1. The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 fantasy film by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. In MGM's movie, we are regaled with the story of Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas who is famously transported to the Land of Oz by a tornado (a common weather occurrence in Kansas, where I was born). Dorothy meets the good witch Glinda, meets the Wicked Witch of the West, acquires the ruby slippers, and sets off on the yellow brick road to meet the Wizard of Oz and return to her home. Along the way she picks up some companions in the Tin Woodman (and yes, that is the correct spelling according to Baum), the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow. After a few battles with the Wicked Witch and her minions, Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch with a cup of water and makes her way home. This film is easily one of the most quoted and most watched films in history. With lines such as "Follow the yellow brick road", "I'll get you, my pretty...and your little dog, too", "I'm melting", and "There's no place like home", it has permeated society in more ways than anyone can count.
Dark Inspirations? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a novel written by L. Frank Baum in 1900. The book spawned a large series of sequels and prequels. While written for children, they do contain a great many dark and scary moments. At the start of the book, Dorothy again kills the Wicked Witch of the East when her house falls on the old hag. Glinda arrives and gives her the witch's silver shoes (not ruby slippers) and tells her to visit the Wizard in Emerald City in order to return home. Along the way, we see the lengths to which the Wicked Witch is willing to go in order to acquire the silver shoes. The Witch, in succession, sends wolves to eat Dorothy's party, crows to peck out their eyes (the scarecrow breaks all the crows' necks), a swarm of bees to sting them to death, soldiers to kill them, and winged monkeys to harass them.
Eventually the witch captures Dorothy and takes one of her shoes. Dorothy is so upset she throws a bucket of water on the witch and melts her. She then heads to the Wizard who, like in the movie, accidentally departs in the balloon that was to take Dorothy home. Dorothy then journeys to Glinda's kingdom, overcoming more obstacles including a giant spider, where Glinda tells her the silver shoes can transport her anywhere she wishes. Dorothy uses the slippers to return home. The inspiration for the movie The Wizard of Oz? A killer storm, a woman crushed by a house, a woman being dissolved, giant spiders, flying monkeys, broken-necked crows, killer bees, and a "good" witch that lies to Dorothy and sends her off on a perilous journey instead of just telling her to use the shoes to get home. I won't even go into how the Tin Woodman is really a Frankenstein / cyborg as shown in the book The Tin Woodman of Oz; you should read it for yourself. Ok, that's it for me. I think I'll go watch Dumb and Dumber. Right now I'm too scared to watch Watership Down with its bloodthirsty bunnies.