Key Films

"The Wizard of Oz" (1939)
Director: Victor Fleming
Screenplay: Noel Langley
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan and Ray Bolger
Genre: Musical Fantasy
One of the best known fantasy films, especially because of it's special effects which were developed for the time it was made. It was released in a significant year of film in Hollywood which also saw the release of "Gone With the Wind."




As shown in the clip, the film contains many fantasy elements. The 'hero' is going on a journey and is being guided by helpers as is conventional in many fantasy narratives. The costumes and the setting help to emphasise the mystical elements, especially the red shoes worn by Dorothy which possess magical powers.



"Edward Scissorhands" (1990)
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay: Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Dianne Wiest
Genre: Fantasy Drama
The film is a modern day take on a fairy tale, fairy tale narratives are commonly associated with fantasy. Like many fantasy films it introduces a protagonist that isn't human, but still gains the audience's sympathies. 



Many of the fantasy elements become apparent in this trailer: these are conventions of Tim Burton as much as they conventions of the film themselves.
It is snowing at the start of the trailer which is considered to the type of weather in which mystical things occur and this coupled with the dark lighting and the Gothic setting emphasise the fantasy iconography. Edward Scissorhands is an outcast and misunderstood character which opposes the traditional "Hero" from Todorov's theory and the film is almost an anti-fairy tale as it does not end "happily ever after."