Musical Montage: The Wizard of Oz
Wicked dominated the box office this past weekend (see how much in Battle at the Box Office later today), but the original Wizard of Oz has dominated pop culture for 85 years and counting. There are several iconic aspects of the 1939 classic, including the songs. All the songs were composed by Harold Arlen, and the lyrics were written by E. Y. “Yip” Harburg. “Over the Rainbow” won the Oscar for Best Original Song and was enshrined in the AFI “100 Years…100 Songs” list at #1 in 2004. A song called “The Jitterbug” was written for the film but was cut due to time restraints. The full filmed version of the song is lost, but an audio recording survived and was included in DVD and Blu-ray releases as a bonus feature and on modern re-releases of the soundtrack. You can watch or listen to several iconic songs from The Wizard of Oz below.
