Wicked

And why kids don't watch The Wizard of Oz anymore

Within the first few minutes of Wicked, the film scratches the itch of 1939 The Wizard of Oz nostalgists by recalling the original film’s typeface for the title sequence and showing us a fleeting aerial shot of Dorothy and her three pals (and Toto) skipping along the Yellow Brick Road¹.

Those images hit me in the sweet spot, as those ‘39 TWOZ nostalgists are, primarily, Gen Xers like me, particularly those born between 1965 and 1975. One would think that perhaps Baby Boomers would be those fondest of the ‘39 film², but no. It’s those of us who grew up in the ‘70s and early ‘80s during the three-network era—before the prevalence of VCRs or cable television—when The Wizard of Oz would be broadcast only one night every year. It became a highly-anticipated annual event for millions of American families.