Try to imagine how Dorothy felt when she was swept away from the endless plains of Kansas and transported to the wild and colorful land of Oz. That moment in movie history could be compared to the digital transformation happening in movie theaters across the country.

It turns out the great and powerful wizard, also known as the American movie industry, has made it harder for smaller theaters to survive, foisting expensive digital upgrades to guarantee that the newest technology from Tinsel Town gets seen.

Fortunately for the Harbor Theatre in Boothbay Harbor, owner Jason Sheckley was able to raise $49,700 in donations in seven months to purchase a new digital projector.

“I feel relieved and happy the theater is able to continue,” Sheckley said. “I am proud we've come so far since we opened in August of 2002.”

While the new digital projectors are capable of delivering a much sharper image at double the standard frame rate, Sheckley said there's no immediate plan to scrap the old 35mm carbon-projector, a mechanical relic that dates back to the golden age of cinema.

Sheckley said being able to screen multiple film formats will allow the Harbor Theatre to be more accessible for moviegoers.

Movies have come a long way since Boothbay Harbor audiences first watched Fay Wray squirm helplessly in the hands of the mighty King Kong.

From the days of twitchy animated gorillas to today’s garish 3-D blockbusters, the Harbor Theatre has quietly maintained its folksy charm, displaying vintage movie posters of Gene Kelly and Cary Grant, while screening the latest releases available for the big screen.

Last week the Harbor Theatre retired the 35 mm projector spinning the science fiction extravaganza, titled “Oblivion.”

Spools of celluloid film are no longer delivered to the Harbor Theatre. Sheckley said he received a plastic box containing a hard drive that stored the 2013 remake of “The Great Gatsby” last week.

Being the first all digital movie to premier at Harbor Theatre on May 10, “The Great Gatsby” provided a much clearer projection seldom seen in Boothbay Harbor until now.

Although the film doesn't stay completely faithful to the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel about the decadence and excess of the Roaring Twenties, the film's bold, glitzy and flamboyant look is an ideal introduction to the crisp, colorful digital medium that has now infiltrated even us peninsula dwellers.

As big budget blockbusters like the highly anticipated Star Trek saga “Into Darkness” (starting May 24 at the Harbor Theatre) will surely dazzle audiences this summer, our little theater in the harbor is now fully equipped to carry the mainstream marvels, as well as the cinematic delights for moviegoers who prefer a traditional theater experience.

As a girl from Kansas once so aptly put in the presence of the seemingly great and powerful, “There's no place like home.”