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LEFT: Hologram of The Wizard's head addressing Dorothy and her friends. RIGHT: Hologram of the Emperor addressing Darth Vader.
In 1939 MGM released two spectacular color films,
Gone With the Wind
and
The Wizard of Oz
. Wizard was by far the most elaborate and credible vision of a make-believe world at the time, and set the precedent for big screen flights-of-fantasy ever since.
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Star Wars
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Wizard of Oz
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Obi-Wan Kenobi disappeared when killed by Darth Vader, leaving only an empty robe
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The Wicked Witch of the West disappears when Dorothy spills water on her, leaving only her empty dress
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Munchkins
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Jawas
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Bottomless chasm where Obi-Wan Kenobi disables the tractor beam, actually a matte painting combined with live footage.
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Bottomless chasm outside the witch's castle, actually a matte painting combined with live footage. (This idea was used again in
Forbidden Planet
)
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Mechanical sounds whenever C3-PO moves
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Clanking metal sounds whenever the Tin Woodsman moves
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Guardian of the Gate to the Wizard's palace.
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Guardian of the Gate to Jabba's palace.
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The Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion disguise themselves as 'Winkies' (the Witch's guards)
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Luke and Han disguise themselves as Stormtroopers
1
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Source: Mark Hammil, Carrie Fisher and a gabillion reviewers say The Wizard of Oz was a huge influence on Star Wars. The rest is speculation.
1
Thanks to
William Grimley
for pointing this out.
Star Wars
created by George Lucas, ©
LucasFilm Ltd.
Star Wars: Origins
© 1999-2005 by
Kristen Brennan
,
part of the
Jitterbug Fantasia
webzine.
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