I'm testing a theory that Victor Fleming's masterpiece "The Wizard of Oz" is so woven into popular culture that someone or something makes reference to it at least once every day. It comes up in conversations, songs, TV shows, ads, other films, colloquial saying, etc. For one year I'll be updating this blog each time Oz comes up. Check back daily to see if the theory holds water, or melts in it. (And try it yourself. You'll start to notice Oz everywhere, I promise.)

Friday, November 30, 2007

Tin Man

i've been so busy i haven't had time to update. just saw a commercial for "Tin Man", a sci original mini-series. it's a remake of Oz.

yesterday Oprah made an Oz reference. (i have it recorded in the DVR, i'll have to get the exact quote tomorrow)

well, "Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: The Making of 'Tin Man'" just came on. i better see what this thing is all about

Sunday, November 25, 2007

ahhhh

crap. been so busy i've neglected the blog.

just got back from Target where i saw about 15 Oz-related items. i'll count that.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

muchkin star

MSN's homepage features a video story about a munchkin who is getting a star in Hollywood. Here's a link to the story:

Munchkin gets a Hollywood star

Monday, November 19, 2007

where are you, Wiz?

Dorothy? ... Toto? ... Tin Man? ... Flying monkeys? ... Wicked Witch? ... Man behind the curtain? ... Horse of a Different Color? (an effect WAAAAY ahead of its time) ... Tornado? ... Lollipop Guild? ... Hot air balloon? ... Scary witch socks? ... Scarecrow slipping around Oz? ... Somewhere over the rainbow? ... Oh wee oh? ... Dude allegedly hanging himself in the background even though it's clearly the silhouette of a bird? ... Where are all my WoO references?!?

I did see a commercial for Wicked today. Does that count? I hear that thing is an abomination.

Friday, November 16, 2007

do kids hate tornadoes?

Today was day two of the photo shoot for the dance book, and again the Oz came up. I was talking to a co-worker about how I was specifically told, by decree of my boss's boss, not to include anything "tornado-related" in any children's books I work on.

"I guess the higher-ups think kids don't want to read about tornadoes..." I postulated.

"But what about Wizard of Oz?" my coworker asked.

I smiled. Then I got my little notebook and wrote that down.

p.s. I didn't come across anything overtly Oz yesterday, but we'll turn a blind eye this once.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

a good day to be the Wiz

This morning I had a photo shoot for a children's dance book I'm editing. It basically involved three little girls dressing up like three different Disney Princesses.

Cinderella was wearing sparkly silver shoes and kept clicking her heels together and saying, "There's no place like home." Then she'd giggle.

A few hours later I asked Belle (Beauty and the Beast) what she dressed up as for Halloween she proudly exclaimed, "Dorothy!" I asked, "From Wizard of Oz?" and she shot me a no duh look. I smiled to Belle's mom, who added, "She's obsessed with that movie."

It's only 6:10pm and the Oz has already come up twice.

Oh, and I didn't get a chance to update yesterday, but when reviewing my work for the dance book we shot today, someone referred to one of the dance moves, which involved the child clicking their heels together. The individual sarcastically commented, "Gee, wonder where you got that move from..."

Monday, November 12, 2007

AMAZING - the power of Oz

As you'll see from my post 20 minutes ago, I'd all but given up on a Wizard of Oz reference today. Well, the Good Witch must have heard my plea because no sooner did I post that than I pulled up the San Fran - Seahawks game on the DVR.

I was watching Chris Berman's "Fastest 3 Minutes", in which he quickly recaps the key games of the week. I usually skip this three minutes, as those overly-zealous ESPN guys can be annoying, but for some reason tonight I watched. Half way through the segment Berman was making fun of a stupid play by humming the following melody: dat da-da da-da da-da-duh, da-da da-da da-da-duh. ... If I Only Had a Brain.

The Gods of Oz are smiling on my little experiment.

a slow day

It's 9:30 on Monday and I'm just sitting at my computer writing and half-assedly watching a boring Monday Night Football game. The odds of an Oz reference at this point are slim. So much for our theory. Twos to be disproved. Great.

I'm not giving up yet, though. Maybe I missed something today because my Oz radar isn't sharp enough.

Oh, my wife did mention earlier that if our future kid is not cool we'll make him watch the WoO synced with the Dark Side. ... Like that'll make him cool. That'll just turn him into a stoner.

... No, I'm not counting that one.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Does Dark Side of the Moon count?

This morning I was in the shower and I thought to myself, "I need to keep my eyes open for 'Oz references." Just then I looked up at the t-shirt I was going to wear under my sweater. It was a Paul Frank tee I got at the Village Discount Outlet -- a Salvation Army-like resale shop. It has a decal on the front. I only bought it to wear a black shirt to wear under long sleeve shirts so you'd never see the decal.

The decal has two beams of light on it. One is a white beam and it's passing through a glass house, which is having a prism effect on the light. When the light passes through the house/prism, primary colors are emerging on the other side. The shirt is paying homage to the cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

You've probably heard about the old rumor/myth/urban legend that you can sync up Dark Side with the 'Oz with some interesting, if not stoner-friendly results. Not the least of which is the cover of the album -- white light transforming into color, just like the blank and white film transforms into color.

My friends and I have done "the sync" a number of times. In fact, I wrote a short article about it here:

Syncing Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon

So Paul Frank is referring to Dark Side, which could arguably refer to the 'Oz.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

One Year of Wizard of Oz references

For some time now, my friend and I have shared a theory that every single day we encounter at least one reference to Victor Fleming's masterpiece The Wizard of Oz. This film has become so woven into popular culture that if you pay attention you will be astounded at the frequency of 'Oz references. Songs, TV shows, conversations, ads, other films, colloquial saying ... the list goes on and on.

I will not seek out these references. They have to occur naturally and unforced.

It's not in my interest to overly stretch an occurrence to count it as a reference. I will try to be a fair and unbiased as possible. I'm merely a scientist testing a theory. Also, I'll try not to reuse references -- if there's a commercial with a yellow brick road in it, I'll only cite it once.

I will be updating this blog daily (unless impossible, in which case I'll record past references and update back dates when I'm in front of the computer.) Check back often to see if the theory holds water, or melts in it.

As I write this, TBS is airing the 'Oz. I'd say that counts as today's reference. (There was another one early this morning but I forgot what it was -- which won't happen again now that I'm officially doing this.)