"We're Off to See the Wizard" is one of the classic songs from the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning 1939 film ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

''. 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 ' ...

described it, along with "

The Merry Old Land of Oz "The Merry Old Land of Oz" is a song from the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz'' and the musical. The song is sung by the townspeople of the Emerald City, who are joined at appropriate times by the group of four travelers: Dorothy (with Toto), Scarec ...

" and " Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", as one of the "lemon drop" songs of the film. The lyrics are by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. The melody's first appearance begins with the

Munchkins A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Although a common fixture in Germanic fairy tales, they are introduced to modern audiences with the first appearance in the classic ch ...

reciting and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

echoing "Follow the Yellow Brick Road!", which turns into a group vocal by the Munchkins (while Garland skips and dances along the road) and then

segue A segue ( , ; ) is a transition from one topic or section to the next. In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next section) without a pause''. The term ''attacca'' is used synonymously. For writ ...

s into "''You're'' Off to See the Wizard". The song occurs as a vocal three more times in the film soundtrack, along with several short instrumental references in the underscore: # As a duet, sung by

and

Ray Bolger Raymond Wallace Bolger (; January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and stage performer (particularly musical theater) who started his movie career in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major B ...

# As a trio, sung by Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer, drummer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 193 ...

onscreen, but

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.; April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillb ...

's voice heard instead of Haley's # As a quartet, sung by Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, again Buddy Ebsen's voice, and

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Z ...

Although

replaced Ebsen on-screen and in the Tin Man's solo recording of " If I Only Had a Heart", it was deemed unnecessary for the group vocal to be re-recorded, so the voice in the film as released remains Ebsen's. His voice can be detected by listening for the male voice enunciating the "R" in words like "Wizard", as Ebsen's regional accent emphasized the "R" much more strongly than Haley's did. In ''The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs'',

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arra ...

re-worked the song as (in the words of ''Talkin' Broadway'') "a high-energy, wild Latin dance extravaganza". The song was later heard in a few MGM animated cartoons, notably the

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

shorts '' Professor Tom'' and '' The Truce Hurts''.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

covered this song for their 1969 album '' The Chipmunks Go to the Movies''. In December 1972,

Eugene Cernan Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, United States naval aviator, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. Cernan traveled into space three times and ...

sang the song on the surface of the Moon while hopping in lunar gravity.

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

and his male chorus later recorded a single of the song for the children's label

Golden Records Golden Records was a record label based in New York City. It was conceived and founded in 1948 by the Grammy Award-winning children's music producer Arthur Shimkin, then a new recruit in the S&S business department. Shimkin went on to found S ...

. Singer Anne Lloyd was featured as Dorothy on the song.

References

* *

External links

Sheet music cover for ''We're Off To See The Wizard''
at the U.S. Library of Congress {{The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) Songs about wizards 1939 songs Songs from The Wizard of Oz Songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg Songs with music by Harold Arlen Songs written for films Quotations from music Quotations from film 1939 quotations

See also

References

External links