Somewhere Over the Rainbow

After a couple of sneak previews, it was on this day in 1939 that the Wizard of Oz officially opened at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. Roger Ebert wrote, “‘The Wizard of Oz’ has a wonderful surface of comedy and music, special effects and excitement, but we still watch it six decades later because its underlying story penetrates straight to the deepest insecurities of childhood, stirs them and then reassures them.” Given that the film was released in 1939 when the world was already moving from a global depression into a global war, the anxiety it addressed was deeper even than our childhood fears. And, which, I believe, is one reason the Wizard of Oz continues to haunt us with dreams of something better, something hopeful over the rainbow. And, particularly, I think, of that one song…

I suspect this touches into the reason there have been so many covers of Over the Rainbow.

And of course…