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During the Munchkinland sequence, a faulty trap door was responsible for inflicting serious burns upon Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West. She missed six weeks of filming and subsequently insisted her stand-in handle any scenes involving fire.

How did they film The Wizard of Oz?

Like most films of the 1930s, the Wizard of Oz was shot on sets constructed in the MGM studio in Hollywood. Because the set was so large, as many as nine cameras hidden in bushes or potted plants would be used to film one scene.

How long did it take to film Wizard of Oz?

Production on the bulk of the Technicolor sequences was a long and exhausting process that ran for over six months, from October 1938 to March 1939. Most of the cast worked six days a week and had to arrive as early as 4 a.m. to be fitted with makeup and costumes, and often did not leave until 7 pm or later.

What is the real story behind the Wizard of Oz?

As conceived and written by Lyman Frank Baum in 1900, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was a political allegory of turn-of-the-century America. Written in the waning days of the Populist movement of the late 1800s, it was the story of the sad collapse of Populism and the issues upon which the movement was based.

What does the yellow brick road symbolize?

The Yellow Brick Road represents strategy—how you will get there; the path you identify as the best, smartest way to accomplish your goal. And each of the shiny yellow bricks in the road represents an action step—the smaller tactics that go into executing your strategy.

Horrors Behind the Scenes of the Wizard of Oz

Was Dorothy's dress actually pink?

Despite being widely perceived as blue and white, the dress was actually blue and light pink, which was considered easier to capture in Technicolor, a new medium at the time.

How old was Dorothy when she filmed The Wizard of Oz?

In the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was played by Judy Garland, who received an Academy Juvenile Award for her performance. Since she was sixteen years old at the time of filming, Garland's maturing figure was bound into a figure-hiding corset.

Who got paid the most in The Wizard of Oz?

Terry the dog, who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz, was paid $125 a week, more than some human actors on set. While Terry's earnings surpassed some actors, Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, made more at $500 a week. The Munchkin actors, despite singing, dancing, and taking on multiple roles, earned less than Toto.

How old was Julie Garland when filming Wizard of Oz?

In 1938, when Garland was sixteen, she was cast as the young Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939), a film based on the 1900 children's book by L. Frank Baum. In the film, she sang the song with which she would be constantly identified afterward, "Over the Rainbow".

What happened to the cast of Wizard of Oz while filming?

The pipe, fitted to look like a broomstick, exploded during filming, sending Danko to the hospital for 11 days and scarring her legs permanently. Additionally, Margaret Hamilton's copper-based makeup was highly toxic and her green complexion took months to fade.

Was The Wizard of Oz hard to film?

Because the film was among the earliest to be shot in Technicolor, it required large sets with cameras hidden in different corners and elaborate lighting that rendered the set suffocatingly hot. "We had enormous banks of lights overhead," said cinematographer Harold Rosson in The Making of the Wizard of Oz.

Was there color in the original Wizard of Oz?

The Wizard of Oz made utilising Technicolor's 3-strip color process. The 3-strip color process wasn't a type of color film; instead, it was a process in which a specially modified motion picture camera recorded the same scene through colored filters on three different strips of film.

Did Judy Garland have a hunch back?

Mayer habitually referred to his newly acquired adolescent star as “our little hunchback.”1 Her biographers tell us that Garland was afflicted with scoliosis, a hereditary curvature of the spine more common in women than in men, and that it gave her some- thing of a “dowager's hump” by her teenage years.

What was the official cause of death for Judy Garland?

Garland died from an accidental barbiturate overdose in London on June 22, 1969, less than two weeks after her 47th birthday. Her exceptional talents and vulnerabilities had made her one of the most enduringly popular Hollywood icons of the 20th century, and her funeral in New York City drew some 22,000 mourners.

What happened to Judy Garland when she was filming Wizard of Oz?

Judy Garland's Experience on The Wizard of Oz

Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, was given a salary of around $1000 per week. Garland was also exposed to physical and emotional abuse while making the film.

Did the dog from Wizard of Oz get paid?

In the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, Toto was played by a female brindle Cairn Terrier named Terry. She was paid a $125 salary each week, which was more than some of the human actors (the Singer Midgets who played the Munchkins reportedly received $50 to $100 a week).

Were the Munchkins paid less than Toto?

Stephen Cox, author of The Munchkins of Oz, wrote in his 1989 book that in 1938, the Munchkins were paid US$50 per week, about US$900 in 2016. Meanwhile, Toto and her trainer earned US$125 per week, which would now equate to about US$2,100 per week.

Is Johnny Depp in The Wizard of Oz?

Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the title role, Franco was cast in February 2011 with principal photography commencing five months later. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.

Who almost played Dorothy in Wizard of Oz?

over Judy Garland? At the time, Shirley Temple seemed like a shoe in for the role. of Dorothy in a film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, but in 1937, Shirley Temple was under contract at 20th Century Fox. Legend has it that a deal was almost made between MGM.

What kind of dog was Toto in The Wizard of Oz?

The cairn terrier has a renowned Hollywood connection. Toto in ”The Wizard of Oz” was played by a cairn terrier.

Was Dorothy's hair a wig?

Today it's hard to imagine "Wizard of Oz" protagonist Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland) any other way than with brown hair in braids and minimal makeup. But early on, the movie's production staff put Garland in a long blonde wig and heavy makeup, with defined eyebrows and lots of blush and lipstick.

Did they ever find Judy Garland's ruby slippers?

The red shoes' whereabouts remained a mystery for 13 years. Then, in 2018, an insurance company reported someone attempting to extort money for information about the missing slippers. The FBI conducted a sting operation and recovered the missing pair, though nobody was arrested at the time.

Why did they make Dorothy's shoes red?

Sixteen-year-old Judy Garland wore these sequined shoes as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 MGM musical film The Wizard of Oz. In the original book by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy's magic slippers are silver; for the Technicolor movie, costumers created ruby red shoes to show up more vividly against the yellow-brick road.

Did Barbra Streisand like Judy Garland?

"People were looking for some sort of rivalry between us. And when they couldn't find anything, they made it up. I found Judy to be completely generous," she writes. Instead of rivals, Garland and Streisand became friends.