And now, I've seen "Oz: The Great and Powerful". They did a really good job. The Wonderful World of Color and Disney's Castle were in black and white. They kept the movie black and white until Oz landed in Oz.
It struck me as funny that at first the black and white seemed so drab. Then I started noticing little things - like shadows playing in the background, how much more ominous the clouds looked. I got used to this, and when the color burst onto the screen, it was too much. It looked fake, it irritated my eyes.
I'm sure that certainly wasn't the effect they were going for. I'm sure they wanted the color to dazzle and invoke awe.
I've noticed photographs are like that too. When I was shooting photos of my daughter for the cover of my book "Out on a Limb of the Family Tree", they were in color. And they are beautiful.
But the black and white are more dramatic. They invoke an older time, which of course is what I was going for.
I was happy to see the local theatre brimming with business. Both movies (the other was "Jack the Giant Slayer") were family friendly. And not only that, I don't imagine there's many people in the country that weren't raised on the fairy tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the movie "The Wizard of Oz".
Parents with little children, adolescents, young teens on dates, young adults, middle aged folks, and the geriatric crowd were there. And everyone was having a good time.
But back to Oz. I wonder if L. Frank Baum had any notion when he wrote the first book that he was onto something. Probably not.
But then again, I believe most authors write thinking they are on to something.
And we are, really. There are tales to tell, stories to rehash, 'you ain't gonna believe' stuff that we can't wait to share.
Story telling has been going on since we've been here.
Can you imagine the ones we'll hear in Heaven?
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