With interviews ranging from music star Ashanti, who played Dorothy in the 2005 TV movie The Muppets Wizard of Oz, to Fairuza Balk, who played Dorothy in Disney’s dark 1985 unofficial sequel, and commentary from John Waters and Margaret Cho, ‘It’s Dorothy!’ is wonderfully entertaining but lacking in focus, with each discussion fascinating but needing further exploration.
For 125 years, L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz has captivated us with its yellow brick road of discovery, rebirth, conversations on “home”, and ruminations on the American dream. But for all its wonder, from the Scarecrow to the Wicked Witch of the West, Munchkin Land and the deceitful Wizard of a magical world, it was Dorothy who captured the public imagination. As Jeffrey McHale’s documentary, It’s Dorothy!, makes clear, Baum’s character was a mere sketch of a child desperately seeking a sense of belonging and meaning; he only lightly touched upon her background and let the reader fill in the gaps. As Baum writes, “Toto did not really care whether he was in Kansas or the Land of Oz so long as Dorothy was with him; but he knew the little girl was unhappy, and that made him unhappy too.” Maybe it’s due to this light sketch of Dorothy that she has become an icon, as her story and character have remained flexible and open to re-interpretation for each new generation.
There is no doubt, as McHale explores in his vibrant but far too busy documentary, that much of our modern-day obsession with Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz comes from the technicolour charm of MGM’s lavish 1939 movie, a picture that sat on the cutting edge of filmmaking, wowing people with its use of colour, grand sets and flying monkeys. MGM’s lavish adaptation of Baum’s book was not the first to grace the silver screen; there had been a silent movie version in 1910, but MGM’s film was a world away from anything that had come before it, despite being mired in technical problems and turbulence from day one. Costumes were so restrictive that actors could barely move, toxic paints were used as makeup, leading to burns and chest problems, effects went wrong and caused injuries, and the young Judy Garland was fed a toxic mix of uppers and downers.
It is here where the modern-day mythology surrounding the character of Dorothy was born, in the hands of a young Garland, who epitomised the loneliness and uncertainty of a Kansas girl seeking love, security and belonging. Garland became Dorothy, and Dorothy became Garland. This topic alone would justify an entire feature-length documentary, as the actor and the character merged into one, giving birth to a range of debates and discussions on Garland’s influence on the character and Dorothy’s place in modern culture, including the importance of one key song that defined Garland’s interpretation “Somewhere over the Rainbow” written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for the 1939 movie, and almost cut from the film before its release for being too slow!
But while Garland, Dorothy, and the legacy of the MGM movie are the starting point for McHale, he is ultimately interested in the broader impact of Dorothy, the yellow brick road, and the narrative path that has hooked audiences for over one hundred years, particularly those facing oppression, discrimination, and social isolation. Here, McHale’s desire to cover multiple topics all deserving of their own documentary, from the theatrical development and the covert racism in the critical reception to The Wiz to the LGBTQ+ journey down the yellow brick road and the re-interpretation and continuation of Baum’s characters from Return to Oz 1985 to Wicked, ultimately make this a mosaic of topics and discussions that feel rushed in a single documentary.
With interviews ranging from music star Ashanti, who played Dorothy in the 2005 TV movie The Muppets Wizard of Oz, to Fairuza Balk, who played Dorothy in Disney’s dark 1985 unofficial sequel, and commentary from John Waters and Margaret Cho, It’s Dorothy! is wonderfully entertaining but lacking in focus, with each discussion fascinating but needing further exploration. McHale even explores the legacy of the BBC One talent contest Over the Rainbow, interviewing Danielle Hope, who went on to star in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production at the London Palladium, where Garland had also performed decades earlier. It is all fun, emotive, rich in cultural discussion, and fabulously colourful. Yet as the credits rolled, I felt the need to lie down in a dark room due to what felt like a rollercoaster ride through Dorothy Gale’s cultural, social, artistic and literary impact.
McHale clearly adores the subject matter, and that love shines through every interview, every sound bite and the wonderfully diverse opinions and discussions. There is also no doubt that It’s Dorothy! brilliantly explores mythology, fact, and fiction in a fresh and insightful way, debunking myths and challenging us to examine the ongoing and ever-evolving legacy of Dorothy and Baum’s story and characters. But It’s Dorothy! would have ultimately achieved more as a documentary series, with each episode focusing on one part of that cultural, artistic, and social legacy.
Dorothy’s journey through Oz means something different to everyone who joins her, from rebirth, friendship, love, and security to belonging and hope in finding a place you call home. McHale beautifully explores the power of these themes throughout the one-hour and thirty-minute runtime. However, while touched upon, one element feels underdeveloped given its prominence in modern America: the role of the Wizard. Oz is a land where people follow a leader who claims to have all the answers but, in reality, has none, as he hides behind a curtain, selling a lie to people who deserve so much more. If that sounds familiar, it should; maybe America has become a darker version of Baum’s Oz? One where people praise a great and powerful leader who is nothing more than a con man and a liar, pulling strings and faking what’s real. I can’t help but wonder how many Americans now feel just like Dorothy, as she said, “Someplace where there isn’t any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? There must be.” It’s a topic that deserves far more exploration, like many of the fascinating snippets of discussion found in McHale’s documentary.
It’s Dorothy! premiered at Tribeca Festival and is awaiting a UK release date.
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