WAMEGO, Kan. -- When "The Wizard of Oz" first hit theaters in August 1939, flying monkeys were the least of America's worries.
The Depression, already almost a decade long, continued to grind away, and Germany stood on the verge of invading Poland, igniting a global conflagration that would envelop the United States just two years later.
Moviegoers needed escape. And along came Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl whose ruby slippers stepped out of the dreary present and into a Technicolor future, a magical Oz populated by talking scarecrows, Munchkins, and a con man of a wizard who showed that all we ever needed was within ourselves.
Seventy years after its first screening, "The Wizard of Oz" is headed back to theaters nationwide Sept. 23 for one night as Warner Bros. unveils a technologically updated and improved version ahead of its release on Blu-ray Hi-Def.
For many fans, the Sept. 23 showing will be the first chance they've had to see the film on the big screen since its last national theatrical release in 1955. Warner Bros. says the new version, digitally sharpened and brightened, provides textures and details that were invisible in past prints.
Bundchen looks to tackle Amazon deforestation
SAO PAULO -- Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen is a new United Nations advocate for environmental awareness -- and reportedly wants her own president to do more to halt Amazon deforestation.
Bundchen tells reporters in New York that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should propose better laws to stop the razing of the world's largest rain forest.
Her comments were published Monday in major Brazilian newspapers that covered her comments as she was named a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Environment Program.
Silva said Monday that his new proposal to limit sugarcane production in the Amazon and other ecologically sensitive areas is proof of his commitment to Amazon preservation. It was unveiled last week.
Michael Jackson's Ferris wheel spins into new life
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. -- From the top of the Ferris wheel, one could once see acres of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, the ride's 5,000 lights aglow in a carnival-like frenzy fit for a performer who never quite grew up.
At the bottom of the wheel rest allegations of child sex abuse, bankruptcy and ultimately a drug-induced death for the 50-year-old King of Pop.
A liquidation sale scattered many of Jackson's rides from his ranch in the oak-studded hills 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Now the Ferris wheel that offered glimpses of Jackson's incredible wealth is quietly touring the Midwest in the hands of a Missouri amusement company that bought it only because it needed another one for its stable of rides.
"We ourselves really didn't advertise it," said Theresa Noerper, co-owner of Archway Amusements Corp. "When he died, it kind of blew up. There's no keeping secrets then."
