Fear of Flying Monkeys

Wizard of Oz Memories: Fear of Flying Monkeys 

By Mary Lyle, Director of Education 

The Museum’s Classic Film Series is revisiting the many great films released in 1939, “greatest year” in the Golden Age of Cinema, and we will be featuring the The Wizard of Oz on Saturday, April 27^that 2 pm as part of our Family Fun Day. Our current traveling exhibit, Goosebumps: The Science of Fear, invites visitors to “face their fears.” Well, one of my childhood fears developed as a reaction to the “Flying Monkeys” and the “Wicked Witch,” which I saw for the first time in 1956, the first television broadcast of TheWizard of Oz.

It might be impossible for modern-day moviegoers, so used to Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and other spectacular special effects, to be impressed by 1939’s beloved adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. But for those of us who were first introduced to the film on the small screen, there is nothing that modern technology has done that will ever surpass the impact of that first viewing of The Wizard of Oz. Although the film was first release d in 1939, the Baby Boomer generation remembers seeing it as a television program, broadcast as a “special presentation” during a holiday season.

Our family watched the film on a very small black and white television set. When the Flying Monkeys carried off Toto and Dorothy, I remember running into the next room crying. My mother assured me that the monkeys were no longer on the screen, and clinging to her I made my way back to watch the rest of the program. However, an even more frightening scene followed; the Wicked Witch took a torch and set fire to Scarecrow! That was bad enough, but in order to put out the blaze, Dorothy grabbed a bucket of water, to douse the flames and in doing so, melted the Wicked Witch. Although I was glad that the Scarecrow was saved, I was totally freaked-out by the sight of the Wicked Witch melting into a puddle on the floor. Could people really melt? My mother, once again, had to convince me that only Wicked Witches could melt.

My four-year-old mind couldn’t handle what I had seen. That television program, combined with the teasing of my older brother, who loved to frighten me by telling me that the Witch and her Monkeys were going to “get me,” produced nightmares that recurred for several years. 

When our family finally purchased a color television, I was treated to another miraculous experience:  technicolor! It was 1968 and I was in high school. What a revelation! The scenes in Kansas were filmed in black and white, and were moody and sad which reflected Dorothy’s experience of her home, but when Dorothy opened the door and beheld Munchkin Land in all of its technicolor glory, I thought, “Wow! How beautiful, how amazing!” 

I got over my fear of Flying Monkeys and Wicked Witch by the time my own children were old enough to watch the film. By that time, it had been released for home viewing on VHS, remember that? I shared my own memories of the first time I watched the film with my little son. He said reassuringly, “Mom, don’t be afraid. Those monkeys aren’t real and they can’t fly.” He was a much more sophisticated four-year-old than his mother had been. 

Please join us on April 27^th for a special 80^th anniversary showing of The Wizard of Oz. The film still holds up today because of its “groundbreaking visuals,” masterful storytelling, and delightful musical score.