The Wizard of Oz - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[richard]

Even though the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion wanted a brain, heart and courage, respectively, the trio actually had what they desired the whole time. Scarecrow came up with a few ideas such as tricking the talking trees to throw apples for Dorothy to eat, and coming up with a plan to save Dorothy from the Witch's castle. Tin Man was very sentimental and sensitive and worried about Dorothy's welfare. Lion, on the other hand, to a lesser extent showed his courage by being willing to face danger to save Dorothy, though he did back out at first. Also, the three farmhands--especially Hunk and Zeke--showed their personalities matching that of their Oz counterparts. Hunk bragged on about having a brain while Zeke was afraid of the pigs when saving Dorothy. Hickory to an extent compared himself to the Tin Man by saying a statue of him will be made.

[jim]

In 1989, The Wizard of Oz (1939) was added to the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress.

[lonnie]

A minor hiccup occurred while filming the scenes in The Tin Man's forest. After three days of footage had been shot, it was realized that The Tin Man's costume was in the shiny pristine condition it was for the post-"Wash and Brush Up Company" scenes (which had already been filmed), rather than in a state of rust and disrepair. The costume was sent back for appropriate "rusting" and the scenes were reshot.

[toni]

Judy Garland had a crush on director Victor Fleming during shooting of the film.

[phyllis]

It took upwards of 12 takes to have Toto run alongside the actors as they skipped down the yellow brick road.

[gabriel]

For the film's 1998 theatrical re-release, Warner Brothers was considering editing the extended Scarecrow "If I Only Had A Brain" sequence into the movie (it was deleted from the film before its 1939 premiere) but ultimately decided not to. It is available as a supplemental feature on the Warner Bros Special Edition DVD of the film.

[violet]

When the Wizard awards the ticking heart to the Tin Man, the word he flubs and replaces with "Good-Deed-Doers" was "Philanthropist". In real life, Jack Haley was well renowned and recognized as a Philanthropist for his tireless works to raise money for various charities.

[elmer]

In 1898 Dorothy Louise Gage was born to the brother and sister-in-law of Maud Gage Baum, wife of author L. Frank Baum. When little Dorothy died exactly five months later Maud was heartbroken. Baum was just finishing "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and, to comfort his wife, named his heroine after Dorothy, changing her last name to Gale in his second book. Dorothy Gage was buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington, IL, where her grave was forgotten until 1996 when it was rediscovered. When Mickey Carroll, one of the last existing Munchkins from the movie, learned of the discovery, he was eager to replace her deteriorated grave marker with a new one created by his own monument company. The new stone was dedicated in 1997 and the children's section of the cemetery renamed the Dorothy L. Gage Memorial Garden, in the hope that bereaved families would be comforted in thinking of their lost children as being with Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz."

[dustin]

Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West, was burned when her clothes caught fire during the filming of a special effect sequence. She returned to the production under the condition she would not have to work around fire again. Ironically, when she passed away, she was cremated.

[wallace]

The day of Judy Garland's death there was a tornado in Kansas.

[ella]

As a tribute to the Dorothy Gale character, in Twister (1996) the tornado-catching device was named Dorothy because the Twister/tornado actually brought Dorothy Gale from the farm in Kansas to the magical land of Oz.

[amber]

The Wizard only has one close-up; when he is revealed behind the curtain and declares himself to be a good man but a bad wizard. All of his other shots are medium close-ups or two-shots. Similarly, Professor Marvel is never shown in a close-up, but rather in medium close-up or two-shots.

[jeffrey]

The film's running time was originally 120 minutes. Producer Mervyn LeRoy realized that at least 20 minutes needed to be deleted to get it down to a manageable running time. Three sneak previews aided in his decision of what to cut. The original film in its entirety was only seen once by an audience in either San Bernardino or Santa Barbara, and it was the only time the famed Jitterbug number was seen by the public. After this preview LeRoy cut the aforementioned Jitterbug number and the Scarecrow's extended dance sequence to "If I Only Had a Brain." A second preview was held in Pomona, where the film ran 112 minutes. After the preview LeRoy cut Dorothy's "Over The Rainbow" reprise, a scene in which the Tin Man turned into a human beehive, and the Emerald City reprise of "Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead," as well as a few smaller scenes and dialog, notably two Kansas scenes in which the Hickory character was building a machine to ward off tornadoes, as well as dozens of threatening lines by the Wicked Witch of the West. By the third preview, held in San Luis Obispo, the film finally was down to its 101-minute running time, where it has remained ever since.