We’re Off to Smell ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the Las Vegas Sphere

• The Sphere will fill with scents corresponding to key scenes in its reimagined version of “The Wizard of Oz,” which opens August 28
• A Sphere executive has confirmed that these scenes will include the tornado that propels Dorothy into Oz and the poppy field she and her new friends encountered on their way to the Emerald City

When Dorothy follows the yellow brick road into the Las Vegas Sphere, it won’t only be your eyes and ears targeted by the reimagination of 1939’s classic “The Wizard of Oz.” The 18,600-seat theater will also fill with scents designed to pull the audience into key scenes in the movie.

These scents aren’t among the technological breakthroughs currently being highlighted by the Sphere — such as the AI that helped fit to 4:3 original film to the Sphere’s 160K square-foot wraparound digital screen, or the haptic technology that will help the audience feel the digitally enhanced soundtrack in their actual seats.

This is why certain scents immediately trigger childhood emotions.

Poppy Culture

According to techeblog.com, the smell of poppies will help drag audiences into the scene in which Dorothy and her new friends enter a field of thousands of bright red poppies.

In the film, the field is placed there by the Wicked Witch of the West to prevent the posse from reaching the Emerald City. In the film’s lone adults-only reference, the field emits a fragrance that — like the opium derived from poppy seed alkaloids — causes Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion to fall into a deep sleep. (The Scarecrow and Tin Man remain unaffected due to their inanimate nature.)

Another smell-o-vision moment teased in interviews by Sphere Entertainment president Jennifer Koester will occur during the tornado. It is presumed to be the smell of airborne dirt, which will of course be accompanied by a hair-blowing wind.

Though never mentioned by Koester, another scene believed to include scents will be the colorful flower field marking the classic film’s transition from black and white into Technicolor.

The field conceals Munchkins who are initially frightened by Dorothy’s house, which has just been flung by the interdimensional tornado into Munchkinland, crushing the Wicked Witch of the East.

Tickets are available here for “The Wizard of Oz” at $104-$194 per seat, with the cheapest seats during daytime screenings.