The film starts out on a snowy evening in New York City. Dorothy, a twenty-four year-old woman, lives with her Aunt Em in her apartment in Harlem. Aunt Em has hosted Thanksgiving at her place and invited several relatives. Despite having many family members Dorothy has no friends, with the exception her pet dog Toto. Aunt Em jokes that Dorothy has never seen any part of the world or as she quotes "south of 125th Street". Although she enjoys her job as a kindergarten teacher and is exposed to children through this, Dorothy has never considered having any of her own as she has made no effort to find a husband.
After the relatives depart, Aunt Em has a talk with Dorothy about getting a new job, finding a new place and meeting new people. Afterwards, Toto runs out the door while Dorothy is cleaning up. Dorothy chases after him into the cold streets right in the middle of a snow storm. She eventually catches him but not in time, it's too late. There is a huge blizzard (The work of Glinda the Good Witch Of the South) that sweeps her and Toto away, far away into space until the two cross over in the Land of Oz (which is a parallel universe of New York City).
