The Wizard of Oz is a true classic.
The magical tale follows Dorothy and the misfit friends she meets along the way (Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion).
Since the film first premiered in 1939, we’ve discovered a lot of behind-the-scenes secrets. For instance, did you know that “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was almost cut??
For more, keep reading.
1. Dorothy’s dress was actually pink.
No, this isn’t like ” what color is the dress ?” fiasco.
Her dress was actually pink ! That’s because it was easier for the directors to shoot a pink and blue dress in Technicolor. This was a very innovative technology back then.
2. Toto the dog earned quite a nice paycheck.
This good girl was paid more than the actors who were hired to play the Munchins!
Since she was trained to do such impressive tricks using silent cues, MGM offered her owner and Hollywood dog trainer, Carl Spitz, $125 per week.
3. The film’s most famous line wasn’t actually said.
You may have heard about the Mandela Effect. It’s what caused people to believe that Darth Vader said, “Luke, I am your father” in Star Wars .
Turns out, he actually said, “No, I am your father.”
The same thing happened with *The Wizard of Oz*.
Although people remember the Wicked Witch of the West saying, “fly, my pretties, fly” to her evil monkeys, she actually says, “Fly, fly, fly.”
Pretty mind-blowing, huh?
4. Judy Garland was put on a diet for the film.
This is truly sad, especially since she was only 16 at the time. She was also given “pep” pills so she could work for 72 hours straight.
Garland biographer Paul Donnelly: the studio gave her and Mickey Rooney pills “to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted, then knock us out with sleeping pills.”
Sadly, this happened to a lot of actors back then, but Judy was always associated the most with it.
5. Margaret Hamilton had to wear toxic paint to play the Wicked Witch of the West.
The copper in the paint made it toxic.
“Every night when I was taking off the Witch’s makeup, I would make sure that her face was thoroughly clean,” her makeup artist, Jack Young, revealed .
6. Dorothy’s slippers weren’t originally red.
In L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz books, they are described as being silver.
For some reason, the filmmakers made the smart choice of turning them red and sparkly.
7. Makeup left Ray Bolger looking like The Scarecrow for a year.
Since the prosthetic makeup was so thick, it left lines and cloth patterns on the actor’s face.
Maybe birds avoided him during this time at least?
A near-death experience caused a casting change to the Tin Man.
Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin Man, but the aluminum dust from the makeup almost killed him .
He was replaced by Jack Haley, but the damage was done. Ebsen suffered breathing issues for the rest of his life.
8. Frank Morgan had five different roles in the film.
You know him best as the Wizard of Oz (the man behind the curtain), but he actually played five other roles, which includes Professor Marvel, The Gatekeeper, The Guard, and The Carriage Driver.
9. An interesting substance was used to color the Emerald City horses.
It should be “horses of a different flavor” not color since Jell-O was used to color the horses.
This was a much safer alternative to other potentially harmful dyes.
10. The Cowardly Lion costume was extremely hot and heavy.
Bert Lahr, the actor behind the fur, had to remove the costume between takes since the studio lights were making him overheat.
It was also roughly 90 pounds!
That’s because it was made from real lion fur and skin!
There was also human hair mixed into all of that. PETA would not approve.
When it was auctioned off in 2014, it sold for $3 million!
12. The Tin Man’s tears were actually chocolate syrup.
Since Old Hollywood didn’t have the technological advancements that movies have today, they had to get crafty.
While it sounds silly, the syrup actually made his tears look like real oil.
13. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was almost cut from the film.
The iconic song was cut twice since directors thought that it was too long and slow (the entire song is around three minutes).
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It’s a good thing they left it in since it was the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
14. The film had several directors.
While most movies today have only one boss man on set, the MGM film had several .
This includes Norman Taurog, Richard Thorpe, Victor Fleming, and King Vidor. All brought something different to the table.
15. Shirley Temple almost played Dorothy Gale.
At the time, Shirley was a huge star for only 11 years old. She was also the biggest fan of the books, with rows of them on her bedroom shelf.
The studio wanted her since her star power promised big financial return.
16. But since the film was a musical, Temple lacked the same vocal talent that Garland had.
While she was upset about losing the role, she later accepted it.
“Sometimes the gods know best” she once said about losing out to Judy.
