THE

PinkFloyd

Album / Movie Synchronization

Phenomenon

The Cast Of Characters

Background

In case you haven't already heard about the strange cosmic synchronization that occurs when you play Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" in place of the original "Wizard of Oz" movie soundtrack. Richard Wright, keyboardist for DSOTM was on the radio for an interview. He swore on his family that there was no intended connection between the movie and the album. This was to the best of his knowledge. I am not sure to what extent he was involved in writing at that time, but I do think that he would have some insight into the remarkable relationship between the two if it was intentionally designed that way. This doesn't discount the magic of experiencing these two performances combined. I do believe that people should know that there was no intent to make the album fit the movie so closely.

Perhaps it was fate.......you decide.

The Ingredients

Audio: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
1973, Capital Records (US)

Video: The Wizard of Oz
1939, MGM Studios,
based on the book by Frank L. Baum

The Set-up

Pause Dark Side of the Moon on track one.

Put in The Wizard Of Oz and wait for the MGM lion logo to appear..

When the MGM lion roars for THE THIRD TIME, unpause Dark Side of the Moon.

The timing is correct if the credit for the producer Mervyn LeRoy appears right as the transition from "Speak To Me" to "Breathe" takes place..

Supporting Incidents

The lyric "balanced on the biggest wave" is sung just as Dorothy is balancing on the fence.
Dorothy falls into the pig pen as you hear the words "race towards an early grave" and "On The Run" starts just as Dorothy falls off the fence. This creates a much "darker" feel than the movie by itself could.
As Auntie Em is yapping, a female voice can be heard in the background of the album that stops just as Auntie Em stops running her mouth.
Dorothy turns around and looks down just as the lyrics "look around. Choose your own ground" are sung.
As Dorothy is singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, she will often look up at the planes flying by in the music.
A verse in Somewhere Over The Rainbow is "Birds fly, why can't I?" In the song Breathe, there is a verse that is "For long you live and high you fly."
Toto appears to be laughing at Dorothy as the laugh is heard in the background.
Chimes and Bells start ringing as the mean old lady rides up on her bike. These fade when she gets off her bike, and she gets hit by the fence to the beat of the music.
When inside, the music reflects the tone of the scene, especially the change when Dorothy shifts her attention to different characters.
The words "Past Present, and Future" can be read on a sign outside of the fortune teller during the solo to "Time".
The fortune teller tells Dorothy that she needs to go home just as the lyric "Home, home again. I like to be there when I can" is sung.
The Great Gig In The Sky Has Many Incidents:

The song "Great Gig in the Sky" begins just as Dorothy leaves the fortune teller.
The tornado is shown in the background as the words "And I'm not frightened of dying" are spoken"
At approximately 3:35 in the "Pulse" version of Great Gig in the Sky, a female voice whispers, "I never said I was afraid of Dorothy".
Drums kick in as the wind starts causing damage and blows the trees from the roots.
As the window hits Dorothy and she gets knocked out, the singer tones down and sings rather softly until the house lands.
Great Gig in The Sky ends when the house lands and Dorothy wakes up. In fact, the music change occurs just as Dorothy opens her eyes.
NOTE: "Great Gig In The Sky" is played as the house is in the sky.

The cash register in Money is heard right as the color is seen just as Dorothy opens the door.
The lyric "and racing around to come up behind you again" from Time are sung just as the camera shot changes and shows Dorothy from behind.
In Us And Them, many incidents:

The Ballerinas enter on "Us..us..us..us."
One ballerina seems to lip sync "ordinary men"
Three wise men enter on "Me..me..me"
The wise looking kid's jerking motions are in sync with the music.
"Forward he cried" is sung as Dorothy turns to face forward.
The Good Witch appears to play the guitar on her wand. She also seems to sway to the music and even moves her fingers on the wand as though she is really playing the guitar.
The Wicked Witch appears on "Black..black.."
On "Blue..Blue.." the camera switches to Dorothy who is wearing a blue dress.
"And who knows which is which and who is who" is sung right as the Wicked Witch of the West looks at the recently killed Wicked Witch East. (A play on words)
Witch goes up the platform on "Up..up..up" then walks down on "Down..down..down"
"And in the end" spoken when the recently killed Witch of the East Disappears.
"Out..out..out" when the Good Witch of the North Leaves.
Song transition to "Any colour you like" during scene change.

Song "Brain Damage" played as The Scarecrow sings "If I only had a brain"
The Scarecrow accentuates the wawa guitar. The guitar will play whenever Dorothy or the Scarecrow talk.
THE TIN MAN

Heartbeat heard at the end of the album is heard when Dorothy listens for The Tin Man's lack of a heart.
***The CD repeats here and the heartbeat starts again.***
When the Tin Man is oiled up, he begins dancing right as the beat kicks in and dances to the music.
The steam comes out of the Tin Man's head to the beat of the hi-hat.

THE LION

The Lion's roar correlate with the roar-like sounds in the background.
The Lion seems to be conductor of the music as he speaks.
He appears to be playing the air-saxaphone as the solo is played

All three characters skip to the beat during the scene change.
A bat is flying past the screen while an airplane flies by on the CD.
THE EMERALD CASTLE

Dorothy falls down to a music change.
Dorothy knocks on the door to the beat of the music.
The horse changes color in the order of the colors of the rainbow on the album.
A music change occurs as they walk down the big hallway.
When the wizard is in the room, the fire shoots up to the beat of the music.
The Lion jumps out the window on "down, down".
The chimes heard at the beginning with the mean lady on the bike are now accentuated by the crowd cheering in the hot air balloon scene.
Dorothy clicks her heals to the beat of the hi-hat.

HOME, HOME AGAIN.

The words "Home, home again" are sung just as Dorothy opens her eyes from the dream.
The words "and in the end, we're only ordinary men" are sung when the three actors who play the Lion, Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are talking to Dorothy.