Oz Obsession on KMOT-TV North Dakota's NBC News Leader

Oz Obsession | Video

Cliff Naylor

11/6/2009

The Wicked Witch of the West has cast a powerful spell on a North Dakota film fan.

The movie "The Wizard of Oz" marks its 70th anniversary this year, but one buff of this Hollywood classic has been celebrating its release every day since he was three years old.

You would have to travel "Over the Rainbow" to see more Wizard of Oz memorabilia than the collection housed in Justin Ell`s "Oz" room.

"When you enter the Oz Room you`re not in Kansas anymore," Ell says.

His movie museum features over a thousand of dolls, statues, books, pictures, posters, and music boxes.

About the only thing missing from this room is yellow brick carpeting.

"These are an exact replica pair of ruby red slippers that July Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz," says Ell. "They have orange felt at the bottom that was to muffle the noise of Dorothy dancing down the Yellow Brick Road.

The heroine of the Hollywood classic isn`t his, favorite member of the cast; instead Ell is drawn to the movie`s villain.

"The wicked witch is my favorite character, her evilness is what draws me to her because she`s so unlike me," says Ell.

He began collecting Wizard of Oz memorabilia when he was three years old after he saw the movie for the first time. His rarest piece is an exact replica of the hourglass the wicked witch use to scare Dorothy.

"It actually works, it does keep an hour time," he says.

Ell`s Oz obsession has outgrown his house, and even though he`s been forced to display the other half of this collection at his lake cabin, he plans to add lots of 70th anniversary collectibles to his movie memorabilia room.

Ell also had a chance to "act out" his passion for the movie.

In 2002 when Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre produced the "Wizard of Oz" he was cast in the role of the wizard.

BACK TO REGIONAL STORIES

Search News Stories

BACK TO NEWS HOME

Sister Stations: KFYR TV in Bismarck, KUMV in Williston, KQCD in Dickinson