“You're selling the sense of magic, magical realism (and) whimsy that people associate with the film and therefore with Kansas.”īut as culture becomes more fragmented, the spell Oz cast over America might start to fade. “It’s not necessarily that you're selling 'The Wizard of Oz,'” Deikis said. And that’s something the state can use to sell itself. It gives Kansas a distinction that neighboring Great Plains states don’t enjoy.Īnd even though some parts of the original film have aged poorly - its depiction of little people, its racial whitewashing of Kansas and Oz - it still has a broadly positive connotation. Jeff Deikis, who oversees strategy for Nevada-based tourism marketing agency Noble Studios, said he still views the sprawling Oz culture empire as a net gain for Kansas because it keeps the state in people’s minds. Frank Baum published after his original wizard tale. And of course, the 13 other Oz books author L. Or consider the many TV and movie remakes. If you search for that 'not in Kansas anymore' phrase in Google Scholar, it pops up in the titles of research publications on topics as varied as the European banking union, septic arthritis and academic freedom in the Middle East. Even for folks who haven’t seen the movie, chances are they still know what it means when someone jokes that they’re not in Kansas anymore.

It could never buy the marketing that Oz has done for Kansas over the years.Īnd pieces of Oz have permeated American culture and language in ways that go beyond the actual film. The state isn’t clicking its heels to leave Oz behind entirely. “But we in tourism are tasked with changing perceptions about Kansas.” I absolutely adore the movie,” Sharples-Terry said. “I don’t want to say it’s like a love-hate relationship at all. Experts try to evolve image of Kansas beyond 'The Wizard of Oz' But if outsiders still think of Kansas as Dorothy’s backyard, that could hurt efforts to attract the high-tech businesses and workers it needs for the future. The state also has growing urban centers surrounding Wichita and Kansas City that are turning from building grain elevators to building jets, microchips and electric car batteries. While most small towns in western Kansas have seen populations plummet in recent decades, this city of nearly 20,000 people has more than doubled its number of residents since 1950 - largely thanks to the arrival of immigrant and refugee communities. There are still plenty of farms here, but these days they’re run by fewer farmers who rely more on GPS satellites than scarecrows.Īnd Liberal - hometown to the film’s archetypal white farm girl - has become the most Hispanic city in the state with roughly two-thirds of its population identifying as Latino. But Kansas has harnessed those breezes to become one of the top states for producing renewable wind energy.

But in reality, today’s Kansas sits somewhere in between those two extremes.

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