The 'Wizard of Oz' movie continues to enchant fans from all over the world even after almost 75 years, according to Cleveland.
Popular culture hasn't been the same ever since the door of the Wizard of Oz opened nearly 75 years ago. That door opened into the wonderful world of "Oz", when the twister set down Dorothy Gale's farmhouse someplace very, very far from home.
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," spoke the legendary Judy Garland as the Kansas farm girl in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz". More than a billion viewers have been transported to Oz over the last seven decades, joining Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow on their journey down the Yellow Brick Road.
The move that made Garland a star for the ages, and such terms as "over the rainbow" and "there's no place like home" part of the lexicon, has never lost its grip on the popular imagination.
'The Wizard of Oz' has always had something for everybody," says Cleveland Heights "Wizard of Oz" fanatic and Big Fun memorabilia stores owner Steve Presser. "The story is wonderful, with these good and bad witches and small helpers and the friends on their journey. And you have hope, and camaraderie.
"It's the perfect story. I hope it has legs to go on forever - I think it does," adds Presser, who has a fantastic "Oz" section in his Cleveland Heights location.
Seventy-five years later, "The Wizard of Oz's" enchantment hasn't faded. This week, it got even more powerful. After years of pleas from fans, Warner Bros. finally agreed to a 3D restoration of its prized possession. It runs through Thursday, Sept. 26, at Regal Crocker Park in Westlake.
