Plot: This American fairy tale written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 is the story of Dorothy Gale, a young farm girl from Kanas who is whisked away from her farm to the wonderful land of Oz, populated by magical creatures, wicked witches, and a mysterious wizard who lives in the Emerald City, who can supposedly grant any wish, including Dorothy’s to return home. Along the way, she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion who each wish for a virtue they lack (a brain, a heart, courage, respectively) and accompany Dorothy on her journey, as they avoid the evil Wicked Witch of the West, who hunts the group because she wants Dorothy’s magical shoes. Eventually, Dorothy’s friends receive what they desire, though not in the ways they expected, and Dorothy is sent home. The book lends itself to political interpretation, as it was originally written to be political satire as well as a fantasy story.
Movie and Cast: Inspired by the Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, that showed that audiences were open to fantasy movies, MGM wanted to follow suit by adapting Baum’s fantasy story of The Wizard of Oz. The studio wanted to cast big name stars with a fan following: Judy Garland was an established singer, Ray Bolger, who plays the Scarecrow, was a vaudeville actor and singer, among others. The movie changed some elements, but kept what made the book so appealing.
Similarities: The four core characters, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were kept, well as their objective to get to the Emerald City to have their desires granted, defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, and for Dorothy to go back home to Kanas. Key elements like Dorothy landing in Munchkin Land, killing the Wicked Witch of the East, and encountering the field of sleeping poppies are also kept for the movie.
Differences: The main change that the movie made was the ending, as it was revealed that Oz was just a dream, not a real place, as it is in the book. Also, some of the darker elements were toned down for the movie, in order to project it as a more fantastical film, and some of the more political aspects touched upon, but not highlighted as much, presenting the film as a fantasy, not politically satirical.
Other changes in the movie included music added, less violence (the wolves, crows and bees were taken out in the movie), two witch characters combined (Glinda in the movie was a combination of the witches of the North and South in the book), many characters taken out (minor characters like Boq and specific Emerald City citizens, the Queen of the Mice and her subjects, the leader of the flying monkeys, the entire kingdoms of China Country and the Animal Kingdom), the fact that they meet the Wizard together in the movie, but separately in the book, the subplot of the Tin Man ruling over the Winkies and the Lion ruling over the Animal Kingdom, and overall, the tone of the movie is much lighter and less political compared to the book.
Freudian Wizard of Oz blog 