Did ‘The Wizard of Oz’ inspire ‘The Big Lebowski’?
Ever since The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, it has become one of the most iconic movies in cinema history. While films like Citizen Kane and The Godfather are often regarded as some of the greatest masterpieces ever made, The Wizard of Oz is one of the few unanimously praised feats of filmmaking that is family-friendly. You’ll rarely find someone with childhood memories of obsessing over Orson Welles’ 1941 classic, but Victor Fleming’s Technicolour fantasy has defined the formative years of legions of cinema fans.
Yet, at the same time, The Wizard of Oz harnesses the ability to be enjoyed by viewers of all ages, both as a standalone film and as a beacon of nostalgia. There is something so distinctively magical and charming about the world of Oz, which is not without its creepy and downright scary moments. It is one of those films you can dip in and out of as years go by – whichever scene you land upon is bound to entertain or produce a strong reaction of some kind.
The movie has often been lauded as one of the most influential pieces of cinema, with documentaries such as Lynch/Oz arguing that surrealist director David Lynch owes his entire cinematic oeuvre to Fleming’s film. Elsewhere, John Waters has heaped praise on the movie, citing it as an endless source of inspiration. His interpretation of the work was told to Today in classic Waters style: “Girl leaves drab farm, becomes a fag hag, meets gay lions and men that don’t try to molest her, and meets a witch, kills her.”
Then there’s Joel Coen of the Coen brothers, who once boldly stated, “Every movie ever made is just an attempt to remake The Wizard of Oz.” Whether you believe this idea or not is a matter of opinion, but it is easy to see why Coen would argue as such. From the stylised sets and magical characters to the movie’s thematic exploration of friendship, dreams, adversity, and good versus evil, The Wizard of Oz features many tropes and techniques that came to dominate cinema in subsequent years.
Many fans of The Big Lebowski have argued that the Coens’ neo-noir reflects The Wizard of Oz through its characters and (very loosely) through its plot points. Of course, The Wizard of Oz does not feature any pornstar characters, unlike The Big Lebowski, but many people have labelled Tara Reid’s Bunny Lebowski, the adult film star and trophy wife of The Big Lebowski, as a Dorothy-esque character, due to the fact that she is far from home, having come from the Midwest.
However, other fans have interpreted the lead character, The Dude, as being Dorothy, who finds himself swept up in a world that feels as bizarre as a fever dream when his quiet life as a passionate bowler is suddenly turned upside down through crime and mistaken identity.
The Dude’s friends reflect Dorothy’s new companions in Oz, with whom she travels to see the Wizard. As for the Wizard, many have compared him to The Big Lebowski, who only achieved financial success through marrying into a rich family and subsequently embezzling money. While The Wizard isn’t a criminal figure, his status is also built on lies – he doesn’t actually have any magic powers after all.
Elsewhere, the villainous trio, The Nihilists, who all wear black outfits, represent, according to believers of the theory, the terrifying flying monkeys.
While some of these points might seem far-fetched, it is interesting to compare the similarities between the two films, which were made in strikingly different settings. However, if you look hard enough, many aspects of The Wizard of Oz can be found lurking at the core of The Big Lebowski – a testament to Fleming’s enduring classic.
