Wizard of Oz references in pop culture

Cafe Society
1

So I’m watching the trailer for the upcoming Godzilla movie and I realize they’re doing this somewhat tongue-in-cheek by referencing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.

That sets me thinking. The Wizard of Oz is - even 80 years after its release - a strong STRONG cultural touchpoint in American culture (Maybe other cultures, too. I wouldn’t know.) There must be hundreds of references in movies and television I’m bumped into over the decades.

Let’s list them!

First off, I’ll toss in the above Godzilla trailer.

Second, Robert Heinlein in Glory Road. Crossing a swamp, our hero Oscar asked if the bricks the road is made of are yellow and is told that yes, that’s what the local clay is like. He’s amused but the rest of the group, not from our universe, don’t get the joke.

What else?

2

Nice and meta from Avengers:

Fury: I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.
Thor: Monkeys? I don't understand—
Rogers: I do! I understood that reference.
3

“Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man” is the first thing that popped into my head. The song by America.

4

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: The secret meeting between Gwyneth Paltrow and the scared scientist takes place in a theater during a showing of the movie.

5

Office Space (1999)

One of the pieces of flair that Jennifer Aniston’s character was wearing was a button, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

6

…or 119 years after its release?

Clearly, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is a reference to the movie, but some of these other examples (including the Heinlein) could (instead or in addition) be references to the book.

7

In one episode of Night Court, Judge Harry Stone made a joke about going from Detroit to Chicago, so he could see the “Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!”

I used the line on my 24-year-old daughter recently and told her it was from The Wizard of Oz. “So that’s where that’s from!” she exclaimed. We watched the movie together when she was little, but she apparently didn’t remember the line or make the connection between the two. Yet she was still familiar with the line from pop culture.

8

I’ve argued here before that TWoO is easily the most referenced artistic work in American history, and I don’t even think the competition is close. It’s so damned ubiquitous that many times these references pass by us without notice.

In short: This can be a long thread. :wink:

My contribution: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John.

9

I was once out with some friends on a hot summer day when a huge storm blew up. We all started singing “Dadadadadada, da! Dadadadadada, da!” and crying “Auntie Em! Auntie Em!” as we looked for shelter.

10

I don’t think you could even count how many times a character has said “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” or “I’ll get you, and your little dog too”.

11

The Wicked Years series by Gregory McGuire. Wicked the musical is based on the first book in the series, and both are great. The next three, not so much.

12

Just think of all the references to the Lollipop Guild alone. It’s ubiquitous as a short person joke.

13

In Airplane!, as the plane is landing and can’t stop, Johnny (the campy air traffic controller) panics, screaming, “Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Toto! It’s a twister! It’s a twister!”, while getting himself wound up in telephone cords.

14

The word “munchkin” is even more ubiquitouser.

15

“Munchkins” has often been used to refer to children (Robin Williams used it for sure).

I don’t think you could get away with applying it to Little People (i.e., midgets) today, though.

16

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” get’s used frequently.

17

Oh, yes, the characters in The Number of the Beast collected the Oz books. They actually visit Oz in their parallel universe ship.

18

I remembered a cartoon of a spaceship landing on a witch, clearly a Wizard of Oz reference. Googling around for it, I found this page instead, with several related cartoons.

19

Toto recorded “Africa,” and Kansas recorded “Dust in the Wind.”

20

Top Secret! (1984) is mainly a parody of war movies, spy movies, and Elvis movies, but the very last line is “I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow.”

From Good Morning, Vietnam: “What is a demilitarized zone? Sounds like something out of The Wizard of Oz, Oh, no, don’t go in there. Oh-we-oh Ho Chi Minh Oh, look, you’ve landed in Saigon. You’re among the little people now. We represent the ARVN Army The ARVN Army Oh, no! Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Oh, I’ll get you, my pretty! Oh, my God. It’s the wicked witch of the north.”

An episode of Justified was titled “The Man Behind the Curtain.”