‘The Wizard of Oz’ Is the Most Influential Film Ever — And It’s Inspired Many Different Movie, TV and Stage Versions

Well click our Ruby Slippers! The Wizard of Oz turns 80 this year, and to celebrate it’s returning to the big screen for a limited engagement thanks to Fathom Events (theaters and showtimes can be found on the Fathom website). And as if this wasn’t enough, recently experts at Italy’s University of Turin have come to the conclusion that The Wizard of Oz is the most influential film of all time. This consensus was reached by the researchers examining 47,000 movies that are listed at the Internet Movie Database.

The Wizard of Oz, of course, is always in the news, whether it’s because the costume of the Cowardly Lion is going up for auction, book authors are spilling secrets about the making of the film or William Shatner is voicing the Wizard in an animated adventure. But now it’s due to the fact that, according to those scientists, it has come out ahead of such classics as Star Wars (1977), Psycho (1960) and King Kong (1933) in terms of being referenced in other films more than any other, whether that be verbally, visually or thematically.

Although it wasn’t part of the study, one also has to keep in mind the fact that The Wizard of Oz has influenced a wide variety of filmmakers to expand on that magical world created by author L. Frank Baum. Scroll down to check out our guide to the Wonderful Land of Oz on film, TV and the stage!