So I guess ur right

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5827592&forum_id=2...id#49625265)

Despite Baum’s antisemitism, the Oz series became a runaway success, selling millions of copies. In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adapted it into a Hollywood blockbuster—crafted largely by Jewish talent.

Composer Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck in Buffalo, 1905) grew up in a devout Jewish family; his father was a cantor, and young Arlen sang in synagogue. He went on to write the film’s unforgettable score, including the Academy Award–winning “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg (born Isadore Hochberg) was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants on New York’s Lower East Side. After losing everything in the 1929 crash, he turned his passion for lyrics into a career—encouraged by his friend Ira Gershwin. Harburg, always socially progressive, later faced blacklisting during the McCarthy era. Among his earlier hits was the Great Depression anthem Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The screenplay was created by a largely Jewish group of writers: Herman Mankiewicz grew up in an observant Jewish household in New York City and worked as a journalist, including for a Jewish newspaper, before turning to screenwriting. He was an outspoken critic of Nazism both in his journalism and in his screen work. Irving Brecher grew up in a Jewish home in the Bronx and wrote for the Marx Brothers before joining the Wizard of Oz team. Herbert Fields came from a prominent Jewish songwriting family; his father was the famous vaudeville performer Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld). Samuel Hoffenstein was born in Odessa and moved to the United States, where he became a popular film writer and poet.

Perhaps the most recognizable Jewish figure in the film was Bert Lahr (born Irving Lahrheim), who played the Cowardly Lion. Raised in a loving Jewish home in New York, Lahr became a beloved comedian whose trademark Brooklyn accent added charm to the role.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5827592&forum_id=2...id#49625508)

The film’s emotional power came in part from the deep anxieties its Jewish creators were experiencing. The Wizard of Oz premiered on August 25, 1939—just days before Nazi Germany invaded Poland. As Arlen, Harburg, Mankiewicz, and others labored on the film, they watched in anguish as relatives in Europe faced persecution and being attacked during Kristallnacht. Their work channeled both desperation and hope, lending the film an enduring resonance.

Dorothy’s desperate attempts to escape the Wicked Witch of the West mirrored the plight of Jewish families trapped in Europe. Her longing to return “home” echoed Jewish liturgy and the yearning to return to the Land of Israel.

The song Somewhere Over the Rainbow carried particular Jewish resonance. Its poignant line “a land that I heard of once in a lullaby” is thought to draw inspiration from Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (“Raisins and Almonds”), a famous Yiddish lullaby written by Abraham Goldfaden in 1881. That haunting song, describing a mother rocking her child while foretelling hardship and exile, urged Jews never to forget their homeland. The parallel is striking—and moving.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5827592&forum_id=2...id#49625511)