Oz Becomes a Part of American Culture

The Wizard of Oz officially became a part of American culture in 1956 when it made its television debut on CBS as part of the popular Ford Star Jubilee. The film was made in and promoted as Technicolor, yet American TV sets were still mainly black and white so most of the home-viewing audience never experienced the color.

Encouraged to learn that the audience for that broadcast topped an estimated 45 million people, CBS re-released it two years later as a two-hour Christmas special, this time to an even larger viewing public.