I'm sure a majority of people have heard about the freaky correlations between the movie,The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd's famous, Dark Side of the Moon album. It's hard to believe that an album released in 1976 could match up so well with a movie made in 1939. Ohio University's Golden Key International Honor Society hosted a Dark Side of Oz night Wednesday in Morton 201 to share the phenomenon with the campus.
The Golden Key club decided to host the movie as a benefit for Teacher's Simple Wish program, which was started by Education Chair Kristin Kaffen, a senior early education major, to assist local teachers with classroom expenditures.
A famous coincidence appears at the beginning of the film. As Dorothy teeters along the top of the fence, the line balanced on the biggest wave plays simultaneously.
Prior to and while singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Dorothy looks around at the sky like she is searching for something. The music seems to fade in and out to mimic her looking to the sky.
When The Wicked Witch/Miss Gulch appears for the first time on her bike to collect Dorothy's dog, Toto, bells toll at the exact moment that she enters. Weird? Yeah, just a little bit.
Another famous coincidence occurs when the door of Dorothy's house opens to the color world as the song Money plays. A cash register and dropping coins sound at the exact moment that Dorothy opens the door, indicating that the process to make a color film was extremely costly. The Yellow Brick Road also appears (to signify gold, perhaps?).
Many Web sites also acknowledge when the ballerina munchkins enter the scene during the words us us us ... in sync with the music in Munchkinland. I did notice this, but, being the dancer that I am, also noticed that the ballerinas' entire dance sequence follows perfectly in time with the music. That is pretty ironic, if you ask me.
Laura Powell, a senior public advocacy and French major and vice president of the Golden Key club, said this was her first time to experience Dark Side of Oz. She especially liked when the Wicked Witch entered the movie right on the word black in the song Us and Them
she said.
I thought it was eerily cool
Powell said.
A final, rather creepy coincidence between the album and the film occurs with the Tinman's entrance. As Dorothy taps on the Tinman's chest after he announces he has no heart, a beating heart instantly begins in the music and continues while the characters talk about the heartless Tinman. The Tinman's succeeding dance moves also fit the beat of the music extremely well.
One part that especially freaked me out was the guard at the entrance to the Emerald City. As he swings open the door, the lyrics playing as it opens match his mouth perfectly.
I have barely scratched the surface on correlations between Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. It's pretty eerie how much of the album corresponds to actions and voices in the film. I would highly suggest trying this sometime. What I really want to know is: What group of stoners discovered this phenomenon?
- Caitlin Price is a sophomore journalism major. Send her an e-mail at cp369004@ohiou.edu
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Caitlin Price
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Dark Side of Oz is 1939's The Wizard of Oz put to the Pink Floyd's CD Dark Side of the Moon from the '70s. The film eerily coincide with the music.
