Little Known Facts About The Wizard of Oz (1939)

"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) has been a perennial favorite film since its first release. A movie of this magnitude has a rich history and background with a lot of interesting rumors and facts. Below are just some facts that many fans might not know.

Origin of Title & Dorothy's Name

The word Oz in the title, "The Wizard of Oz," came from Baum looking at a file case with drawers labeled A-N and O-Z.

L. Frank Baum named Dorothy in memory of his wife's niece, Dorothy Louise Gage, who was born in 1898 and died at five months old.

Script Changes

Due to fantasy films not being profitable at the time, an early outline cut much of the magical elements. The Scarecrow was a stupid man who could only get a job by dressing up as a scarecrow and scaring crows away in a cornfield and the Tin Woodman was a heartless criminal who was sentenced to be put in a tin suit for eternity to make him kind.

One concept that was cut from the final script was a romantic relationship between Dorothy and Hunk (human counterpart of the Scarecrow) as shown by him leaving for agricultural college and asking Dorothy to promise to write to him. This might explain why, in the scene when Dorothy is saying goodbye to everyone in Oz, she says to the Scarecrow, "I think I'll miss you most of all."

Jitterbug

The Jitterbug is a musical scene filmed for the movie that was cut in early previews. It was part of a subplot in which a character, named Princess Betty (Betty Jaynes), along with the Grand Duke of Oz (Kenny Baker), competes with Dorothy in a singing battle that pit Judy Garland's jazz style singing with Jaynes operatic style, The two characters and subplot were determined unnecessary and cut from the film. The scene is still referenced in the final film when the Wicked Witch orders a minion to "send the insects on ahead to take the fight out of them."

Runtime

The "The Wizard of Oz" runtime is 101 minutes but was originally 120 minutes. After three public reviews, some of the cut scenes include the following: Jitterbug, extended dance sequence to "If I Only Had a Brain," "Over The Rainbow" reprise, Tin Man being turned into a human beehive, Emerald City reprise of "Ding Dong The Witch is Dead," two Kansas scenes with Hickory building a machine to ward off tornadoes, and dozens of threats from the Wicked Witch of the West.

Dorothy

Shirley Temple was considered to play Dorothy because she was close to the actual age of Dorothy and popular at the time. Her vocal capabilities were thought inadequate for the role.

Wicked Witch of the West

The Wicked Witch of the West was originally intended to be a beautiful woman with Gale Sondergaard was cast as a sexy witch. But this caused a problem with the script because it clashed with the idea that bad witches were ugly. Sondergaard was tested in ugly witch makeup but she immediately quit and was replaced by Margaret Hamilton.

The Wizard

The Wizard was written for W.C. Fields who was offered $75,000 but he supposedly wanted $100,000. Fields' agent claimed he turned it down to work on his script for "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939). To balance the screen time with the rest of the cast, additional roles were written for the part including Professor Marvel, Gatekeeper, horse carriage driver, Wizard's Guard and possibly the projected image of the Wizard's head in the Throne Room.

Tin Woodsman

The role of the Tin Woodsman endured many changes and complications. Ray Bolger was cast for the part but insisted he would rather play the Scarecrow because Fred Stone, his childhood idol, played the role on stage in 1902. So Buddy Ebsen ("The Beverly Hillbillies"), who had been cast as the Scarecrow, switched roles with Bolger. Ten days after filming began, Ebsen had an allergic reaction to the Tin Man's Silver make-up which contained aluminum dust, which coated his lungs and he had to be taken to the hospital and placed on an iron lung. He was replaced by Jack Haley and the make-up was changed to aluminum paste. Ebsen had recorded the songs "We're off to see the Wizard" and the extended version of "If I were King of the Forest," so the studio wanted to save money re-recording those songs and used them in the film with Haley's spoken voice. Haley did later sing "If I only had a Heart" and "If I only had the Nerve." Differences can be easily heard because Haley had a Boston accent and pronounced wizard as "wizad" while Ebsen had a Mid-western accent and pronounced wizard as "Wizard."

Munchkins

In 1938, MGM signed a contract with Leopold von Singer, who was the manager of the Singer Midgets, a European vaudeville group of "Little People" to provide 124 little people to play Munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Some of his troupe was used but he had to travel throughout the U.S. to recruit the rest.

Most of the Munchkins' voices were dubbed by professional singers because most of them could not speak English or sing well. Only two used their real voices when they give Dorothy flowers after she climbed into the carriage.

Jerry Maren, the lead Munchkin said that they were paid $50 per week, 6 days a week, and Toto was paid $125 per week. Some sources say the Munchkins were paid $125 per week.

Ruby Slippers

The ruby slippers are silver in Baum's book but were made red for the movie because the Technicolor production would pick them up better on film. In the book, "The Ruby Slippers of Oz," Rhys Thomas believes there were seven pairs but only the location of five are known, each with an estimated value of $1.5 million. One pair sold for $666,000.00 in 2000. The Smithsonian Museum has a pair that is mismatched.

Wicked Witch of the East

The Wicked Witch of the East is actually seen outside of Dorothy's window during the tornado when Miss Gulch transforms into a witch. Most believe it's the Wicked Witch of the West but it's not, as evidenced by her wearing the Ruby Slippers which can be seen shimmering in some video versions. This means that Margaret Hamilton pulls double duty as both the Wicked Witch of the East and West.

"Over the Rainbow"

The song "Over the Rainbow" was almost cut because MGM believed it made the Kansas scene too long, children couldn't understand it, and thought it was degrading to Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. Obviously, it was not cut but the song's reprise was because it was too long and sad -- it took place when Dorothy was imprisoned in the Witch's castle.

Fortunately, the first rendition was not cut because it won the Academy Award for Best Song of the Year and, in 2004, the song ranked #1 by the American Film Institute on its 100 Years...100 Songs list.

Snow White Connection

The girl who asks "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" during the song, "If I Only Had A Heart," is Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). Coincidentally, "The Wizard of Oz" was made by MGM to compete with Disney, who originally wanted to buy the movie rights to "The Wizard of Oz" and went on to make a sequel "Return to Oz" (1985).

Colored Horses

The multi-colored horses in Emerald City were colored with Jell-O crystals and those scenes had to be filmed quickly before the horses licked it off.

Injuries

Several actors playing Winged Monkeys were injured when the piano wires suspending them broke during the haunted forest scene.

Margaret Hamilton was severely burned during her second take of the Munchkinland scene. The timing of lowering the little elevator, which lowered her into the stage during her exit, was incorrect with the coinciding erupting fire and smoke to conceal it and caused her copper-based makeup to catch fire. Her makeup had to be completely removed to treat burns to her face and her hands.

Costs & Profits

Filming began on October 13, 1938 and finished on March 16, 1939 and cost $2,777,000 ($47,437,500 in today's dollars). Its initial release brought in $3 million ($44,275,000 in today's dollars). It did not show a large profit until its 1949 re-release earned another $1.5 million ($13,819,327.73 in today's dollars).

The film rights to L. Frank Baum's book were purchased by MGM for $75,000, a very large sum at the time.

Rumors

A rumor exists that a Munchkin can be seen hanging by the neck and swinging from behind a prop tree far left in the background, while the Tin Man, Dorothy, and Scarecrow are singing "We're Off to See the Wizard." It has been proven to be a bird (crane or emu) borrowed from the Los Angeles Zoo to give the set a more realistic feel.

Dark Side of the Rainbow

It is rumored that, if you start playing Pink Floyd's 1973 music album, "The Dark Side of the Moon," right when the MGM lion roars for the third time in the film, the songs flow perfectly with the scenes in the movie. This phenomenon has been nicknamed "Dark Side of the Rainbow" but the band just says it's a coincidence.

Source: Wikipedia