The Wizard of Oz (1939)

38 visible crew/equipment mistakes - chronological order

★★★★☆

Starring: Frank Morgan, Judy Garland, Billie Burke, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton

Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Visible crew/equipment: After they meet the cowardly lion and all four go off dancing and singing "We're Off to See the Wizard" a stage light flickers in the upper left background. (00:52:55)

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Visible crew/equipment: As they enter the poppy field their shadows can be seen against the painted wall as they walk in front of a stage light just before and after they come into view. (00:54:20)

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Visible crew/equipment: A large equipment shadow can be seen moving onto the Yellow Brick Road in the long shot as they dance off to Oz after leaving the poppy field. (00:57:40)

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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)

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Visible crew/equipment: As they enter Oz an equipment shadow can be seen moving on the guards back as they pass by with the purple horse pulling them. (01:00:35)

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Visible crew/equipment: As the door keeper tells them he will get them to the Wizard the camera shadow can be seen moving across the green door. (01:08:15)

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Visible crew/equipment: The Wicked Witch looks at them in the Haunted Forest through her crystal ball and the wires holding Nikko's wings can be seen as they flop around. (01:14:20)

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Visible crew/equipment: Studio lights are reflected in the Wicked Witch's large crystal ball, as Dorothy sits down and cries beside it, just before she sees her Auntie in it. (01:15:10)

Hamster ★

Visible crew/equipment: The seams in the floorboard under the Haunted Forest set can be seen several times under the leaves. The best is in the close-ups of Toto. (01:15:30 - 01:19:35)

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Visible crew/equipment: Dorothy asks the Wicked Witch, "What are you gonna do with my dog? and a stage light shines against the painted backdrop outside her window. (01:16:20)

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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)

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Visible crew/equipment: The four run away from the guards and leave the tower where the Wicked Witch is eventually melted. If you look closely in the two long shots from above them, the Tin Man reflects the bright stage light that is placed below them at the first bend of the walkway, on top of the Witch's castle. (01:25:25)

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Visible crew/equipment: While Dorothy and the other characters are cornered in the Wicked Witch's castle, when Dorothy grabs the bucket of water and tosses it at Scarecrow's arm, the water hits the Witch. In the closeup of the Witch's face, you can see a crew member's hand (a long sleeve can be seen at the wrist) in the upper left side of the shot. (01:26:20)

Visible crew/equipment: When the Wizard says, "Do you presume to criticize the great Oz?" look closely at the curtain as a crew member behind the curtain attaches it onto Toto so he can pull it open. (01:28:20)

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Visible crew/equipment: Near the end of the movie, Dorothy says to the Wizard, "Oh, will you? Could you?" and the cameraman's shadow is seen on her dress. (01:32:35)

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Visible crew/equipment: As Professor Marvel stands at the window looking at Dorothy and his fingers are curled under the sash. If you look closely they are lit up from underneath, but there's no light on their floor. (01:40:30)

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Visible crew/equipment: When the Wicked Witch shows Dorothy the hourglass, many stage lights are reflected all over it.

Sacha ★

Visible crew/equipment: When the gang runs into the guard at the door, they all walk to the right of the screen to talk to him. While they're walking, you can see the shadow of the boom mic following them.

manthabeat ★

More for The Wizard of Oz

Mistakes

Revealing mistake: When the Wicked Witch scares the Munchkins in Munchkinland, where Dorothy lands, she disappears into a cloud of smoke she creates. But you can see her sneak down into a trap door below. [As a sidenote to this entry, Margaret Hamilton was hospitalized for severe burns after a take of this shot (not the final one used) when the stage elevator got stuck and the explosion went off.] (00:30:45)

More mistakes in 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: 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: 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: 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.

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.

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