I'll kick off things with this observation. Joel Coen has been quoted as saying this: “Every movie ever made is an attempt to remake ‘The Wizard of Oz.'” That is true of Back to the Future. Think about it. What is Dorothy's problem? At its root, she doesn't feel like her home is a home. A big part of that is she feels so different than everyone around her. They're all adults, she's a child. They all have jobs / a function on the farm, she doesn't and gets into trouble. She even DRESSES differently than her aunt, uncle, and the three farmhands Zeke, Hickory, and Hunk. And there's this: She's an orphan. Marty McFly, I would argue, is very much in the same boat: He doesn't feel like his home is a home. His mother, father, sister, brother, uncle, none of them have the same interests or 'cool' factor Marty does. So what happens to each? Both Dorothy and Marty get transported through bizarre means to a different world: Dorothy to Oz, Marty to a time decades ago. They both learn a similar lesson, however whereas Dorothy comes back and accepts the Kansas farm as it is as her home, Marty returns to find his family has somehow turned out to be great, an idealized version of what he might have dreamed of in the first place. I think the difference here is tethered in part to the eras in which the movies were made. The Wizard of Oz was produced in 1939, as the U.S. was slowly recovering from the Great Depression, so the message there -- be happy with what you have -- probably resonated with most Americans as they struggled to survive with their meager incomes and lifestyle. BTTF, on the other hand, was produced 1985, right in the middle of the Reagan era where the message was, "It's morning in America." Feel good about things! Feel good about yourself! So Marty returns to a classic wish fulfillment scenario fitting the upbeat posturing of the political and media powers that be. Bottom line, both Dorothy and Marty go on a classic Hero's Journey: Separation. Initiation. Return. Both Protagonists come back transformed by the experience, but in BTTF the transformation is more about how Marty's 'interference' in the past has changed the present.

Scott, I went to the AMC for their one day "Back to the future" screenings. I was struck by how moved I was by the first movie, even though I've seen it probably three dozen times. Something about seeing it again, but this time on the big screen just gave me goosebumps. But, I was also struck by how I didn't feel the same way about Back to the Future 2.... I liked the second one and even thought there were some really great ideas in the second one (Biff getting his own hotel in an alternate universe; hover boards; returning again to 1955). But, there was always something magical about the first one where I forgot I was watching a movie... I even overlooked the incest angle and thought it was cute, his scenes with his mother--that's how well the writers handled that scene like expert chefs. Do you have any explanation for why I'd feel so different about the sequel than the original? Just out of curiosity, did you ever post a blog about the making of "Back to the future"? I may have read it, but didn't realize it (there are thousands here! so it's impossible to check). According to lore, the writers were rejected on this project all over town....and the original script wasn't even this magical event we've come to know. It was a mess. The first act was not focused. Marty McFly went back in time and sort of wandered around. The movie was different....there wasn't a single line wasted. No action done that didn't propel the plot forward or tell us something about the characters. On the surface it may just seem like an entertaining movie, but it's really a screenwriting master class.

Eric, I have a draft of the script dated 10/21/84 and even by reading just the first 30 pages or so, it's WAAAAAAAYYYY different than the shooting script. Perhaps that explains why the original draft was rejected 40 times per co-writer Bob Gale. I concur about this: The movie is a screenwriting master class, especially re subplots, setups and payoffs.

For more of my thoughts on the comparison between Back to the Future and The Wizard of Oz, here is a post from 2010.