It's interesting to note that Judy Garlands stand-in, Caren Marsh Doll recently turned 103. She's one of the last surviving people associated with the movie.
She and Judy both attended classes for at least two hours a day during Judy's down time; Judy was at the studio for the eight-hour filming period, but owing to child labor laws, she could only work for four hours.
My mother went to see the Wizard of Oz when it was originally released. She said that when the movie went from black and white to colour as Dorothy opened the house door and sees Oz, the entire audience broke out in applause.
It's so perfect. And matches the original books where Kansas is described as being grey. The house is grey, the land is grey, the skies are grey, aunt and uncle are also grey.
There was a segment of a short- lived TV series in the late 70's/ early 80's that replicated this style of black and white (or actually, sepia-tone, IIRC) and color, depending on the situation. It was part of a weekly anthology series called "Cliffhangers". The segment in question was called "The Secret Empire", which took place in the Old West era. When above ground, the show was in b/w(sepia), and when scenes took place in the technologically advanced underground city, it went to color. 🙂
When I was a little girl, we only had a black and white tv. The Wizard of Oz was my all time favorite movie but I had only ever seen it in black and white all my life. When I got to be a young teen, I was babysitting at a neighbor’s one evening, anticipating watching The Wizard of Oz with the kids I was watching for the first time in color. It started and I was disappointed that it was in black and white. I called my mom and said, “Didn’t you say this was in color?” All she said was “Just wait and keep watching.” So I did. And when the door opened and the screen went to color, I was absolutely blown away and started saying “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it!” over and over. It was as if I had seen color for the first time in my life. The kids thought I was absolutely nuts lol.
As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, The Wizard Of Oz appearing on TV each year was always a magical moment, marking the end of the dysfunctional part of the year and the beginning of the holiday season. The house was always full of extended family, aunts and uncles and cousins we only saw a couple of times a year at most and the telling of stories of when my parents were young. From the remaining Halloween candy to the Thanksgiving turkey, and the anticipation of Christmas just ahead, the entire world it seemed became bright, delicious, and Technicolor. There really was no place like home.
Brilliant observation. There are a few other movies, from 1939, in my collection. It was a great year for creative creations from the movie industry. Magnetic delight, is The Wizard of Oz.
To most kids who grew up to The Wizard Of Oz this movie was magical. I grew up in a time when color television was just being introduced to the public and I remember a family in our neighborhood who was able to afford a color TV and they invited some of the kids in the neighborhood to come and watch this movie on a color TV and you could have heard a pin drop in that living room! None of us could take our eyes off of this movie. That's what I'll always remember about this movie when I was a kid!
I remember the first time I watched the movie. It was 1983 and I was 5 years old. I hid my eyes with mamaw's crochet pillow when the evil witch appeared. In 1996 I took my mom's old prom dress from the 50's and dyed it pink to be Glenda at a party for halloween. Awesome memories. We did not have a color TV till 1987. That was the first time I saw it in the color version everyone else enjoyed.
@@Dobviews For a movie that came out in the 1930's the effects they created still hold up against the modern computer generated effects done today. For me it was the witch melting and the talking trees and the tornado that stuck with me. You mentioned watching this in 1983 for the first time and for me, I watched it for the first time in 1964. Back then only 1% of the public could even afford a color TV and very few television stations even had the ability to transmit in color so owning a color TV was more miss than hit. We got lucky. When the neighbors invited us over to watch the movie, the television station in our area had just added the ability to transmit in color and the Wizard Of Oz was their very first public color transmission. and as crazy as that sounds to tell people that today, back in 1964 that was a really big deal for all of us.
@@flash001USA ditto. We didn't have a color TV till sometime in the 70s. I always thought the whole movie was in black and white. Besides the color, I really enjoyed the Kansas scenes in sepia tone.
@@kdmac1958 The Wizard Of Oz was the first movie I had ever seen in color on a TV and that was back in 1964. Our family couldn't afford a color TV until somewhere around the 1970's when the prices finally started to drop. What's so funny is today's kids and even most of the young adults in their 30's and their 40's today still cannot wrap their minds around the fact that television much less color television is still a modern invention and now we have them small enough to carry in our pockets like a small transistor radio and flat enough to hang on a wall like a picture! Yep things have progressed in technology.
I took my son to see "Oz the Great and Powerful" in the theater when he was four. He was always well behaved in public, he never once had a tantrum, or so much as raised his voice. But for the first ten or fifteen minutes, while it was black and white, he would not sit still. He kept asking me to leave, it was boring, climbing all over me and running his mouth. He was mid-complaint, with his face right up to my ear, when the colors came out. Whatever he was saying turned into an amazed "wowwwww!" Then he shut up for the rest of the movie. That's the same way I felt as a kid, every time I watched the original. Once a year, every year.
Remember way back when family used to get together every year on Thanksgiving day and sit together around the 19 inch ‘big screen’ television to watch the Wizard of OZ.
I can remember sitting around with the neighborhood kids, discussing the fact The Wizard Of Oz was being shown that night on television. We'd already seen it, and were excited about seeing it that night. The year was 1960 or '61, and I was either three or four. Funny thing is, I can't actually remember seeing it on the previous occasion, only that I had. Strange how our memories work.
I was born in 1954. As early as I can remember, we were treated to "the Wizard of Oz" - once a year. It was a Global event! The Wicked Witch of the West scared the "Scheise" out of me!- Michael McClary, Professor of Trumpet 🎺, Georgia Perimeter College and GSU ❤🎉🎉🎉
I was born in the 70s and didnt have a television, but my grandmother had one and she would invite us over to watch the wizard of oz every year. It was magical.
It was a tradition every thanksgiving. Listening to Arlo Guthrie singing Alice's Restaurant and watching the Wizard of Oz as a family. They used to announce it weeks ahead of time because people looked forward to it as a significant part of the holiday. It is a movie that had Halloween thriller elements and Christmas Joy elements combined. Even before I synced it with Pink Floyd DSOM. 😊
I'm 64 years old! One of the fondest memories I have was right before Thanksgiving every year the Wizard of Oz would be shown. I've grown up all these years with that being one of my most favorite movies. Actually my favorite movie even to this day. I remember when I was 45 years old my kids bought me a copy of it, so I could watch it whenever I wanted. One of the best gifts I ever got!!! I watch it 10-15 times a year now. It has been a part of my life all my life. I wish they still showed it like they used to. How times have changed! I have watched or read everything there is to know about that movie. But what I've been watching on here is some of the things I didn't even know, and a bunch of things that I already knew. I will continue to watch it Periodically till the end of my days.
You might find interesting then that pretty much Star Wars was a steal from the Wizard of Oz. Princesses Leia--Dorothy, (locked up in Witches Castle, SW Leia locked up in Death Star.....Tin Man, in SW CP30, ToTo the Dog, R2D2, The Cowardly Lion, SW Chewbacca, The Witch, Darth Vader.....George Lucas was once asked if he stole the Wizard of Oz to make Star Wars especially the first movie The New Hope, he smiled and said, "No comment!" :) To similar in my opinion not to be a lift.
@@767Robson The first six _Star Wars_ films-- all of them, not just _A New Hope,_ by the way-- contain many, many elements of inspiration, going way back to Gilgamesh, forward to King Arthur, movie serials of the 1930's and 40's, and just plain Americana. Lucas has identified in no uncertain terms from where he drew his ideas. The main inspiration for _A New Hope_ was a Japanese movie called _The Hidden Fortress,_ which was directed by one of Lucas's idols, Akira Kurosawa. But obviously one can detect elements of _Flash Gordon, Casablanca, Robin Hood,_ and many other tales and films. The maiden in captivity was certainly not a new idea when _Wizard_ was made, although it's interesting to note that in the book, Dorothy was never locked up while she was the Wicked Witch's slave; in fact, she had the run of the castle as long as she didn't try to leave the grounds-- which she wouldn't have anyway, since the Cowardly Lion *was* locked up in a cage in the courtyard.
My great grandma and grandfather passed but I always think of them, when I watch this movie. They were my most cherished people in my life, I’ll see y’all again
Last night I saw the Wizard of Oz, and the scarecrow dance. Was included. He flies into the sky after a crow that took some of his straw. Then he dances way down the road and the pumpkin rolls underneath him. I had never seen that scene!
there was a fire but that didn't stop the uncut version being destroy as i seen it in 1993 on BBC TV, and CBS had it in 1950s, 1980s and 1990s which the film is over 2 Hours long. now the standard is 1 Hour and 40mins that 30mins cut out or edited, maybe the full uncut editions will be shown just in time for 100 years anniversary by 2039! branded as uncut or unseen editions, special or Extended cut. for cinema or major TV, rights and streaming.
@@MaskedMan66 no i'm telling the truth, me and my family saw uncut version on tv in the early 90s, it existed, now lots of scenes has been cut out by at least 35mins, it not on home video or streaming this version yet. its was like a TV exclusive
Every year when it came on television back in the 60's my mother made homemade fudge. We stuffed our faces and were enthralled the entire movie. It was a huge deal for us little girls! Fond memories!
can you all remember a uncut version it was shown in 1980s and early 1990s on BBC TV where it was 2 hours 10 mins long (me and my family can remember it well), as the standard, physical and streaming editions are shorter cut by 30mins, to 1 Hour and 40mins, the wicked witch scenes, the field, somewhere over the rainbow in the castle and some others clips has been edited out or deleted, maybe soon for 100th year anniversary will be shown again on TV or cinema as uncut/extended, or Special unseen edition.
@@bleeuk The movie was never that long, even in the form in which it was shown to test audiences in 1939. Their responses led to the removal of the Scarecrow's extended dance routine in "If I Only Had a Brain," the whole of "The Jitterbug," a reprise of "Over the Rainbow," and the Triumphal Return sequence, plus a few bits of dialogue (mainly from the Wicked Witch). And apart from the Scarecrow's dance, no other deleted scenes have ever been recovered, much less seen, in over eighty years, and are presumed destroyed. The movie as we see it now is the same one that premiered in August of 1939, and has never been altered.
@@MaskedMan66 i think we going in circles, we all see this proof one day people who havent seen the uncut, its okay if you some havent seen it and it a great chance it come back to the TV or cinema by 2039 by the 100th year anniversary , but there was a uncut in 1990s on TV, (Running Time 2 Hours and 10mins) with more extended scenes and it did exist, me my family and others have seen it, and imdb and others pages have marked a uncut for TV
Who said anything about replacing it? But it would be nice, after *one hundred and twenty-four years,* to see a cinematic adaptation that followed the book faithfully.
Not the greatest......quite. But up there with the best of them. Nobody would make a beautiful artwork like this now, but then Hollywood is no more, let's face it.
I was almost ten years old before I could not look away when the up close image of the wicked witch's face appears in the crystal ball. It can't be said enough how well Margaret Hamilton portrayed that role.
@@cair124 I can definitely believe that because one of the reasons I found it so disturbing is because of the thought of how horrible it would be to face something like that.
When I 1st saw it I was about 6. I can remember covering my eyes when Dorothy and crew were in the Haunted Forest, they looked up and saw hundreds of flying monkeys coming after them. There was no where to run or hide.
Many years ago I was listening to a radio interview of, what at the time was, the last actor that was part of the wicked witch's castle guard. He remarked that many thought they were singing something that started as "oh wee oh..." he wanted to set the record straight by giving the actual words they were singing as "Oh we love, the o--ld one..." I pass this along in the hopes this rare piece of trivia lives on.
Interesting. I remember reading decades ago, someone said that they were saying, "all we owe, we ooooowe her." But I believe your words because your comment is coming from a primary source.
"The Wizard of Oz" is one of only a handful of movies that I would consider truly magical. I would add "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" to that list too. So much turmoil behind the scenes is pretty common for these masterpieces, but they could have turned out disastrous. TWoO still holds up to this day and looks amazing. I wish I could go back in time and be in that theater the first time Dorothy opens the door to the Technicolor world of Oz and hear the audience GASP with wonder.
The "turmoil" has been exaggerated, but the mere fact that the film turned out so brilliantly is a testament to the skill and professionalism of both cast and crew.
@@MaskedMan66 Any production of sufficient size, such as an effects-laden movie with a large cast like this, is going to run into issues for sure. I agree that the problems were most likely exaggerated though.
My memories of The Wizard of Oz predate VHS tapes. The movie was shown on regular television once every year. It was a really big deal too, being the only time my mom let us eat dinner in the living room. The next day at school, everyone would be singing the songs at recess. Something special was lost when VHS made the movie available anytime.
Same here. My childhood was in the 1970's mostly. This movie was "appointment" television that was not to be missed because you only had one chance during its annual broadcast on network TV. It was often aired around Easter, and then that eventually changed to Christmas time. Most families were home that evening to tune in. One year I took my shoe-box tape recorder and captured the movie's audio to play back at my leisure-- next best thing to watching it again.
"Something special was lost when VHS made the movie available anytime." And yet something special was gained. many people a little younger than you have magical VHS memories that the pre-VHS age could literally not deliver.
@@xBINARYGODx It isn't the same. Then was a magical time. There's no magic to something you can just pop in and watch, no anticipation. It's not an event anymore.
there was a uncut version still in place in early 1990s on BBC TV i seen it with my family it run for 2 Hours and 10mins now the standard times today for physical and Streaming broadcast clocks at 1 Hour and 40mins, 30mins cut off, now i'm predicting maybe for 100th year anniversary on TV, and maybe cinema a Unseen version, Extended and special edition versions, with the nearly 2 Hours and 10mins long in place.
@@MaskedMan66 We had that record too. (I think we still have it somewhere.) When we were little, we used to play act the scenes while it was being played. I was always the Scarecrow.
@@MaskedMan66 I was the only boy in my family (the youngest as well) and my sisters used to fight over who got to play Dorothy. It didn't matter to me because I was always the Scarecrow, and that's what I wanted. I remember putting a yardstick up the back of my clothing to simulate being attached to a pole. Kids can be creative. At least in those days.
My mother, as a young child, watched most of the movie on the big screen when it first came out. She started screaming during the tornado scene when the house landed in Oz and the family left the movie theater. She never saw the rest of the movie until a few decades later when it was on TV and she watched it with her three children.
In the 60s we had the first color TV on the block. Every kid on the block would be in our living room watching the Wizard of Oz. Mom would make carmel apples and popcorn balls for all of us. Those were such good times.
Took me decades to realize that the farm hands were the Scarecrow, The Lion and the Tin Man. I was an adult too, when I figured out that Dr. Marvel was the door guard for OZ and the WIz, the coach driver and The Wiz. Also, when I was a kid and Oz came on, it seemed like a holiday.
I only realized when I got cast for the play and the roles were double cast. Watched the Royal Shakesperian version of the play and watched the movie, and I was shocked lol!
You mean despite all the clues, and Dorothy thinking her Ozite friends were familiar, and the fact that the credits listed Bolger, Haley, and Lahr under their farmhand names?
I can barely remember before VHS but when I was a young kid, this movie was a one hour and 42 minute magic show that would come on TV once a year. It is an absolute perfect movie and will always occupy a special place in my heart.
I guess 1939 was the right time for a lighthearted fantasy. It was the same year Hitler invaded Poland and started WWII. People needed to enjoy their last bit of lightheartedness before the next 6 years of bleakness.
We didn't own a lot of movies when I was growing up, but my dad made sure to get the special edition VHS of Wizard of Oz, and I still remember being so fascinated by the behind the scenes and the recreation of the Jitterbug dance. And I'm still an avid fan of filmmaking in general today, because of that. 🌈
We have that too! Me and my sister used to watch that movie on VHS all the time when we were babies so my dad would hear and ended up memorizing the behind the scenes part because of that!
These 3 movies were broadcast 3 times a year when I was a kid. The Wizard of Oz, The Ten Commandments and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All the others were gone after they ran in theaters. The only way to re-live the movie was to buy the soundtrack on vinyl, and if you had told me back then that we would be able to rent or buy the movies to watch at home as many times as we wanted, I would have said No Way - you are crazy! I was thrilled when The Lord of the Rings was made into a video game soon after release, you could play the movie!
Growing up, it was the Wizard of Oz and the Sound of Music, that seemed to be precursor to the holiday season. Growing up, watching both each year was a testament to me, that anything was possible. Thanks for sharing.
Such a beloved movie, story from a book. Baum wrote the book for his wife. She had a young niece that died as a baby named Dorthy Gage. . It had broken her heart. He made her memory eternal through the story. He changed Gage to Gale. She’s buried in Bloomington Illinois.
He wrote the book because his wife's mother thought that he ought to take all the fanciful tales he'd told his children and write them into a book. His heroine was indeed named for his wife's niece, although her surname wasn't used in the first book. Baum and Paul Tietjens came up with "Gale" for the "Wizard" stage musical in 1902 as a pun on how Dorothy got to Oz, and Baum used the name in all the books after that. You probably know the wonderful story of how Mickey Carroll, who had been one of the Munchkins for MGM, went back to his family's monuments company after the movie was done, and some while later heard about the graveyard where Dorothy Gage was buried having fallen into disrepair. He personally carved her a new headstone and had the whole children's cemetery restored and named after her.
One of my fond memories is standing on the actual soundstage where Judy Garland sang Over the Rainbow, and seeing the soundstage where Munchkin Land was.
@@MaskedMan66 2015. I was part of a tour of the major studios. Among other things, I also got to hold an ACTUAL OSCAR at the DIsney Studios, and see one of the desks where the animators worked, as well as the house that Shirley Temple lived in on the 20th Century lot. Wonderful stuff.
The Wizard Of Oz is one of the very rare movies that I LOVE in its current form and would LOVE to see a mega movie of the film consisting of all of the cut and lost footage together with the theatrical classic. But, since footage is not only cut but lost and blocked, that will never happen.
@@nickperkins8477 There's no footage to be "blocked." Apart from the film itself and the alternate dance sequence by Ray Bolger, there is nothing else.
No, she was not; Miss Burke was a good and gracious lady who modeled Victorian manners at all times. When she first visited the Munchkin City set, a day or so before beginning her work as Glinda, about fifty of the Munchkin performers gathered around her to ask for her autograph, and she was happy to oblige. One of them spoke to her on behalf of a shy little man who could not speak. With a smile, Miss Burke started speaking to him in sign language! She and her school chums had learned it so they could converse with each other behind their books during boring classes. So she and the man had a good chat!
@@davedee4382 She was born in 1884. So let's pick an easy to accept-pre-fertility treatment number: By the time she was 36 that was 1920, Milton Berle was born in 1908 and would have been 12.
@@kevinbergin9971 She had always wanted to be an actress, but her parents advised her to get a "proper job" in case the acting didn't work out. As it happened, she excelled at both! :-)
I realize that Citizen Kane may well be the greatest ever and I actually use scenes from The Searchers in my classes but the only movie I will never stop watching, when it comes on TV, is this classic.
Wizard of oz. is a classic, but they needs to bring back and shown the fully uncut editions! it was 2 Hours and 10mins long on BBC TV in early 1990s, and Network in the states was shown in 1950s, 1980s and 1990s passed as uncut, now the standard editions, physical and streaming is 1 Hour and 40mins long! maybe just in time for 100th Year anniversary will all see on TV, and maybe Cinema as branded unseen version, Extended or Special Limited Version.
@@bleeuk The movie was never that long, even in the form in which it was shown to test audiences in 1939. Their responses led to the removal of the Scarecrow's extended dance routine in "If I Only Had a Brain," the whole of "The Jitterbug," a reprise of "Over the Rainbow," and the Triumphal Return sequence, plus a few bits of dialogue (mainly from the Wicked Witch). And apart from the Scarecrow's dance, no other deleted scenes have ever been recovered, much less seen, in over eighty years, and are presumed destroyed. The movie as we see it now is the same one that premiered in August of 1939, and has never been altered.
@@MaskedMan66 it was much longer and it was 2 Hours and 10mins, the bbc aired it in 1991 (with 2 Hours and 15mins filling for a couple ads after the film), i saw it and my parents can remember it, even now, with Over the Rainbow castle scene was was there on 1993 TV, Poppy fields, and more witch takes with burning scenes remained, according to IMDB which is true, aired a network uncut editions over 2 Hours long at selected years on TV with CBS rights to fill commercial needs
@@bleeuk Sorry, no. You're either trying to hoax people or you're misremembering. On that BBC broadcast there may have been a documentary before or after the movie outlining some of the lost footage, but it simply does not exist. When the first _Star Wars_ movie was shown for the first time on T.V. in the States, it had a two and a half-hour time slot. People were hoping that this meant that the "Biggs" footage would be included. It wasn't, and the first 30 minutes of the broadcast was a feature on the SW phenomenon, followed by the same version of the movie that had been in theaters. Nevertheless, there are people who swear blind that they saw those Tatooine scenes that evening.
I don't know if it's because I was a "middle child", but I seemed to be the only one that looked forward to that time of year, when this movie would play on television. It probably is the first introduction to fantasy, and sparked a life long interest in all things magical.😏🖐🏼✨💖🌎
Our annual Wizard of Oz-athon took place in April, which was, for us, in tornado season. One year, at age 11, I was babysitting a family of five kids next door.. We cooked Jiffy Pop popcorn and made cherry Kool-Aid and sat down to watch the movie. Soon the sky grew dark and started swirling. We even saw greenage in the clouds, but never had to go to the basement. It was still frightening being responsible for five little friends!
Same here, I'll be 56 this summer. I got the blu ray some years back; it's lovely what they can do with these films today with cleaning them up. You can see the burlap texture on the Scarecrow's face in the closeup shots.
Return to OZ was terrifying for me as a kid, but I loved watching it just for the excitement (movies like it and The Neverending Story, Dark Crystal, Willow, etc., were also a few others in the same vein).....Such an underrated gem.
It was a big tradition for my family (and and all the families I knew as a kid) to make a special night of it when the Wizard of Oz came on. They'd advertise it for a week or two ahead of time, reminding people that it was coming up. I can easily believe that the Wicked Witch tested as too scary for young kids and they had to cut back her lines since she terrified me when I was really small. Margaret Hamilton was an AWESOME Wicked Witch ! We all waited for that movie eagerly every year. Too bad they stopped showing it like that. It was a real thriller for children, and a damned great movie all round.
@@MaskedMan66 That's much of the modern problem - everything is instant satisfaction. Personally, I have yet to pay for a streaming service. I pay for 200+ channels of pure crap on cable TV and I have internet, then I'm supposed to pay even more to get QUALITY TV shows through my cable tv ? It's turned into a scam. Sorry about the rant - you hit a sore spot.
@@TedBronson1918 I understand completely! My wife and I only watch broadcast T.V., and at that we tend to only watch the nostalgia stations like MeTV and Heroes & Icons.
Amazon actually just purchased MGM. One thing people don't realize is that the color section starts BEFORE Dorothy opens the door to the color part of Oz. it was just painted monochrome. same with Dorothy's dress.
17:42 This "Off to See the Wizard" cartoon graphic is not directly related to the 1939 film. The lyrical title refers to, as the caption says, a "family/children's anthology" series that ran on the ABC (American) TV network in the 1967 season, as ABC's attempt to imitate NBC's Disney anthology series. The Oz characters were used only to introduce the episodes; they were not part of the stories, which were all live-action. The series lasted just the one season.
Our family could never afford a color TV and no neighbors had one either, so I grew up never knowing that the most of the film was in color. In 1972 I started college and I remember when a group of us got together to watch the Wizard of Oz, it was a major shock to me to see it suddenly become colorful with Dorothy opening that door. And of course I got a lot of razing about being such a hayseed as to never having seen that before.
You got to experience the surprise that the original audience must have experienced. My mother talked about it. She saw it in the theater during one of the film's rereleases before people commonly had televisions. It had a stunning effect. It put the viewer in Dorothy's place.
It’s her facial expressions. Especially as I age, I see more melodrama in her acting in the movie. If she had acted in the movie to match her facial expressions here, it would have been a horror movie performance.
Never got to see more than a few minutes each year as we had to go to church Sunday nights. The first time it was shown after I married in 1971 I saw the whole thing on our black and white tv. When I graduated and bought a color tv I was shocked and delighted to see OZ in color. Never miss it when on tv
On Buddy Ebsen and his health issues. Don't forget, when the 50th anniversary came around he was the one they asked to speak about it since he was the only surviving cast member (save for a few of the Munchkin). So, I guess the best revenge is living well.
@@MaskedMan66 So, let's think this out. Aside from it being an expression-which works here-you actually know he wasn't mad about almost dying from a bad makeup job? Or losing out on a role in one of the greatest films of all time?
I'm 65 now and remember watching the movie every year starting sometime in the 1960's. My older sister couldn't watch some of the wicked witch parts and would close her eyes and I would tell her when she could open them again. I don't remember when they stopped having it on TV every year, but when my kids were little and it was again on TV, it seemed some had been cut out. It's still one of my favorite movies. I don't like musicals in general with The Wizard of Oz being the exception.
Still watch it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On cable and you have to look for it. Took a while before I could look at those darn flying monkeys again.
Such a wonderful and lots of references today are from it! This was a very good video, GREAT job! Lot's of things I and am sure lots of other folks didn't know! I like your idea of re-making it with the deleted scenes, that's be an interesting watch!
I’m 73, when the Wizard of Oz first aired on TV in the ‘50’s, the ‘flying monkey’ scene was omitted. It was considered too violent for children to watch. Now look at the crap kids watch. SMH
I really enjoyed watching this, thank you. Many emotions, seeing the old footage and the meaningful history and enjoyment this film has given to all generations. So nostalgic too. To think it will live on and beyond all our lives. It's magical. Definitely a special film. Thank goodness they kept in over the rainbow 🌈🎉
17:48 - Yes, in my childhood home, I made it a point to watch “The Wizard of Oz” every year, like clockwork. I don’t remember my Family watching with me, but the memory of them watching with me could’ve just faded away after so many years. I love 💕 that movie so much!!! Thank you for this video!
Back around the late 1970s I remember seeing The Wizard of Oz on TV and it was suddenly a half hour longer and a number of the deleted scenes mentioned in this lost footage video were in it.
This film was a lasting memory for me, my Mum took me to see it when I was 5 years old at a local theatre. We were sat on the balcony and I remember being transfixed with the morphing of black and white into colour, we only ever saw TV in black and white, this was in the 60's probably when the film was re-released. My Mother passed away 3 years ago and this film will always remain a happy and lasting memory for me. Although realistically it sounds as though Hollywood is more sinister than the films that come out if it!
I absolutely love Billie Burke she plays an airhead to perfection (check out Topper movies) By the way most of her earning went to pay off her late husbands death Flo Ziegfield (sp)
Margaret Hamilton was a very good friend of mine. She told me that Billy Burke was treated like a star with a maid following her around in a fancy dressing room and Maggie said she was in a chicken co-op. She had a great sense of humor about the whole thing and loved being stopped on the bus or on the Subway we were going somewhere. And someone recognized her and she would sign always, and after her name, she'd write w. W. W she was a lovely woman
This video is all at once accurate to its title while being concise and too the point, as is so often *not* the case with many other videos about Oz's production, which have clickbait-y, trendy titles with taglines that aren't even discussed in the video, or are glanced over, and extend their runtime with rumor and drivel, while not succeeding at the most important matter at hand (often even doing the opposite for dramatic effect), something which you went above and beyond in doing: respecting the difficulties encountered by those involved in the production of this classic film. This is all to say - this is a perfect video!!
If UA-cam has finally decided to let me comment on videos again, I'd like to say again that I adore the "We'll go and see the cracks again someday" audio sample in the intro. Beautifully haunting and perfect for lost media related videos. It's genuinely amazing how much of a mess Wizard of Oz's production was, and no wonder that things got lost along the way. And God, I knew that some of the actors had it rough, but the way Judy Garland was talked about prior to her stardom? Crazy.
The production wasn't a "mess," and things didn't get "lost," they were deliberately removed from the film. Judy had it the easiest of anyone else in the movie.
@@MaskedMan66 The easiest? Well, apart from the beginning of a lifetime of chronic addiction to pills, so thoughtfully pumped into her by the studio, to get her up pre- dawn and then to knock her out at night. And so began a lifetime of drug addiction while also coping at the time with adolescence. No wonder she was dead a mere thirty year later in her forties.
@@paulybarr Her addictions started in adulthood. Because of California child labor laws, she only worked for four hours of the eight-hour filming day on _Wizard_ and didn't have anything "pumped into her." As far as getting up at dawn, lots of people did, and not just in the acting profession. It was her three co-stars who had to be at the studio at 4AM or so to get made up; Judy's hair and make-up were done at home.
When my daughter was 2 years old, in 1975, my wife and I decided it would be great to take our daughter to see The Wizard of Oz. Big mistake, everything was great until the which appeared oh, and my daughter started screaming and crying we had to leave the theater we were very much embarrassed. I believe it was the following year it was on television oh, and we made a second attempt oh, this time she loved it. Today is April 13 I believe 14, 2022.
THE most magical - and perfect - fantasy movie for children ever made. And translated into over 40 languages so it could be watched by children (and adults) all over the world. It had Universal appeal to everyone everywhere (even though the reviews were only "very good" when it first came out. It was 15 years later, when it was re-released on tv, that critics took it fully into their hearts and hailed it as a masterpiece. (Which, as we all know, it is!) I hope they never attempt a re-make. I doubt it can be duplicated anyway: the kind of innocence we (as children) had 80 years ago would not translate easily into today's world.
There's a remake every time someone does the stage version. I wouldn't mind seeing a live T.V. event of it. And of course, a screen adaptation which is faithful to the book is over a century overdue.
I have older siblings who saw the Wizard of Oz when the bee sting scene was included. They described it so well when I was little I could see it in my mind's eye. I remember watching the movie each year since I was very little - sometime in the 60s.
@@LQOTW I'm not sure which scene you mean. If you mean the bit with the bees flying out of the Tin Woodman's mouth, that was shot but never completed. If you mean "The Jitterbug" (which I reckon you mean) that was completed, but cut from the movie in 1939, and is long gone.
@@MaskedMan66 Unless someone has the deleted footage somewhere, and they've allowed this person to watch it, the only way you could see any of these scenes would be to part of the preview audiences in 1938. Time machine?
I watch WIZARD OF OZ every spring. My 72 in. T.V. makes it more enjoyable. Be watching it soon today is March 4 spring flowers in my heart. They are already coming up. Love this movie much especially Judy singing OVER THE 🌈 RAINBOW. Makes my heart melt.
I hope I feel like it I just love it it's so much fun of him being back before Joey King and Judy Garland she's made into being back in MGM studios Hollywood studios bowl of Walt Disney world full time and the kids are in school today and make it happen for her birthday party oasr awesome picture awards TCM channel on money made into a new DVD and maze and the kids love him
Wonderful job! 1st time viewer. For me as a 60’s kid, it wasn’t until 1972-3 that I saw the film in color for the first time. Talk about a new edit! Thanks. Very interesting. My son played the Wizard in a fantastic erosion that included the wonderful jitterbug song. Somewhere in You Tube is them doing the show in 60 seconds! Very funny. I’ll link it if I can.
Im 73, still watch it ever holiday season. It's my heart lightening beginning of my favorite time of yr. Thanks to all the joy it brings in so many ways.
According to IMDb, there was a deleted scene from the witch's castle. Here's the description of the scene from the trivia section "If you look closely, the door the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion rescue Dorothy through isn't the same as the one Dorothy enters the Hourglass Room through. This is due to the deletion of an entire scene in which the room the heroes enter (following the sound of someone humming "Somewhere Over The Rainbow") holds not Dorothy but the Wicked Witch of the West! She paralyzes the heroes, then creates a false Rainbow Bridge from that room to Dorothy's. She sends a Winkie out to test it . . . he falls through the center of the bridge. She then magically compels our three heroes to call out to Dorothy, who runs onto the bridge . . . and is carried across by the magic slippers! Our friends are reunited, and (released from the witch's spell by love/the slippers, whichever) run out of the room, with the witch screaming, "Stop them!" behind them. The scene was cut both for technical reasons--they couldn't pull off a good Rainbow Bridge--and because seeing a Winkie falling to his presumed death was considered too likely to incur the wrath of the Hays Office, the industry's official censors."
The Rainbow Bridge scene was in at least one draft of the screenplay by duo Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, though Noel Langley hated it (along with most of their work, tbh) and cut it immediately when he re-entered the project when it was still in preproduction. Thus, it was never filmed. Though the scene was included as an extra in the book The Wizard of Oz: The Screenplay, edited by Michael Patrick Hearn and published by Dell Publishing in 1989, and Noel Langley is quoted about the scene in The Making of The Wizard of Oz by Aljean Harmetz, talking about why he disliked it and when it was cut.
For the millionth time, the song title is 'Over the Rainbow'. 🌈🌈🌈 Somewhere is not in it. Sorry, I'm a stickler, I know. 🙄 Also it's..."Seize them!"..... not stop. 🤭 Happy New Year everyone! 🌈🥂🎉🎇
maybe one of your generation or you in the 1950s, 1980s or like me early 1990s seen a uncut version that run over 2 hours long! (2 hours and 10mins) on BBC TV, now the standard editions, physical and Streaming run time clocks at 1 Hour and 40mins so basically 30mins has been edited out from the longer length TV broadcast and possible original limited cinema broadcast, maybe just in time for 100 years anniversary most will see on TV, and maybe Cinema branded as Unseen Version, Extended or Special limited run version which is the uncut edition that clocks at 2 Hours and 10mins ish long. it was there my family can remember it well and today the scenes that lost
It is a miracle this film turned out so well. Modern Hollywood would never be able to pull a classic from a behind-the-scenes disaster like this these days.
@@MaskedMan66 Accidents can be disasters, so my statement stands. And films have been shut down over stuff that's trivial compared to this, so my statement stands. Piss off.
The 50th Anniversary VHS was the version of this movie I watched as a kid, and I loved watching the bonus footage at the end, including the longer version of the Scarecrow's song, the Jitterbug song, and Buddy Ebson's version of the Tin Man's song.
The thing is, there was no foresight in movie studio crews of there being a need for such things to be saved for the future. Celluloid/footage that wasn't needed for a movie's final cut was burned or trashed, mostly. Frankly I'm just grateful that we have access to the classic films of decades gone by, and today they're so clear and sparkling from our technology. It's awesome.
The recreation using the surviving assets is a really good idea that I haven’t thought about. If it can be done with Doctor Who episodes and the King Kong deleted scene (both pieces of media that had not much to go off of) then I can’t see why the same can’t be done for the Wizard of Oz.
I agree. It’s better than just using stills and previous footage to substitute for missing scenes. The first deleted scenes I’d restore are the Jitterbug Number, Dorothy’s somber reprise of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the triumphant reprise of “Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead” and put them in an alternate version of the film along with the full “If I Only Had a Brain” number as an Extended Version of the film.
Redoing the lost footage is a great idea, just no animation. Give it the full state-of-the-art CGI treatment. The soundtracks still exist. That with whatever production notes that still exist they can probably restore it to 90% originality.
I’ve seen the original so many times I know the entire thing by memory word for word so it’s weird seeing deleted scenes. It’s like watching a version of the wizard of oz from an alternate dimension
Also, if you like weird Oz adaptations (and who doesn't?), I highly recommend the "Wonderful Land of Oz" directed by Barry Mahon, specifically the Rifftrax edition. Its surprisingly faithful to the source material, but filtered through an acid trip
I don't see where you're getting the notion of an acid trip; it was just very low budget and with a cast of actors who were not as energetic as they could have been. But you're right about the faithful adaptation; as far as the script was concerned, they used more genuine Baum dialogue than the MGM _Wizard_ did. Fun Fact: Michael Thomas, who played the Scarecrow in that movie and also did all the character make-ups, later on became the man who transformed Michael Jackson into the Scarecrow for the movie version of _The Wiz!_
@@bigred8432 Nope, just straightforward Oziana. Professor Wogglebug looks even weirder in John Neill's illustrations. And what do you expect a Jack O'Lantern to look like? ;-)
@@bigred8432 So I'm guessing that Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion make-up didn't cut the mustard with you since it didn't look like a real lion, right? And when have you ever seen an insect blink? They don't have eyelids.
I’m 67 and the first time I saw it it scared the crap out of me. I was probably only seven years old, but it took me years later to watch it over and over again to accept it as it really was and love it, and I watched it every year since.
I grew up watching this and loved it. I do have a memory that at the end of the movie, where Dorothy is on her bed explaining what happened, that the last scene was a shot of the red slippers on the floor of the closet. I loved that scene, because as a kid, it made it all real. But I never hear anyone else that remembers it. Maybe my mind made it up. Either way, it was a great ending to the movie.
They should have had actors in costumes recreate the scenes using the same techniques they used back then, similar to peter jackson recreating the lost spider pit sequence from king kong. Adding cgi to wizard of oz just seems disrespectful.
It's interesting to note that Judy Garlands stand-in, Caren Marsh Doll recently turned 103. She's one of the last surviving people associated with the movie.
Wow
Omg thanks for this information
She and Judy both attended classes for at least two hours a day during Judy's down time; Judy was at the studio for the eight-hour filming period, but owing to child labor laws, she could only work for four hours.
Wow
104 now!
My mother went to see the Wizard of Oz when it was originally released. She said that when the movie went from black and white to colour as Dorothy opened the house door and sees Oz, the entire audience broke out in applause.
I got the chills reading this. I believe it and it takes my breath away every time I see that scene lol
That was an awesome scene‼️
It's so perfect. And matches the original books where Kansas is described as being grey. The house is grey, the land is grey, the skies are grey, aunt and uncle are also grey.
There was a segment of a short- lived TV series in the late 70's/ early 80's that replicated this style of black and white (or actually, sepia-tone, IIRC) and color, depending on the situation. It was part of a weekly anthology series called "Cliffhangers". The segment in question was called "The Secret Empire", which took place in the Old West era. When above ground, the show was in b/w(sepia), and when scenes took place in the technologically advanced underground city, it went to color. 🙂
When I was a little girl, we only had a black and white tv. The Wizard of Oz was my all time favorite movie but I had only ever seen it in black and white all my life. When I got to be a young teen, I was babysitting at a neighbor’s one evening, anticipating watching The Wizard of Oz with the kids I was watching for the first time in color. It started and I was disappointed that it was in black and white. I called my mom and said, “Didn’t you say this was in color?” All she said was “Just wait and keep watching.” So I did. And when the door opened and the screen went to color, I was absolutely blown away and started saying “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it!” over and over. It was as if I had seen color for the first time in my life. The kids thought I was absolutely nuts lol.
As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, The Wizard Of Oz appearing on TV each year was always a magical moment, marking the end of the dysfunctional part of the year and the beginning of the holiday season. The house was always full of extended family, aunts and uncles and cousins we only saw a couple of times a year at most and the telling of stories of when my parents were young. From the remaining Halloween candy to the Thanksgiving turkey, and the anticipation of Christmas just ahead, the entire world it seemed became bright, delicious, and Technicolor. There really was no place like home.
Those were the days!
Hopefully we have provided the same for our kids
Brilliant observation. There are a few other movies, from 1939, in my collection. It was a great year for creative creations from the movie industry. Magnetic delight, is The Wizard of Oz.
@@libradragon 1939 still holds the record for the most new releases from Hollywood in one year: 365!
@@MaskedMan66 I may have forgotten it was that many! Thank you for mentioning this amazing statistic.
I'm almost 70 and I still get emotional watching it. My favorite movie.
I'm almost 47 and the wizard of OZ. Will forever be my favorite 😍
It certainly would have made a great Theme park.😊
I'm 71 and still watch it yearly.
To most kids who grew up to The Wizard Of Oz this movie was magical. I grew up in a time when color television was just being introduced to the public and I remember a family in our neighborhood who was able to afford a color TV and they invited some of the kids in the neighborhood to come and watch this movie on a color TV and you could have heard a pin drop in that living room! None of us could take our eyes off of this movie. That's what I'll always remember about this movie when I was a kid!
I remember the first time I watched the movie. It was 1983 and I was 5 years old. I hid my eyes with mamaw's crochet pillow when the evil witch appeared. In 1996 I took my mom's old prom dress from the 50's and dyed it pink to be Glenda at a party for halloween.
Awesome memories. We did not have a color TV till 1987. That was the first time I saw it in the color version everyone else enjoyed.
@@Dobviews For a movie that came out in the 1930's the effects they created still hold up against the modern computer generated effects done today. For me it was the witch melting and the talking trees and the tornado that stuck with me. You mentioned watching this in 1983 for the first time and for me,
I watched it for the first time in 1964. Back then only 1% of the public could even afford a color TV and very few television stations even had the ability to transmit in color so owning a color TV was more miss than hit.
We got lucky. When the neighbors invited us over to watch the movie, the television station in our area had just added the ability to transmit in color and the Wizard Of Oz was their very first public color transmission.
and as crazy as that sounds to tell people that today, back in 1964 that was a really big deal for all of us.
@@flash001USA ditto. We didn't have a color TV till sometime in the 70s. I always thought the whole movie was in black and white. Besides the color, I really enjoyed the Kansas scenes in sepia tone.
@@kdmac1958 The Wizard Of Oz was the first movie I had ever seen in color on a TV and that was back in 1964. Our family couldn't afford a color TV until somewhere around the 1970's when the prices finally started to drop. What's so funny is today's kids and even most of the young adults in their 30's and their 40's today still cannot wrap their minds around the fact that television much less color television is still a modern invention and now we have them small enough to carry in our pockets like a small transistor radio and flat enough to hang on a wall like a picture! Yep things have progressed in technology.
I took my son to see "Oz the Great and Powerful" in the theater when he was four. He was always well behaved in public, he never once had a tantrum, or so much as raised his voice. But for the first ten or fifteen minutes, while it was black and white, he would not sit still. He kept asking me to leave, it was boring, climbing all over me and running his mouth. He was mid-complaint, with his face right up to my ear, when the colors came out. Whatever he was saying turned into an amazed "wowwwww!" Then he shut up for the rest of the movie. That's the same way I felt as a kid, every time I watched the original. Once a year, every year.
Remember way back when family used to get together every year on Thanksgiving day and sit together around the 19 inch ‘big screen’ television to watch the Wizard of OZ.
It was Easter for us
It was Easter for us too.
I can remember sitting around with the neighborhood kids, discussing the fact The Wizard Of Oz was being shown that night on television. We'd already seen it, and were excited about seeing it that night. The year was 1960 or '61, and I was either three or four. Funny thing is, I can't actually remember seeing it on the previous occasion, only that I had. Strange how our memories work.
With limited commercial interruption.
Our family did the ten commandments with Heston on Easter.
This movie is a classic among classics. I remember seeing it again and again and again. Wonderful.
It would’ve never been the same movie without “Over the Rainbow” thank goodness they left it in.
And in a preview showing in 1938, it was indeed shown without the song. An actual audience saw it without it.
I was born in 1954. As early as I can remember, we were treated to "the Wizard of Oz" - once a year. It was a Global event! The Wicked Witch of the West scared the "Scheise" out of me!- Michael McClary, Professor of Trumpet 🎺, Georgia Perimeter College and GSU ❤🎉🎉🎉
THATS MY MEMORY TO!
WHEN I HAD KIDS WE WATCHED IT ANYTIME IT CAME ON!
I was born in 1955..same here. It was a treat once a year.
I was born in the 70s and didnt have a television, but my grandmother had one and she would invite us over to watch the wizard of oz every year. It was magical.
It was a tradition every thanksgiving. Listening to Arlo Guthrie singing Alice's Restaurant and watching the Wizard of Oz as a family.
They used to announce it weeks ahead of time because people looked forward to it as a significant part of the holiday.
It is a movie that had Halloween thriller elements and Christmas Joy elements combined. Even before I synced it with Pink Floyd DSOM. 😊
Thank goodness we only had 4 channels
I'm 64 years old! One of the fondest memories I have was right before Thanksgiving every year the Wizard of Oz would be shown. I've grown up all these years with that being one of my most favorite movies. Actually my favorite movie even to this day. I remember when I was 45 years old my kids bought me a copy of it, so I could watch it whenever I wanted. One of the best gifts I ever got!!! I watch it 10-15 times a year now. It has been a part of my life all my life. I wish they still showed it like they used to. How times have changed! I have watched or read everything there is to know about that movie. But what I've been watching on here is some of the things I didn't even know, and a bunch of things that I already knew. I will continue to watch it Periodically till the end of my days.
Have you read "The Road to Oz" by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman?
You might find interesting then that pretty much Star Wars was a steal from the Wizard of Oz. Princesses Leia--Dorothy, (locked up in Witches Castle, SW Leia locked up in Death Star.....Tin Man, in SW CP30, ToTo the Dog, R2D2, The Cowardly Lion, SW Chewbacca, The Witch, Darth Vader.....George Lucas was once asked if he stole the Wizard of Oz to make Star Wars especially the first movie The New Hope, he smiled and said, "No comment!" :) To similar in my opinion not to be a lift.
@@767Robson The first six _Star Wars_ films-- all of them, not just _A New Hope,_ by the way-- contain many, many elements of inspiration, going way back to Gilgamesh, forward to King Arthur, movie serials of the 1930's and 40's, and just plain Americana. Lucas has identified in no uncertain terms from where he drew his ideas.
The main inspiration for _A New Hope_ was a Japanese movie called _The Hidden Fortress,_ which was directed by one of Lucas's idols, Akira Kurosawa. But obviously one can detect elements of _Flash Gordon, Casablanca, Robin Hood,_ and many other tales and films.
The maiden in captivity was certainly not a new idea when _Wizard_ was made, although it's interesting to note that in the book, Dorothy was never locked up while she was the Wicked Witch's slave; in fact, she had the run of the castle as long as she didn't try to leave the grounds-- which she wouldn't have anyway, since the Cowardly Lion *was* locked up in a cage in the courtyard.
@Scott P "may you live not necessarily a very LONG life -"
What kind of a thing is that to wish for someone???
I'm 64 also and also remember watching 👀 it every year.
My great grandma and grandfather passed but I always think of them, when I watch this movie. They were my most cherished people in my life, I’ll see y’all again
Last night I saw the Wizard of Oz, and the scarecrow dance. Was included. He flies into the sky after a crow that took some of his straw. Then he dances way down the road and the pumpkin rolls underneath him. I had never seen that scene!
Just the thought of so many classic films being destroyed irreparably by fire is one of the most heartbreaking things to happen.
there was a fire but that didn't stop the uncut version being destroy as i seen it in 1993 on BBC TV, and CBS had it in 1950s, 1980s and 1990s which the film is over 2 Hours long. now the standard is 1 Hour and 40mins that 30mins cut out or edited, maybe the full uncut editions will be shown just in time for 100 years anniversary by 2039! branded as uncut or unseen editions, special or Extended cut. for cinema or major TV, rights and streaming.
i saw a uncut back in early 90s, they shown a version that lasted for 2 hours and 15mins without ads, it rare now but not all was lost in the fire
@@bleeuk Liar.
@@MaskedMan66 no i'm telling the truth, me and my family saw uncut version on tv in the early 90s, it existed, now lots of scenes has been cut out by at least 35mins, it not on home video or streaming this version yet. its was like a TV exclusive
@@bleeuk If you're not lying, then you're delusional. The world would know if there was a full version like that. But as it doesn't, there isn't.
Every year when it came on television back in the 60's my mother made homemade fudge. We stuffed our faces and were enthralled the entire movie.
It was a huge deal for us little girls! Fond memories!
Homemade fudge? Hang on, I'll get my time machine!
can you all remember a uncut version it was shown in 1980s and early 1990s on BBC TV where it was 2 hours 10 mins long (me and my family can remember it well), as the standard, physical and streaming editions are shorter cut by 30mins, to 1 Hour and 40mins, the wicked witch scenes, the field, somewhere over the rainbow in the castle and some others clips has been edited out or deleted, maybe soon for 100th year anniversary will be shown again on TV or cinema as uncut/extended, or Special unseen edition.
@@bleeuk The movie was never that long, even in the form in which it was shown to test audiences in 1939. Their responses led to the removal of the Scarecrow's extended dance routine in "If I Only Had a Brain," the whole of "The Jitterbug," a reprise of "Over the Rainbow," and the Triumphal Return sequence, plus a few bits of dialogue (mainly from the Wicked Witch).
And apart from the Scarecrow's dance, no other deleted scenes have ever been recovered, much less seen, in over eighty years, and are presumed destroyed. The movie as we see it now is the same one that premiered in August of 1939, and has never been altered.
@@MaskedMan66 i think we going in circles, we all see this proof one day people who havent seen the uncut, its okay if you some havent seen it and it a great chance it come back to the TV or cinema by 2039 by the 100th year anniversary , but there was a uncut in 1990s on TV, (Running Time 2 Hours and 10mins) with more extended scenes and it did exist, me my family and others have seen it, and imdb and others pages have marked a uncut for TV
Homemade fudge sounds amazing, we got homemade donuts. The Wizard of Oz was a big event.
It’s one movie that shouldn’t have been remade. There is no replacing the 1939 version
Who said anything about replacing it? But it would be nice, after *one hundred and twenty-four years,* to see a cinematic adaptation that followed the book faithfully.
@john-ow7ew You mean new versions of the book, not remakes of the MGM movie.
the greatest movie ever made, can never be remade, a true classic.
Agreed, though I would still love to see a faithful live-action adaptation of the book. It would probably cover two movies.
Not the greatest......quite. But up there with the best of them. Nobody would make a beautiful artwork like this now, but then Hollywood is no more, let's face it.
@@petertaylor3600 What would you say was the greatest?
@@MaskedMan66 Casablanca, period. (IMHO)
@@TheLongtimelistener That's one I've never seen, though I've seen a number of spoofs, and I know the catchphrases. :-)
I was almost ten years old before I could not look away when the up close image of the wicked witch's face appears in the crystal ball. It can't be said enough how well Margaret Hamilton portrayed that role.
I've read it's psychologically triggering since the crystal ball image changes from Auntie Em into the witch.
@@cair124 I can definitely believe that because one of the reasons I found it so disturbing is because of the thought of how horrible it would be to face something like that.
@@waynemartinmartin4128 Nope, you definitely were not alone because I have heard others say the same thing as us
When I 1st saw it I was about 6. I can remember covering my eyes when Dorothy and crew were in the Haunted Forest, they looked up and saw hundreds of flying monkeys coming after them. There was no where to run or hide.
@@williamhaynes4800 Winged Monkeys.
When growing up in the 50s & 60s we were able to watch on television once a year Wizard of Oz & Peter Pan (Mary Martin one). Those were the days!!!
Oh Yes they were
My two favorites!
70's and 80's for me, but yes, magical times!
Many years ago I was listening to a radio interview of, what at the time was, the last actor that was part of the wicked witch's castle guard. He remarked that many thought they were singing something that started as "oh wee oh..." he wanted to set the record straight by giving the actual words they were singing as "Oh we love, the o--ld one..." I pass this along in the hopes this rare piece of trivia lives on.
Interesting. I remember reading decades ago, someone said that they were saying, "all we owe, we ooooowe her." But I believe your words because your comment is coming from a primary source.
I honestly never knew that, thanks! That actually makes sense, it’s sounds just like that.
It's "Oh-Ee-Yah! Eo-Ah!"
@@johnmontoya8160 Not really; the Winkie actors didn't do the singing.
@@kojinaoftheinvertedeye810 That isn't what the words were, and the actors didn't do the singing.
"The Wizard of Oz" is one of only a handful of movies that I would consider truly magical. I would add "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" to that list too. So much turmoil behind the scenes is pretty common for these masterpieces, but they could have turned out disastrous. TWoO still holds up to this day and looks amazing. I wish I could go back in time and be in that theater the first time Dorothy opens the door to the Technicolor world of Oz and hear the audience GASP with wonder.
The "turmoil" has been exaggerated, but the mere fact that the film turned out so brilliantly is a testament to the skill and professionalism of both cast and crew.
@@MaskedMan66 Any production of sufficient size, such as an effects-laden movie with a large cast like this, is going to run into issues for sure. I agree that the problems were most likely exaggerated though.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Exactly!
YAAAAAAY!!! Chitty and Willie Wonka were two of my favourites as a child, I totally wore out two VHS tapes of Chitty.
You mention the 3 movies I waited all year for as a kid! 🍿😊
My memories of The Wizard of Oz predate VHS tapes. The movie was shown on regular television once every year. It was a really big deal too, being the only time my mom let us eat dinner in the living room. The next day at school, everyone would be singing the songs at recess. Something special was lost when VHS made the movie available anytime.
Same here. My childhood was in the 1970's mostly. This movie was "appointment" television that was not to be missed because you only had one chance during its annual broadcast on network TV. It was often aired around Easter, and then that eventually changed to Christmas time. Most families were home that evening to tune in. One year I took my shoe-box tape recorder and captured the movie's audio to play back at my leisure-- next best thing to watching it again.
"Something special was lost when VHS made the movie available anytime." And yet something special was gained. many people a little younger than you have magical VHS memories that the pre-VHS age could literally not deliver.
Made in 1930's
@@xBINARYGODx It isn't the same. Then was a magical time. There's no magic to something you can just pop in and watch, no anticipation. It's not an event anymore.
Was "ding-dong the witch is dead" one of them?
It came on once a year in the 60’s and 70’s and I never missed it for 14 years in a row
I'm 59 yrs old. This video proved I am not insane. I knew scenes were deleted from later TV showings though the years
Thank you
Nope, Brett, you are not insane (at least not from *that*!). Older sibs described scenes I never saw, too. We are nearly the same age.
Not whole scenes, just bits of scenes clipped for time.
It’s called editing, done to provide for commercials during the airing in the time allotted. The network had to cram those ads down our throats.
@@TheCarnivalguy In some cases, the movie was given a 2 1/2 hour time slot so that they wouldn't need to edit so much.
there was a uncut version still in place in early 1990s on BBC TV i seen it with my family it run for 2 Hours and 10mins now the standard times today for physical and Streaming broadcast clocks at 1 Hour and 40mins, 30mins cut off, now i'm predicting maybe for 100th year anniversary on TV, and maybe cinema a Unseen version, Extended and special edition versions, with the nearly 2 Hours and 10mins long in place.
As a 48 yr old who watches this at least 3 times each year, I appreciated the history. Thank you very much for putting this together!
Did you notice that he said her twilight years and when she died she was a year younger than you
I watch this 5 times a year, because my father was an extra, been watching it since 1952 every year, what a streak!
@@Dutch_van_der_linde939 Where would we see him?
@@MaskedMan66 emerald city scene. Also my apologies if your confused about my name and profile picture, my grandson created this account.
@@Dutch_van_der_linde939 No, I wasn't confused. Does your father have a close-up?
When I was a child there were no vcrs so, yes once a year. If you missed it you had to wait a whole year before you could see it again.
Event TV📺🍿🌪🌈🦁
My family had an LP with an abridged version of the movie on it, so I could at least listen to that as often as I wanted. :-)
@@MaskedMan66 We had that record too. (I think we still have it somewhere.) When we were little, we used to play act the scenes while it was being played. I was always the Scarecrow.
@@bunpeishiratori5849 Nice! If I had thought of doing that, I'd always be the Lion. :-3
@@MaskedMan66 I was the only boy in my family (the youngest as well) and my sisters used to fight over who got to play Dorothy. It didn't matter to me because I was always the Scarecrow, and that's what I wanted. I remember putting a yardstick up the back of my clothing to simulate being attached to a pole. Kids can be creative. At least in those days.
It would be *so fun* to see an extended version of the film with the "lost footage" added back in through advanced film technologies.
Oh if only.
A bit impossible as most of it was either thrown out, lost at sea or destroyed in a fire.
Growing up in my life, the Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite movies in childhood.
My mother, as a young child, watched most of the movie on the big screen when it first came out. She started screaming during the tornado scene when the house landed in Oz and the family left the movie theater. She never saw the rest of the movie until a few decades later when it was on TV and she watched it with her three children.
This movie really is a miracle! It’s absolutely unbelievable that it was actually made and finished at all!
Why? Far worse things have happened on other movies and they got completed.
This movie was a bullshit story,and a medieval torture for the actors!
In the 60s we had the first color TV on the block. Every kid on the block would be in our living room watching the Wizard of Oz. Mom would make carmel apples and popcorn balls for all of us. Those were such good times.
Time to continue the tradition with your loved ones
What a spoiled child! I grew up in the 60s and still had the black and white version!!
@@suq-396 You were lucky! We didn't get our first color T.V. until the mid-70's!
(This is starting to sound like the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, lol)
Took me decades to realize that the farm hands were the Scarecrow, The Lion and the Tin Man. I was an adult too, when I figured out that Dr. Marvel was the door guard for OZ and the WIz, the coach driver and The Wiz. Also, when I was a kid and Oz came on, it seemed like a holiday.
I knew the farmhands right away but didn’t know about the multiple roles of Marvel
I only realized when I got cast for the play and the roles were double cast. Watched the Royal Shakesperian version of the play and watched the movie, and I was shocked lol!
You mean despite all the clues, and Dorothy thinking her Ozite friends were familiar, and the fact that the credits listed Bolger, Haley, and Lahr under their farmhand names?
I can barely remember before VHS but when I was a young kid, this movie was a one hour and 42 minute magic show that would come on TV once a year. It is an absolute perfect movie and will always occupy a special place in my heart.
That was incredibly in depth. That must have taken some time to gather that much information. Nice! Great job
Reality
Thank you for this video, and of course your personal hard work putting it together.
There are books.
I guess 1939 was the right time for a lighthearted fantasy. It was the same year Hitler invaded Poland and started WWII. People needed to enjoy their last bit of lightheartedness before the next 6 years of bleakness.
We didn't own a lot of movies when I was growing up, but my dad made sure to get the special edition VHS of Wizard of Oz, and I still remember being so fascinated by the behind the scenes and the recreation of the Jitterbug dance. And I'm still an avid fan of filmmaking in general today, because of that. 🌈
Did u see the hanging munchkin 💀
We have that too! Me and my sister used to watch that movie on VHS all the time when we were babies so my dad would hear and ended up memorizing the behind the scenes part because of that!
I have it on VHS 📼📼📼🎥 now with a VCR! Lol 😂 🌈👧🐺🤡🤖🦁👰🏻👨👩👧👨👩👧👦👨👩👦👦👨👩👧👧👪✨💃🏻🌳🌲🌲💂🏰💂🎩🎅🤹🎈🛌👵👴🏻🤵🏻
@@hawkman5846 i believe it's on the old VHS Tapes! Now they cover it up with a big bird!🐦🐥🐣🌈🌪🌈🌈🌈👧🐺🤡🤖🦁👰🏻🐵🐒🐵
@@hawkman5846 No such person.
Wow, I never even knew that Buddy Ebsen was the original choice for the Tin Man.
Yup! And it's interesting to note that some years after the movie, he was in a stage version of "The Wizard of Oz" as the Scarecrow. 🙂
These 3 movies were broadcast 3 times a year when I was a kid. The Wizard of Oz, The Ten Commandments and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All the others were gone after they ran in theaters. The only way to re-live the movie was to buy the soundtrack on vinyl, and if you had told me back then that we would be able to rent or buy the movies to watch at home as many times as we wanted, I would have said No Way - you are crazy! I was thrilled when The Lord of the Rings was made into a video game soon after release, you could play the movie!
Truth Indeed
Growing up, it was the Wizard of Oz and the Sound of Music, that seemed to be precursor to the holiday season. Growing up, watching both each year was a testament to me, that anything was possible. Thanks for sharing.
And...It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34 the Street
Ah, two childhood crushes of mine: Judy Garland in _The Wizard of Oz_ and Angela Cartwright in _The Sound of Music!_
Such a beloved movie, story from a book. Baum wrote the book for his wife. She had a young niece that died as a baby named Dorthy Gage. . It had broken her heart. He made her memory eternal through the story. He changed Gage to Gale. She’s buried in Bloomington Illinois.
He wrote the book because his wife's mother thought that he ought to take all the fanciful tales he'd told his children and write them into a book. His heroine was indeed named for his wife's niece, although her surname wasn't used in the first book. Baum and Paul Tietjens came up with "Gale" for the "Wizard" stage musical in 1902 as a pun on how Dorothy got to Oz, and Baum used the name in all the books after that.
You probably know the wonderful story of how Mickey Carroll, who had been one of the Munchkins for MGM, went back to his family's monuments company after the movie was done, and some while later heard about the graveyard where Dorothy Gage was buried having fallen into disrepair. He personally carved her a new headstone and had the whole children's cemetery restored and named after her.
That sweet little baby was barely a year old when she died
Awww!
At the age of 50 The Wizard of Oz is still my favourite moive by far. Just so many memories of watching it over the years x
The movie is 83 this year, and the book is 122.
@@MaskedMan66 I think Matthew's saying HE'S fifty years old.
@@YouLousyKids Likely so.
Agreed.
I have seen it FAR more than any other movie: about 45 times
One of my fond memories is standing on the actual soundstage where Judy Garland sang Over the Rainbow, and seeing the soundstage where Munchkin Land was.
When was that?
@@MaskedMan66 2015. I was part of a tour of the major studios. Among other things, I also got to hold an ACTUAL OSCAR at the DIsney Studios, and see one of the desks where the animators worked, as well as the house that Shirley Temple lived in on the 20th Century lot. Wonderful stuff.
@@robertromero8692 Wow! To quote the Cowardly Lion, "I'm speechless!"
@@MaskedMan66 If you ever get the chance, do it. You will LOVE it!
@@robertromero8692 If I ever get the chance. :-)
The Wizard Of Oz is one of the very rare movies that I LOVE in its current form and would LOVE to see a mega movie of the film consisting of all of the cut and lost footage together with the theatrical classic. But, since footage is not only cut but lost and blocked, that will never happen.
Blocked?
@@MaskedMan66 it’s in the video. Some company or other has blocked footage from being shown in the movie.
@@nickperkins8477 There's no footage to be "blocked." Apart from the film itself and the alternate dance sequence by Ray Bolger, there is nothing else.
I had a DVD with deleted scenes & extra facts about the movie & the stars in the movie.
@@francishanna9999 The only deleted scene that exists is the extended dance sequence from "If I Only Had a Brain."
Margaret Hamilton was the sweetest person. She was a child advocate. Billie Burke who played Glinda was the polar opposite.
No, she was not; Miss Burke was a good and gracious lady who modeled Victorian manners at all times. When she first visited the Munchkin City set, a day or so before beginning her work as Glinda, about fifty of the Munchkin performers gathered around her to ask for her autograph, and she was happy to oblige.
One of them spoke to her on behalf of a shy little man who could not speak. With a smile, Miss Burke started speaking to him in sign language! She and her school chums had learned it so they could converse with each other behind their books during boring classes. So she and the man had a good chat!
@@davedee4382 Her only child was by her husband Florenz Ziegfeld, and that was a daughter named Patricia.
I believe Hamilton was at one time a kindergarten teacher. That may not prove she was sweet but it proves she had patience.
@@davedee4382 She was born in 1884. So let's pick an easy to accept-pre-fertility treatment number: By the time she was 36 that was 1920, Milton Berle was born in 1908 and would have been 12.
@@kevinbergin9971 She had always wanted to be an actress, but her parents advised her to get a "proper job" in case the acting didn't work out. As it happened, she excelled at both! :-)
The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca two of the most wonderful movies ever made…memorable!
I realize that Citizen Kane may well be the greatest ever and I actually use scenes from The Searchers in my classes but the only movie I will never stop watching, when it comes on TV, is this classic.
Wizard of oz. is a classic, but they needs to bring back and shown the fully uncut editions! it was 2 Hours and 10mins long on BBC TV in early 1990s, and Network in the states was shown in 1950s, 1980s and 1990s passed as uncut, now the standard editions, physical and streaming is 1 Hour and 40mins long! maybe just in time for 100th Year anniversary will all see on TV, and maybe Cinema as branded unseen version, Extended or Special Limited Version.
@@bleeuk The movie was never that long, even in the form in which it was shown to test audiences in 1939. Their responses led to the removal of the Scarecrow's extended dance routine in "If I Only Had a Brain," the whole of "The Jitterbug," a reprise of "Over the Rainbow," and the Triumphal Return sequence, plus a few bits of dialogue (mainly from the Wicked Witch).
And apart from the Scarecrow's dance, no other deleted scenes have ever been recovered, much less seen, in over eighty years, and are presumed destroyed. The movie as we see it now is the same one that premiered in August of 1939, and has never been altered.
@@MaskedMan66 it was much longer and it was 2 Hours and 10mins, the bbc aired it in 1991 (with 2 Hours and 15mins filling for a couple ads after the film), i saw it and my parents can remember it, even now, with Over the Rainbow castle scene was was there on 1993 TV, Poppy fields, and more witch takes with burning scenes remained, according to IMDB which is true, aired a network uncut editions over 2 Hours long at selected years on TV with CBS rights to fill commercial needs
@@bleeuk Sorry, no. You're either trying to hoax people or you're misremembering. On that BBC broadcast there may have been a documentary before or after the movie outlining some of the lost footage, but it simply does not exist.
When the first _Star Wars_ movie was shown for the first time on T.V. in the States, it had a two and a half-hour time slot. People were hoping that this meant that the "Biggs" footage would be included. It wasn't, and the first 30 minutes of the broadcast was a feature on the SW phenomenon, followed by the same version of the movie that had been in theaters. Nevertheless, there are people who swear blind that they saw those Tatooine scenes that evening.
I don't know if it's because I was a "middle child", but I seemed to be the only one that looked forward to that time of year, when this movie would play on television.
It probably is the first introduction to fantasy, and sparked a life long interest in all things magical.😏🖐🏼✨💖🌎
The fact they cut so much of Margaret Hamilton's screen time is absolutely criminal.
Loved Margaret in this = I agree
It was only a line or two.
@@MaskedMan66 Still criminal.
@@FrankNFurter1000 Nah, just showbiz. She didn't raise a stink about it, so why should anyone else?
@@MaskedMan66 nah, more Margaret Hamilton screen time is always a plus.
Growing up in the 80s I remember this movie as annual appointment television, miss the good old days!
70's for me, as well as 80's, and I agree with you. :-)
Rose-tinted nostalgia bullshit
Our annual Wizard of Oz-athon took place in April, which was, for us, in tornado season. One year, at age 11, I was babysitting a family of five kids next door..
We cooked Jiffy Pop popcorn and made cherry Kool-Aid and sat down to watch the movie. Soon the sky grew dark and started swirling. We even saw greenage in the clouds, but never had to go to the basement. It was still frightening being responsible for five little friends!
I'm 54 and have always loved the wizard of oz. I have bought several tapes and finally a DVD.
Same here, I'll be 56 this summer. I got the blu ray some years back; it's lovely what they can do with these films today with cleaning them up. You can see the burlap texture on the Scarecrow's face in the closeup shots.
Return to OZ was terrifying for me as a kid, but I loved watching it just for the excitement (movies like it and The Neverending Story, Dark Crystal, Willow, etc., were also a few others in the same vein).....Such an underrated gem.
The 80's was, and remains, the all-time best decade for fantasy films. 🙂
Mark you, RtO didn't scare me, because I'd already read the two books that were its main sources for material.
@@MaskedMan66 I actually own the comic adaptation lol
@@shuruff904 I do too... somewhere in the house. lol The artist did excellent likenesses, especially of Fairuza.
It was a big tradition for my family (and and all the families I knew as a kid) to make a special night of it when the Wizard of Oz came on. They'd advertise it for a week or two ahead of time, reminding people that it was coming up. I can easily believe that the Wicked Witch tested as too scary for young kids and they had to cut back her lines since she terrified me when I was really small. Margaret Hamilton was an AWESOME Wicked Witch ! We all waited for that movie eagerly every year. Too bad they stopped showing it like that. It was a real thriller for children, and a damned great movie all round.
Nowadays with home video and streaming and all, we can watch the movie any time we like, but it really isn't the same as those great days, is it?
@@MaskedMan66 That's much of the modern problem - everything is instant satisfaction. Personally, I have yet to pay for a streaming service. I pay for 200+ channels of pure crap on cable TV and I have internet, then I'm supposed to pay even more to get QUALITY TV shows through my cable tv ? It's turned into a scam. Sorry about the rant - you hit a sore spot.
@@TedBronson1918 I understand completely! My wife and I only watch broadcast T.V., and at that we tend to only watch the nostalgia stations like MeTV and Heroes & Icons.
Amazon actually just purchased MGM. One thing people don't realize is that the color section starts BEFORE Dorothy opens the door to the color part of Oz. it was just painted monochrome. same with Dorothy's dress.
The dress Bobbie Koshay wore wasn't painted. ;-)
17:42 This "Off to See the Wizard" cartoon graphic is not directly related to the 1939 film. The lyrical title refers to, as the caption says, a "family/children's anthology" series that ran on the ABC (American) TV network in the 1967 season, as ABC's attempt to imitate NBC's Disney anthology series. The Oz characters were used only to introduce the episodes; they were not part of the stories, which were all live-action. The series lasted just the one season.
Our family could never afford a color TV and no neighbors had one either, so I grew up never knowing that the most of the film was in color. In 1972 I started college and I remember when a group of us got together to watch the Wizard of Oz, it was a major shock to me to see it suddenly become colorful with Dorothy opening that door. And of course I got a lot of razing about being such a hayseed as to never having seen that before.
You got to experience the surprise that the original audience must have experienced. My mother talked about it. She saw it in the theater during one of the film's rereleases before people commonly had televisions. It had a stunning effect. It put the viewer in Dorothy's place.
As famously scary as Margaret Hamilton is in the movie, respectfully that color production footage of her in character is subtly horrifying
Do you mean the test shots?
@@MaskedMan66 I personally think that black and white of her test shots is amazing - wish we could see more
@@RADIUSBuxbaum I think the only major difference was that her hair was unbound; in the movie she wears it pulled back into a bun, like Miss Gulch.
@@RADIUSBuxbaum Oh, and I think they added a wart in the finished make-up.
It’s her facial expressions. Especially as I age, I see more melodrama in her acting in the movie. If she had acted in the movie to match her facial expressions here, it would have been a horror movie performance.
Never got to see more than a few minutes each year as we had to go to church Sunday nights. The first time it was shown after I married in 1971 I saw the whole thing on our black and white tv. When I graduated and bought a color tv I was shocked and delighted to see OZ in color. Never miss it when on tv
On Buddy Ebsen and his health issues. Don't forget, when the 50th anniversary came around he was the one they asked to speak about it since he was the only surviving cast member (save for a few of the Munchkin).
So, I guess the best revenge is living well.
He never wanted revenge.
@@MaskedMan66 So, let's think this out. Aside from it being an expression-which works here-you actually know he wasn't mad about almost dying from a bad makeup job? Or losing out on a role in one of the greatest films of all time?
I'm 65 now and remember watching the movie every year starting sometime in the 1960's. My older sister couldn't watch some of the wicked witch parts and would close her eyes and I would tell her when she could open them again. I don't remember when they stopped having it on TV every year, but when my kids were little and it was again on TV, it seemed some had been cut out. It's still one of my favorite movies. I don't like musicals in general with The Wizard of Oz being the exception.
Also with most movies, I couldn't enjoy watching more then once. Not so with this movie.
Still watch it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On cable and you have to look for it. Took a while before I could look at those darn flying monkeys again.
the uncut version last time was shown about 1994. defo everywhere from 1991 i saw it, on BBC it was 2 Hours and 10mins long now its 1 Hour and 40mins
Such a wonderful and lots of references today are from it! This was a very good video, GREAT job! Lot's of things I and am sure lots of other folks didn't know!
I like your idea of re-making it with the deleted scenes, that's be an interesting watch!
Really good commentary. I'm glad it came out as it did. I can't even know how many times I've seen this movie.
AWESOME DOCUMENTARY MAN , ROCK ON !
I’m 73, when the Wizard of Oz first aired on TV in the ‘50’s, the ‘flying monkey’ scene was omitted. It was considered too violent for children to watch.
Now look at the crap kids watch. SMH
What? Really? Wow
I really enjoyed watching this, thank you. Many emotions, seeing the old footage and the meaningful history and enjoyment this film has given to all generations. So nostalgic too. To think it will live on and beyond all our lives. It's magical. Definitely a special film. Thank goodness they kept in over the rainbow 🌈🎉
17:48 - Yes, in my childhood home, I made it a point to watch “The Wizard of Oz” every year, like clockwork. I don’t remember my Family watching with me, but the memory of them watching with me could’ve just faded away after so many years. I love 💕 that movie so much!!! Thank you for this video!
Some where, down the back of the couch... I lost the remote...
Back around the late 1970s I remember seeing The Wizard of Oz on TV and it was suddenly a half hour longer and a number of the deleted scenes mentioned in this lost footage video were in it.
Liar.
This film was a lasting memory for me, my Mum took me to see it when I was 5 years old at a local theatre. We were sat on the balcony and I remember being transfixed with the morphing of black and white into colour, we only ever saw TV in black and white, this was in the 60's probably when the film was re-released. My Mother passed away 3 years ago and this film will always remain a happy and lasting memory for me. Although realistically it sounds as though Hollywood is more sinister than the films that come out if it!
Billie Burke who played Glinda the good witch, was actually 18 years older than Margaret Hamilton, who played the wicked witch of the west.
I absolutely love Billie Burke she plays an airhead to perfection (check out Topper movies) By the way most of her earning went to pay off her late husbands death Flo Ziegfield (sp)
Wow
Margaret Hamilton was a very good friend of mine. She told me that Billy Burke was treated like a star with a maid following her around in a fancy dressing room and Maggie said she was in a chicken co-op.
She had a great sense of humor about the whole thing and loved being stopped on the bus or on the Subway we were going somewhere. And someone recognized her and she would sign always, and after her name, she'd write w. W. W she was a lovely woman
Thanks for this, very entertaining and informative, I was in high school before I saw it on a color TV. WOW
This video is all at once accurate to its title while being concise and too the point, as is so often *not* the case with many other videos about Oz's production, which have clickbait-y, trendy titles with taglines that aren't even discussed in the video, or are glanced over, and extend their runtime with rumor and drivel, while not succeeding at the most important matter at hand (often even doing the opposite for dramatic effect), something which you went above and beyond in doing: respecting the difficulties encountered by those involved in the production of this classic film.
This is all to say - this is a perfect video!!
If UA-cam has finally decided to let me comment on videos again, I'd like to say again that I adore the "We'll go and see the cracks again someday" audio sample in the intro. Beautifully haunting and perfect for lost media related videos.
It's genuinely amazing how much of a mess Wizard of Oz's production was, and no wonder that things got lost along the way. And God, I knew that some of the actors had it rough, but the way Judy Garland was talked about prior to her stardom? Crazy.
And she made less money then the rest of the cast.
The production wasn't a "mess," and things didn't get "lost," they were deliberately removed from the film. Judy had it the easiest of anyone else in the movie.
@@VanessaKittredge They had been in showbiz longer, that's why.
@@MaskedMan66 The easiest? Well, apart from the beginning of a lifetime of chronic addiction to pills, so thoughtfully pumped into her by the studio, to get her up pre- dawn and then to knock her out at night. And so began a lifetime of drug addiction while also coping at the time with adolescence. No wonder she was dead a mere thirty year later in her forties.
@@paulybarr Her addictions started in adulthood. Because of California child labor laws, she only worked for four hours of the eight-hour filming day on _Wizard_ and didn't have anything "pumped into her." As far as getting up at dawn, lots of people did, and not just in the acting profession. It was her three co-stars who had to be at the studio at 4AM or so to get made up; Judy's hair and make-up were done at home.
When my daughter was 2 years old, in 1975, my wife and I decided it would be great to take our daughter to see The Wizard of Oz. Big mistake, everything was great until the which appeared oh, and my daughter started screaming and crying we had to leave the theater we were very much embarrassed. I believe it was the following year it was on television oh, and we made a second attempt oh, this time she loved it. Today is April 13 I believe 14, 2022.
If CGI can recreate princess Leia, then CGI should be able to recreate the lost scenes from wizard of Oz.
You're forgetting Tarkin!
I think I like the hand drawn idea better.
@@hunterolaughlin Not if you want to recreate the look of the original movie, and that's what we're talking about.
@@MaskedMan66 I still prefer hand drawn.
It's just not financially beneficial to do so. Warner Bros can't even get their streaming service figured out.
She was 47 when she died, not exactly twilight years...
THE most magical - and perfect - fantasy movie for children ever made. And translated into over 40 languages so it could be watched by children (and adults) all over the world. It had Universal appeal to everyone everywhere (even though the reviews were only "very good" when it first came out. It was 15 years later, when it was re-released on tv, that critics took it fully into their hearts and hailed it as a masterpiece. (Which, as we all know, it is!)
I hope they never attempt a re-make. I doubt it can be duplicated anyway: the kind of innocence we (as children) had 80 years ago would not translate easily into today's world.
I Pray they don't either
There's a remake every time someone does the stage version. I wouldn't mind seeing a live T.V. event of it. And of course, a screen adaptation which is faithful to the book is over a century overdue.
As I said, I remember seeing some of the lost deleted scenes like the extended scarecrow dance and Jitter bug dancing.
The only footage we have of "The Jitterbug" are the home movies someone shot during filming.
I have older siblings who saw the Wizard of Oz when the bee sting scene was included. They described it so well when I was little I could see it in my mind's eye. I remember watching the movie each year since I was very little - sometime in the 60s.
@@LQOTW I'm not sure which scene you mean. If you mean the bit with the bees flying out of the Tin Woodman's mouth, that was shot but never completed. If you mean "The Jitterbug" (which I reckon you mean) that was completed, but cut from the movie in 1939, and is long gone.
@@MaskedMan66 Unless someone has the deleted footage somewhere, and they've allowed this person to watch it, the only way you could see any of these scenes would be to part of the preview audiences in 1938. Time machine?
@@madhatterster Maybe amsterdamsel is from Gallifrey?
I wish someone could find the Danny Kaye introduction to The Wizard of Oz. I remember seeing it once. Many years ago.
In these hyperbolic times, it's refreshing that you refrained from saying "actual " lost footage.
I watch WIZARD OF OZ every spring. My 72 in. T.V. makes it more enjoyable. Be watching it soon today is March 4 spring flowers in my heart. They are already coming up. Love this movie much especially Judy singing OVER THE 🌈 RAINBOW. Makes my heart melt.
I'm researching my take on Over the Rainbow and I enjoyed your video very much! Very informative. Thank you for sharing!
I cant wait. It might be very scary. Thank you for finding it bro.
Can't wait for what?
@@MaskedMan66 if the studios manage to find a real footage. He might let us know
@@SeyaDiakite7 It was probably destroyed, if not in 1939, then in the fire in the 60's.
Thankyou so much for this, how amazing! I love you xxxx
Very informative! I knew about 'the jitterbug' and Buddy Ebsen, but the other info is totally revealing to me. Thanks for making this.
I hope I feel like it I just love it it's so much fun of him being back before Joey King and Judy Garland she's made into being back in MGM studios Hollywood studios bowl of Walt Disney world full time and the kids are in school today and make it happen for her birthday party oasr awesome picture awards TCM channel on money made into a new DVD and maze and the kids love him
@@derekllewellyn6663 What?
Wonderful job! 1st time viewer. For me as a 60’s kid, it wasn’t until 1972-3 that I saw the film in color for the first time. Talk about a new edit! Thanks. Very interesting. My son played the Wizard in a fantastic erosion that included the wonderful jitterbug song. Somewhere in You Tube is them doing the show in 60 seconds! Very funny. I’ll link it if I can.
Im 73, still watch it ever holiday season. It's my heart lightening beginning of my favorite time of yr. Thanks to all the joy it brings in so many ways.
According to IMDb, there was a deleted scene from the witch's castle. Here's the description of the scene from the trivia section
"If you look closely, the door the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion rescue Dorothy through isn't the same as the one Dorothy enters the Hourglass Room through. This is due to the deletion of an entire scene in which the room the heroes enter (following the sound of someone humming "Somewhere Over The Rainbow") holds not Dorothy but the Wicked Witch of the West! She paralyzes the heroes, then creates a false Rainbow Bridge from that room to Dorothy's. She sends a Winkie out to test it . . . he falls through the center of the bridge. She then magically compels our three heroes to call out to Dorothy, who runs onto the bridge . . . and is carried across by the magic slippers! Our friends are reunited, and (released from the witch's spell by love/the slippers, whichever) run out of the room, with the witch screaming, "Stop them!" behind them. The scene was cut both for technical reasons--they couldn't pull off a good Rainbow Bridge--and because seeing a Winkie falling to his presumed death was considered too likely to incur the wrath of the Hays Office, the industry's official censors."
The Rainbow Bridge scene was in at least one draft of the screenplay by duo Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, though Noel Langley hated it (along with most of their work, tbh) and cut it immediately when he re-entered the project when it was still in preproduction. Thus, it was never filmed.
Though the scene was included as an extra in the book The Wizard of Oz: The Screenplay, edited by Michael Patrick Hearn and published by Dell Publishing in 1989, and Noel Langley is quoted about the scene in The Making of The Wizard of Oz by Aljean Harmetz, talking about why he disliked it and when it was cut.
It is the same staircase, just shot from a different angle.
I wonder if we will ever see that footage
@@jeremyknifley None was ever shot.
For the millionth time, the song title is 'Over the Rainbow'. 🌈🌈🌈
Somewhere is not in it.
Sorry, I'm a stickler, I know. 🙄
Also it's..."Seize them!"..... not stop. 🤭
Happy New Year everyone!
🌈🥂🎉🎇
This movie has been watched through 4 generations in my family. My grandchildren (11 7 2) recently watched it and loved it
maybe one of your generation or you in the 1950s, 1980s or like me early 1990s seen a uncut version that run over 2 hours long! (2 hours and 10mins) on BBC TV, now the standard editions, physical and Streaming run time clocks at 1 Hour and 40mins so basically 30mins has been edited out from the longer length TV broadcast and possible original limited cinema broadcast, maybe just in time for 100 years anniversary most will see on TV, and maybe Cinema branded as Unseen Version, Extended or Special limited run version which is the uncut edition that clocks at 2 Hours and 10mins ish long. it was there my family can remember it well and today the scenes that lost
It is a miracle this film turned out so well. Modern Hollywood would never be able to pull a classic from a behind-the-scenes disaster like this these days.
There were accidents, not "disasters." Worse things have happened on other movies.
@@MaskedMan66 Accidents can be disasters, so my statement stands.
And films have been shut down over stuff that's trivial compared to this, so my statement stands.
Piss off.
@BrianLee6492Will do! Thank you.
The 50th Anniversary VHS was the version of this movie I watched as a kid, and I loved watching the bonus footage at the end, including the longer version of the Scarecrow's song, the Jitterbug song, and Buddy Ebson's version of the Tin Man's song.
Ebsen. :-)
Is that the one Angela Lansbury narrates? Love that.
@@kallen868 She would make an excellent Good Witch of the North in a faithful adaptation of the book. :-)
It's really sad that old and sometimes archived film footage was just trashed and burnt, etc.
As the saying goes, "That's showbiz."
The thing is, there was no foresight in movie studio crews of there being a need for such things to be saved for the future. Celluloid/footage that wasn't needed for a movie's final cut was burned or trashed, mostly.
Frankly I'm just grateful that we have access to the classic films of decades gone by, and today they're so clear and sparkling from our technology. It's awesome.
The recreation using the surviving assets is a really good idea that I haven’t thought about. If it can be done with Doctor Who episodes and the King Kong deleted scene (both pieces of media that had not much to go off of) then I can’t see why the same can’t be done for the Wizard of Oz.
I agree. It’s better than just using stills and previous footage to substitute for missing scenes. The first deleted scenes I’d restore are the Jitterbug Number, Dorothy’s somber reprise of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the triumphant reprise of “Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead” and put them in an alternate version of the film along with the full “If I Only Had a Brain” number as an Extended Version of the film.
@@hunterolaughlin Gonna be a stickler here: Dorothy's signature tune is titled "Over the Rainbow." That "Somewhere" ain't nowhere. ;-)
Redoing the lost footage is a great idea, just no animation. Give it the full state-of-the-art CGI treatment. The soundtracks still exist. That with whatever production notes that still exist they can probably restore it to 90% originality.
@@Iconoclasher Except for the Jitterbug itself, which was going to be a bit of cel animation.
@@MaskedMan66
Right. Restored the way it was supposed to be seen.
Have you seen this in 4K UHD? Oh my God, it is a wonder to the eye.
I can’t stop coming back to this retrospective. Brilliantly done and should be included on future Blu-Ray releases of the film.
So much work must have gone into this video. Thank You!
The jacket Professor Marvel wore, was at one time owned by L. Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz book.
Amazing fact! Love Oz.🌪🌈🦁
Amazing, actually adds more to Professor Marvel/The Wizard being the embodiment of inventiveness and creating.
I’ve seen the original so many times I know the entire thing by memory word for word so it’s weird seeing deleted scenes. It’s like watching a version of the wizard of oz from an alternate dimension
Also, if you like weird Oz adaptations (and who doesn't?), I highly recommend the "Wonderful Land of Oz" directed by Barry Mahon, specifically the Rifftrax edition. Its surprisingly faithful to the source material, but filtered through an acid trip
I don't see where you're getting the notion of an acid trip; it was just very low budget and with a cast of actors who were not as energetic as they could have been. But you're right about the faithful adaptation; as far as the script was concerned, they used more genuine Baum dialogue than the MGM _Wizard_ did.
Fun Fact: Michael Thomas, who played the Scarecrow in that movie and also did all the character make-ups, later on became the man who transformed Michael Jackson into the Scarecrow for the movie version of _The Wiz!_
It doesn’t seem like an acid trip to you?! The woggle bugs face, the cow, jacks head, the emerald city…
@@bigred8432 Nope, just straightforward Oziana. Professor Wogglebug looks even weirder in John Neill's illustrations. And what do you expect a Jack O'Lantern to look like? ;-)
@@MaskedMan66 I expect a Jack O Lantern to look like a pumpkin, not something made rom paper mache and the Wogglebug to have eyes that blink.
@@bigred8432 So I'm guessing that Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion make-up didn't cut the mustard with you since it didn't look like a real lion, right?
And when have you ever seen an insect blink? They don't have eyelids.
Who is the singer of this trailer....its BEAUTIFUUUUUL!!!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️
I’m 67 and the first time I saw it it scared the crap out of me. I was probably only seven years old, but it took me years later to watch it over and over again to accept it as it really was and love it, and I watched it every year since.
I grew up watching this and loved it. I do have a memory that at the end of the movie, where Dorothy is on her bed explaining what happened, that the last scene was a shot of the red slippers on the floor of the closet. I loved that scene, because as a kid, it made it all real. But I never hear anyone else that remembers it. Maybe my mind made it up. Either way, it was a great ending to the movie.
They should have had actors in costumes recreate the scenes using the same techniques they used back then, similar to peter jackson recreating the lost spider pit sequence from king kong. Adding cgi to wizard of oz just seems disrespectful.
I’m not sure if you know, but the actors have all died now.
@@Super_Pandas you mean those werent the actual actors from king kong? All they needed was a good director. Most of the cast is covered in make up.
@@J0SHUAKANE oh I meant wizard of oz :)
@@Super_Pandas whats your point?
@@J0SHUAKANE CGI is the closest it’s possible to get to getting back the lost scenes, because the actors can’t just recreate them