The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Vs. Film

As I have stated before, the plot within the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the film The Wizard of Oz differ greatly. The film and novel differ the most in their characterization and the honoring of the fairy tale rules.

The first way that the film and the novel differ is in the characterization of the various characters in the tale. The novel briefly describes each character while the film gives all the major characters dual roles: one for reality and one for Dorthy's fantasy. For example, at the start of the film several characters are introduced before Dorthy encouters Oz which include the farm hands named Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke, Mrs. Gulch, and the fortune teller. Later when Dorthy enters the land of Oz, the people that she knew at her home in Kansas transform into the characters in the land of Oz. Hunk becomes the scarecrow, Hickory transforms into the tin man, Zeke is the cowardly lion, and Mrs. Gulch transforms into the Wicked Witch of the West. The characters in Kansas often hint at their potential transformation which helps to foreshadow events to come. Next, the book honors the fantasy rule that the author must stay consistent with the fantasy element throughout the book and must not take the fantasy element out of the story at the conclusion. Unfortunately, the film does not honor this crucial rule. In the novel, Dorthy is actually taken to her home back in Kansas after clicking the heels of her magical shoes together, while in the movie Dorthy recovers from a deep sleep resulting from a bump on the head during the cyclone. She soon realizes that Oz is merely a dream. Aspects that are original to the book are listed below.

Book

1. Oz has the ability to change form. Throughtthe film we see him transfrom to a head, a lovely maiden, and a ball of fire.
2. The color of Dorthy's shoes are silver.
3. Everything is green in the Emerald City. Everyone must wear spectacles so that everyone and everything appears green.
4. Kalidahs are present. These animals arehalf tiger and half bear.
5. Even though the book contains the winged monkeys,they are only called at the command of a magical cap. The monkeys must be called three times with the magical cap.
6. When the Lion falls into a deadly sleep in the field of poppies, a group of field mice rescue him by pulling him out of the field with bits of string.
7. The book contains the country of Quadlings and China. ( In the land of China, all things are breakable.)
8. The Scarecrow is almost destroyed when the foursome travel on a raft. He sticks a pole in the water and the raft travels in the other direction. At last, a stork rescues him.
9. The Witch plays a relatively small role in the book. We meet the Witch of the West in the second half of the story. In the film, however, the witch practically drives the entire plot.

Below is a clip from the film: The Wizard of Oz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOEq-ImGWJ0&feature=related