The Wizard of Oz

Continuity mistake: When Toto pulls the curtain back to show who the real "Oz" truly is it looks like Toto's collar got snagged or he actually had to bite it but in the next shot he pulls the curtain back so fast that it would've sent Toto flying but then he is connected back to it again.

Chris Rutter

Continuity mistake: The Wicked Witch of the West's bilious green face colouring changes shades during the film. DVD showing.

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)

Revealing mistake: In the scene where the tornado is about to hit and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are going into the cellar, you can see that some of the trees are blowing around violently, and others aren't moving at all. (00:16:05)

Continuity mistake: When Dorothy is holding Toto in the last scene, the dog is facing to the left, but in the very next shot he's suddenly facing to the right.

Krista

Continuity mistake: When Glinda starts to sing, a Munchkin is seen coming out of an open sewer with its lid on the side. When the angle changes, the munchkin is nowhere to be seen and the sewer is closed.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When the cyclone arrives, the farmhands let out the horses, which run wild through the farm. In the immediate wide angle there's no sign of humans or animals anywhere.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: Miss Gulch rides away on her bike and Toto jumps directly off the back onto the dirt road. There should be tire marks on the dirt where he falls directly behind the bike, but there aren't. (00:10:30)

????

Revealing mistake: As the Tin Man busts down the Witch's door with his ax if you look closely you'll see a slight edit in the film right before he takes his last swing. What they did was unlock the door before the last swing so it would open. You can see the dead bolt retracted as the door swings open. (01:23:50)

????

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 Hunk hits his hand with the hammer there are two brooms leaning against the barn behind him. In the next shot they're gone. (00:03:45)

????

Visible crew/equipment: As the Wicked Witch stands on the balcony with the hour glass a cameraman's shadow can be seen moving across it near the hour glass. (01:24:15)

????

Visible crew/equipment: As the Wicked Witch prepares to leave for the Emerald City on her broomstick shadows appear on the painted wall depicting the sky behind her. (00:57:50)

????

Audio problem: When Toto escapes from the witch's castle and runs off to the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion to lead them to rescue Dorothy, he can be heard barking. As he is running up to the three, he is still barking, but his mouth is quite still and his tongue is hanging out. (01:19:30)

Deliberate mistake: Before Dorothy is sent to Kansas there's a close-up of her shoes. All of the group's feet, Glinda's dress, and the rest of the elements around are gone and replaced by a black background. Despite being a deliberate directorial decision to give the shoes a more dramatic focus, it is really awkward to see everything disappear, nevertheless.

Sacha

Plot hole: When Dorothy makes the Scarecrow slip off his pole, his stuffing falls out. "I just keep picking it up and putting it back in again" he remarks. But if he was ALWAYS on the pole, it would not fall out. And even if it did, he could not, "pick it up and put it back in again".

Continuity mistake: After the Wicked Witch of the West lights her broomstick and the scarecrow on fire, and Dorothy throws the water on her, in the next shot after the water hits her, you see the broomstick laying next to her burnt out but not smoking. (01:26:20)

Other mistake: In the first shot of the movie we see Dorothy and Toto running home. Several shots later when we first meet Hunk, Zeke and Hickory we see the exact same background spot used again behind them. Dorothy was also running in the wrong direction. (00:03:05)

????

Dorothy: There's no place like home.

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: It is implied strongly in this movie that water makes witches melt, and this is spoofed in other media. I've only ever seen this referenced to wicked witches. Does water make good witches, such as Glinda, melt too?

Answer: In all likelihood, probably not. Water is often depicted and represents purity, and cleansing. It flows smoothly, is beautiful, clear, and responsible for life on Earth. Everything the Wicked Witch is not. Where as the good Witch is pure and of a true heart. So it makes sense that something so evil and impure as the evil witch would be effected by the purest substance there is, yet not harm the good witch because she is good.

Quantom X

Answer: In the original book, water caused the wicked witches to melt away because they were so old and shriveled that all the fluid in their bodies had long since dried away. Meanwhile, the film Oz: The Great and Powerful instead implies that the Wicked Witch of the West is weak against water due to being a fire-elemental witch, which could also be the case for this incarnation, meaning it wouldn't apply to other witches like Glinda (whose element in both films appears to be ice) or even the Wicked Witch of the East (whose powers are never shown in this film, but were electricity-based in Oz the Great and Powerful).

More questions & answers from The Wizard of Oz

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.