# Wizard of Oz references in pop culture **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951 "2019-05-14T15:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/1 "2019-05-14T15:47:18Z")
So I’m watching the trailer for the upcoming [Godzilla movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFxN2oDKk0E) 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? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/2 "2019-05-14T15:49:04Z")
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. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/3 "2019-05-14T15:51:32Z")
“Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man” is the first thing that popped into my head. The song by America. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/4 "2019-05-14T15:53:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/5 "2019-05-14T15:53:44Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/6 "2019-05-14T16:02:42Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > That sets me thinking. The Wizard of Oz is - even 80 years after its release …or [119 years after its release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz)? 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. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/7 "2019-05-14T16:05:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/8 "2019-05-14T16:11:41Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > So I’m watching the trailer for the upcoming [Godzilla movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFxN2oDKk0E) 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? 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. 😉 My contribution: _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_ by Elton John. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/9 "2019-05-14T16:11:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/10 "2019-05-14T16:13:05Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/11 "2019-05-14T16:17:13Z")
[The Wicked Years series by Gregory McGuire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicked_Years). Wicked the musical is based on the first book in the series, and both are great. The next three, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/12 "2019-05-14T16:18:00Z")
Just think of all the references to the Lollipop Guild alone. It’s ubiquitous as a short person joke. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/13 "2019-05-14T16:23:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > 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. 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!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXTx_nEThPA)”, while getting himself wound up in telephone cords. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/14 "2019-05-14T16:23:49Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Just think of all the references to the Lollipop Guild alone. It’s ubiquitous as a short person joke. The word “munchkin” is even more ubiquitouser. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/15 "2019-05-14T16:23:52Z")
“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. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/16 "2019-05-14T16:23:57Z")
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” get’s used frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/17 "2019-05-14T16:24:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > …or [119 years after its release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz)? > > 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. Oh, yes, the characters in The Number of the Beast collected the Oz books. They actually visit Oz in their parallel universe ship. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/18 "2019-05-14T16:30:08Z")
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. > **[Wicked Witch Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock](https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/w/wicked_witch.asp)** > > Wicked Witch funny cartoons from CartoonStock directory - the world's largest on-line collection of cartoons and comics. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/19 "2019-05-14T16:30:51Z")
Toto recorded “Africa,” and Kansas recorded “Dust in the Wind.” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951/20 "2019-05-14T16:32:20Z")
_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.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-references-in-pop-culture/833951.md?page=2)