Hot Docs 2026: It’s Dorothy! Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

‘The Wizard of Oz’ is a property that looms so large over pop culture, and has been reinterpreted so many times, that nearly all audiences, regardless of age, has some deep connection to it. The Yellow Brick Road, the dream of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and the unforgettable characters who bring Oz to life are instantly iconic. Yet one of the most important reasons for the story’s longevity is often taken for granted: its protagonist, Dorothy Gale. But what is it about her that continues to resonate so deeply?

It’s Dorothy! argues that Dorothy is more than just a guide through Oz. She’s a symbol of resilience and belonging, particularly for marginalized communities. The documentary weaves together interviews with actresses who have portrayed Dorothy across various adaptations, as well as Queer artists whose work has been deeply inspired by ‘The Wizard of Oz’, to examine the character’s lasting sociopolitical impact.

Directed by L.A.-based documentarian Jeffery McHale, the film reflects a deep passion for its subject. With McHale being a gay man who fell in the love with movies through ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ he shows a particular interest in diving into the story’s longstanding connection to LGBTQ audiences, examining how star Judy Garland became both an ally and an icon within the queer community, and how the phrase “a friend of Dorothy” emerged as coded language during periods of repression. But the documentary doesn’t stop there. It expands outward to consider the story’s impact across multiple marginalized communities, touching on ‘The Wiz’ and its cultural significance within Black audiences, various Broadway interpretations, and even the unusual UK reality series ‘Over the Rainbow,’ which followed women competing to play Dorothy in a West End production. It also revisits the critical reappraisal of ‘Return to Oz’ and briefly acknowledges author L. Frank Baum’s harmful writings about Indigenous peoples. The interview roster is impressively broad, though the absence of major figures like Diana Ross and Liza Minnelli is noticeable.

While McHale’s ambition is admirable, the film ultimately stretches itself too thin. In trying to cover every possible angle, it loses focus on its central thesis: Dorothy as an icon for marginalized communities. The result is a documentary that feels overextended, unable to explore any single thread with the depth it deserves. The closest it gets is when it’s exploring Dorothy as an iconic symbol within the LGBTQ community, which is by far the most passionate and well researched section, and the film could have benefited from solely focusing on this,

Visually, there are inspired touches. The colourful transitions and stylized title cards to introduce each new interview subject, using the classic Wizard of Oz font, that add a sense of playfulness and magic, even when the film engages with heavier subject matter. Still, the reliance on talking-head interviews limits its cinematic potential. A deeper use of archival material might have strengthened the film, though given the complexities of working with such a heavily copyrighted property, those limitations are understandable.

There are undeniably powerful moments scattered throughout It’s Dorothy, with certain interviews cutting to the emotional core of McHale’s argument. But taken as a whole, the film feels less like a fully realized feature and more like a condensed version of a five-part docuseries. It’s a film that explodes such a large subject that it clearly needed more time and space to fully come into focus. 

still courtesy of Hot Docs

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Tristan French