Frank Morgan was cast not only as the Wizard of Oz but also as Professor Marvel, who Dorothy runs into when running away in Kansas. Costume designers worked very hard to find the actor, just the right coat for his two characters. They wanted Morgan to look fashionable, but also modest. They went searching through local thrift stores for the perfect style. They found it.
When they passed off the coat to Morgan he examined it before putting it on and found a label, stitched to the coat’s interior that read, “L. Frank Baum.” It was indeed the original author’s coat, and had, back in the day, been tailored to fit him perfectly. After production on the film was complete, the producers gave the coat to L. Frank Baum’s widow to keep.
The Original Dorothy Gale Wasn't A Damsel In Distress
In the Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland plays Dorothy Gale as very much your standard damsel in distress. She is always being thrown about, captured, and in need of help. In the book, blonde Dorothy with her silver slippers is very different. Oz, as a real land rather than a dream, is a world where Dorothy finds she fits in as a strong and self-assured character.
In the novel, it is Dorothy who saves other characters, rather than depending on them to come to her aid. Baum has actually admitted to writing Dorothy as a strong role model for his young female readers.
Consistently Inconsistent
Working with Technicolor meant the crew had to work with a crazy amount of lighting on set. All those lights kept the set at nearly 100 degrees. If you watch very carefully you can even see reflections from all of the lights on set pieces throughout the film. Just watch the floor of Emerald City as it rolls by.
That's not the only thing to watch in the 1939 masterpiece. Dorothy's hair can be seen to change lengths throughout the picture. Props come and go as if by magic including the Tin Man's spear that turned into an ax, and the bouquet the munchkins give Dorothy upon her arrival in Oz that subsequently disappears. Logically we should also question a witch who can be killed by water living in a castle surrounded by a mote. Honestly, why does she keep buckets of water around at all?
Munchkins Rumors Debunked
While we all love some good Hollywood trivia, one story about the Wizard of Oz set that has persisted throughout the years, was that a munchkin hung himself on set and, this instance was actually caught on film for the movie. There was not a single suicide on set, by cast or crew. Conspiracy theorists claim you can see someone hanging from a tree, but itis actually just a bird.
It's a real bird too. MGM had rented, from a local zoo that they'd worked with on previous projects, some 400 birds. Many of the birds escaped their cages while working and ended up hanging out in random places around the set. The bird in the "suicide" scene is actually a crane with its wings outstretched.
The Original Tin Man Was Poisoned By The Makeup
Beverly Hillbillies, Buddy Ebsen, spent almost as little time on set as both the film's first two directors. Ebsen was accidentally poisoned by his own makeup a little over a week before filming was set to begin. The silver makeup, a main staple of the Tin Man's costume, was made partly of aluminum dust, which Ebsen breathed in, due to its presence on the entirety of his face. He was hospitalized when his lungs failed.
After two weeks in the hospital it still took six more weeks of rest at home for the actor to recover. It turned out that Ebsen was actually allergic to the aluminum dust, and was recast by Jack Haley, who did not have the same allergy. However, to avoid any other possible mishaps, an aluminum paste replaced the original aluminum powder makeup. Better safe than sorry.