Potassium in 8 Oz Ground Beef
From offscreen friendships and jarring pay inequality to the special effects and makeup tricks that brought some of the earth'south favorite motion picture characters to life, The Wizard of Oz (1939) had so much going on behind the emerald curtain and the Technicolor gloss of an amazing fantasy globe.
In accolade of the 80th anniversary of the moving-picture show, follow the yellow brick slideshow to peek behind that pall and acquire more nearly the secrets and fun facts that make the honey film a timeless classic.
Margaret Hamilton Was a Fan Earlier the Film
As a self-proclaimed lifelong fan of L. Frank Baum'due south Oz series, Margaret Hamilton was thrilled to be considered for a office in the 1939 film adaptation. Hamilton called her agent to ask which character the producers wanted her to play, and her agent famously said, "The witch — who else?"
Hamilton, a single mother, fought MGM for an agreed upon amount of guaranteed piece of work time. Three days before filming began, the studio agreed to a five-week deal. In the end, Hamilton was on set for iii months, but many of her scenes were cut for being too scary for audiences.
Dorothy's Original Await Was More Movie Star Than Farm Girl
Sure, Dorothy Gale doesn't demand prosthetics or aluminum makeup, but that doesn't mean Judy Garland wasn't put through the costume department wringer. Although she was young at the time, the sixteen-twelvemonth-erstwhile Garland had to wear a corset-similar device so she looked more than like a preadolescent child.
Director Richard Thorpe suggested Garland wear a blonde wig and loads of "baby-doll" makeup (equally any preadolescent girl would…). Luckily, that vision of the character changed. After MGM fired Thorpe, the intermediate director George Cukor nixed the heavy makeup and wig. Instead, he told Garland to be herself. Smart move.
The "Skywriting" Scene Employed Some Great Movie Magic
The Wizard of Oz employs a lot of groovy film tricks, and some of the most unique were used in the skywriting scene. In it, the Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton) flies to a higher place the Emerald City, leaving the phrase "Give up Dorothy" in her wake in black fume.
Using a hypodermic needle, the special effects squad spread black ink across the bottom of a glass tank that was filled with a thick, tinted liquid (some speculate milk). They wrote the phrase in reverse and filmed the scene from beneath. Initially, the skywriting ended with the ominous "Or Die — Due west W W."
The "Snow" in the Poppy Field Was Actually Dangerous
Ane of the Wicked Witch'due south last-ditch efforts to impede Dorothy's quest to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz involves a poppy field and some magical sleep-inducing snowfall. While many like to joke that the poppies and their drowsiness are the result of opium (a component of poppies), the scene has a much more blatant toxic connexion than that.
All that magical snow? It'due south actually 100% industrial-grade chrysotile asbestos. Even though the wellness risks associated with the textile were known at the fourth dimension, it was still Hollywood'southward preferred choice for faux snow. Our advice to Dorothy? Don't catch any snowflakes on your tongue.
Scarecrow'southward Makeup Stuck Around for Awhile
In the end, Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) was probably grateful in more ways than 1 for Buddy Ebsen (the original Tin Man'due south) willingness to trade parts with him. The Tin Man'south aluminum makeup caused a huge corporeality of bug for Ebsen, who was replaced by Jack Haley.
Although Bolger's makeup feel was better than Ebsen's, he still had some issues. The Scarecrow's makeup consisted of a rubber prosthetic, complete with a woven design that mimicked the look of burlap. Afterwards the film wrapped, the prosthetic left patterns on Bolger's face that took more than a year to fade.
Margaret Hamilton Was Burned On Set
In a outburst of flames and red smoke, the Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton) vanishes from Munchkinland. Although the scene is terrifying for viewers, it may have instilled more fright for Hamilton. On the first take, the smoke rose from a hidden trapdoor too early.
For the second take, Hamilton stood on the trapdoor as planned, but her cape snagged on the platform when the fire flared up. Her copper-containing makeup heated up instantly, causing 2nd- and tertiary-caste burns on her hands and face. To make matters worse, the coiffure tried to remedy her burns with (an even more painful) acetone solvent.
The Flying Monkeys Became Falling Monkeys
The Wicked Witch's legion of flying monkeys — or Winged Monkeys as they're called in the source material — accept certainly been a source of terror for generations. Almost as scary as the Witch herself, these henchmen soar onto the scene to kidnap Dorothy and Toto — thanks to the magic of pianoforte wires.
However, the aerial stunt went amiss when several of the pianoforte wires snapped, sending actors plummeting a few anxiety to the soundstage floor. To create such a vast troupe of monkeys (and cutting down on homo marionettes), filmmakers made miniature rubber monkeys to help populate the sky.
"Over the Rainbow" Was Well-nigh on the Cutting Room Flooring
To no ane's surprise, the American Film Institute ranked "Over the Rainbow" #1 on a list of 100 Greatest Songs in American Films. But what may surprise yous? The (arguably) most iconic song of Judy Garland'south career was nearly cut from the motion picture.
Studio execs at MGM thought the song made the Kansas scenes too long. Moreover, filmmakers were concerned that children wouldn't empathize the song's meaning. Luckily, this unfounded business organization melted like lemon drops. Unfortunately, Garland's tearful reprise of the song was left on the cutting room flooring.
The Tin Man Costume Didn't Allow Jack Haley to Residuum Like shooting fish in a barrel
Although Bert Lahr had to schlep effectually in a 90-pound lion costume, Jack Haley didn't take it easy either. From the lingering concerns most the aluminum paste-based makeup on his face and hands to the minimal flexibility of the "tin" torso and arms, Haley faced some challenges.
Reportedly, his costume was and then stiff that he had to lean against a board to rest properly. Many years later, actor Anthony Daniels, known for playing the protocol droid C-3PO in the Star Wars films, had the same consequence with his rigid costume. Information technology seems even fantasy and sci-fi can't help folks escape all their issues.
The Original Tin Man Was Rushed to the Hospital
Initially, Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Scarecrow, but traded parts with Ray Bolger. Still, Ebsen's new character, the Tin Human, caused him a world of issues. Namely, the character'due south silver makeup contained a harmful aluminum dust that coated Ebsen'south lungs.
To make matters worse, Ebsen had an allergic reaction, and, unable to breathe, he was rushed to the hospital. MGM recast the role with Jack Haley (and changed upwards the makeup), only didn't explicate why Ebsen "dropped out." Although Ebsen didn't announced in the final film, his vocals can be heard in "We're Off to Run across the Sorcerer."
A Stocking & Some Miniatures Gave United states of america the Tornado
The tornado that strikes the Gale homestead is full of applied special furnishings that actually hold upwards. The funnel itself was actually a 35-foot long stocking made of muslin. The special effects team spun it around miniatures that resembled the farms and fields of Kansas. Against the painted properties, the tornado looks menacing.
The Gale house, which falls from the sky and into Oz, is just a miniature house that was dropped onto a sky painting. Filmmakers then reversed the footage to make it await like the business firm was falling out of the clouds.
Hollywood Didn't Pay Up Then Either
Pay inequality has always been an effect in Hollywood. For example, Adriana Caselotti, voice of the titular grapheme in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), made $970 for her functioning. The film went on to make roughly $8 one thousand thousand.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Judy Garland'southward pay was better than Caselotti'southward — playing Dorothy earned her $500 a week — but it yet didn't reflect the film's success. Even more discouraging, the folks who portrayed the citizens of Munchkinland were paid a mere $l per week. (Meanwhile, Terry the dog earned $125 per week as Toto. A existent yikes.)
Bert Lahr's Lion Costume Was Taxing
Originally, MGM thought information technology might cast its mascot — the actual lion used in the studio's title card — as the cowardly character. Fortunately, for the safety of the actors and the brute, the filmmakers decided to cast histrion Bert Lahr as the anthropomorphic character instead.
To make a disarming beast, the costume section fashioned Lahr a 90-pound outfit made from existent lion skin. Withal, the arc lights used on set made things a steamy 100 degrees during filming, which meant Lahr did a lot of sweating unrelated to his character'due south nerves. Each nighttime, two stagehands dried the costume for the adjacent twenty-four hours.
The Initial Box Office Returns Were Uneven
The picture started shooting in October of 1938 but didn't wrap until March of 1939, racking up an unheard of $2,777,000 in costs. That's nearly $fifty one thousand thousand adjusted for inflation. Upon its initial release, the movie only earned $3 million at the box role — about $51.8 million by today's standards.
Although that seems impressive for a Depression-era film, call back that Disney made $8 million with Snowfall White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The Sorcerer of Oz'southward modest success in the U.S. barely covered production and film rights' costs — MGM paid $75,000 to the publisher for those — merely success overseas fortunately bolstered the film'south returns.
The Dark Side of Oz in a Fourth dimension Earlier "Me Besides"
Judy Garland was just 16 years former when she was bandage as Dorothy. Insecure and lonesome, she became fond to amphetamines and barbiturates, which were often given to young actors to help them sleep afterwards studios shot them up with adrenaline so they could work long hours.
The spotlight — and her damaging contract with MGM — didn't assistance, leading to her lifelong struggles with an eating disorder and alcoholism. According to a writer for Express, "[Garland] was molested by older men, including studio chiefs [and head Louis B. Mayer], who considered her piddling more than their 'belongings.'" Moreover, MGM forced Garland to stick to a wildly unhealthy diet of cigarettes, coffee and craven soup.
The Vocalism of Snow White Had a Cameo
A few years before The Wizard of Oz debuted, Walt Disney's feature-length animated pic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) became a smash-hit. Not only did the moving-picture show revolutionize the blitheness industry, information technology also reinvigorated the fantasy genre.
Disney wanted to follow up Snowfall White — so the most successful film of all time — with an accommodation of The Wizard of Oz, but MGM owned the rights. By happenstance, Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White, had an uncredited role in Oz. During the Tin Man'due south "If I Only Had a Heart," Caselotti speaks her sole line, "Wherefore art chiliad Romeo?"
The Blood-red Slippers Are Props & Treasured Artifacts
Keeping in line with the book, Dorothy'south iconic footwear was originally silvery, but screenwriter Noel Langley felt the red colour would really popular in glorious Technicolor. Designed by MGM's chief costume designer Gilbert Adrian, the shoes are each covered in well-nigh 2,300 sequins.
Ane of the remaining pairs is on view in the Smithsonian Institution'south National Museum of American History. Since the display is and then heavily trafficked, the museum has replaced the carpet there several times. Another pair were stolen from Minnesota's Judy Garland Museum in 2005, merely the FBI recovered the slippers for the establishment in 2018.
But One Sequence Was Filmed "On Location"
The Wizard of Oz is your classic adventure story, and Dorothy'south quest leads her from a Kansas farm to another world — complete with corn fields, poppy-filled meadows and forests. Nonetheless, despite all these scenic locations, nearly all the scenes were shot on a soundstage.
As was customary at the fourth dimension, immense, detailed backdrops were painted past studio artists, making it possible for filmmakers to transport audiences to far away places without filming on location. In fact, the just location footage in the film is the opening title sequence — those clouds are 100% the real deal.
A Second Toto Was Brought In
Toto, played primarily by Terry, is one of the most beloved dogs in movie history. Terry was famously not a huge fan of special effects and can ofttimes be seen running out of a shot when something loud or alarming happens — like when the Can Human spouts out all of that steam.
After one of the Witch's guards accidentally stepped on her, Terry was on bedrest for two weeks. Filmmakers went through two doubles to find one that resembled the original canine role player more closely.
Fun fact: Judy Garland was so fond of Terry that she wanted to adopt the dog.
Margaret Hamilton "Mourns the Wicked" Witch
In improver to being a huge fan of the Oz books, Margaret Hamilton also believed her graphic symbol was more than than just your run-of-the-mill evil villain. More than 35 years after the movie debuted, Hamilton, donning her Witch's costume to show kids it was brand-believe, appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, where Fred Rogers interviewed her about the grapheme.
According to Hamilton, the so-chosen Wicked Witch relished everything she did, merely she was also a sorry, lonely figure. In short, things never went well for the frustrated Witch. Oddly enough, the Broadway musical Wicked also takes this approach to the Witch's character.
The "Horse of a Dissimilar Color" Was Made Possible Cheers to a Food Product
In 1939, audiences were simply as amazed as Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion when the horse in Emerald City took on a rainbow of colors. This "horse of a different color" was made possible thank you to a surprising food detail…
Jell-O crystals were used to color the horses, which meant filmmakers had to move chop-chop — the animals were eager to lick upward the sweetness treat. Just the colorful steed isn't the only interesting component in this fan-favorite scene. The horse-drawn railroad vehicle was once owned by President Abraham Lincoln and now resides at the Judy Garland Museum.
The Makeup Department Hired on Actress Hands
From the citizens of Munchkinland and Emerald City to the Witch's flight monkeys, and then many actors had to undergo a makeup transformation in gild to give life to this fantasy film. To keep up with the daily demands, MGM chosen upon workers from the studio mailroom and courier service to manage makeup stations.
Since nigh of the Ozian ensemble required prosthetics, makeup artists — and "makeshift" artists — formed a kind of costuming assembly line. Near actors had to arrive before v:00 in the morning — 6 days a week! — to begin the intensive procedure.
Memorable (& Often Misquoted) Lines Fill up the Motion-picture show
The film is chock-full of iconic, memorable songs, and information technology has the great fortune of being responsible for some of the most quoted lines in motion picture history also. In 2007, Premiere compiled a listing of "The 100 Greatest Flick Lines" and placed a whopping three of the film'southward lines on the listing.
"Pay no attending to that human being behind the curtain" was voted #24, while "There's no place similar home" nabbed the 11th spot. Finally, the frequently misquoted "Toto, I take a feeling we're non in Kansas anymore" landed in the 62nd spot.
The Witch's Burn Employed Some Technical Wizardry (& Juice)
Clearly, the technical wizardry — or witchcraft — in the movie is incredible. Similar the "horse of a different color" sequence, another iconic, special effects-heavy scene harnessed the power of everyday household items to pull off fun tricks.
Shortly later on Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland, the Wicked Witch tries to snatch the ruby slippers from the young girl's feet. Nevertheless, fire strikes the Witch's hands, repelling her. This "fire" is really apple juice spouting from the slippers in a sped-up clip to arrive look more flame-like.
Technicolor Required Some Ingenuity in the Props Department
Experimenting with Technicolor was office fun and function problem-solving for filmmakers. In order to properly capture scenes with the Technicolor camera, the soundstage needed to be lit with arc lights, which oftentimes heated the prepare up to a toasty 100 degrees.
Subsequently the lights were ready, the experts experimented with what would look best on film, peculiarly in colorized form. For example, the white role of Dorothy's apparel is really pink — only because it filmed better. And the oil the Tin Man is so excited about? Information technology's actually chocolate syrup.
The Wicked Witch of the East Makes More 1 Advent
Function of the Wicked Witch of the West's beef with Dorothy is that the young daughter dropped a house on her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, who was the short-lived owner of the ruddy slippers. Although Margaret Hamilton already plays both the Wicked Witch of the West and her Kansas counterpart Almira Gulch, she also plays the Wicked Witch of the East — if only briefly.
During the tornado sequence, an befuddled Dorothy looks out her chamber window and watches Gulch transform into a witch, her shoes shimmering. For fans, this glint indicates the witch exterior the window is wearing the blood-red slippers. The restored version of the motion-picture show makes that shimmer even more than noticeable.
The Film's Running Time Was Cut Down Several Times
The first cut of the moving picture clocked in at a running fourth dimension of 120 minutes. Although that seems similar nothing by today's Curiosity movie standards, producer Mervyn LeRoy felt it was long and unwieldy and wanted to chop off twenty minutes.
Subsequently cut the famed "Jitterbug" number (superlative right) and an extended Scarecrow dance sequence, the film was 112 minutes long. LeRoy held a second preview screening, and, afterward, nixed Dorothy's "Over the Rainbow" reprise, an Emerald City reprise of "Ding! Dong! The Witch Is Dead," a scene where the Tin Man becomes a human being beehive (Yikes!) and a few Kansas sequences.
So Much for a "Wicked" Witch
Filmmakers deemed Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West performance too frightening for audiences and cut or trimmed many of her scenes. Just non everyone thought her performance was terrifying — namely Judy Garland, who played the Wicked Witch's nemesis, Dorothy Gale.
Off-screen, the film'south starring foes were really friends. One story that emerged from the set up described Garland excitedly showing off a dress to Hamilton, declaring she was going to wear it for her graduation. Unfortunately, MGM's Louis B. Mayer sent Garland on a press tour the day of her graduation. Upset, Hamilton phoned Mayer and chewed him out.
Giving Credit to Technicolor
In the opening credits, the text reads "Photographed in Technicolor," as opposed to the more than apt "Color Sequences by Technicolor." The phrasing of the credits makes it seem every bit though the entire movie was shot in color. Was this done deliberately, or was information technology a pocket-sized syntactical faux pas?
It's widely believed this was a flake of a stunt done to raise the surprise of the film turning into total three-strip Technicolor when Dorothy arrives in Oz. Posters fabricated at the time of the flick's debut made no mention of sepia tint (or "black-and-white"), adding credence to this theory.
One of History'due south Near-Watched Films
Although The Wizard of Oz proved popular in theaters, some other film released the same twelvemonth, also directed by Victor Fleming, really topped the box office. (Y'all may have heard of that little movie — information technology'south called Gone with the Wind.) Yet, MGM'south musical fantasy may have more than staying ability than other films of the era, thank you in office to re-releases.
The film was first circulate on television on November iii, 1956, and garnered an impressive 44 million viewers. Information technology's believed that The Wizard of Oz is one of the 10 most-watched characteristic-length movies in film history, largely due to the number of annual television screenings, theater viewings and various format re-releases.
Source: https://www.ask.com/tvmovies/wizard-of-oz-facts?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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