard who lives in the Emerald City. He is known as the Wizard of Oz, and he has the power to grant any wish that anyone desires. In order to find the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to get to the Emerald City. Glinda also warns Dorothy that under no circumstances should she ever take off the ruby slippers, or else she would be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West.

And Dorothy did not want that at all.

So, Dorothy set off down the yellow brick road along with Toto, hoping against all odds that the Wizard of Oz could set her free.

What Dorothy didn't count on was the fact that she would soon be encountered by three friends along the way. Three friends who surprisingly looked like the three farmhands that Dorothy had befriended on Auntie Em and Uncle Henry's farm. Peculiar...

The three friends that Dorothy takes with her on her journey are all different backgrounds, natures, and personalities, but like Dorothy, they all feel as if something is missing in their lives, and they agree to accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City in hopes that the Wizard of Oz could help them get something.



Take the Scarecrow for instance (in a dual role by Ray Bolger). The Scarecrow is the first friend that Dorothy meets in her travels. He explains to Dorothy that he always wanted a brain because he didn't feel as though he was smart enough to be a scarecrow, as the crows were no longer afraid of him. Though there are a couple of instances in the film where the Scarecrow is taken apart and Dorothy is forced to put him back together again, the Scarecrow comes up with some rather intelligent ideas during the journey. Not bad for someone who didn't think that he had a brain.



The next person that Dorothy comes across is the Tin Man (Jack Haley), a man completely made out of metal. When Dorothy and the Scarecrow find the Tin Man, it is discovered that he is unable to talk, walk, or even so much as make a sound. It is only by chance that the duo find the Tin Man's oil can and use it to bring the Tin Man back to life. The Tin Man is grateful towards Dorothy, and almost immediately decides to join them on their quest to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Reason? The Tin Man is in need of a heart. He never had a heart inside of him, and he wanted on badly. This despite the fact that he is moved to tears when Dorothy fell under the witches spell crossing the field of poppies that put her to sleep. Despite the fact that of all the characters in the movie, he was always the kindest. A recurring gag in the film was the fact that whenever the Tin Man got caught in wet weather or shed tears, he would rust to the point of being frozen, so Dorothy would have to oil him up once again.



The final character to join the group is the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), shortly after the group talks about how they would hate to be ambushed by lions, and tigers, and bears.

Oh my.

Of course, we all know that this particular King of the Beasts is not exactly the most bravest of the bunch by his name. As if that didn't clue you in enough, when the lion tries to scare Dorothy and her friends, Dorothy ends up scolding the lion by lightly tapping him, and he bursts into tears. It's explained that the lion wants to go see the Wizard of Oz so that he may be able to give him the gift of courage. That's despite the fact that as the movie progressed, he is able to face any fear that comes across his way. Heck, when he first meets the Wizard of Oz, his first instinct is to run away, but he came back. He is also fiercely protective of Dorothy and her friends, and eventually becomes a friend himself as a result.

So, it's interesting...you have four characters in the film, of which three of them claim to be looking for a particular thing they feel they need while surprisingly showing those characteristics that they all claim to be lacking.

Poor Dorothy must be feeling a little left out. But, don't worry, we'll get to that.

After almost being incapacitated by the poisoned poppies, almost getting knocked out by apple-throwing trees, and having the witch and her flying monkeys wreak havoc on the quad every chance they get, they finally arrive at the Emerald City for an audience with the Wizard of Oz. But when they finally meet the Wizard, all they see is a giant head (which kind of reminds me of the giant head the Power Rangers used to communicate with back in the show's heyday). And that giant head tells them that he'll grant their wishes...IF they bring back the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Geez...way to make it easy on them, huh?

As if that weren't bad enough, when the group approaches the witch's castle, the witch sends her army of flying monkeys to distract the attention of Dorothy's friends while Dorothy and Toto are abducted and taken prisoner inside the castle. Inside the castle, the witch cruelly threatens to drown Toto unless Dorothy gives up the ruby slippers, and Dorothy, who couldn't bear to see anything happen to Toto, agrees to hand them over. But when the witch tries to grab the slippers, the magic barrier protecting them gives the witch a rather nasty shock. The witch realizes that in order for her to get the shoes, she must kill Dorothy. An hourglass is set up while she thinks of a way to get the shoes without diminishing their power. When the time ran out, Dorothy's time would run out too.

Fortunately, Toto ended up escaping from the castle and finds the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. From there, the group overpowers some of the guards, steal their clothes, and run through the castle in an effort to free Dorothy. In one final confrontation, the group is trapped by the witch, who immediately attacks them with a barrage of fire, which ignites the Scarecrow's arm. Dorothy tries to put out the flame and we get this iconic scene...



(Just on a side note...if water made the witch melt...could you imagine how ripe she must have been after being unable to shower or bathe with water? Yuck!)

Nevertheless, they got what they came for. They got the broomstick of the now deceased Wicked Witch of the West and brought it back to the Wizard of Oz, hopeful that now that they have brought what he requested, he could use his magic powers to bestow what each of them wanted...

...that is, until Toto whips back a curtain, and it is revealed that the Wizard of Oz is just an ordinary man (who resembles the fortune teller Dorothy visited with before the tornado hit.

The man, once exposed, is extremely apologetic towards Dorothy and her friends, and he immediately tries to appease their disappointment by insisting that all of them had the qualities they were looking for all along.

It was the truth, you know. Take our Scarecrow. He spent years believing that he didn't have a brain, yet ended up being the most intelligent of the whole group. Tin Man thought he didn't have a heart, yet he ended up being the kindest and most emotionally driven character in the whole group. And the Cowardly Lion proved that he wasn't quite so cowardly because despite his fear, he stuck the quest out until the end.



Of course, the wizard did make gifts for each of them to symbolize this fact. He made a brain for the Scarecrow, a heart for the Tin Man, and a medal of courage (which originally was a liquid of courage) for the Not-So-Cowardly Lion. As for Dorothy, it was explained that the Wizard of Oz came from Kansas as well, and had a hot-air balloon stored away for him to return to Kansas one day. He agrees to take Dorothy and Toto home with him in the balloon. But before the balloon could take off from Munchkinland, Toto leaps out of the basket of the balloon. Dorothy leaps out of the balloon after him, but when she reaches Toto, the balloon takes off without her.

Dorothy is upset, feeling as though she has wasted her one chance to go back home...or has she?

The ruby slippers hold the key to her return. And, yes, I am well aware that I am going against my policy to never reveal the ending of a Monday matinee movie, but I'm going by the assumption that most people have seen the movie, so I'm just going to reveal all. This isn't going to happen very often though, so don't expect me to reveal every ending for a film.



As it turns out, the way back home comes with a great message. A life lesson, if you will. It all comes from a special appearance by Glinda the Good Witch of the North, who told Dorothy that she had the power to go back home whenever she wanted to. She just had to realize that she didn't always have to run away from home to find her heart's desire. By clicking her heels three times and saying 'there's no place like home', she could find her way back to Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Hunk, Hickory, Zeke, and everyone else she cared about. And when she does this, she awakens back inside the brown hued world of Kansas where she is reunited with her loved ones. Her loved ones insist that Dorothy only dreamt about the Emerald City, and Munchkinland, and the Wizard of Oz, but she insists that everything that happened to her was real. Though she promises everyone that she will never leave again, and that there is no place like home.

Life lesson learned. Never forget where you came from and realize that in most cases, you really can go home again.

In a way, I do believe this to be true, it's just that in my case, I'm not exactly sure where home really is...but that is a whole different story.

To conclude this rather lengthy look back on one of the most popular and influential films of all-time, here's some little known trivia about the movie itself, as well as some behind the scenes action.

  • Originally, the role of the Tin Man was to be played by Buddy Ebsen (who later gained fame on The Beverly Hillbillies), but after ten days, began to develop an allergic reaction to the makeup used as part of the costume, and had to be replaced by Jack Haley).
  • During the scene in which Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch Of The West) was in Munchkinland, she was severely burned after a stunt involving fire went wrong.
  • The role of the Wicked Witch of the West originally went to Gale Sondergaard, but she left the project when she became unhappy with being turned into an 'ugly hag' persona.
  • W.C. Fields was originally considered as the role of the Wizard of Oz.
  • Both Deanna Durbin and Shirley Temple were originally considered to play the role of Dorothy before Judy Garland was cast.
  • In the original book adaptation, the Tin Man was originally a human being named Nick Chopper. The Wicked Witch of the East had enchanted his axe to chop off all of his limbs, which were replaced with a metal substitute. This continued until the Tin Man was entirely made of metal.
  • It took an entire week for the art department to agree on the exact shade of yellow to be used on the yellow brick road.
  • The movie first aired on network television on November 3, 1956, on CBS.
  • Believe it or not, the song 'Over The Rainbow' was almost left on the cutting room floor! MGM had thought that the segment where Dorothy sang in a barnyard was degrading, and made the Kansas scenes seem lengthy. Mervyn LeRoy (producer), Arthur Fleming (director) and Arthur Freed (associate producer) fought to keep the song in the film. Good thing they did.
  • Contrary to popular belief, no munchkin committed suicide during the filming of The Wizard of Oz.
  • It took a dozen takes to get the scene where Toto runs alongside the actors as they head down the yellow brick road.
  • A couple of scenes were left on the cutting room floor. One scene had Dorothy competing in a singing contest with a snobbish Oz princess. Another scene was left off from the ending, which saw Hunk leaving the farm to attend a school of agriculture. Dorothy promises to write to him every day, which kind of makes the finale seem more special when Dorothy tells the Scarecrow 'I'll miss you most of all...”