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: As Dorothy is about to walk into the cyclarama (backdrop) as she leaves MunchkinLand, a Munchkin Soldier on the very far right is too far and 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 ★

Continuity mistake: The strand of straw that the crow pecks from the Scarecrow's lapel was not there before, as shown by previous close-ups. (00:36:00)

More for The Wizard of Oz

Quotes

Dorothy: There's no place like home.

More quotes from The Wizard of Oz

Trivia

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

Questions

Question: At the very end of the movie after Dorothy says "Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home," normally, it fades out to the credits, but once - and only once - when I was very young, I thought I remembered seeing the camera pan away from her face and down to the foot of the bed where you see the ruby slippers tucked underneath the bed, then a fade to the credits. It is obviously a black-and-white shot, but there were the glittering shoes. Has anyone else seen this version of the ending?

Macalou

Answer: Another fine example of the Mandela Effect. None of the "making of" books reference this alternate ending. The original book ends with Dorothy losing the slippers on her journey back to Kansas.

wizard_of_gore ★

I also remember this scene; however, I remember it in a television movie, and it was at the beginning, not the end, of an entirely different movie.

Chosen answer: Yes. I'm sure I've seen that version. It shows that Dorothy didn't just dream about Oz and makes for a more satisfying conclusion. This version was original but edited out because it didn't follow the book's storyline for "Return to Oz" and the other long series of Oz books. The sequel pertains that she loses the slippers in transit back to her home and falls to the gnome king who destroys Oz which in turn causes Dorothy to return. So seeing the slippers at the end of the bed, while more satisfying, wouldn't really stay true to the Oz series.

I absolutely remember that version with the shoes at her bedside, but nobody I know remembers it.

Thank you! I remember that too but everyone I know thinks I'm nuts.

I remember that version and after that I expected to see the same ending but no I never saw that ending again. I got the response that no-one I know saw that ending of the movie where the ruby slippers being on her feet in her bed. Thank you for that answer. This was a long time mystery.

I absolutely remember that scene.

I remember that too - and I've asked so many people and they said no, I must have dreamed it. Thank you.

I saw that version once when I was a little kid too! I remember it vividly. Now I know I'm not crazy.

Answer: This seems to be one of those mass examples of people remembering something that never happened. There are also other variations, like people claiming to remember the film switching to color as the shot pans down to her slipper-clad feet, or the slippers being in color against the sepia-toned B&W footage. But sadly, it seems no officially released version of the film has had such an ending. It's similar to how everyone thinks Darth Vader says "Luke, I am your father," or how everyone thinks Humphrey Bogart says "Play it again, Sam!", even though neither of those lines are real, and people are merely incorrectly remembering them. The film is so ingrained in pop-culture, that people think they know it forwards-and-back, and false memories are created.

TedStixon

I agree that people think they remember things that never happened, but usually for things like this, remembering a scene wrong misquoting a movie lines, it comes from parody versions and people are (correctly) remembering the parody. I've never seen "Silence of the Lambs", but I know the line "Hello, Clarice" from films like "Cable Guy" and not from a false memory of the film.

Bishop73

Answer: https://criticsrant.com/mythbusters-dorothys-ruby-slippers/ This website gives some confirmation it's one of those myths that spread around and get mixed up in people's memories to being convinced they have seen it despite no evidence of it existing. In a film as big as the Wizard of Oz where die hard fans have collected original scripts, notes, and "lost" imagery over the years; we certainly would have something to back this up other than eye witness memory. Especially if it supposedly made it to the final print for viewing audiences as the original Wizard of Oz footage has been carefully preserved, as it's considered one of the most important films of all time. This footage wouldn't be completely lost if it made it to final showing print. Surely somebody would have posted it by now on YouTube. It is possible somebody made a skit or parody of this though contributing to the idea that it was actually in a print of the real movie.

Answer: I and a friend of mine remember seeing the ruby slippers under Dorthy's bed at the end of the movie. Glad to know we didn't imagine it.

Answer: I remember this being part of a special that was hosted by Angela Lansbury in 1990 and they showed that this ending was considered for the movie. For many years I couldn't remember why I remembered that ending and Angela Lansbury until I looked it up. I wish that it had been left like that. Kids always want their dreams to come true.

More questions & answers from The Wizard of Oz

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