The Wizard of Oz (3-Disc Collector's Edition) (DVD)

The Wizard of Oz, a timeless classic, we can only be happy that the home video rights to the film lie in the appropriate hands as Warner Home Video seems to be the studio most concerned with preserving its classic films on DVD, and considering their library it is quite a task.

In true fashion, just as Warners has done recently with Ben-Hur and Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz has received a major makeover in the sound and visual department. This DVD presents Oz with a brand new digital restoration that is honestly astonishing and a newly remastered audio track that has taken the original mono track and separated it all out giving it a 5.1 treatment. Needless to say, the presentation is flawless and there is an accompanying featurette on disc one going over the restoration process giving you an idea of how many hours go into it, then showing you before and after comparisons.

Also on disc one is a massive audio commentary guided by Sydney Pollack as he introduces each new voice. The commentary primarily features famed Oz historian John Fricke, but it also includes selected archival material by family members of the cast and crew and the cast and crew themselves. Most often, commentaries with anyone other than those involved bores me, but for Oz fanatics you will feel right at home. My only problem is that Fricke speaks as a historian, very factual in his style, much less conversational than most commentaries, but that does not take away from the information he offers up.

The rest of the features are primarily guided by the recognizable voice of Angela Lansbury as discs two and three contain so much information on The Wizard of Oz it will be a wonder if you can actually watch it all. Honest to God, this 3-disc set has over 13 hours of special features! Instead of going into each individual one, how about some highlights.

Disc two contains two documentaries, which previously aired on television, focusing on the making of the film and its impact on movie history. It also has two new documentaries that continue in the same tradition but focus more on Oz's impact on Hollywood also offering up a tribute to the film as an achievement in imagination. One thing you will learn from these docs is why The Scarecrow is the one that Dorothy will miss the most and that they almost discarded the Oscar-winning song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." One humorous highlight is hearing director John Waters' bewilderment on why Dorothy would want to leave Oz.

Waters says:

For those of you interested in what you have not seen, considering how popular deleted scenes are, you are going to be some happy campers. Not only does this set have deleted scenes and outtakes, it also has test footage from the creation of the famed tornado that whisked Dorothy out of Kansas and into Oz. Unfortunately, it doesn't show how it was made, but it does give you a much more personal look at the twister than you could ever have expected. As for the deleted scenes and outtakes, there is only a handful and for the most part it is "audio only" but when they can show you something they do. This includes a rehearsal run for one of the scenes and an uncut look at The Scarecrow's musical introduction.

Disc two is capped off with more audio than you can shake a stick at including what is described as an "Oz jukebox" with recording session materials, radio shows and promo clips.

Next, to disc three, which is exclusive to the 3-disc set, where Oz enthusiasts may just wet themselves. What you have here are five versions of The Wizard of Oz prior to this 1939 version including the animated short from 1933, which ends with the Wizard magically hatching a bunch of chicken eggs, which all birth a strange half-breed of chicken. Now, while this was initially odd, I learned the reasoning behind it in the brand new documentary on this disc focusing on the creator of "The Wizard of Oz," L. Frank Baum. While they didn't comment specifically on the animated short, they did mention one thing Baum did to occupy his active imagination was to tend to his exotic breed of chickens. Sounds like inspiration enough for an animated short to me.

Finally, the last thing this 3-disc set holds over its 2-disc counterpart is the inclusion of what makes this one really special. Along with the hours upon hours of Oz retrospective material on DVD you also get it on paper. Included are two separate envelopes, each holding different vintage reproductions of Oz memorabilia.

First you have the 1939 Promotional Portfolio, which contains reproductions of the original eight-page Grauman's Chinese Theater Oz souvenir program, the invitation to that premiere, the 16-page MGM Studio News magazine from August 1939, a Photoplay Studies magazine from 1939 focusing on The Wizard of Oz and a look at seven different posters for the film on one mini contact sheet. The other folder contains the 1939 Kodachrome Portfolio, which are ten hi-gloss portraits and on-set photos from the film on heavy duty paper stock.

Overall, this set has more Oz than I could handle. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie just as much as the next person, but there is only so much I can take of it. Since watching these features the only thing I can hear in my head is, "Ding dong the witch is dead. Which old witch? The Wicked Witch." It is a great tune, but when those are the three lines you know from it, it becomes quite maddening. However, that is no reason not to buy it. The only decision you have to make is whether you want the 2-disc version or the 3-disc. The decision should be pretty easy to make however. You choose the 2-disc if special features and cool little memorabilia stuff isn't important to you. Basically, if you like watching the movies and you may catch some deleted scenes now and again go for the 2-disc.

For the rest of you, the 3-disc is your way to go. The difference between the two are the two folders I described above and the third disc. Either way, you are going to be happy. I don't think there was anything left on the Warner lot to fit into this collection.