Saturday, October 12, 2019

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: The Tallest Munchkin

The Cowardly Lion meets Devin, the only Munchkin not invited to the annual Munchkin Dance-a-thon, because he's so tall. Dorothy and the rest of the gang try to help, and Devin flashes back to how it happened and was shunned by the other Munchkins. He decides to live in the forest. Dorothy and the gang tell him about their experiences being different, and he decides it's okay to be different. So Dorothy says he should go back to Munchkinland and win that Dance-a-thon. That is when Devin confesses he can't dance. No problem, the gang teaches him. It does not go well at first, but everyone persists and Devin gets to be pretty good. They show up in Munchkinland, and Devin is nervous, but he still challenges his chief rival, Randall, to a dance off. Devin's nerves get to him, however, and he doesn't do so well. He finally tries the Glinda Hop and kicks Randall into a tree! Dorothy points out that Randall should be nice, as Devin is the only one who can get him out of the tree! The other Munchkins start to accept Devin for who he is, and realize all the things he can do now that he's tall. He's happy now and has friends, ever since Dorothy and the gang befriended him and help him accept himself as he is.

This isa classic kids' show episode about dealing with being different and accepting it, both in oneself and others. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's a message everyone needs to hear repeatedly. Devin also illustrates what's in store for a lot of the show's audience in a few years, when Devin goes from a normal height to tall and gangly overnight—on his fourteenth birthday no less. They handle it well, with Dorothy and the guys all telling Devin about how they, too, are different and overcame their problems. The animators also have fun with the dance montage, throwing in all kinds of different styles. "The Jitterbug" even gets a brief mention, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was about the musical number cut out of The Movie. At any rate, I enjoyed this one, and Devin had a pretty good character arc for being in a cartoon only eleven minutes long.

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