For those who grew up before DVDs made it possible for excitable six-year-olds to watch Rugrats in Paris whenever they feel like it, the annual network broadcast of The Wizard of Oz was one of childhood's stations of the cross. Year after year, there it appeared, inviting us to enter its dreamlike and disorienting, yet oddly familiar world. Sure, the 1939 MGM extravaganza is a product of Hollywood's Golden Age, filled with Technicolor magic, a splendid Harold Arlen-Yip Harburg score, and indelible performances. But beyond that it speaks to a deep, archetypal longing: to explore the unknown and return home safely. The Wizard of Oz is a truly American fairy tale.

The 1939 film served as the main inspiration for Annie Leibovitz's shoot for this month's Vogue. The young actress Keira Knightley was chosen to step into Judy Garland's ruby slippers—not to mention a variety of top designers' takes on her gingham frock. Knightley may hail from across the ocean and lack the barely hidden sadness that made Garland's performance so heartbreaking, but her smile is as wide open as the Midwest.

To give The Wizard of Oz's iconic characters fresh life and new meaning, Vogue assembled an A-team of contemporary artists, whose images have become part of our collective visual consciousness.
—Adam Green

"The Wizard of Oz" has been edited for Style.com; the complete story appears in the December 2005 issue of Vogue.

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