"The Merry Old Land of Oz" is a song from the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' and the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

. It is sung by the townspeople of the

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of the La ...

, who are joined at appropriate times by the group of four travelers:

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

(with Toto),

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

, Tin Man and

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

. It was written by lyricist

E.Y. Harburg Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( ...

and composer

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

. The verse of the song suggests that the people of the city do no actual work, since they "get up at twelve, and start to work at one, take an hour for

lunch Lunch is a meal eaten around the middle of the day. It is commonly the second meal of the day, after breakfast, and varies in size by culture and region. Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the etymology ...

, and then at two they're done". Their actions contradict that funny sentiment, however, as they are clearly doing plenty of work to "freshen up" the group of four to go see the Wizard. The revelers' laughter is interrupted by the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

, who is circling over the city,

skywriting Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns that create writing readable from the ground. These messages can be advertisements, general messages of celebrat ...

with her broom, ordering the citizens to "SURRENDER DOROTHY OR DIE". In the final cut of the film, the words "OR DIE" were dropped from the film as being too strong for the presumably young audience of the time.

Covers and parodies

*This musical number was spoofed in the ''

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retelling ...

'' episode

The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's This is a list of VHS and DVD releases of the animated children's television series ''VeggieTales''. Videos Original videos (1993–2015) Theatrical films Compilation videos Collections # ''Lessons From The Sock Drawer'' ...

. *On the children's show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' episode 3695,

Oscar the Grouch Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program ''Sesame Street''. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a trash can. Oscar's favorite thing is trash, as eviden ...

's girlfriend,

Grundgetta The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson, many for the purpose of appearing on the children's television program ''Sesame Street''. Some of the best known Muppets on ''Sesame Street'' include Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch ...

has just opened her own Grouch beauty salon, and she asks Gina to be a test subject to attract Grouch customers. During the makeover procedure, Grundgetta and some back-up singing Grouches sing "At Grundgetta's Grouch Beauty Salon", a parody of "The Merry Old Land of Oz".Grundgetta's Grouch Beauty Salon Episode 3695 street story
/ref> *In the season 11 ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode "

Bigfat "Bigfat" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season and the 205th overall episode of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy''. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 14, 2013, and is written by Brian Scully and directed by Julius ...

", Quagmire tries to convince Peter and Joe to join him on a trip to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

by singing about the country's adult offerings via a parody of "The Merry Old Land of Oz", entitled "Canadian Nudie Bars". The song is also spoofed in "

Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High The fourth season of ''Family Guy'' aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from May 1, 2005, to May 21, 2006, and consisted of thirty episodes, making it the longest season to date. The first half of the season is included within the List of Fami ...

" in a mashup with the prison drama series '' Oz''.

References

1939 songs Songs from The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) Songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg Songs with music by Harold Arlen {{Oz-stub

Covers and parodies

See also

References