What is the plot-point formula for The Wizard of Oz?

Answer 1

A plot point is a significant event that spins a plot around in another direction. It often leads to the discovery of character, or of motives. In the original book, and in the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz, the plot-points are the same: the tornado, which separates Dorothy Gale and her pet dog Toto from her family; and the hot air balloon, which takes off without them, and initially makes fruitless their efforts, and their quest, to get back home to Kansas in the first half of the book, and most of the film. Additionally, a third plot-point may be identified in the book. For Dorothy, Toto, and her friends the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion lose their way after having killed the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard says that he will help the five friends, in exchange for the Witch's death [in the book], or her broomstick [in the film]. How can they get the Wizard to help them if they can't get back to the Emerald Palace to show that they've carried out their part of the bargain?