Break out those ruby red slippers, PopWatchers! Today marks the 70th anniversary of 1939’s epic The Wizard of Oz. And the only thing more impressive than the film’s ability to hold up for contemporary audiences is the fact that there are still some munchkins alive to celebrate the movie’s septuagenarian status. If the secret to long life is a diet of lollipops, I’m in!
Though rightly revered for its ground-breaking visual effects, and Judy Garland’s effervescent on-screen presence, we know what’s most fun about the film: the quoteables. While famous quotes from old-time films like All About Eve (“Fasten your seatbelts—it’s going to be a bumpy night.“) and Auntie Mame (“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!“) are slowly but tragically being omitted from the lexicons of future generations, The Wizard of Oz’s best lines continue to be referenced by folks of all ages. Who hasn’t seen an embroidered pillow reading “There’s no place like home”? Or screamed “I’m melting! Melting! Oh, what a world, what a world!” during an oppressively hot day?
So let’s pet our little dogs and toast the classic film with a poll of your favorite Wizard of Oz quotes! Tell me, PopWatchers, which famous lines from the film do you find yourself referencing most? List them below, or…I’ll bite you myself!
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If I was the King of the Forrest.
I’m melting.
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
I always loved “I think I’ll miss you most of all,” because it’s like, Oh. Well. Fine, be that way, ha ha. Yikes.
I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!!!
“Some people go this way, some people go that way, and of course some people go BOTH ways!”
Frightened? Child, you’re talking to a man who’s laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe… I was petrified.
Growing up, my family’s favorite quote from “The Wizard of Oz” was always, “And Toto, too” which the good witch answers to Dorothy’s question about taking her dog home to Kansas. I think we all liked the alliteration if the line.
Cowardly Lion to the Wizard:
But what if…she kills us first?
Glinda (aka Galinda) to Dorothy: Its always good to start at the beginning… Just follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Amen, Glenda!
Who rang that Bell?
Hearts will never be practical until they’re made to be unbreakable
I love this quote!
I’ll get you my pretty, and you’re little dog too! says all you need to know about the Wicked Witch of the West. She uses a term of endearment while threatening a person – and just to make sure we know how bad she is – she lets Dorothy know that even after Dorothy is “gotten” – Toto will get his too.
“Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road! Follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road!”
ding dong the witch is dead!
“Whiling away the hours, confirming with the flowers, consulting with the rain”.
Has everyone forgotten what may be the two most well-known quotes from that movie? “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” And, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.”
You are right!
Glinda’s statement to Dorothy when Dorothy claims she doesn’t have a broom. “Well I am afraid, you’ll have to walk.” The delivery is kind of cold blood because she does make her walk instead of giving her a ride in the bubble.
She had to walk – something Glinda of course knew – because she had to experience the journey to discover things about herself that she would not have discovered had Glinda “given her a ride in the bubble”. The whole point is the journey…
My little brother (he was 5 at the time) loved that movie and he was always spouting off lines. I remember we were all eating dinner, and out of nowhere he shouts, “Now, that’s a horse of a different color!”
“She bit her dog, eh?”
“Elmyra Gultch, just because you own have the county doesn’t mean you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I’ve been dying to tell you what I thought of you and now, well being a Christian woman I can’t say it.”
“If I ever go look for me hearts desire I won’t look any further than my own backyard because if it isn’t there I never lost it to begin with.”
“I’m never going to leave here ever, ever again. Because I love you all and oh Auntie Em there’s no place like home!”
I meant MY hearts desire.
You stole mine! I’ve always been partial to Aunt Em’s verbal bitch slap to Miss Gulch as well! Love it love it!
Whadda they got that I ain’t got? Courage!!!
What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the ape in apricot?
It’s a Twister, It’s a Twister!
“I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do, I *do*!”
Just watched this with a church group over the weekend — we did an interactive version where you blow bubbles when you see Glinda, eat lollipops when the Lollipop Guild sings, etc. It was a ton of fun!
Anyway, one of my favorites:
Dorothy: “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?”
Scarecrow: “I don’t know… But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking… don’t they?”
“Some people without brains do an AWFUL lot of talking, don’t they??”
I’ve always loved that line, because it’s so true! Especially when you’re a kid and the adults around you just don’t seem to make sense, then you grow up and realize that even as an adult yourself, they STILL don’t make sense!
Runner up: “I’ll get you my pretty, and you’re little dog too!”
I frequently add “…and your little dog too!” to any statement I want to emphasize. Most often in the context of “F*** you, and your little dog too.”
“Be gone, before some one drops a house on you too.”
That’s the one! I was going to post that one until I saw your note. Best line in the movie!
Somewhere over the rainbow…