10 Things You Never Noticed About The Wizard of Oz

Nearly everyone loves The Wizard of Oz, and most of us have seen it enough times to quote certain lines
verbatim ("Ill get you my !retty, and your little dog too""# or brea$ into an a ca!!ella version of %ere &ff to
'ee the %i(ard" at a moments notice) 'ince Oz is about to celebrate its *+th anniversary ne,t year, heres a fun
!ee$ at a fe- details that may have esca!ed the attention of even the most ardent &(o!hiles)
1. Dorothy's Cruller. .ust before singing "&ver the /ainbo-," 0orothy ta$es one of the "1ust fried" crullers
Aunt 2m offers the farmhands) 'he ta$es a small bite, tosses a !iece to Toto and from there it seems to vanish)
3ut -atch closely, shes still holding it as she begins to sing and at the beginning of the second verse, she tosses
the remainder into the barnyard (ho!efully Toto sa- it"#)
2. Miss Gulch's Umbrella. As 4iss 5ulch !ulls u! to the 5ale farmhouse, you can see an umbrella stra!!ed to
the front of her bicycle) This is an "insider" allusion to the -ater allergy of her &(ian alter ego, the %ic$ed
%itch of the %est) In the original 6) 7ran$ 3aum boo$, the %itch carries an umbrella, not a broom)
3. Dorothy's Dresses. 8eres a question sure to stum! family and friends9 8o- many dresses is 0orothy seen
-earing: The ans-er is t-o, not one) %hen 0orothy meets ;rofessor 4arvel, he glances at a !ortrait of 0orothy
and Aunt 2m in their 'unday best << both are -earing -ardrobe only seen for this brief moment) (6oo$ closely9
the !rofessor never returns the !hoto either"#
4. The Coroner's Death Certificate. %hen the 4unch$in coroner !ronounces the %ic$ed %itch of the 2ast
"really most sincerely dead," he dis!lays the official death certificate -hich is dated 4ay =, 1>?@ << e,actly 1>
years after 6) 7ran$ 3aum, author of the original Wizard of Oz boo$, !assed a-ay)
5. Toto's Deleted Dance %hen dance director 3obby Aonnolly -as intervie-ed in 1>?>, he discussed the
challenges of teaching the 4unch$ins ho- to dance in unison but he also mentioned that Totos trainer -as tone
deaf, so Aonnolly had to give the trainer the music cue a cou!le beats ahead so the trainer could translate the
signal to the dog) %hen "0ing<0ong" The %itch is 0ead" is re!rised, Toto tri!s do-n the ste!s of the city hall
and falls in line behind the 4unch$in soldiers -ith no further e,!lanation << -as this the "Toto Trot" to -hich
Aonnolly -as referring:
!. The "ooden #a$horse. Another reference to the &( boo$ series may be the inclusion of a -ooden sa-horse
in the bac$ground of the Tin 4an scenes) In 3aums The Land of Oz boo$, a similar sa-horse is brought
magically to life and becomes a !ermanent resident of the 2merald Aity thereafter)
%. The Munch&in #uicide. The Wizard of Oz -as never envisioned to !lay on a screen as small as a TB set, so
confusion has arisen about the unusual motion in the bac$ground as 0orothy s$i!s a-ay -ith the 'carecro- and
Tin 4an) &ne silly urban legend says it is a 4unch$in suicide<hanging caught on film) In actuality, the
movement is that of a large stor$ reacting to the dancing by rising u! and unfolding its -ings defensively)
'. Dorothy's Gi((les. %hen filming the scene -here 0orothy sla!s the Ao-ardly 6ion, .udy 5arland $e!t
flubbing each ta$e for laughing at 3ert 6ahrs ridiculous blubbering) 2ven in the final<version scene, she is
com!osed until the 6ion reaches for his airborne tail << and misses << at -hich .udy brea$s character and crac$s a
small smile"
). The "itch's *our(lass. /emember -hen time ran out and the %itch shattered her hourglass in a rage: The
sand -as made of !ulveri(ed red sequins (li$e those on the /uby 'li!!ers# to give it that Technicolor s!ar$le)
And the hourglass the %itch thro-s had holes drilled into it so it could glide the length of a -ire and hit the
same mar$ for each ta$e)
1+. Dorothy's Time "ar,. It seems as though The Wizard of Oz all ta$es !lace in the s!an of one day) Indeed at
the conclusion, 0orothys family and friends are all -earing the same clothes they had on at the beginning) 3ut
in the !arallel universe of &(, time functions differently) 6isten carefully and youll hear 0orothy say she tried to
get home "for days and days)"
7or more Wizard of Oz fun facts and fascinating trivia, chec$ out the ne- boo$ The Wizard of Oz: The Official
75th Anniversary Companion)