Prepare to have your childhood memories shattered! We're diving into the dark secrets and surprising facts behind the beloved classic that might make you see it in a whole new light. From behind-the-scenes mishaps to hidden meanings, we're uncovering the truth about this iconic film that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew.
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00:00Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 facts about The Wizard of Oz that will ruin your childhood.
00:11She would get hysterical over nothing. I think she was afraid of the whole world.
00:17For this list, we're taking a look at some upsetting, disturbing, and myth-deflating facts about L. Frank Baum's famous children's novel,
00:25its iconic 1939 film adaptation, and the film's stars.
00:30Number 10. Dorothy was named after the author's niece, who died in infancy.
00:35L. Frank was a storyteller, and he loved children. And he used to tell bedtime stories to the kids. They would gather around him to hear the stories.
00:45As noted, The Wizard of Oz is an adaptation of the similarly named The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a novel from 1900 which spawned a host of sequels.
00:54Written by L. Frank Baum, it's widely considered to be a classic of 20th century children's literature.
01:00While writing the novel, Baum and his wife would frequently visit their infant niece, Dorothy Louise Gage.
01:06Sadly, Dorothy passed away when she was just five months old.
01:10To honor his deceased niece, and ease the family's suffering, Baum decided to name the lead character of his upcoming novel after her.
01:17I'm not a witch at all. I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas.
01:21The rest, as they say, is history.
01:24Number 9. The Cowardly Lion costume was a little too real.
01:39If upon viewing The Wizard of Oz, you felt that Burt Lahr's Cowardly Lion costume looked a little too, well, legit, you're about to find out why.
01:47It turns out that the famous costume was made from actual lion skin and fur.
01:55Not queen, not duke, not prince.
02:02Donning a costume of such materials is already intense enough, but don't forget, Lahr was dancing throughout much of the film.
02:10We don't know about you, but dancing while wearing a dead jungle king's skin and fur doesn't sound like our ideal gig.
02:16I hope my strength holds out.
02:18I hope your tail holds out.
02:20Then again, we might be wrong, seeing as how the costume sold for $3 million at auction in 2014.
02:27Number 8. The snow in the poppy field scene was actually asbestos.
02:31Now, my beauty, something with poison in it, I think.
02:37With poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell.
02:46One of old Hollywood's most infamous tricks was using asbestos as a substitute for snow.
02:51The illusion was pulled in many flicks back in the day, though none as famous as The Wizard of Oz.
02:56The cancer-causing material was ideally suited to serve as a stand-in for snow, as it was fireproof and looked just like the real thing.
03:04So where does it pop up in Oz? Why, the poppy field scene, of course.
03:12The scene may have appeared magical, but filming it was anything but.
03:16Whether or not any of the actors suffered due to their participation in the scene remains a mystery.
03:21But let's just say we're happy this Hollywood trick is no longer in practice.
03:27Number 7. The original Tin Man was replaced due to a severe allergic reaction.
03:34Jack Haley's road to becoming the iconic Tin Man was fraught with drama and even a life-threatening allergic reaction.
03:41However, none of it involved him.
03:46You see, Buddy Epson and Ray Bolger were originally cast as the Scarecrow and Tin Man respectively.
03:52However, Bolger had always dreamt of playing the Scarecrow.
03:55And after much fuss, he convinced the producers to let him and Epson switch roles.
04:04Now the Tin Man, Epson went in for a costume test.
04:08Unfortunately, he had a severe allergic reaction to the character's aluminum makeup and was subsequently hospitalized.
04:18Upon witnessing the seriousness of his condition, it was decided that Epson would be replaced.
04:23Enter Jack Haley, the man we all know today as the Tin Man.
04:28Number 6. Judy Garland was forced to lose weight.
04:31As you will soon learn, Judy Garland's time shooting The Wizard of Oz was anything but a trip over the rainbow.
04:44First, she endured horrific comments from MGM executives,
04:47with some, including studio head Louis B. Mayer, referring to her as a fat little pig with pigtails.
04:53But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?
04:57Yes, I guess you're right.
04:59To solve their problem, they put Garland on a strict diet.
05:02To help her lose weight, Mayer insisted that she was only allowed to have chicken soup, black coffee, and cigarettes.
05:09So much for the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood, this was the yellow brick road to misery.
05:14Ouch!
05:16What do you think you're doing?
05:20We've been walking a long ways and I was hungry and...
05:22Garland wasn't the only one on a diet during filming,
05:25as the toxicity of Margaret Hamilton's green makeup meant she could only ingest liquids.
05:31Number 5. Margaret Hamilton suffered a horrific injury while filming.
05:35Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents too.
05:39Speaking of the Wicked Witch of the West,
05:41Margaret Hamilton's on-set suffering was not limited to her liquid diet.
05:45I'm melting, melting!
05:48Oh, what a world, what a world!
05:50During the scene in which her character disappears amidst a cloud of smoke and fire,
05:54the elevator meant to transport Hamilton below set malfunctioned,
05:58trapping the actress close to the pyrotechnics display.
06:01I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!
06:14This caused her to suffer terrible burns on her skin and face, with the cameras continuing to roll.
06:19As such, no more takes were shot,
06:22with the director opting to go with the original rehearsal shot that didn't involve bodily harm.
06:27Ironically enough, Hamilton's stunt double Betty Danko also endured a brutal on-set injury
06:32when the pipe beneath her broomstick exploded,
06:35sending her hurtling into the air and causing a two-inch deep wound to her leg.
06:40Number 4. Judy Garland was slapped by director Victor Fleming.
06:44During The Cowardly Lion's big entrance, Judy Garland simply could not stop laughing.
06:50The giggling was so persistent that director Victor Fleming took drastic measures to make her stop.
06:58The renowned director, who helmed dozens of flicks,
07:01including the seminal 1939 film Gone with the Wind,
07:04took Garland aside, slapped her on the cheek, and quipped,
07:07Now go in there and work!
07:09Shame on you!
07:11What did you do that for? I didn't bite him!
07:15Afterward, Fleming apparently felt so bad that he told the crew to punch him in the face,
07:19as punishment for his boorish behavior.
07:22Instead, Garland planted a kiss on his nose.
07:25Man, Hollywood was weird back in the 30s.
07:28My goodness, what a fuss you're making!
07:31Well, especially when you go around picking on things weaker than you are!
07:35Number 3. Judy Garland developed a substance use disorder
07:38during filming.
07:40Garland's substance and alcohol use disorders have been well documented,
07:43and it's no secret that her reliance on amphetamines began while she was filming The Wizard of Oz.
07:49Incredibly, the pills were often provided by her own mother,
07:52who felt that they would help boost her performance.
07:55She was chemically trained as a kid to take a pill to go to sleep,
08:00and take a pill to wake up and go to work.
08:02Of course, it wasn't just Mommy Dearest leading Garland down a dark path.
08:06The studio wanted her on amphetamines to, as noted earlier, lose weight,
08:11and also the actress later remarked that the studio would knock her
08:14and co-star Mickey Rooney, quote,
08:16out with sleeping pills.
08:17Then after four hours, they'd wake us up and give us the pep pills again
08:21so we could work 72 hours in a row.
08:24This was a real truly live place,
08:26and I remember that some of it wasn't very nice.
08:29Number 2. Some munchkins were out of control.
08:33It's all right, you may all come out and thank her.
08:37Come out, come out, wherever you are.
08:41If this entry doesn't destroy your rose-colored glasses,
08:44we don't know what will.
08:46According to Garland's ex-husband,
08:48some of the male actors playing munchkins would regularly show up to the set hungover
08:52and would act in a disorderly and extremely unprofessional manner,
08:56tormenting Judy Garland.
08:57Got to verify it legally.
09:00To see.
09:01To see.
09:02If she.
09:03If she.
09:04Is morally.
09:05Ethically.
09:06Spiritually.
09:07Physically.
09:07Her ex-husband even claimed that on at least one occasion
09:10they tried to put their hands up her skirt.
09:13Indeed, many of the munchkin actors would spend their post-work shifts
09:16drinking in nearby bars, only to then wind up in jail.
09:20However, because they were essential to one of the film's most important scenes,
09:24the studio continued to bail them out.
09:26It got so bad that the studio had to assign someone just to watch over them.
09:31Though my childhood is ruined, I still love watching The Wizard of Oz.
09:34Anyway, here are some other behind-the-scenes facts
09:37that'll be hard to get out of your head next time you watch it.
09:40He's the horse of a different color you've heard tale about.
09:43Ha ha ha ha!
09:44It's too late.
09:45There they are, and there they'll stay.
09:52Give me back my slippers.
09:54I'm the only one that knows how to use them.
09:56Give me back my slippers.
09:58I'm the only one that knows how to use them.
10:00Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
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10:21What's all this jabber-wopping when there's work to be done?
10:24I know three shipless farmhands that'll be out of a job before they know it.
10:27In her post-Wizard of Oz life,
10:29Clara Blandick's health eventually slowly declined.
10:32Dorothy, where are you?
10:35It's me, it's Auntie M.
10:37We're trying to find you.
10:38Where are you?
10:40By the early 60s, she was in her 80s and suffering from a number of ailments,
10:44so she chose to take her own life.
10:46She left behind a note that read,
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