The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films in cinema history, it is the best-known and most commercially successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming (who left production to take over direction on the troubled "Gone with the Wind" production). It stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, alongside Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton, with Charley Grapewin, Pat
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was exposed to many people, so the inspiration for the story could have been taken from many different aspects of his life. In the introduction to the story, Baum writes that "it aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out." This is one of the explanations that he gives for the inspiration for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Baum, a former salesman of china, wrote in chapter 20 about china that had sprung to life. The original illustrator of the novel, W. W. Denslow, could