
We’re revealing the wizardry of the special effects, what set life was like behind the scenes, and just what that sticky goo was in the Tin Man’s oil can. Here, we are celebrating the beloved film by pulling back the curtain on the Land of Oz.
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And though it was met with a modest run at the box office, it picked up popularity steam when it was released in Technicolor on television-its poppies popping off the screen in 1956.Ī Judy Garland classic that is still broadcast several times a year on network television, The Wizard of Oz is a movie its fans can quote from opening to closing credits, and yet there are factoids and tidbits that managed to stay discreet. Frank Baum, was released on August 25, 1939. Denslow Illustrator and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The Wizard of Oz, MGM’s enduring musical comedy film helmed by a handful of directors (including Victor Fleming) and based on the tale penned by L. Meanwhile, Margaret Hamilton donned the black pointed hat and green makeup, and she rode that broomstick to pop-culture immortality.Over eight decades ago, a twista uprooted a Kansas farm girl and her little dog from her sepia-toned rural life and dropped her smack-dab in the middle of a candy-colored fantasy land populated with witches and wizards and munchkins, oh my. He convinces Dorothy that her act was selfish and showed a lack of concern for the people who love her, thus changing Dorothy's plans and sending her headlong into the path of the tornado. Sondergaard’s did earn another Oscar nomination for Anna and The King of Siam in 1946. Professor Marvel/The Wizard When Dorothy makes her run for the border with Toto, she comes acros an old carny worker whose act was telling the future. But Sondergaard, who won an Oscar for her film debut performance in 1936’s Anthony Adverse, backed out after she saw herself in the makeup, fearing that the hideousness would derail her career. The role of the Wicked Witch of the West was originally offered to Gale Sondergaard (above). While Ebsen recovered and earned enduring fame as Jed Clampett on TV’s The Beverly Hillbillies, Jack Haley took over as the Tin Man. For instance, the movie began shooting with Buddy Ebsen playing the Tin Man, but he had to be replaced after he was hospitalized for two weeks because a severe allergic reaction to the aluminum dust in the Tin Man’s makeup. While it is now impossible to imagine any other actors in the film’s iconic roles, the casting process had its twists and turns. in LIFE’s special edition on The Wizard of Oz Ask yourself: Who isn’t eager, at any moment, to soar with Dorothy over the rainbow and into the merry land of Oz. Once Dorothy alights in Munchkinland, the film bursts into riotous color and zips along like a Pixar cartoon epic-but with the very best songs. Modern viewers, whose main complaints about old movies are that they are too dark and too slow, needn’t adjust their eyes and clocks to The Wizard of Oz. Of all the estimable movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age, it is the one that has never gone out of fashion. 1, tied with The Godfather.ĭorothy may never escape Kansas, but moviegoers can always return to Oz. For instance: a People magazine poll of the century’s favorite movies rated The Wizard of Oz as No. In its day The Wizard of Oz was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning two, for Original Score and Original Song (yes, “Over the Rainbow.”) But what film needs Oscars when its award shelf keeps filling decades after its original release.

We all sing “Over the Rainbow” to ourselves, but also: In England, when former prime minister Margaret Thatcher died in April 2013, her political detractors waged a campaign to propel “Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead” to No. (Yip) Harburg’s songs have permanently nestled in every fan’s internal juke box.

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore ” “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too ” and “There’s no place like home” were all included on the American Film Institute’s list of Top 100 movie quotes. Multiple generations, from toddler to centenarian, know the film’s dialogue by heart. Yet when most people hear The Wizard of Oz, their minds and hearts leap directly to the 1939 MGM film starring Judy Garland. Stage adaptations have included The Wiz, a black-cast Broadway musical, filmed in 1978 with Diana Ross as Dorothy, and Wicked, a revisionist tribute to the Wicked Witch of the West that has been enthralling audiences for a decade. In 1910 the first movie version of the story appeared, and another in 1925. Baum’s book, published in 1900, was a smash, generating scores of sequels and a traveling show.
