By
Abigail Stevens
Published 20 minutes ago
Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University.
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Arguably the greatest fantasy movie ever made is trending on streaming right now, and it's easy to see why. 1939's The Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic and a hugely influential piece of cinema. It is also having a resurgence amid the release of Wicked: For Good, the second half of the prequel and reimagining of the Wizard of Oz's story, focusing on the Ozian witches.
Based on the first novel in the fantasy series written by L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz was directed by Victor Fleming and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley. It is certainly considered one of the best movies of all time, and the American Film Institute's 2008 Top 10 poll series named it the best fantasy movie ever.
Wicked: For Good provides audiences with even more reason to revisit The Wizard of Oz than 2024's Wicked does. Wicked: For Good's timeline overlaps with The Wizard of Oz, and glimpses of Dorothy (with her face obfuscated) are seen throughout the 2025 movie, as the main characters battle for the future of Oz amid the Kansas farmgirl's arrival and journey home.
Dorothy holding a basket in the Wizard of Oz
Hence, The Wizard of Oz is currently at No. 10 amid the Top 10 Movies in the United States on HBO Max today (November 24), a few days after Wicked: For Good's wide theatrical release. It essentially shows the events of Wicked: For Good from Dorothy's perspective, with a few notable variations, due to the needs of the Wicked story and some copyrighted elements.
The Wizard of Oz has been beloved for generations for its hopeful message, iconic performances, and advancements in filmmaking. It is especially famous for its use of Technicolor, groundbreaking technology at the time, which motivated the production to make the Wicked Witch of the West green and the jeweled slippers red (both changes from Baum's book) to showcase the vibrant colors.
Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy, and The Cowardly Lion cowering by door in The Wizard of Oz
Meanwhile, Wicked: For Good is breaking box office records, and the legacy of The Wizard of Oz is at a turning point. News also broke last week that Leonardo DiCaprio's production company is making a Wizard of Oz documentary, about the process of making the 1939 movie, signaling that Wicked will have a lasting impact by renewing interest in the story overall.
However, The Wizard of Oz's legacy is immortal in cinematic history, making it inevitable that people will return to it now and again, perhaps occasionally allowing it to make it to the Top 10 on streaming. This just happens to be a point in time when viewers are again thinking about how the movie shaped cinema and what they can take away from the story today.
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The Wizard of Oz
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed G Adventure Fantasy Family Release Date August 25, 1939 Runtime 102 minutes Director Victor Fleming Writers Edgar Allan Woolf, Florence Ryerson, Noel Langley, L. Frank Baum Producers Mervyn LeRoy
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Judy Garland as Dorothy, with the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow from 1939's The Wizard of Oz
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
Glinda saving Dorothy in the poppy field in The Wizard of Oz
Glinda and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in Munchkinland
Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy, and The Cowardly Lion cowering by door in The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy's ruby slippers in the wizard of oz
The Munchkins singing to Dorothy in Munchkin Land in The Wizard of Oz.
Dorothy and her friends head up the Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy, Toto, and Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz endingClose
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Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale
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Ray Bolger
"Hunk" / Scarecrow
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The Wizard of Oz
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