Part of the series "Fantasy Movies on YouTube".
'''Wizard of Oz''', a 1939 MGM fantasy movie starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton and Charley Grapewin from the book by L. Frank Baum. Clara Blandick who plays "Auntie Em" was not named in the opening credits, and it was not until decades later when the ending credits were also broadcast, that many fans discovered who she was. Also look very closely and you can tell that Frank Morgan was not only Professor Marvel and the Wizard, but he was also the doorman and the cabbie in the Emerald City.
Here is one script. On a new page, I'll be listing all the differences between this script and the broadcast movie. Below, first I present a detailed plotline of the entire movie, and then I present another section showing some well-known and obscure mistakes and oddities in the film.
This article written and copyright 2008 by Will Johnson, freelance biographer and professional genealogist. This page is locked, if you'd like to comment on it, you may email me at wjhonson@aol.com
Now Dorothy falls in the pig pen and is rescued by Zeke. Both Dorothy and Zeke are freaked out by this, but Auntie Em is a bit blase, telling Dorothy to "find a place where you won't get into any trouble!" So now Dorothy sings her signature song ''Somewhere Over The Rainbow''. Next we see Miss Gulch riding her bicycle to the Gale's farm where she shows them an order allowing her to take Toto to the sheriff, because she says Toto bit her. Dorothy is very upset and runs crying to her room.
In the next scene, Dorothy comes to a four-way intersection and is unsure which way to go. Here she meets the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), helping him down off his pole. We learn that the Scarecrow is troubled because he doesn't have a brain. Also he states that he isn't a very good scarecrow because the crows aren't afraid of him. He now launches into the next song-and-dance ''If I Only Had A Brain''. He suggests that perhaps the Wizard could help him by giving him a brain. So the two of them set-off together.
Next Dorothy and the Scarecrow come upon an apple orchard, only to discover that the trees talk and are annoyed at her for trying to pick their apples --- "How would you like to have someone come along and pick something off you?" The Scarecrow tricks the trees into throwing their apples at him.
When Dorothy says "Well you are perfect now", the Woodsman complains that "the tinsmith forget to give me a heart." He then launches into the movie's next song-and-dance with ''If I Only Had A Heart''. The Scarecrow and Dorothy offer that the Tin Woodsman should come with them to see the Wizard.
Now the Witch appears and threatens the two men, throwing a fireball at the Scarecrow, and then vanishes again in a cloud of red smoke. The men however, stick by Dorothy, and they all go singing and dancing down the road.
In the next scene, they are in a dark forest and feeling frightened, when suddenly a lion appears and threatens them.
Here we are treated to some of the most bizarre song lyrics : "I'd be brave as a '''blizzard''', I'd be gentle as a '''lizard''', I'd be clever as a '''gizzard'''". None of which makes any sense. They then give us another round of ''We're Off To See The Wizard'', as they go skipping out of the forest.
Meanwhile the Witch has been watching them in her giant crystal ball and she has a plan to stop them. Mixing a potion, she casts a spell that thousands of poppies would appear in their path and put them to sleep with their narcotic odor. The travelers now for the first time, see the beautiful Emerald City rising from the plain in front of them, but the poppies have completely grown over and obscured the Yellow Brick Road.
Running ahead, the Tin Woodsman, and the Scarecrow, not being flesh, are unaffected by the poppies, but the Lion, Toto and Dorothy fall asleep. The Scarecrow tries to think of some way out of their predicament, while the Tin Woodsman, starts yelling and crying. Glinda now appears in an overlay, and casts her own spell, making it snow. The snow dampens the narcotic odor enough to cause Dorothy, Toto and the Lion to wake up, but the Tin Woodsman rusts.
Now we flash back to the Witch who is upset that she's been thwarted. We see something odd here that must be explained. At 6:55, the Monkey King is jumping up and down with something in his hand, and he hands it to the Witch, who takes it and waves it around for a few seconds around 7:01. This thing is the Magic Hat or Helmet or Skullcap (like a bathing cap). If the Witch wears this, she can command the Flying Monkeys but she can only do this three times, before they are freed from her possession. This is explained in the book, but not in the movie.
Now we go back to the travelers and the brief song ''You're Out Of The Woods'', which all Oz fans wish had been much longer. The Witch now flies from her castle, "To the Emerald City as fast as lightning", while the travelers come up to the gate of the city. They tell the doorman that they want to see the Wizard and he responds "Nobody's ever seen the 'Great Oz'. Even I've never seen him!" The doorman tells them to go away, but then being informed that Glinda sent them, he lets them in.
An interesting aside here. In the book, as Dorothy and the group enter the city, they are made to wear green-tinted glasses so everything will '''look''' emerald, when in fact the '''emeralds''' that appear to cover all the buildings are only cheap glass.
At the "Wash and Brush Up Company", the Scarecrow is re-stuffed with fresh straw, the Tin Woodsman is polished with a giant buffer, Dorothy is given a beauty treatment, and the Lion is clipped with hedge-trimmers (it's true) by five very silly women. Notice that the beauticians have decided that Dorothy's hair looks better, not in pig-tails, but full, and with a single bow on top.
Our group, now beautiful and refreshed (presumably), go out of the beauty spa only to find the Witch has arrived and is sky-writing on her broomstick, "Surrender Dorothy", in black smoke. The townspeople all rush to inquire of the Wizard, but they are shooed back home by the Wizard's doorkeeper.
Our group however insists they must see the Wizard, and at the doorkeeper's intransigence, state "But she's Dorothy!", "The Witches Dorothy?", says the doorkeeper, "Well that's makes a difference." He goes off and the Lion now breaks into the next song ''If I Were King Of The Forest'', while the rest of the group show various signs of respect to the "King".
The doorkeeper returns however and tells them "The Wizard says Go Away!" At this Dorothy bursts into tears, causing the eavesdropping doorkeeper to do the same. "Please don't cry anymore", says the doorkeeper, "I'll get you in to see the Wizard somehow." Our group then enters the Wizard's long hallway. This leads them to his throne room, where out of a cloud of fire and steam he announces, "I Am Oz, the Great and Powerful! Who Are You? Who Are You!"
Next we see our group in the dark-and-sinister "Haunted Forest". In order to confront the witch, they have armed themselves with some new weapons. Dorothy is '''still carrying''' her trusty picnic basket, but the Scarecrow has a staff and a pistol, the Lion has a butterfly net and an insect-repellent gun, and the Tin Woodsman has his ax but also a gigantic wrench.
Of course being a Haunted Forest, they discuss whether they believe in '''spooks'''. The Tin Woodsman says he doesn't so the spooks lift him up and then drop him to the ground. The Witch, watching all this through her crystal ball, now commands the Flying Monkeys to, "Take your army to the Haunted Forest and bring me that girl and her dog. Do what you like with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed." The Flying Monkeys attack and take Dorothy and Toto, while pulling the straw out of the Strawman, but leaving the Tin Woodsman and the Lion apparently unharmed.
Now a prisoner at the Witch's Castle, Dorothy agrees to give up the Ruby slippers if the Witch will not harm Toto, but the Witch remembers that the slippers won't come off until Dorothy is dead. Toto jumps out of the basket where he was put, and runs off to find the others. The Witch now is really upset. She turns an hourglass over and tells Dorothy that that is all the time she has left and then Dorothy will be dead. The Witch leaves the room, but now Dorothy bursts into tears, calling out for Auntie Em who then appears in the Witch's crystal ball, although they can't hear each other. Auntie Em's image is then replaced by the Witch's, who mocks Dorothy. "I'll give you Auntie Em my pretty!" (followed by cackling and shrill laughter).
Meanwhile Toto finds his way down the mountainside and back to the forest where the Lion and Tin Woodsman are re-stuffing the Scarecrow. They all climb up the mountain to where the Witch's Castle sits on top, and examine it, arriving just at the '''changing of the guards'''.
The Tin Woodsman hacks away at the door with his axe, freeing Dorothy, and the group runs downs the stairs. But the Witch is too clever for them, causing the door that they need to exit through, to lock. The Scarecrow noticing that the enormous chandelier is held up by a rope, grabs the Tin Woodsman's arm and swings the axe through the rope, causing the chandelier to drop onto the Winkie guards approaching them.
Our heroes run this way and that, but eventually are trapped by the Witch in a tower whose open archways on both sides are filled by guards. And she tells us what she intends, "The last to go, will see the first three go before '''her''', and her '''mangy little dog too'''!" The Witch now lights her broomstick on fire, and uses it to light the Scarecrow on fire. Dorothy grabs a bucket of water, conveniently nearby and throws it on the Scarecrow to put him out, but some of the water gets on the Witch as well. You can clearly hear the Witch at 5:35 or 5:36 say something like "Don't touch that water."
The water melts the Witch into a puddle (or something) and the guards now salute Dorothy for freeing them. Now we get some really odd dialogue. Dorothy says "The broom may we have it?" And the Winkie guard says, "Please, and take it with you." (Um... duh? What? You can have it, but only if you leave it here?)
Now our travelers are back in the Wizard's Throne Room, where he tells them to come back tomorrow. But Toto, investigates a curtained area, and pulling the curtain aside, they find the real '''Great and Powerful Oz''' to be only a regular man, working an elaborate machinery. Our shocked group tell him he's a humbug and Dorothy says, "You're a very bad man". But he replies, "Oh no my dear, I'm a very good man, I'm just a very bad wizard."
The Wizard now tells Scarecrow that he doesn't need a brain, what he lacks is a diploma. So he gives him a "Doctor of Thinkology" diploma. The Scarecrow then recites what presumably is supposed to be the Pythagorean Theorem but actually states it incorrectly. But he's happy anyway.
The Wizard now tells the Lion that he doesn't need courage, what he lacks is a medal. So he gives him a medal called the "Triple Cross" for "meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, conspicuous bravery against wicked witches..." "You are now a member of the Legion of Courage."
But Dorothy's situation is a little more difficult, so the Wizard states that the only way to get her back to Kansas is for him to take her himself. We learn that the Wizard is from Kansas himself. He was a balloonist for the '''Miracle Wonderland Carnival Company''', until one day, his balloon instead of returning to the fair, mysteriously floated down into the Emerald City, where he was instantly proclaimed "Oz, the First Wizard Deluxe." So now he suggests they return together to "the land of E Pluribus Unum"
Now the Wizard, Dorothy and Toto are in the balloon in the town square while he gives a farewell speech to the crowd. A cat interests Toto and he jumps growling after it, while Dorothy chases him down. Meanwhile the balloon lifts off and the Wizard doesn't know how to make it land, so off he goes.
Now Glinda appears once again, telling Dorothy, "You've always had the power to go back to Kansas." If Glinda had told her, she wouldn't have believed it, that she had to learn it for herself. So the Scarecrow says, "Well what have you learned Dorothy?" And now folks we get some truly bizarre moral. Please pay close attention to this dialogue:
Read that over five times. '''It's bizarre!'''
Dorothy now says goodbye to the Tin Woodsman, the Lion and the Scarecrow, and following Glinda's instructions, taps her heels together three times and thinks, "There's No Place Like Home".
At time 3:53 and 3:54 we have a clear view of Zeke's butt, and he has no handkerchief in his back pocket. He dumps the pig feed with both hands, you can hear him shaking it out, and then the camera jumps back to him at time 4:05 and voila! He now has a handkerchief in his back pocket, but he had never put down the bucket!
At time 4:44, just after Dorothy is rescued from the pig sty, Auntie Em shows up with crullers and in part she says to Hickory "I saw you tinkering on that contraption Hickory", then Hickory says "Some day they are going to erect a statue to me in this town". This exchange '''makes no sense''', since the entire scene where we learn that the "contraption" is a machine that can stop tornadoes, has been cut. See here.
At time 5:00 through 5:20 we have clear views of Dorothy's dress, after she has just been rescued from the pig sty --- her dress is completely clean.
When Dorothy returns to the house during the tornado, she tries to get into the cellar but the door is bolted and they can't hear her. She is carrying Toto and the picnic basket. She goes inside and the next frames show her in her bedroom with Toto but no picnic basket. Where did she put it!
At 6:41 her end table in front of the window appears relatively clear of objects. And again notice at 6:46. Then the majority of the window frame blew out and hit Dorothy on the head, but apparently didn't affect anything else in the room, and especially not this weird group of figurines or whatever they are who appear on that table clearly at 7:19. And at this point as the house is slowly tilting back and forth, that left-over storm window on the right, should be flapping back and forth, as well, but it's not. It's not bolted on, because we clearly earlier saw it swinging around.
When Dorothy is up inside the cyclone, she sees Miss Gulch riding her bicycle, who then turns into a witch on a broomstick. When the house lands, it lands on the witch, and then Dorothy and later the Munchkins sing about how "the witch to satisfy an itch when riding on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch", so the house landed on her. So the witch who was killed by the house was Miss Gulch/Witch of the East, and it's her sister that is the Witch of the West.
The figurines are now gone! But at least we see where she put that picnic basket, she picks it up right before she leaves her bedroom after the house has landed. A girl can't go anywhere without a picnic basket! Of course even though the bed has just been sliding back and forth all over the room, the picnic basket is still upright with all it's precious contents (whatever they are) in it.
For a people just-recently-oppressed by the evil Witch of the West, the Munchkins sure seem to live in an idyllic garden of beautiful flowers and water and have very colorful clothes.
The Mayor says "As Mayor of the Munchkin City, in the County of the Land of Oz". Glinda earlier however had said "this is Munchkin Land". So what is Munchkinia? Is it a city? a county? a land? Is the County called the "Land of Oz" County ? Or what!
Right at 8:19 and just a second or split-second before you see the red smoke of the witch's arrival, someone screams prematurely. At 8:26 Dorothy still has the giant lollipop, '''after''' the witch has arrived, so it wasn't frightened out of her hand, but it never appears again.
At 9:04 the witch has taken about seven steps over to the ruby shoes on the feet of her dead sister, the end of her broom is almost touching them when they disappear. But at 9:09 it appears that she is being shadowed against a painted backdrop some distance away, almost like a draft of the film cast on a screen. Then at 9:10 she is right up against the house again. So obviously 9:09 was a redo, some time later.
When Dorothy is about to leave the city, Glinda says that the Munchkins will accompany her to the border of Munchkinland, but they only go a few feet before they stop and wave her on her journey. We know it's a long distance to the Emerald City, so what's the name of the land that Dorothy is now trans versing?
As she leaves Munchkin City, she is carrying a bouquet of flowers. They never again appear.
Dorothy comes upon a four-way intersection in the Yellow Brick Road, which is where she meets the Scarecrow. She doesn't know which way to go, and he doesn't know, but at the end of this scene they merrily march off down one of the paths anyway. Notice the force she is using flinging the picnic basket back and forth and yet nothing ever flies out of it! It's a magic picnic basket!
At time 3:09, there is a small bed of flowers directly behind Dorothy that are mostly some type of small blue flower and a lesser amount of yellow/orange flowers. But at time 5:02 we see a much more vibrant red/orange/yellow bushy arrangement partially climbing up the fence. At 6:32 what is this? Now the flowers look almost white. We can see this patch of flowers again clearly at 7:56 and there is no blue, and now it's a very muted yellowish.
At time 3:38, its clear that the Scarecrow's head is taller than his pole, but in his close-up at 3:42, the pole clearly extends up behind his head. At 3:45 it's short again, but then at 3:50 it's tall !
At time 4:52 through 4:58 the Scarecrow loses some of his stuffing and says "Oh no I just keep picking it up and putting it back in again", indicating that he has done this before. But of course until just now, the Scarecrow has never been off his pole, so he couldn't have done this before.
At time 5:07, we can see some type of flowers or vines on the piece of fence directly behind the Scarecrow and Dorothy, but at 5:14, that piece of fence is clean, finally at 5:49 we see them back.
Also during this scene, we see Dorothy's hair comes down to well-below her bosom and is sort-of "bushy" at the ends. Right about the time the Scarecrow falls off his pole, her hair is suddenly several inches shorter and much less "bushy". He then falls over the fence and when a crow comes up and sits on his shoulder, Dorothy's hair is again long and bushy. The crow flies off, "What would you do with a brain" and again her hair is much shorter. The Scarecrow sings, Dorothy courteously keeps her hair short during his song but as soon as it ends, her hair is long again! The nerve!
At 8:00 we can clearly see the entire pole the Scarecrow had been on, even though earlier it was mostly obscured by the "corn".
At time 8:17 we see some kind of bird to the right, remember that bird, he is a ham.
At the end of part 4, right after the trees throw apples at them, it appears that Dorothy has on black shoes, instead of her ruby shoes. (see 9:24)
At time 1:32, Dorothy who has been holding an apple, tosses it on the ground as she is helping the Tin Woodsman lower his arm. At time 1:51, without her ever bending down, the apple has leaped back into her hand!
Check out time 2:21 what the heck is there a bird flapping it's wings right behind them? Rule number 72 of movie-making '''no extraneous flapping birds please!''' And then again at 4:13, will someone give that bird an Actor's Equity card please! And then see 4:58 what is that? A peacock? A crane? The Tin Woodsman is raising crane? That bird should be punished for shameless scene-stealing.
At 5:45 notice the Tin Woodsman's button are on the right, at 6:11 they are on the left, at 6:37 they are back on the right again!
That loony Dorothy now at 7:05 is going to go skipping off forgetting her precious picnic basket! Lucky that the Scarecrow picks it up. Notice something bizarre here. The Scarecrow has the basket, but then suddenly he is flinging his arms up with no basket and it appears Dorothy is too. The basket has vanished!
And then just when you thought it was safe, at 7:23 that crane reappears for just a second!
I don't know about you, but if I were traveling a well-established yellow brick road (but however never met any fellow travelers) and it went through a dense, dark, overgrown forest, I would expect the road to itself be overgrown and broken up in patches. But it seems strangely well-groomed.
You will recall, that as they skip along, Dorothy sometimes had to "pull up" on the Scarecrow. That is because Scarecrows being made of straw would have a tendency to sag and loose shape if they were dancing along a road. Scarecrows are also very weak creatures, being made of straw. However at 5:33 we see the Scarecrow propping up and helping the Lion to stand up! The Lion must weigh at least 200 pounds!
At time 3:07 we meet the Wizard's gatekeeper. Notice that the ends of his mustache are pulled up to seemingly meet his sideburns. But then at 3:42 we notice the mustache to be drooping on the sides, almost like he put it on that day upside-down.
At time 6:13 we see the Tin Woodsman, pick up a flower pot and shatter it with his axe, creating a crown, which he puts on the Lion's head. But then at 7:35 the Wizard's doorkeeper bursts out of the door, scaring the Lion, whose crown falls to the ground... and bounces. Obviously a clay pot would not bounce, it would shatter.
At time 8:20 the doorkeeper bursts into tears, but notice that the water is running down the '''bridge''' of his nose. This is not possible if the source of the tears is his eyes. So there must be a tube running under his hat or something.
From time 6:05 to 8:45 we are Toto-less ! Toto does not appear to be anywhere in-frame, perhaps all that dancing around was too much for him and he was snoozing in the flowerbed.
At time 10:01 remember the way the Throne-room looks. This is one of the only shots looking to the left. We need to know this for later.
Notice that gleaming, glowing, fantastic Art-Deco thingie to one side of the door. It's there at time 1:13, but at time 2:06 when we should see it clearly, it's gone or out or something.
At time 3:15, remembering again that the Strawman is ...made of '''straw''', we see him, on one side, lifting the lion off his feet, while the lion's feet are thrashing back-and-forth. Hardly something a man made only of straw could do.
At time 3:19 is the last we see of the Lion's butterfly net and insect-repellent gun. Nothing appears to have happened to the Lion in the interim, so why they are missing is unexplained.
At time 3:40, after the spooks have lifted up the Tin Woodsman, they let him fall, we can clearly see the "tin" on his butt and the back of his leg wrinkle and unwrinkle as fabric would do, but as tin would not do.
At time 3:42 it appears that the Scarecrow throws down his staff and pistol to help the Tin Woodsman. We never see these weapons again. At time 3:44 we see the Tin Woodsman's giant wrench lying on the ground, but never see it again.
At time 4:10 the Witch says "I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them." This sentence makes no sense, because the scene with that insect has been cut. The scene was cut because initial studio reaction was that the film was too long. You can watch-and-hear that scene here, the first 1:10 of this clip has no video, just still images, but then you'll see the dance that was cut. What you will see, will be shocking and frightening. Remember, they have just been harassed by a small creature (called the ''Jitterbug'') biting them, and then watch this '''Be prepared to be disturbed... very disturbed.'''
At time 4:43 we can again definitely see wrinkles on the Tin Woodsman's butt. We also see him now pick up his axe. But the monkeys grab the axe, but then at 5:24 he has it back again. '''If I were a monkey''', and I'm not saying I'm not, I would have kept the axe.
At time 6:43, our travelers have returned to Oz's Throne Room. Notice on either side of them, and above them, some sort of columns, or maybe something large apparently hanging from the ceiling? But there shouldn't be anything right next to them, as they are in the middle of a large open room.
At time 5:15, Glinda says "You don't need to be helped any longer. You're always had the power to go back to Kansas." Okay so we're supposed to believe now that the Ruby slippers and Dorothy's firm desire and knowledge are all she needs. So why when Dorothy is finally doing it, at 7:35 is Glinda moving her wand around behind Dorothy's head? Aha! I've got you now you lying Glinda! You're giving her a boost. (She probably wanted those slippers for herself, we all know they fell off Dorothy's feet on her magical flight back to Kansas.)
At time 6:52 Dorothy says to the Lion, "I'm going to miss the way you used to holler for help before you found your courage." But the lion never did holler for help. He fretted, and whimpered and shook, but never hollered for help.
At time 8:46 Dorothy, now back in Kansas says "I tried to get back for days and days". Ok so how come we never see the travelers at night, sleeping or camping or whatever. When Dorothy leaves Munchkin City, Glinda tells her that the trip to Emerald City is "a long journey". Well? Five miles isn't long, so maybe a hundred miles? They would have had to camp sometime.
At time 10:07, we see that "Auntie Em" was played by Clara Blandick, given billing right above Toto played by Toto and "The Singer Midgets" as The Munchkins. But right above Auntie Em is "Nikko" played by Pat Walshe. Um... who? what? Who the heck was Nikko? Aha! What the scriptwriters wouldn't tell us, the newspapers did. Nikko, was the King of the Flying Monkeys. He was not played by a chimpanzee as some think, but rather by Pat Walshe, who also appeared on Broadway a few times as an animal impersonator.
Zeke (Bert Lahr) says "Listen kid, are you going to let that old Gulch heifer try to buffalo ya? She ain't nothing to be afraid of, have a little courage that's all."
In the script, but cut from the movie, Hickory (Jack Haley) tells Dorothy to have some heart for that "sour-faced old maid."
When Miss Gulch shows up to take Toto to the sheriff, she wants to put him in a picnic basket, and Dorothy in an outburst says "Oh you Wicked Old Witch". Of course Toto jumps out of the unlocked basket. Much later the Wicked Witch, when she captures Toto, also puts him in the same picnic basket. And of course he jumps out again since the basket is unlocked. '''Lock the dang basket!'''
Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) who later will be the "Wizard", is a kindly and lovable fraud, claiming to be a fortune teller and to have known the "Crowned Heads of Europe". Similarly the Wizard when he finally makes his true appearance, is also a kindly and lovable fraud.
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'''Wizard of Oz''', a 1939 MGM fantasy movie starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton and Charley Grapewin from the book by L. Frank Baum. Clara Blandick who plays "Auntie Em" was not named in the opening credits, and it was not until decades later when the ending credits were also broadcast, that many fans discovered who she was. Also look very closely and you can tell that Frank Morgan was not only Professor Marvel and the Wizard, but he was also the doorman and the cabbie in the Emerald City.
Here is one script. On a new page, I'll be listing all the differences between this script and the broadcast movie. Below, first I present a detailed plotline of the entire movie, and then I present another section showing some well-known and obscure mistakes and oddities in the film.
This article written and copyright 2008 by Will Johnson, freelance biographer and professional genealogist. This page is locked, if you'd like to comment on it, you may email me at wjhonson@aol.com
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Detailed Plot
The below plotline is broken into ten parts to match the ten parts of the movie as it was originally uploaded to YouTube. (But since taken down.) You can however apparently still watch it for free online at these links.Part 1
The story opens with Dorothy (Judy Garland) running home from school with her faithful dog Toto. She excitedly tries to interest her Auntie Em (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry Gale (Charley Grapewin) in the terrible story of how Miss Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) hit Toto with a rake because he gets in her garden and chases her cat. Next we meet the three farmhands Hunk, Zeke, and Hickory (Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley), each of them try to help her out in their own way. Hunk (Ray Bolger) tells her to use her brains, Zeke (Bert Lahr) tells her to have courage. (A cut portion had Hickory telling her to have some heart, and have pity on the "sour-faced old maid" Miss Gulch. Another cut portion has Hickory working on a wind machine that he claims will stop tornadoes.)Now Dorothy falls in the pig pen and is rescued by Zeke. Both Dorothy and Zeke are freaked out by this, but Auntie Em is a bit blase, telling Dorothy to "find a place where you won't get into any trouble!" So now Dorothy sings her signature song ''Somewhere Over The Rainbow''. Next we see Miss Gulch riding her bicycle to the Gale's farm where she shows them an order allowing her to take Toto to the sheriff, because she says Toto bit her. Dorothy is very upset and runs crying to her room.
Part 2
Toto however escapes from Miss Gulch's basket without her noticing, and runs back to Dorothy. Dorothy knows that to protect Toto, she will have to run away. So she and Toto run away and on her journey meet Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan), a fortune teller. He tells her that in his crystal ball he can see her Aunt Em crying, and possibly having a heart attack. Dorothy gets upset and wants to run back home. On the way home, a tornado appears and threatens the farm. Henry, Em and the three farm-hands go into the storm cellar, but Dorothy arrives too late. She tries to get into the storm cellar but the door is locked and they can't hear her banging on the top. So she goes back into her room, the window blows out and hits her in the head knocking her out. When she awakes she is apparently up inside the tornado and sees a bunch of things flying by the window, including Miss Gulch on her bicycle, who then turns into a witch riding a broomstick. The force of the tornado diminishes and the house falls and lands but Dorothy and Toto are unhurt. Dorothy opens the front door, and now for the first time, the movie which had so far been in black-and-white, is changed to full-color. Dorothy has landed in a garden with gigantic flowers, a lily-pond, a stream and bridge, some small houses and a bright-yellow brick road. Dorothy walks around the garden but no one else is there.Part 3
This part opens with her famously misquoted line: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." When her back is turned, some heads pop up from the garden, then dart back down. A ball of light comes closer, then turns into Glinda, the Witch of the North (Billie Burke). It turns out that the Gale house has dropped onto and killed, the Wicked Witch of the East. Now Billie starts the next song "The Munchkinland Song (Ding Dong the Witch is Dead)", which Dorothy and the Munchkins finish. The Munchkins, who are all little people, now come out of hiding and dance about singing. The Mayor welcomes her, the Coronor certifies that the witch is truly dead. The Lullaby League and the Lollipop Guild both welcome Dorothy. (Of course it's never really made clear how the Munchkins which until now had been so oppressed by this evil witch, suddenly live in a beautiful garden and have bright, colorful clothes.) At any rate now appears the sister of the dead witch, this one called the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton). She threatens Dorothy, especially after Glinda causes the Ruby Slippers to disappear from the dead witch and appear on the feet of Dorothy. "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!" She disappears in a cloud of fire and red smoke.Part 4
Now Dorothy, states that she wants to go back home to Kansas. Glinda recommends that Dorothy should travel to meet the "great and wonderful Wizard of Oz", who lives in Emerald City --- that he might know a way. To get there Dorothy must "follow the Yellow Brick Road". Glinda now disappears and then the Munchkins launch into the next song ''Follow the Yellow Brick Road''.In the next scene, Dorothy comes to a four-way intersection and is unsure which way to go. Here she meets the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), helping him down off his pole. We learn that the Scarecrow is troubled because he doesn't have a brain. Also he states that he isn't a very good scarecrow because the crows aren't afraid of him. He now launches into the next song-and-dance ''If I Only Had A Brain''. He suggests that perhaps the Wizard could help him by giving him a brain. So the two of them set-off together.
Next Dorothy and the Scarecrow come upon an apple orchard, only to discover that the trees talk and are annoyed at her for trying to pick their apples --- "How would you like to have someone come along and pick something off you?" The Scarecrow tricks the trees into throwing their apples at him.
Part 5
As Dorothy is picking up the apples, she comes across a Tin Woodsman (Jack Haley). He mumbles something which they interpret to mean that he wants them to oil his mouth. Once they do, he starts speaking clearly. He tells them that "'Bout a year ago I was chopping that tree and suddenly it began to rain, and right in the middle of a chop, I rusted solid."When Dorothy says "Well you are perfect now", the Woodsman complains that "the tinsmith forget to give me a heart." He then launches into the movie's next song-and-dance with ''If I Only Had A Heart''. The Scarecrow and Dorothy offer that the Tin Woodsman should come with them to see the Wizard.
Now the Witch appears and threatens the two men, throwing a fireball at the Scarecrow, and then vanishes again in a cloud of red smoke. The men however, stick by Dorothy, and they all go singing and dancing down the road.
In the next scene, they are in a dark forest and feeling frightened, when suddenly a lion appears and threatens them.
Part 6
The Lion (Bert Lahr) threatens Toto, and so Dorothy slaps the Lion on its nose. The Lion bursts into tears at this and tells them that he has no courage. They now offer to bring him along with them to see the Wizard. "Well wouldn't you feel degraded to be seen in the company of a Cowardly Lion?" Now he launches into the next song-and-dance ''If I Only Had The Nerve''.Here we are treated to some of the most bizarre song lyrics : "I'd be brave as a '''blizzard''', I'd be gentle as a '''lizard''', I'd be clever as a '''gizzard'''". None of which makes any sense. They then give us another round of ''We're Off To See The Wizard'', as they go skipping out of the forest.
Meanwhile the Witch has been watching them in her giant crystal ball and she has a plan to stop them. Mixing a potion, she casts a spell that thousands of poppies would appear in their path and put them to sleep with their narcotic odor. The travelers now for the first time, see the beautiful Emerald City rising from the plain in front of them, but the poppies have completely grown over and obscured the Yellow Brick Road.
Running ahead, the Tin Woodsman, and the Scarecrow, not being flesh, are unaffected by the poppies, but the Lion, Toto and Dorothy fall asleep. The Scarecrow tries to think of some way out of their predicament, while the Tin Woodsman, starts yelling and crying. Glinda now appears in an overlay, and casts her own spell, making it snow. The snow dampens the narcotic odor enough to cause Dorothy, Toto and the Lion to wake up, but the Tin Woodsman rusts.
Now we flash back to the Witch who is upset that she's been thwarted. We see something odd here that must be explained. At 6:55, the Monkey King is jumping up and down with something in his hand, and he hands it to the Witch, who takes it and waves it around for a few seconds around 7:01. This thing is the Magic Hat or Helmet or Skullcap (like a bathing cap). If the Witch wears this, she can command the Flying Monkeys but she can only do this three times, before they are freed from her possession. This is explained in the book, but not in the movie.
Now we go back to the travelers and the brief song ''You're Out Of The Woods'', which all Oz fans wish had been much longer. The Witch now flies from her castle, "To the Emerald City as fast as lightning", while the travelers come up to the gate of the city. They tell the doorman that they want to see the Wizard and he responds "Nobody's ever seen the 'Great Oz'. Even I've never seen him!" The doorman tells them to go away, but then being informed that Glinda sent them, he lets them in.
An interesting aside here. In the book, as Dorothy and the group enter the city, they are made to wear green-tinted glasses so everything will '''look''' emerald, when in fact the '''emeralds''' that appear to cover all the buildings are only cheap glass.
Part 7
Now the group enters Emerald City, and we notice that all the population wear green clothes. Our group is met by a horse-and-carriage who offer to take them to a place to freshen up. Now we get the next song ''In The Merry Old Land of Oz''. This '''horse of a different color''' changes colors several times in the next minute: white, purple, burnt orange, and finally yellow.At the "Wash and Brush Up Company", the Scarecrow is re-stuffed with fresh straw, the Tin Woodsman is polished with a giant buffer, Dorothy is given a beauty treatment, and the Lion is clipped with hedge-trimmers (it's true) by five very silly women. Notice that the beauticians have decided that Dorothy's hair looks better, not in pig-tails, but full, and with a single bow on top.
Our group, now beautiful and refreshed (presumably), go out of the beauty spa only to find the Witch has arrived and is sky-writing on her broomstick, "Surrender Dorothy", in black smoke. The townspeople all rush to inquire of the Wizard, but they are shooed back home by the Wizard's doorkeeper.
Our group however insists they must see the Wizard, and at the doorkeeper's intransigence, state "But she's Dorothy!", "The Witches Dorothy?", says the doorkeeper, "Well that's makes a difference." He goes off and the Lion now breaks into the next song ''If I Were King Of The Forest'', while the rest of the group show various signs of respect to the "King".
The doorkeeper returns however and tells them "The Wizard says Go Away!" At this Dorothy bursts into tears, causing the eavesdropping doorkeeper to do the same. "Please don't cry anymore", says the doorkeeper, "I'll get you in to see the Wizard somehow." Our group then enters the Wizard's long hallway. This leads them to his throne room, where out of a cloud of fire and steam he announces, "I Am Oz, the Great and Powerful! Who Are You? Who Are You!"
Part 8
Their interview with Oz perhaps didn't go the way they might have wished. He agrees to grant their requests, if they bring him "the broomstick of the Witch of the West". The Lion is so frightened he runs from the throne room and crashes through a window in the hallway.Next we see our group in the dark-and-sinister "Haunted Forest". In order to confront the witch, they have armed themselves with some new weapons. Dorothy is '''still carrying''' her trusty picnic basket, but the Scarecrow has a staff and a pistol, the Lion has a butterfly net and an insect-repellent gun, and the Tin Woodsman has his ax but also a gigantic wrench.
Of course being a Haunted Forest, they discuss whether they believe in '''spooks'''. The Tin Woodsman says he doesn't so the spooks lift him up and then drop him to the ground. The Witch, watching all this through her crystal ball, now commands the Flying Monkeys to, "Take your army to the Haunted Forest and bring me that girl and her dog. Do what you like with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed." The Flying Monkeys attack and take Dorothy and Toto, while pulling the straw out of the Strawman, but leaving the Tin Woodsman and the Lion apparently unharmed.
Now a prisoner at the Witch's Castle, Dorothy agrees to give up the Ruby slippers if the Witch will not harm Toto, but the Witch remembers that the slippers won't come off until Dorothy is dead. Toto jumps out of the basket where he was put, and runs off to find the others. The Witch now is really upset. She turns an hourglass over and tells Dorothy that that is all the time she has left and then Dorothy will be dead. The Witch leaves the room, but now Dorothy bursts into tears, calling out for Auntie Em who then appears in the Witch's crystal ball, although they can't hear each other. Auntie Em's image is then replaced by the Witch's, who mocks Dorothy. "I'll give you Auntie Em my pretty!" (followed by cackling and shrill laughter).
Meanwhile Toto finds his way down the mountainside and back to the forest where the Lion and Tin Woodsman are re-stuffing the Scarecrow. They all climb up the mountain to where the Witch's Castle sits on top, and examine it, arriving just at the '''changing of the guards'''.
Part 9
As the travelers are watching the castle, three Winkie guards sneak up and jump them from behind. At time 1:17 or 1:18 you can distinctly hear one of these guards say, "Put 'em up". Our intrepid bunch gets the better of the guards and we next see them in the guards' uniforms, which of course are the perfect disguise to get inside the castle. So they join the guards who are going in, with the Lion bringing up the rear and trying to keep his tail from showing too much. With Toto leading them, they find the room in which Dorothy is being held.The Tin Woodsman hacks away at the door with his axe, freeing Dorothy, and the group runs downs the stairs. But the Witch is too clever for them, causing the door that they need to exit through, to lock. The Scarecrow noticing that the enormous chandelier is held up by a rope, grabs the Tin Woodsman's arm and swings the axe through the rope, causing the chandelier to drop onto the Winkie guards approaching them.
Our heroes run this way and that, but eventually are trapped by the Witch in a tower whose open archways on both sides are filled by guards. And she tells us what she intends, "The last to go, will see the first three go before '''her''', and her '''mangy little dog too'''!" The Witch now lights her broomstick on fire, and uses it to light the Scarecrow on fire. Dorothy grabs a bucket of water, conveniently nearby and throws it on the Scarecrow to put him out, but some of the water gets on the Witch as well. You can clearly hear the Witch at 5:35 or 5:36 say something like "Don't touch that water."
The water melts the Witch into a puddle (or something) and the guards now salute Dorothy for freeing them. Now we get some really odd dialogue. Dorothy says "The broom may we have it?" And the Winkie guard says, "Please, and take it with you." (Um... duh? What? You can have it, but only if you leave it here?)
Now our travelers are back in the Wizard's Throne Room, where he tells them to come back tomorrow. But Toto, investigates a curtained area, and pulling the curtain aside, they find the real '''Great and Powerful Oz''' to be only a regular man, working an elaborate machinery. Our shocked group tell him he's a humbug and Dorothy says, "You're a very bad man". But he replies, "Oh no my dear, I'm a very good man, I'm just a very bad wizard."
The Wizard now tells Scarecrow that he doesn't need a brain, what he lacks is a diploma. So he gives him a "Doctor of Thinkology" diploma. The Scarecrow then recites what presumably is supposed to be the Pythagorean Theorem but actually states it incorrectly. But he's happy anyway.
The Wizard now tells the Lion that he doesn't need courage, what he lacks is a medal. So he gives him a medal called the "Triple Cross" for "meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, conspicuous bravery against wicked witches..." "You are now a member of the Legion of Courage."
Part 10
The Wizard now tells the Tin Woodsman that he doesn't need a heart, what he lacks is a Testimonial. "Therefore, in consideration of your kindness, I take pleasure at this time, in presenting you with a small token of our esteem and affection." He then gives him a heart-shaped clock.But Dorothy's situation is a little more difficult, so the Wizard states that the only way to get her back to Kansas is for him to take her himself. We learn that the Wizard is from Kansas himself. He was a balloonist for the '''Miracle Wonderland Carnival Company''', until one day, his balloon instead of returning to the fair, mysteriously floated down into the Emerald City, where he was instantly proclaimed "Oz, the First Wizard Deluxe." So now he suggests they return together to "the land of E Pluribus Unum"
Now the Wizard, Dorothy and Toto are in the balloon in the town square while he gives a farewell speech to the crowd. A cat interests Toto and he jumps growling after it, while Dorothy chases him down. Meanwhile the balloon lifts off and the Wizard doesn't know how to make it land, so off he goes.
Now Glinda appears once again, telling Dorothy, "You've always had the power to go back to Kansas." If Glinda had told her, she wouldn't have believed it, that she had to learn it for herself. So the Scarecrow says, "Well what have you learned Dorothy?" And now folks we get some truly bizarre moral. Please pay close attention to this dialogue:
| "Well, I think that it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. And it's that, if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with." |
Read that over five times. '''It's bizarre!'''
Dorothy now says goodbye to the Tin Woodsman, the Lion and the Scarecrow, and following Glinda's instructions, taps her heels together three times and thinks, "There's No Place Like Home".
Continuity Issues
CI Part 1
At time 3:53 and 3:54 we have a clear view of Zeke's butt, and he has no handkerchief in his back pocket. He dumps the pig feed with both hands, you can hear him shaking it out, and then the camera jumps back to him at time 4:05 and voila! He now has a handkerchief in his back pocket, but he had never put down the bucket!
At time 4:44, just after Dorothy is rescued from the pig sty, Auntie Em shows up with crullers and in part she says to Hickory "I saw you tinkering on that contraption Hickory", then Hickory says "Some day they are going to erect a statue to me in this town". This exchange '''makes no sense''', since the entire scene where we learn that the "contraption" is a machine that can stop tornadoes, has been cut. See here.
At time 5:00 through 5:20 we have clear views of Dorothy's dress, after she has just been rescued from the pig sty --- her dress is completely clean.
CI Part 2
When Dorothy returns to the house during the tornado, she tries to get into the cellar but the door is bolted and they can't hear her. She is carrying Toto and the picnic basket. She goes inside and the next frames show her in her bedroom with Toto but no picnic basket. Where did she put it!
At 6:41 her end table in front of the window appears relatively clear of objects. And again notice at 6:46. Then the majority of the window frame blew out and hit Dorothy on the head, but apparently didn't affect anything else in the room, and especially not this weird group of figurines or whatever they are who appear on that table clearly at 7:19. And at this point as the house is slowly tilting back and forth, that left-over storm window on the right, should be flapping back and forth, as well, but it's not. It's not bolted on, because we clearly earlier saw it swinging around.
When Dorothy is up inside the cyclone, she sees Miss Gulch riding her bicycle, who then turns into a witch on a broomstick. When the house lands, it lands on the witch, and then Dorothy and later the Munchkins sing about how "the witch to satisfy an itch when riding on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch", so the house landed on her. So the witch who was killed by the house was Miss Gulch/Witch of the East, and it's her sister that is the Witch of the West.
The figurines are now gone! But at least we see where she put that picnic basket, she picks it up right before she leaves her bedroom after the house has landed. A girl can't go anywhere without a picnic basket! Of course even though the bed has just been sliding back and forth all over the room, the picnic basket is still upright with all it's precious contents (whatever they are) in it.
For a people just-recently-oppressed by the evil Witch of the West, the Munchkins sure seem to live in an idyllic garden of beautiful flowers and water and have very colorful clothes.
CI Part 3
The Mayor says "As Mayor of the Munchkin City, in the County of the Land of Oz". Glinda earlier however had said "this is Munchkin Land". So what is Munchkinia? Is it a city? a county? a land? Is the County called the "Land of Oz" County ? Or what!
Right at 8:19 and just a second or split-second before you see the red smoke of the witch's arrival, someone screams prematurely. At 8:26 Dorothy still has the giant lollipop, '''after''' the witch has arrived, so it wasn't frightened out of her hand, but it never appears again.
At 9:04 the witch has taken about seven steps over to the ruby shoes on the feet of her dead sister, the end of her broom is almost touching them when they disappear. But at 9:09 it appears that she is being shadowed against a painted backdrop some distance away, almost like a draft of the film cast on a screen. Then at 9:10 she is right up against the house again. So obviously 9:09 was a redo, some time later.
When Dorothy is about to leave the city, Glinda says that the Munchkins will accompany her to the border of Munchkinland, but they only go a few feet before they stop and wave her on her journey. We know it's a long distance to the Emerald City, so what's the name of the land that Dorothy is now trans versing?
CI Part 4
As she leaves Munchkin City, she is carrying a bouquet of flowers. They never again appear.
Dorothy comes upon a four-way intersection in the Yellow Brick Road, which is where she meets the Scarecrow. She doesn't know which way to go, and he doesn't know, but at the end of this scene they merrily march off down one of the paths anyway. Notice the force she is using flinging the picnic basket back and forth and yet nothing ever flies out of it! It's a magic picnic basket!
At time 3:09, there is a small bed of flowers directly behind Dorothy that are mostly some type of small blue flower and a lesser amount of yellow/orange flowers. But at time 5:02 we see a much more vibrant red/orange/yellow bushy arrangement partially climbing up the fence. At 6:32 what is this? Now the flowers look almost white. We can see this patch of flowers again clearly at 7:56 and there is no blue, and now it's a very muted yellowish.
At time 3:38, its clear that the Scarecrow's head is taller than his pole, but in his close-up at 3:42, the pole clearly extends up behind his head. At 3:45 it's short again, but then at 3:50 it's tall !
At time 4:52 through 4:58 the Scarecrow loses some of his stuffing and says "Oh no I just keep picking it up and putting it back in again", indicating that he has done this before. But of course until just now, the Scarecrow has never been off his pole, so he couldn't have done this before.
At time 5:07, we can see some type of flowers or vines on the piece of fence directly behind the Scarecrow and Dorothy, but at 5:14, that piece of fence is clean, finally at 5:49 we see them back.
Also during this scene, we see Dorothy's hair comes down to well-below her bosom and is sort-of "bushy" at the ends. Right about the time the Scarecrow falls off his pole, her hair is suddenly several inches shorter and much less "bushy". He then falls over the fence and when a crow comes up and sits on his shoulder, Dorothy's hair is again long and bushy. The crow flies off, "What would you do with a brain" and again her hair is much shorter. The Scarecrow sings, Dorothy courteously keeps her hair short during his song but as soon as it ends, her hair is long again! The nerve!
At 8:00 we can clearly see the entire pole the Scarecrow had been on, even though earlier it was mostly obscured by the "corn".
At time 8:17 we see some kind of bird to the right, remember that bird, he is a ham.
At the end of part 4, right after the trees throw apples at them, it appears that Dorothy has on black shoes, instead of her ruby shoes. (see 9:24)
CI Part 5
At time 1:32, Dorothy who has been holding an apple, tosses it on the ground as she is helping the Tin Woodsman lower his arm. At time 1:51, without her ever bending down, the apple has leaped back into her hand!
Check out time 2:21 what the heck is there a bird flapping it's wings right behind them? Rule number 72 of movie-making '''no extraneous flapping birds please!''' And then again at 4:13, will someone give that bird an Actor's Equity card please! And then see 4:58 what is that? A peacock? A crane? The Tin Woodsman is raising crane? That bird should be punished for shameless scene-stealing.
At 5:45 notice the Tin Woodsman's button are on the right, at 6:11 they are on the left, at 6:37 they are back on the right again!
That loony Dorothy now at 7:05 is going to go skipping off forgetting her precious picnic basket! Lucky that the Scarecrow picks it up. Notice something bizarre here. The Scarecrow has the basket, but then suddenly he is flinging his arms up with no basket and it appears Dorothy is too. The basket has vanished!
And then just when you thought it was safe, at 7:23 that crane reappears for just a second!
I don't know about you, but if I were traveling a well-established yellow brick road (but however never met any fellow travelers) and it went through a dense, dark, overgrown forest, I would expect the road to itself be overgrown and broken up in patches. But it seems strangely well-groomed.
CI Part 6
You will recall, that as they skip along, Dorothy sometimes had to "pull up" on the Scarecrow. That is because Scarecrows being made of straw would have a tendency to sag and loose shape if they were dancing along a road. Scarecrows are also very weak creatures, being made of straw. However at 5:33 we see the Scarecrow propping up and helping the Lion to stand up! The Lion must weigh at least 200 pounds!
CI part 7
At time 3:07 we meet the Wizard's gatekeeper. Notice that the ends of his mustache are pulled up to seemingly meet his sideburns. But then at 3:42 we notice the mustache to be drooping on the sides, almost like he put it on that day upside-down.
At time 6:13 we see the Tin Woodsman, pick up a flower pot and shatter it with his axe, creating a crown, which he puts on the Lion's head. But then at 7:35 the Wizard's doorkeeper bursts out of the door, scaring the Lion, whose crown falls to the ground... and bounces. Obviously a clay pot would not bounce, it would shatter.
At time 8:20 the doorkeeper bursts into tears, but notice that the water is running down the '''bridge''' of his nose. This is not possible if the source of the tears is his eyes. So there must be a tube running under his hat or something.
From time 6:05 to 8:45 we are Toto-less ! Toto does not appear to be anywhere in-frame, perhaps all that dancing around was too much for him and he was snoozing in the flowerbed.
At time 10:01 remember the way the Throne-room looks. This is one of the only shots looking to the left. We need to know this for later.
CI Part 8
Notice that gleaming, glowing, fantastic Art-Deco thingie to one side of the door. It's there at time 1:13, but at time 2:06 when we should see it clearly, it's gone or out or something.
At time 3:15, remembering again that the Strawman is ...made of '''straw''', we see him, on one side, lifting the lion off his feet, while the lion's feet are thrashing back-and-forth. Hardly something a man made only of straw could do.
At time 3:19 is the last we see of the Lion's butterfly net and insect-repellent gun. Nothing appears to have happened to the Lion in the interim, so why they are missing is unexplained.
At time 3:40, after the spooks have lifted up the Tin Woodsman, they let him fall, we can clearly see the "tin" on his butt and the back of his leg wrinkle and unwrinkle as fabric would do, but as tin would not do.
At time 3:42 it appears that the Scarecrow throws down his staff and pistol to help the Tin Woodsman. We never see these weapons again. At time 3:44 we see the Tin Woodsman's giant wrench lying on the ground, but never see it again.
At time 4:10 the Witch says "I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them." This sentence makes no sense, because the scene with that insect has been cut. The scene was cut because initial studio reaction was that the film was too long. You can watch-and-hear that scene here, the first 1:10 of this clip has no video, just still images, but then you'll see the dance that was cut. What you will see, will be shocking and frightening. Remember, they have just been harassed by a small creature (called the ''Jitterbug'') biting them, and then watch this '''Be prepared to be disturbed... very disturbed.'''
At time 4:43 we can again definitely see wrinkles on the Tin Woodsman's butt. We also see him now pick up his axe. But the monkeys grab the axe, but then at 5:24 he has it back again. '''If I were a monkey''', and I'm not saying I'm not, I would have kept the axe.
CI Part 9
At time 6:43, our travelers have returned to Oz's Throne Room. Notice on either side of them, and above them, some sort of columns, or maybe something large apparently hanging from the ceiling? But there shouldn't be anything right next to them, as they are in the middle of a large open room.
CI Part 10
At time 3:40 Toto jumps out of the balloon, at 3:41 Dorothy jumps out saying at 3:44 "Don't go without me, I'll be right back". At 3:46 we see the Tin Woodsman holding tightly to the rope, which is also wound around a pole. '''But''' at 3:48 we clearly see the Tin Woodsman undo the rope from the pole! Apparently he didn't want Dorothy to go!At time 5:15, Glinda says "You don't need to be helped any longer. You're always had the power to go back to Kansas." Okay so we're supposed to believe now that the Ruby slippers and Dorothy's firm desire and knowledge are all she needs. So why when Dorothy is finally doing it, at 7:35 is Glinda moving her wand around behind Dorothy's head? Aha! I've got you now you lying Glinda! You're giving her a boost. (She probably wanted those slippers for herself, we all know they fell off Dorothy's feet on her magical flight back to Kansas.)
At time 6:52 Dorothy says to the Lion, "I'm going to miss the way you used to holler for help before you found your courage." But the lion never did holler for help. He fretted, and whimpered and shook, but never hollered for help.
At time 8:46 Dorothy, now back in Kansas says "I tried to get back for days and days". Ok so how come we never see the travelers at night, sleeping or camping or whatever. When Dorothy leaves Munchkin City, Glinda tells her that the trip to Emerald City is "a long journey". Well? Five miles isn't long, so maybe a hundred miles? They would have had to camp sometime.
At time 10:07, we see that "Auntie Em" was played by Clara Blandick, given billing right above Toto played by Toto and "The Singer Midgets" as The Munchkins. But right above Auntie Em is "Nikko" played by Pat Walshe. Um... who? what? Who the heck was Nikko? Aha! What the scriptwriters wouldn't tell us, the newspapers did. Nikko, was the King of the Flying Monkeys. He was not played by a chimpanzee as some think, but rather by Pat Walshe, who also appeared on Broadway a few times as an animal impersonator.
Premature Plotlines
In Part 1, Hunk (Ray Bolger) who will later appear as the "Scarecrow" says: "Now lookit Dorothy, you ain't using your head about Miss Gulch. Think you didn't have any brains at all." He then gives her a good idea and says "Well your head ain't made of straw you know!"Zeke (Bert Lahr) says "Listen kid, are you going to let that old Gulch heifer try to buffalo ya? She ain't nothing to be afraid of, have a little courage that's all."
In the script, but cut from the movie, Hickory (Jack Haley) tells Dorothy to have some heart for that "sour-faced old maid."
When Miss Gulch shows up to take Toto to the sheriff, she wants to put him in a picnic basket, and Dorothy in an outburst says "Oh you Wicked Old Witch". Of course Toto jumps out of the unlocked basket. Much later the Wicked Witch, when she captures Toto, also puts him in the same picnic basket. And of course he jumps out again since the basket is unlocked. '''Lock the dang basket!'''
Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) who later will be the "Wizard", is a kindly and lovable fraud, claiming to be a fortune teller and to have known the "Crowned Heads of Europe". Similarly the Wizard when he finally makes his true appearance, is also a kindly and lovable fraud.
Miscellaneous
*A video which claims to identify some of the voices of the munchkins, and one cast member by name.Wjhonson's Knols - Total Pageviews - Independent Counter