is a film musical (1939) from the popular children's book of the same name written by L. Frank Baum.
Dorothy, a young girl, lives with her aunt on a farm in Kansas. During a tornado, Dorothy is hit on the head by flying debris and knocked unconscious. She and her dog Toto are borne away to the Land of Oz, ruled by a wizard known only by his dreaded stenorian voice. Dorothy follows the yellow brick road to meet the wizard and enlist his help in finding her way home.. Along her path she encounters a host of strange characters whose names have become metaphors:
The Tin Man, who has no heart;
The Cowardly Lion;
The Scarecrow, without a brain;
The Wicked Witch of the West and
the diminutive Munchkins.
At the end of the road, Dorothy is brought before the Wizard's presence and she begs him to help her and Toto home. The Wizard's voice is fierce, but Dorothy pulls the curtain aside and unmasks the wizard a genial, bumbling fraud. Armed with a pair of ruby slippers and counseled by the Good Witch Glinda, Dorothy has but to will herself to get her wish. All ends happily in Kansas.
~Facts on File Dictionary of Historical and Cultural Allusions
footnote:
To read a metaphysical or theosophical interpretation of the story, go here:
The Yellow Brick Road suggests a quest, a journey in a fantasy land to find one's heart's desire.
The Yellow brick road is an element in the story about the The Wizard of Oz . The yellow brick road leads to Oz. As "Oz" is also a short-form slang word for the country Australia, phrases like "down the yellow brick road" simply mean "in Australia".
~Wikipedia online
Tin Man:
Dorothy discovers the Tin Man as she travels along the Yellow Brick Road on her way to see the wizard. She persuades him to accompany her. He is stiff and rusted, but some squirts of oil can enable him to move. He is hollow and has no heart. As played by Jack Haley in the movie, he sings, "I could be human if I only had a heart." At the end he discovers that he does indeed have a heart when he sheds tears because of Dorothy's imminent return to Kansas.
Wicked Witch of the West:
One of four (two of them good, two of them wicked) witches in the Land of Oz. This formidable, evil witch melted away when Dorothy threw a pail of water at her. Her attempts to wrest the magical ruby slippers from Dorothy were thus foiled.
Munchkins:
The little, elfin-like people in the land of Oz . Now, any person of dwarfish appearance or low-level stature, or simply a child.
