The Wizard of Oz (1939) is a film about understanding the importance of home, or one’s origins. What defines home is the family structure. The values of taking care of one another and working towards the benefit of the group derive from a family oriented lifestyle. These values became an important principle during the Great Depression as they opposed the rugged individualism prevalent in the 1920s. After the superficiality of that decade and the crash that it caused, it was important for the nation to return back to simpler times and to focus on more important values. The theme of returning home, or to the origin, threads throughout the narrative of The Wizard of Oz. The form of the film is also structured in a way that reflects a return. The Wizard of Oz presents a film returning to its roots as it contains similar aspects of early cinema through spectacle, whether it’s through entertainment or movement, yet also alludes to the Great Depression and the need to return to the essentials of life.