Schallert, Edward. "Fairy Tale of Oz Called Milestone in Fantasy" Los Angeles Times 16 August, 1939, A18. ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986). ProQuest.

This is a review of the premier of The Wizard of Oz. It starts and ends with praise and has Schallert has no doubt it will have worldwide appeal. He claims even with all the “to do” of a premiere, the film exceeded his every expectation. He praises it as original and not what he has come to know as the formulaic Hollywood. He likes the use of the color because it adds meaning to the story. He thinks MGM’s choice of actors was superb. He likes the story and the films ability to have him “rooting for Dorothy”. He admires the technical feat and comments that it finally challenges Disney. He then continues to compliment everyone he thinks deserves praise in making such a great movie.

This is a review of the movie right when it came out and Schallert seemed to love it. I think its important to note that the majority of the review doesn’t spend time focusing on the technical genius of the film, which is something that could potentially be outdated. Additionally, it is important to note that much of the use of the “technology” was to the advantage of the story of the film. For example, the film was one of the first shot in color and used the Technicolor Process. This process tended to over exaggerate the colors on screen and made things seem almost unreal. This worked perfectly for the film because while Kansas was shot in black and white with a sepia tone, it was Oz that was shot in color. This “unrealistic color” lent itself to the idea that Oz was a fantasy land. Also the limited ability in special effects allowed for the melting of the witch to be lighter hearted and less gruesome. In essence, the story benefited from the limited technology of the time, rather than being hindered by it. Additionally, something briefly touched on in this article was that this story is one of the only fairy tales completely American in origin, which may not lend to its international popularity, but certainly can help give Americans a sense of pride when the watch it (which inevitably makes them like the film more)