History Awesome / TheWizardOfOz

-->"No, no! I won't let you take him! You go away, or I'll bite you myself! You wicked old witch!"

** In RealLife, Terry (Toto) almost died after being accidentally stepped on by the Winkies during one scene, and after recuperating at Creator/JudyGarland's home, recovered and went back to work.

* The Tornado scene when Dorothy sees Gulch, Gulch doesn't seem to be bothered by being up 100 feet in the air and in a tornado, and just keeps on Cycling. She even takes the time to politely nod at Dorothy before turning into the Wicked Witch. Say what you will about her, but that was pretty badass in 30s standards.

** The Reprise of ''The Wicked Witch is dead'' was cut from the movie, but restored in the 2011 musical.

* The Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man promptly go to rescue Dorothy once they put the Scarecrow back together. They succeed, too. And they're actually pretty badass once they get going, [[MuggedForDisguise taking out a few Winkies]] for their uniforms and sneaking into the fortress. The Scarecrow even finds and carries a ''pistol!''
** The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion beating the stuffing out of three guards who got the jump on ''them'' and then putting on their uniforms to sneak into the castle is amazing. It shows that what Oz "gave" them at the end were qualities that they already had.
* In the stage show, [[PapaWolf Uncle Henry]] finally has enough of Mrs. Gulch's crap when she takes Toto away, despite not even caring that Dorothy's in hysterics over losing her best friend.

* The Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man promptly go to rescue Dorothy once they put the Scarecrow back together. They succeed, too. And they're actually pretty badass once they get going, [[MuggedForDisguise taking out a few Winkies]] for their uniforms and sneaking into the fortress.

* "Almira Gulch... just because you own half the county doesn't mean you have the power to run the rest of us! For twenty-three years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you... and now... well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!"[[note]]It rhymes with "witch".[[/note]]

** Basically, Aunt Em not spelling it out loud proves that she's above Miss Gulch. In fact, the expression on Miss Gulch's face afterwards indicated that she told it like it is about her, and she knew exactly what Aunt Em was saying about her.
* [[NoIndoorVoice "I AM OZ.... the Great and Powerful!"]]

* Dorothy gets some flak for potentially being seen as a kind of whiny brat, but she does have a lot of guts, if you know when and where to look.

** In Media Historian Susan J. Douglas's feminist take on post-war pop culture, ''Where the Girls Are'', she notes that there is a reason why the film has real staying power with generations of little girls (especially with the Millennial set during their preschool years): Dorothy is a girl that has an adventure without getting married, she seeks to be an active agent in her life, defeats two evil witches, is brave and nurturing, isn't afraid to tell off authority figures or slap a lion in the face, she helps her friends gain (well, realize) something that she possesses in spades (brain, heart, and courage), and defiant to the witch when the woman wanted her slippers and Dorothy was crying about the possibility of dying. TL;DR Dorothy defied RealWomenDontWearDresses and is an early example of a relatable female protagonist.
* Toto: whether being taken by Miss Gulch to be destroyed, being separated from Dorothy, or under threat that he and his owner would never go home, the dog always comes through.

* The Wicked Witch herself. She's not considered one of the seminal movie villains of the 20th century for nothing.

* In the stage show, [[PapaWolf Uncle Henry]] finally has enough of Mrs. Gulch's crap when she takes Toto away, not even caring that Dorothy's in hysterics over losing her best friend.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wizardofoz_movie_screencapscom_2154.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "I don't think we're in monochrome anymore, Toto!"]]

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** Basically the fact that Aunt Em doesn't spell it out loud has proven she's above Miss Gulch. In fact, the expression on Miss Gulch's face afterwards indicated that she told it like it is about her, and she knew exactly what Aunt Em was saying about her.

--> '''Glinda''': Ha, ha, ha! Rubbish! [[ShutUpHannibal You have no power here.]] Now begone -- before someone drops a house on you, too!

** When she leaves Munchkinland, marching (or skipping) off into the great unknown with nothing but her basket, dog, and a pair of magic heels she doesn't know how to use.

** In Media Historian Susan J. Douglas's feminist take on post-war pop culture, ''Where the Girls Are'', she notes that there is a reason why the film has real staying power with generations of little girls (especially with the Millennial set during their preschool years): Dorothy is a girl that has an adventure without getting married, she seeks to be an active agent in her life, defeats two evil witches, is brave and nurturing, isn't afraid to tell off authority figures or slap a lion in the face, she helps her friends gain something she possesses in spades (brain, heart, and courage), and defiant to the witch when the woman wanted her slippers and Dorothy was crying about the possibility of dying. TL;DR Dorothy defied RealWomenDontWearDresses and is an early example of a relatable female protagonist.

** Casting a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn_Terrier Cairn Terrier]] as Toto was sheer genius. That is a working dog, well known for its brains, heart and courage.
** In RealLife, Terry (Toto) almost died after being accidentally stepped on by the Winkies during one scene and after recuperating at Creator/JudyGarland's home, recovered and went back to work.
* The Tin Man tells the Wizard that he's had enough time to think, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion agree, saying, "Yeah!"

-->'''Uncle Henry:''' Ohh... [[LiteralMinded she bit her]] ''[[{{Troll}} dog]]'', eh? ''(slams the gate to smack Miss Gulch on the butt)''

* The Tornado scene when Dorothy sees Gulch, Gulch doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that she is up 100 feet in the air and in a tornado and just keeps on Cycling. She even takes the time to politely nod at Dorothy before turning into the Wicked Witch. Say what you will about her, but that was pretty badass in 30s standards.

* The Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man promptly go to rescue Dorothy once they put the Scarecrow back together. They succeed, too. And they're actually pretty badass once they get going, [[MuggedForDisguise taking out a few Winkies]] for their uniforms and sneaking in to the fortress.
** The fact that the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion beat the stuffing out of three guards who got the jump on ''them'' and then put on their uniforms to sneak into the castle is amazing. It shows that what Oz gave them at the end, were qualities they already had.

* For someone who claims he doesn't have brains, the Scarecrow comes up with a few clever ideas throughout the film: getting apples for Dorothy by having the trees chuck said apples at them, sneaking into the Witch's castle by disguising themselves as guards, and even dropping a chandelier on a few Winkies when the group is cornered! This is canon; he is described as "thinking" (obviously without realizing it) and has several good ideas in the book, too.

** In RealLife, Terry (Toto) almost died after being accidentally stepped on by the Winkies during one scene and after recuperating at Garland's home, recovered and went back to work.

** * The fact that the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion beat the stuffing out of three guards who got the jump on ''them'' and then put on their uniforms to sneak into the castle is amazing. It shows that what Oz gave them at the end, were qualities they already had.

** When she leaves Munchkinland, she doesn't complain about not having bodyguards.

* The scene where Dorothy opens the door after the tornado, transitioning herself and the viewer from the dull, sepia Kansas to the beautiful, colorful Land of Oz. Even seventy years later, people ''still'' let out gasps at that part, especially when you see it on the big screen. One can only imagine how mind blowing it must've been in 1939. Truly one of the most defining and ''important'' moments in all of film.

* Dorothy herself gets a lot of flak for being some kind of [[{{Chickification}} whiny little brat]], but she does have a lot of guts, if you know when and where to look.

-->"Oh I'll bite you myself! You wicked old witch!"

--> '''Glinda''': Ha, ha, ha! Rubbish! [[ShutUpHannibal You have no power here.]] Now begone -- before someone drops a house on you!

* For someone who claims he doesn't have brains, the Scarecrow comes up with a few clever ideas throughout the film: getting apples for Dorothy by having the trees chuck said apples at them, sneaking into the Witch's castle by disguising themselves as guards, and even dropping a chandelier on a few Winkies when the group is cornered!

* The fact that the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion beat the stuffing out of three guards and then put on their uniforms to sneak into the castle is amazing. It shows that what Oz gave them at the end, were qualities they already had.

** In Media Historian Susan J. Douglas's Feminist take on post-war pop culture, ''Where the Girls Are'', she notes that there is a reason why the film has real staying power with generations of little girls (and seems to have a great resurgence with the Millennial set during their preschool years): Dorothy is a girl that has an adventure without getting married, she seeks to be an active agent in her life, defeats two evil witches, is brave and nurturing, isn't afraid to tell off authority figures or slap a lion in the face, she helps her friends gain something she possesses in spades (brain, heart, and courage), and defiant to the witch when the woman wanted her slippers and Dorothy was crying about the possibility of dying.

* The fact that the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion beat the stuffing out of three guards and then put on their uniforms to sneak into the castle is amazing. It shows that what Oz gave them at the end, were qualities they already had .

** When The Scarecrow is on fire who picked up the bucket and tried to help?
** The truth of the matter is that Dorothy retains her innocent nature throughout the movie. And [[FanDumb not take ''Wicked'' as the real story]]
** In Media Historian Susan J. Douglas's Feminist take on post-war pop culture, ''Where the Girls Are'' , she notes that there is a reason why the film has real staying power with generations of little girls (and seems to have a great resurgence with the Millenial set during their preschool years): Dorothy is a girl that has an adventure without getting married, she seeks to be an active agent in her life, defeats two evil witches, is brave and nurturing, isn't afraid to tell off authority figures or slap a lion in the face, she helps her friends gain something she possesses in spades (brain, heart, and courage), and defiant to the witch when the woman wanted her slippers and Dorothy was crying about the possibility of dying.

* For someone who claims he doesn't have brains, the Scarecrow comes up with a few clever ideas throughout the film: getting apples for Dorothy by having the trees chuck said apples at them, sneaking into the Witch's castle by disguising themselves as guards, and even dropping a chandelier on a few Winkies when the group is cornered!

** The Reprise of ''The Wicked Witch is dead'' was cut from the movie.

-->''HAIL TO DOROTHY, THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD!''