The Little Known Facts About The Wizard Of Oz
August 25, 1939, saw the premiere of the musical film The Wizard of Oz in theaters. The narrative centers on Judy Garland’s portrayal of Dorothy and her traveling companions. Notable athletes with unforgettable personas include Margaret Hamilton, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Frank Morgan, and Terry the Terrier. Despite being released during the Great Depression, a difficult economic period, the film brought in a total of $29.7 million. This enormous figure, particularly at the time, ought to adequately convey the influence this film had on the general audience and its current status in popular culture.
Dorothy Was Real
It is previously known that L. Frank Baum’s work The Wonderful Wizard of Oz served as the inspiration for the film. Baum, Frank. However, a lot of people are unaware that the story’s protagonist, Dorothy, was named for the young niece that Baum and his wife lost when she was a little child. Her entire family was devastated when she tragically passed away at the age of five months.
Dorothy Was Real
Baum, who recently completed his book, gave the protagonist, Dorothy, as an homage to the little angel; today, Dorothy is a well-known name all over the world.
Victor Fleming
The film was directed by Victor Fleming, and much like many of his masterworks, it was well received by the audience. The movie won numerous accolades and is today regarded as an American cultural icon. Nearly everyone in the know is aware of the nature of this film.
Victor Fleming
Fleming had to leave the set in order to take over the production of Gone With the Wind, thus he did not stay on it to the very finish. It’s safe to conclude that he still excelled in every scene he directed in spite of this.
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy, a screenwriter and director, took over The Wizard of Oz after Fleming left the set to work on Gone With the Wind. LeRoy began his career as a Warner Bros. director before joining Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1939. He was scheduled to play director and producer at MGM.
Mervyn LeRoy
This is the reason that when Fleming stopped up on the film in 1939, he was inevitably tapped to direct the Oz movie. It’s safe to assume that he performed admirably as well.
Giligan’s Island
Do you recall Mary Ann Summers, the well-known character from the television series Gilligan’s Island (shown on the left in the picture below)? A deeper examination of the two images can reveal a few commonalities between the two exquisite symbols. And the reason for this is that Mary Ann was, as it turns out, influenced by Dorothy Gale.
Gilligan’s Island
Can it get much more evident than the gingham frock, the adorable pigtails, and the fact that they both came from farms in the same town—Winfield, Kansas—?
Snow White’s Voice
Snow White also made an appearance in The Wizard of Oz. Oh course, we should mention that she was there, even though that’s not how most of us picture her. Just be a bit more attentive, especially when the Tin Man performs his well-known song “If I Only Had a Heart.” Occasionally, the Tin Man is joined in song by a brief, female voice.
Snow White’s Voice
Adriana Caselotti, the actress who voiced Snow White in the animated film two years earlier, is the owner of that voice.
Feminist Literature
In Fleming and Leroy’s film, Dorothy appears to be a sensitive and innocent young woman, yet L. This is not how Frank Baum intended for her to be. In actuality, the Dorothy in the novel and the one in the movie are very different. This is just another compelling argument for reading the book before watching the film.
Feminist Literature
Baum wanted Dorothy to serve as an inspiration for the young girls who would read his book, so he made her a strong, self-reliant, and fearless girl.
Ogden Nash
It may surprise you to learn that the first person to develop a screenplay for The Wizard of Oz was none other than renowned American poet and author Ogden Nash. However, in spite of his sense of humor and literary ability, this work was never published.
Ogden Nash
Rather, authors like Edgar Allan Woolf, Florence Ryerson, and Noel Langley penned screenplays that were subsequently used and elevated to the status of cinematic masterpieces. Still, Nash left us with a thousand additional masterpieces that will live on in our memories of him.
Charley Grapewin
The actor who played Auntie Em’s husband, Uncle Henry, was Charley Grapewin. Uncle Henry doesn’t make a lot of appearances in the film, but Baum made sure he was there in the book—even more so than Auntie Em. People in the audience would comment on his acting prowess.
Charley Grapewin
However, what if we told you that he began his professional life as a trapeze artist? From then on, he worked his way up to silent pictures, Vaudeville, and finally, audio films.
Toto The Terrier
The small, fluffy ball with four legs may have also won your heart if you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz. Toto was actually a girl named Terry, a Cairn Terrier, and Dorothy’s animal partner in real life. It goes without saying that Terry was a very well-known animal in Hollywood.
Toto The Terrier
Owing to her skill and extensive training, the small terrier made appearances in other shows, including Tortilla Flat and Bright Eyes.
It Was Not Successful
Few of us are aware that the film did not do particularly well when it was first released. This could have been caused by a number of things, including the release of Gone With the Wind and the conclusion of the Great Depression. The movie did take home a few accolades, but its current stature was established when it was first shown on home television in the 1950s.
It Was Not Successful
At the box office, the film is currently believed to have brought in at least 29.7 million dollars.
The Many Versions
Most people are unaware that there are a few more The Wizard of Oz films and remakes, despite the fact that Judy Garland starred in the original 1939 premiere of the film. A few of them were even published prior to the well-known masterwork.
The Many Versions
In 1914, two were released: The Magic Cloak of Oz and His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. Baum and director Larry Semon worked together to produce another version in 1925, but it was not as popular.
The Remake(s)
Here’s another little-known fact that not many people know. But we’re here to tell you that the 1939 version of the movie that everyone knows and loves was actually the tenth remake of the original. A successful outcome for the film required ten different versions.
The Remake(s)
We should all take a lesson from this. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910), The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914), and The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908) were the adaptations that came before the tenth. They all adhered to distinct narratives and artistic styles.
The 12 Pounds And The Corset
Judy Garland was a teenager when she worked on The Wizard of Oz set. When she signed with the MGM organization, she was only 13 years old, and when they began filming the masterpiece, she was just 17 years old. Judy had to have the appearance of a small pre-adolescent girl because she was much older than her character.
The 12 Pounds And The Corset
She had to shed 12 pounds as a result. Additionally, the filmmakers forced her to wear a corset to constrict her feminine figure.
Little Shirley Temple
It appears that when it came to selecting the actress to play Dorothy, MGM did not first consider Judy Garland. They saw Shirley Temple, who was eleven years old at the time, and thought she would have made a better match.
Little Shirley Temple
Sadly for little Shirley, who adored the book and fervently hoped to portray Dorothy, Fox, the production company that had offered her the role, lost the bidding to MGM, who ultimately selected Judy.
Ray Bolger
Ray Bogler, an actor, was born in 1904. He began his professional career in vaudeville as a singer and dancer. He worked his way up from local shows to Broadway plays gradually. He headed straight to The Wizard of Oz’s set on Broadway. It turns out that he became extremely well-known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow.
Ray Bolger
Who knew, though, that he played two parts in the film? Bolger not only performed as the Scarecrow but also as Hunk.
The Good Witch Burke
It’s hard to remember The Wizard of Oz without thinking of Glinda, the lovely and virtuous witch. With her wavy hair, she exuded a gorgeous and glittering look. In the film, Glinda was portrayed by well-known Hollywood actress Billie Burke. Burke was 54 years old when the picture was shot, despite the fact that she seemed quite youthful at times.
The Good Witch Burke
She was eighteen years older than the evil witch, her sister, who was meant to represent the older character in the film.
Frank Morgan The Wizard
Actor Frank Morgan was previously signed to MGM. They offered him a lifelong deal since they were so in love with him. It’s safe to conclude that Morgan was a favorite because not many MGM performers got an offer as he did. Morgan wasn’t in great health, despite his career-long notoriety, skill, and considerable wealth.
Frank Morgan, The Wizard
He struggled with drinking; as a result, he passed away a few years before the film’s television premiere.
The Wizard And His 5 Roles
When we mentioned that one of MGM’s favorite performers was Frank Morgan, we were speaking with complete awareness. This assertion is supported by the fact that he played no more than five distinct characters in The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard And His 5 Roles
Morgan performed the parts of the Emerald City chauffeur, the guard, the doorkeeper at the Oz’s palace, the Oz himself, and the professor who would become a fortune teller. This further demonstrates Mr. Oz’s enigmatic and pervasive personality.
The Kids Of Judy Garland
Judy Garland’s love life and family life did not turn out the way she had hoped, despite her career proceeding as planned. She had three marriages in total, and three children came from two of those unions. Her children were Liza Minelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft; she also had a boy.
The Kids Of Judy Garland
Out of all her children, the boy avoided the spotlights, but the girls were the only ones who inherited their mother’s skill and followed in her footsteps.
Over The Rainbow
When we discovered that the rendition of “Over the Rainbow” by Hawaii singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole was not the original, we were only a year old. In the film, the song was introduced and performed for the first time. While visiting her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry’s farm in Kansas, Dorothy performs an acapella rendition of this song.
Over The Rainbow
The MGM producers decided the scene was too long and removed it from the film. They reshot the scene while it appeared that Dorothy was being held captive in the witch’s castle.