One of the most beloved films of all time is the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. So here is some trivia about the film that you might not have known!
10. The tornado in the film was actually a 35-foot-long muslin stocking, spun around amongst miniatures of the Kansas farm and fields in a dusty atmosphere.
9. Numerous shots were trimmed down or edited out of the film. Why? It was because they were too intense for families/children. An example of this is there was one deleted shot that showed the tornado completely enveloping the farmhouse.
8. Bert Lahr’s costume weighed 90 pounds and was made from real lion skin.
7. In the song “If I Only Had a Heart,” the words “wherefore art thou, Romeo?” are actually said by Adriana Caselotti. She was the voice of Snow White inSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
6. The little people were paid $50 per week for a six-day work week, while Toto received $125 per week.
5. The U.S. Library of Congress considers this film the most-seen film in history.
4. The film was selected by the Library of Congress in 1989 as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
3. In November of 2007, the Munchkins were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Eight of the original Munchkins from the film attended the ceremony, which were Jerry Maren, Mickey Carroll, Ruth Duccini, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl ‘Karchy’ Kosiczky and August Clarence Swenson.
2. The films shooting started on October 13th, 1938, and was done on March 16th 1939 and cost at a then-unheard-of cost of $2,777,000 (which in 2016 is approx. $48 million, adjusted for inflation).
1. In the first television broadcast of the film, which was on November 3, 1956, 44 million people tuned into it.
Gary Miceli has loved film from a very early age, from the silent masterpieces of Charlie Chaplin to recent blockbuster hits. His love for cinema from all eras of history inspired him to go to film school and graduate with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He continues to work hard in this wonderful field and always explores new avenues of expressing his love for movie/TV history.