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The Wizard of OZ was my absolute favorite movie as a child. It is visually stunning, whimsically themed, and emotionally charged. Between Dorothy's ruby red shoes and the lovable lion who sought courage, I was hooked!

Originally released in 1939, there is no question that The Wizard of Oz has lasting value. I am often delighted to see the digitally remastered version playing on TBS on Sunday nights - it really is the perfect Sunday night movie for so many reasons.

Firstly, the Sunday night blues are akin to the recession blues that inspired the Fall Down the Rabbit Hole blog series. After all, The Wizard of Oz is all about fantasy: a little girl named Dorothy gets knocked on the head and enters a world of whimsy with life lessons to spare. (I seem to be specifically drawn to the childhood obsessions that contain vital information for growing into an authentic human being  - man, were we lucky to be inundated with goodhearted flights of the imagination!)

There is absolutely no way I can discuss this movie without mentioning the yellow brick road. It was the yellow brick road on which Dorothy meets her companions (The Lion with no courage, the Tin Man with no heart, and the Scarecrow with no brains), as well as a series of fun and occasionally frightening adventures. At the end of the yellow brick road, Dorothy and her friends come to the city of Oz, where the Wizard of Oz resides as the omnipotent and omniscent leader.

Of course, this leader turns out to be a lowly, sheepish man in Wizard's clothing, who is perhaps just as emotionally lost as his visitors, Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow and Lion.

However, it is this man/wizard who helps the team discover that all they sought has been present within them the whole time; therefore, to me, the yellow brick road always represented this little thing called life. Pardon my corniness, but, as we walk through life, we meet new friends, plenty of evil green opposition, and limitations that we eventually learn are only as real as we make them.

What doesn't this movie have? That's right, it has everything for anyone of every age!