The Wizard of Oz

Visible crew/equipment: As Dorothy is leaving Munchkinland the shadow of the camera on its dolly can be seen on the floor to the right of the screen as several Munchkins almost get run over. The shadow of the cameraman's head can be seen on the bottom right of the screen as they pass her house. (00:33:15)

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Continuity mistake: As the Munchkins send Dorothy off singing "We're off to see the Wizard" the red coated guard is hanging out of his booth as he waves his sword. In the next shot he's inside the booth tapping time with his sword. (00:33:30)

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Revealing mistake: Throughout the movie, you can tell that if the main characters walking into the distance, the "faraway" landscape is a giant matte painting. (00:33:35)

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the Munchkins say goodbye to Dorothy while singing "Follow the Yellow Brick Road," the lower part of the screen is an absolute mess: footage of Munchkins superimposes with other footage of Munchkins, creating a blurry havoc, plus the matte painted flowers, hut, and people clip through the real actors. (00:33:35)

Sacha

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: As Dorothy is about to walk into the cyclorama (backdrop) as she leaves Munchkinland, Munchkins are blurred, including a Munchkin soldier on the very far right, who becomes transparent with the matted-in flowers. (00:33:40)

Audio problem: When the Scarecrow says "You see, it's very tedious being stuck up here all day long with a pole up your back," his mouth is saying something else. (00:33:50)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Dorothy first meets the Scarecrow there are no pumpkins on the left side of the Yellow Brick Road. Later when he starts to dance pumpkins have been added. (00:33:55 - 00:36:50)

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Continuity mistake: In the scene where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, there are no pumpkins on the ground while the Scarecrow is tied to the pole. After Dorothy gets him down, pumpkins are then everywhere behind the place that he fell. (00:34:00 - 00:35:45)

Continuity mistake: As she talks to the Scarecrow, Dorothy says to Toto, "Wasn't he pointing the other way?". In several of the close up shots wind is blowing her hair around and in others it isn't. (00:34:30)

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Continuity mistake: When Dorothy first spots the Scarecrow the piece of rope hanging off his left arm is about 1 inch long. Without touching it a few shots later it's grown longer by about four or five inches. (00:34:30)

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Continuity mistake: The rope around the Scarecrow's neck is tied differently throughout the scene after he meets Dorothy. The rag around his hat is rearranged also. (00:34:50 - 00:36:20)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the sequence where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, Dorothy's pigtails are first short (above her shoulders) and as the song progresses her hair gets longer (below her shoulders), then short, and then long again. (00:35:15)

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Suggested correction: I have the scene up right now, and the nail on the pole just looks like... a huge nail. Then Dorothy bends it, and the Scarecrow falls off. I'm not denying that it's a lever, because it's entirely possible that it is. The thing is, there is nothing in the scene that indicates that it absolutely has to be a lever, and it can't be a nail at all.

zenee

Audio problem: The very last line of the scarecrows song "Life would be a ding-a-derry if I only had a brain" does not match with the scarecrow's mouth movements, probably because he's too busy concentrating on his dancing. (00:35:55)

Hamster

Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?

More quotes from The Wizard of Oz

Trivia: "Over the Rainbow", which the American Film Institute recently named the greatest movie song of all time, was nearly cut from the film.

More trivia for The Wizard of Oz

Question: Did Dorothy really go to Oz or was it a dream? Because, in return to Oz at the end, she sees Ozma (the good witch in her mirror) or was that just her imagination/a dream too?

Answer: In the film it's left ambiguous. At the end it's strongly implied that she was dreaming. The characters she meets all look like people she actually knows. In the original book, she actually went to Oz.

Answer: Return to Oz was not a direct sequel to the 1939 film. One was developed by Disney and the other by MGM. Return to Oz is actually an adaptation-fusion of the second and third Oz books, that contains elements from the 1939 film (like the Ruby slippers and the Oz/Kansas counterparts) because that's what people are most familiar.

More questions & answers from The Wizard of Oz

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