Oz Sightings

Film and Television with brief or vague references to Oz

  • Walter Lang's The Blue Bird (1-19-40) [MGM style and scene references] (Fox)
  • George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story (1940) [Drunken Macauley Cooper sings "Over the Rainbow" while carrying Tracy Lord] (MGM/UA)
  • George Seaton's Junior Miss (1945) ["Over the Rainbow" featured]
  • Anthony Mann's The Glenn Miller Story (1953) ["Over the Rainbow" featured] (Republic; MGM/UA)
  • Charles Vidor's Love Me or Leave Me (1955) [doll on sofa dressed like Glinda] (MGM/UA)
  • Curtis Benedict's Interrupted Melody (1955) ["Over the Rainbow" featured] (MGM/UA)
  • The $64,000 Question (?--7 June 1955-9 November 1958?) [Boris Karloff tries to guess the Wogglebug's "H.M." and "T.E."; not really a reference but of interest nonetheless: Geoffrey Holder, later the director-costume designer of The Wiz on Broadway, won $16,000 on the program.]
  • Ford Star Jubilee (11-3-56) [MGM film featured])
  • Joseph R. Juliano's Hollywood Hist-o-Rama (1961) [MGM film featured]
  • Harry Smith's Heaven and Earth Magic/Number 12 (1957-1962) [reference to Spoon Soldiers of Utensia] (Mystic Fire Video)
  • The Jack Paar Show (12-2-62) [Judy reminisces about working with Ray, Bert, and Jack]
  • Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) [I think there is a copy of The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman on the floor when Melanie is attacked, though I am not absolutely certain.] (MCA/Universal)
  • The Jack Paar Program (1963) [Judy makes fun of Billy Curtis, et al.]
  • Guy Green's A Patch of Blue (1965) ["Over the Rainbow" featured] (MGM/UA)
  • Pascual Cervera's El Rayo Desintegrador/Aventuras de Quinque y Arturo el Robot (1965) [MGM-style Tin Woodman character]
  • Leonard Katzman's Space Monster/First Woman into Space/Space Station Taurus/Flight Beyond the Sun/Voyage Into the Sun (1965) [brain-restored Flathead-type Martian from The Wizard of Mars appears]
  • Josepeh Sargent's Star Trek--The Corbomite Maneuver (11-10-66) [Balok hides behind screen with huge head] (Paramount)
  • Ed De Priest's One Million AC/DC (1969) [MGM dialogue parody: "I'm off to see the lizard!" (written by Edward D. Wood, Jr. as Akdon Telmig)] (Something Weird)
  • Ishir_ Honda's Ido Zero Daisakusen/Latitude Zero (7-26-69) [Baum-Oz style; MGM style counterpart conclusion sans prologue] (Pacific)
  • Here Comes the Grump (6 Semptember 1969-4 September 1971) [reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz] (New Line Home Video; Congress Video Group (LP mode))
  • Hollingsworth Morse's H.R. Pufnstuf (6 September 1969-4 September 1971) [Neill-Oz style] (Embassy)
  • Hollingsworth Morse's Pufnstuf (1970) [Neill-Oz style]
  • Boris Sagal's The Omega Man (1971) [MGM reference] (Warner)
  • Robert Fuest's The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) [Trumpet version of "Over the Rainbow" played on the end credits over the Phibes' sun coffin] (Vestron/Orion; Orion--The Vincent Price Collection)
  • Robert Fuest's Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) [Dr. Phibes rows down the river of life singing "Over the Rainbow"] (Vestron/Orion; Orion--The Vincent Price Collection)
  • The Wizard of Odds (1973-74) [title spoof--Alex Trebek game show]
  • Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) [MGM style reference--farmyard] (Warner)
  • Jack Haley, Jr.'s That's Entertainment! (1974) [MGM film featured] (MGM/UA)
  • Gene Levitt's The Phantom of Hollywood (1974) [MGM film featured]
  • Jim Sharman's The Rocky Horror Picture Show (9-29-75) [reference] (Fox)
  • Michael Winner's Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (5/76) [MGM film referenced]
  • Blake Edwards's The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) [MGM film referenced] (Fox)
  • John Leone's The Great Smokey Roadblock/The Last of the Cowboys (1976) [Leigh French's character called "Glinda"] (Media Home Entertainment)
  • Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) [Alvee Singer (to Annie): "You could live like this? This is Munchkinland!"] (MGM/UA)
  • John Landis's The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) [MGM finale parody] (Best Film & Video Corp.)
  • Mel Brooks's High Anxiety (1977) [MGM film referenced] (Fox)
  • George Lucas's Star Wars-- Episode IV: A New Hope (5-25-77) [MGM and Baum references] (Fox)
  • Nick De Noia's The Magic Hat (1977) [Miss Gulch musical spoof--Jack Feldman] (Fox)
  • Jackie Cooper's Rainbow (1978) [fiction biopic of Judy Garland featuring behind the scenes on The Wizard of Oz; with Piper Laurie (!) as Ethel Gumm] (VCII)
  • Ernie Fosselius's Hardware Wars (1978) [MGM-style Tin Woodman character: 4-Q-2] (Warner; Pyramid; Michael Wiese Productions [1997 unauthorized Special Edition])
  • Jim Abrahams's Airplane! (1980) [MGM dialogue reference] (Paramount)
  • Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits (1980) [MGM references] (Paramount)
  • Arthur Rankin, Jr.; Jules Bass, Fumihiko Takayama, and Katsuhisa Yamada's The Flight of Dragons (1982) [The Wizard of Oz in Carolinus's library of unwritten books] (Warner)
  • Martha Collidge's Valley Girl/Bad Boyz (1983) [Chadwick film referenced] (Vestron)
  • Richard Marquand's Star Wars-- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) [The Wiz reference--tilt to Subway Peddler/music (Joseph Williams)] (Fox)
  • Ripley's Believe it Or Not (10-2-83) [MGM film featured; Jitterbug home movie featured]
  • Peter Zbignew and Don McLennan's On the Road with Circus Oz (1983) [name reference only]
  • Bob Clark's A Christmas Story (11-18-83) [MGM characters in department store] (MGM/UA)
  • Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983) [episode featuring co-workers code-named "Dorothy" and "Tin Man"]
  • Joe Dante's Gremlins (1984) [MGM character reference--Mrs. Deagle] (Warner)
  • Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker's Top Secret! (1984) [MGM film spoofed] (Paramount)
  • Jack Haley Jr.'s That's Dancing! (1-14-85) [MGM deleted Scarecrow's dance featured] (MGM/UA)
  • Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985) [Marcy: "My husband was a movie freak. Actually, he was paticularly obsessed with one movie, The Wizard of Oz. He talked about it constantly. I thought it was cute at first. On our wedding night, I was a virgin. When we made love--you've seen the movie, haven't you?" Paul Hackett: "The Wizard of Oz? Yeah." Marcy: "Well, whenever he-- you know, when he came..." Paul: "Yeah." Marcy: "...he would scream out, `Surrender Dorothy!` That's all! Just `Surrender Dorothy!`"] (Warner)
  • Peter Greenaway's A Zed & Two Noughts (ZOO) (1985) [The Tin Woodman of Oz references] (Pacific Arts)
  • The Walt Disney Comedy and Magic Revue (1985) [Return to Oz (Murch) featured] (Disney)
  • Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) [Miss Gulch musical spoof in Studio Chase--Danny Elfman] (Warner)
  • Josh Becker's Stryker's War/Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985) [MGM film mentioned on radio obituary of Judy Garland] (Prism; Starmaker [EP mode])
  • Ed Friedman, Lou Kachivas, Marsh Lamore, Bill Reed, and Gwen Wetzler's The Secret of the Sword (1985) [Journey Back to Oz visual reference--Horde Tank pileup] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Peter Werner's Moonlighting--The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice (10-15-85) [David Addison (wakened from a black and white dream): "Auntie Em? Uncle Henry?"]
  • Barry Levinson's Good Morning, Vietnam (1986) [reference] (Fox)
  • Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors (1986) [MGM dialogue parody: Audrey II (to Audrey): "and you ain't in Kansas neitha!"] (Warner)
  • Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986) [book reference; Baum-Oz style] (Nelson)
  • Spike Lee's she's gotta have it (8-20-86) [Jamie Overstreet (to Nola): I want you to click your heels together three times and repeat after me: there's no place like home. After hesitation, she does this, and a full color birthday dance follows.] (Fox; Polygram Video)
  • Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1/87) [book fighting trees spoof; The Tin Woodman of Oz references; MGM & Chadwick tornado spoof] (Vestron)
  • Raymond Jafelice's The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987) [MGM, Chadwick, Sutherland, and MWS references] (MCA)
  • Mel Brooks's Spaceballs (1987) [MGM throne room spoof] (MGM/UA)
  • Jerry Rees's The Brave Little Toaster (1987) [MGM dialogue reference: "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"; Journey Back to Oz visual reference: Tinland] (Disney)
  • Greg Stump's The Blizzard of AAHHH's (1988) [title spoof] (Atlantic)
  • Spike Lee's School Daze (1988) [Gamma Ray chant includes "through the misty mists and the dusky dusk", and Herbert Stothart's "March of the Winkies;" the magnificent major references] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Michael Lehmann's Heathers (1988) [reference] (New World; Anchor Bay/Video Treasues [Widescreen Collectors' Edition])
  • James Signorelli's Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) [reference] (New World; Starmaker)
  • Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (6-21-88) [reference]
  • Mike Jittlov's The Wizard of Speed and Time (1988) [MGM references: off to see the Wizard, Ruby Slippers, poster] (SGE; Starmaker [EP mode])
  • Michele Soavi's La Chiesa/The Church (1988) [The Magic Cloak of Oz reference--the mirror in the castle] (SGE)
  • Les Landau's Star Trek: The Next Generation--The Schizoid Man (1988) [Dr. Ira Graves whistles and explains the song "If I Only Had a Heart" for Data.] (Paramount)
  • Phil Alden Robinson's Field of Dreams (1989) [reference] (MCA/Universal)
  • Joe Johnston's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) [Amy: "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto." Nick: "I don't think we're in the food chain anymore, Dorothy."] (Disney)
  • Tim Burton's Batman (1989) [Jack Napier (à la Margaret Hamilton), after being splashed with water by Vicki Vale, destroying his flesh-tone makeup: "I'm melting! (mumbling) What a world! What a world!"] (Warner)
  • Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (11-1-89) [portions of people's clothing (Jean-Paul Gautier) change color to fit the color scheme of each room] (Vidmark)
  • Julien Temple's Earth Girls Are Easy (1989) [MGM film spoofed] (Vestron)
  • Robert Scheerer's Star Trek: The Next Generation--Tin Man (4-21- 89) [title & themes] (Paramount)
  • Joe Dante's Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) [MGM witch melt spoof] (Warner)
  • Willard Carroll's The Runestone (1990) [MGM haunted forest reference] (Live)
  • Mark Jacobson's Emerald City (2-9-91) [need I say any more except that playwright/screenwriter David Williamson is the brother-in-law of Chris Löfve_?]
  • Siu-Tung Ching's [Kwai Lai (Stanley) Tong] Xiao ao jiang hu zhi dong fang bu bai/Swordsman II (1991) [Warrior gains magical powers by becoming a woman, played by Brigitte Lin]
  • Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise (5/91) [J.D. (to Thelma): "I'm the great and powerful Oz; who do you wanna be?"] (MGM/UA)
  • Richard Linklater's Slacker (1991) [MGM reference] (Fox Lorber)
  • David Zucker's The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) [spoof] (Paramount)
  • Rachel Talalay's Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) [MGM film spoofed] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Perfect Strangers-- (1991) [Balki sings "This Merry Old House of Ours"]
  • Luis Valdez's La Pastorela/The Shepherd's Tale (1991) [MGM structure] (Rincon Children's Entertainment)
  • Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy, and Stuart Samuels's Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (1992) [MGM film featured] (Fox)
  • Robert Altman's The Player (5-13-92) [Griffin Mill (to Bonnie): "I'm not Oz; I can't do everything."] (New Line Home Video)
  • Phil Alden Robinson's Sneakers (1992) [reference] (MCA/Universal)
  • Karen Peterson, Graham Morris, and Dan Hennessey's X-Men--Night of the Sentinels Part II (10-31-92) [Wolverine (to Sentinel): "Hey! Tin Woodsman! I'm sending you back to Oz...in pieces!"] (Saban)
  • Dario Argento's Trauma (1992) [Return to Oz (Murch) references] (Republic)
  • Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness (1992) [MGM & Chadwick tornado spoof; The Tin Woodman of Oz references] (MCA/Universal)
  • Albert Pyun's Nemesis (1992) [The Tin Woodman of Oz references] (Imperial Entertainment, Inc.)
  • Shigenori Kageyama's Kumo Kai no Meiky_ [Cloud World's Mystery]/Labyrinth in the Clouds/Zeguy (1993) [Baum-Oz style; Toho ONM references; Return to Oz (Murch) references] (Central Park Media/U.S Manga Corps.)
  • Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle (1993) ["Over the Rainbow" featured] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Jim Abrahams's Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) [MGM film spoofed] (Fox)
  • Over the Rainbow (1993) [British Comedy Series]
  • Dan Goggin and David Stern's Nunsense (1993) [spoof of Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West] (Acorn Video Group)
  • Henry Selick's Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (10- 28-93) [The Patchwork Girl of Oz reference--Sally's severed leg] (Touchstone)
  • Barry Sonnenfeld's Addams Family Values (11-19-93) [MGM film spoofed] (Paramount)
  • Chet Lishawa's Rush Limbaugh-- (1993) [Ross Perot replaced with mask shot of Charley Becker as the mayor]
  • The Simpsons-- (10-21-93) [MGM Winkie chant parody]
  • Herman's Head-- (10-26-93) [MGM fill-in awards parody]
  • Picket Fences-- (11-12-93) [Oz costumes stolen from community theater]
  • Phenom-- (11-16-93) [episode ending with curtain call for MGM-style school play]
  • Caroline Thomas's A Century of Cinema (1994) [MGM film featured]
  • Bud Friedgen and Michael J. Sheridan's That's Entertainment! III (1994) [MGM film featured] (MGM/UA)
  • Ji de... xiang jiao cheng shu shi II: Chu lian qing ren/Over the Rainbow Under the Skirt (1994)
  • Ellen-- (11-2-94) [MGM dialogue reference]
  • The Vicar of Dibley-- (11-25-94) [Hugo dressed as Dorothy]
  • The Simpsons-- (1994?) [Homer puts on glasses and recites the Pythagorean theorem incorrectly]
  • Joe Johnston and Maurice Hunt's The Pagemaster (11-23-94) [The Wizard of Oz on shelf; road of yellow brick in fantasyland] (Fox)
  • Mariners--Diamond in an Emerald City (19??--before 1996) [title (references Seattle, of course)] (Baseball Productions #134110)
  • Caroline in the City-- (1995) [episode with Flying Monkey joke]
  • Bryan Spicer's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (6-30-95) [The Wiz reference] (Fox)
  • Amy Heckerling's Clueless (7-19-95) [someone makes a joke about someone being related to Oz's Dorothy ("friend of Dorothy" homosexual epithet?)] (Paramount)
  • Brad Silberling's Casper (7-28-95) [MGM film spoofed] (MCA/Universal)
  • John Lasseter's Toy Story (11-22-95) [Woody (attempting to escape Sid's house): "There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"] (Disney)
  • Joe Johnston's Jumanji (12-15-95) [excerpt of MGM film--Nick vs. the Winged Monkeys] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Ted Demme's Beautiful Girls (2-9-96) [MGM & Chadwick references] (Miramax)
  • Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (3-29-96) [reference] (Fox)
  • Jim Mallon's Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (4-19-96) [reference] (MCA/Universal)
  • Jan De Bont's Twister (5-10-96) [MGM reference] (Warner)
  • Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (6-21- 96) [MGM film spoofed] (Disney)
  • Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (7-2-96) [first daughter (Deirdre) nicknamed "Munchkin"] (Fox)
  • Ben Burtt's Special Effects: Anything Can Happen (7-4-96) [MGM film featured]
  • Francis Ford Coppola's Jack (8-9-96) [reference] (Hollywood)
  • Arlene Sanford's A Very Brady Sequel (8-23-96) [reference] (Paramount)
  • Doug Liman's Swingers (9-7-96) [reference] (Miramax)
  • Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge (9-13-96) [MGM reference] (Live)
  • Guy Pepper's Dateline NBC (late 1996, probably early October) [Train Photographer guy said his swindling ex-wife was like the Wicked Witch of the West: "Don't nobody bring me no bad news."]
  • Jonathan Frakes's Star Trek: First Contact (11-22-96) [MGM dialogue parody: Picard (to Lily): "You're not in Montana anymore."] (Paramount)
  • Hettie MacDonald's Beautiful Thing (11-28-96) [MGM film referenced] (Columbia/TriStar)
  • Michael Hoffman's One Fine Day (11-30-96) [MGM film featured] (Fox)
  • Peter Segal's My Fellow Americans (12-7-96) [MGM reference-- homosexuals dressed as Dorothy] (Warner)
  • Caroline in the City-- (1996) ("O-Z" in big bold letters on the back of old man's newspaper]
  • Will MacKenzie's Caroline in the City-- (1996) [Caroline: "They all have buckles and beads and bows!" Richard: "Oh my..."
  • Mark Russell (day after inauguration) [parody of "If I Only Had a Brain"]
  • Ink-- (1/97) [episode with flying monkey joke]
  • Jim Abrahams's ...First do no harm (2-16-97) [Aretha Franklin performance of "Over the Rainbow"] (Buena Vista)
  • The Drew Carey Show-- (2-25-97) [Drew: "...and then the Tin Man came by with some three magic beans..."]
  • A&E Biography--Judy Garland (3-23-97) [MGM film featured]
  • Mark Dindal's Cats Don't Dance (4-11-97) [MGM reference] (Warner)
  • Mick Jackson's Volcano (4-25-97) [MGM reference] (Fox)
  • Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman (1997) [MGM reference]
  • Alexandre Aja's Over the Rainbow (1997)
  • Michael Dimich's Politically Incorrect (5-16-97) [Bill Maher (on Roseanne as the Wicked Witch): "In this version, the witch falls on the house!"]
  • Nightline--Reclaiming Yosemite (5-23-97) ["Over the Rainbow" played on a harmonica]
  • John Woo's Face/Off (6-27-97) ["Over the Rainbow" played during a shootout] (Paramount)
  • Robert Zemeckis's Contact (7-5-97) [multiple Oz references, including radio signal of "Over the Rainbow" and hot air balloon with "THIS WAY TO OZ" imprinted upon it. The name Ellie may or may not be a reference to Volkov.]
  • Nick Gomez and Darnell Martin's Oz (7-12-97-) [TV series dealing with Oswald Correctional Facility, shortened to Oz, with its most hardened criminals in the sector nicknamed "The Emerald City"]
  • America's Most Wanted--From Vancouver (7-19-97) [National Freight Train Rider's association graffiti of "Tin Man"]
  • David Fincher's The Game (9-12-97) [reference]
  • Oliver Stone's U Turn (10-3-97) [reference]
  • Styart Gillard's Rocket Man (10-10-97) [reference]
  • Suddenly Susan (10-13-97) ["Oz never did nuthin' to the Tin Man that the Tin Man didn't already have!" (from the song "Tin Man" by America)]
  • Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (10-23-97) [Question about MGM film and statement that it was based on L. Frank Baum's series]
  • 3rd Rock from the Sun (10-29-97) [one character dressed as MGM Dorothy]

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