Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001. The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. Both movies are fantasy although The Wizard of Oz is more musical. Both main characters are orphan childrens that travels into a different world to live an adventure. Harry lived a boring life surrounded by people who couldn’t care less about him. It was not until he reached Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Similarly, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy goes from living in a grey world to one full of colour.
Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who realised his parent were wizards and so he wants to become a wizard as well. Harry and his parents were attacked by Lord Voldemort and Harry is the only one who survived. Harry becomes very popular in the wizarding world as the boy who survived. Dorothy is a girl who was attacked by a Wicked Witch of the East. She kills the wicked witch by accident, and so she becomes very popular. Both Harry and Dorothy share the similarity that they are famous figures in their away worlds, and they have to uphold their titles as they face many challenges. A vital aspect of both movies is friendship. Harry didn’t have any friends until he entered Hogwarts. When Harry enters the train to Hogwarts, he meets Ron and Hermione. They become friends quickly. Each of them shares a different personality. Like Harry, Dorothy finds friends during her journey in the away world. She meets Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. Again each of them has an entirely different personality.
The friendship created help them overcome many challenges that would have been difficult to face alone. In both movies, the main characters have to fight evil. In Harry Potter, the main villain is Lord Voldemort. In The Wizard of Oz, it’s Wicked Witch of the West. Most of the time, both Harry and Dorothy don’t know what they are doing and usually manage to get out of a bad situation by teamwork and luck. For example, when Dorothy accidentally pours water on the witch, she melts and dies. Who is good and who is evil was a reoccurring aspect throughout both movies. In Harry Potter, Harry meets many good characters such as Hagrid or Dumbledore but also many evil such as Malfoy or Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore is always trying to protect Harry and oversees him during the entire movie. It’s Dumbledore who gives him an invisible cloak. Similarly, in The Wizard of Oz, the Good Witch of the North is overseeing Dorothy. When the Wicked Witch of the West tries to put to sleep Dorothy at the poppy field, the Good Witch of the North saves her. She is also the one who gave her magical ruby slippers. In conclusion, both movies work with themes of friendship, teamwork, good and evil and escaping to a different world.