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If you have been following me since I started this website, you may have noticed that there were times in the past that I brought up the 1939 film, “The Wizard of Oz” whether it was on a top 10 list or not. However, with back to school season starting to kick off, I wanted to help answer a question that a lot of families are wondering, especially special education students, about: at what school age level should my child start watching “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)?
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It could be at the beginning of the school year, it could be in the middle, it could be at the end, but at least one classroom is studying L. Frank Baum’s classic novel and then watching the 1939 film as part of their curriculum. I remember studying the film version of “Oz,” back in 8th grade where we read from the screenplay written by Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allen Woolf and Noel Langley (the father of the Ruby Slippers) while we completely ignored reading the original book.
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When it comes to “Oz,” there are many families that are often at times taken aback by the legendary film such as the tornado scene, the Flying Monkeys, the Wizard before he was exposed as a man behind the curtain and especially, The Wicked Witch of the West.
Being an uncle to two nieces, I often times wonder to myself when is the right time to expose them to probably the very first classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film any one of us have ever watched growing up. Sooner or later, we all get exposed to a classic film studio and the more we watch films that come out of that studio, the more of an appreciation we show for it. But, I wouldn’t want to introduce them to someone like the Wicked Witch of the West while they are not of age. My oldest niece is 7, so she might qualify as of age, but my youngest is only 4 and is not of age.
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The same can also be said for special education students who will have to watch “Oz” as part of the classroom lesson plan. It also helps that the teacher can warn the student (s) before the movie plays that the class will be watching a scary scene involving the tornado or the witch. But, at the same time, we are also trying to show students that there are going to be scary people in the world and we have to face our fears because they are not real, just make believe.
In fact, a good example of this was in “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” where Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West, was brought in to show children that the witch wasn’t real, just make believe. There is a famous clip of that episode, which I will leave for you below:
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Teachers and parents at a high school level might also use a similar approach when studying something like the three “Poltergeist” films that Metro Goldwyn Mayer produced in the 1980s. Most special education classrooms will typically study ghost stories because they are easier for the students to understand than say something like Dracula or Frankenstein.
Like “Oz,” the “Poltergeist” were just make believe and everything that happened on screen was movie magic. Take the muddy swimming pool for example, it was really filmed on an MGM soundstage in the old tank used by Esther Williams in the 1940s and 50s. Another example would be the scene where the mother (JoBeth Williams) is climbing on the bedroom walls like a spider when it was really a technique that was used by Fred Astaire in the 1951 film, “Royal Wedding.”
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But getting back to “The Wizard of Oz,” it’s up to the parents to decide what the appropriate age is for introducing a child to the greatest film of all time without scaring them silly. Watching the film can also help children develop an appreciation for the film that helps the audience look beyond what makes the film scary. A good suggestion would maybe for parents and their children sit down and watch the film and they will be the judge on whether their child is at the right age.
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Catch you all later!!
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