The Wizard of Oz (1939) - 11 questions

Question: More of an observation than a question, but it has occurred to me that the movie leaves a rather significant loose end unresolved. At the beginning of the film, Miss Gulch is going to have Toto destroyed. Nothing happens to change that. Dorothy's adventure/dream in Oz didn't get rid of the real woman back in Kansas who wants her dog dead. Am I missing something, or are we just to assume that because Toto got free from the basket, Miss Gulch didn't notice?

Answer: It is highly assumed that Miss Gulch died in the tornado - she was riding her bike at the time the tornado hit. Many sites online support this theory.Other than that it is never mentioned.

Question: I saw a question about where the Red Brick road leads to. Someone answered it by saying that it lead to the Sapphire City. Is this true? If so, is there a movie where I would see it?

Answer: While there is a Sapphire City in Oz, there's no evidence to suggest that the Red Brick Road leads there. The Red Brick Road does not appear in any of Baum's books and appears to be entirely an invention for the movie. As such, it's quite likely that it was created purely for aesthetic purposes and no specific destination was ever decided upon, as it bore no relevance to the plot. The Sapphire City appears in only one book in the series (The Giant Horse of Oz) and has never been seen in a movie.

Question: There is has been a rumor that in the black & white version of the Wizard of Oz that there was a ghost figure that just appeared for a split second right after Dorothy, the Tinman, and the Scarecrow left the area (The same scene that was rumored that there was a munchkin suicide was). Could someone please tell me what it was?

Answer: The rumor was that you could see someone hanging from a tree in the background as they are in the forest. either just after they find the lion or the tin man. This is just a urban legend according to everything I have ever read. It was rumored to be either an extra killing himself over a lost love, and also a producer killing himself because the movie was way over budget. Neither confirmed at all.

Question: What is in the background (in the woods) after Dorothy first meets the tin man?

Answer: You are no doubt referring to the old "urban legend" that a Munchkin actor who, despondent over a failed love affair with a Munchkin actress, committed suicide on the movie set, and his lifeless body can be seen hanging in the background trees. This never happened, of course, but there have been countless rumors as to just what people think they are seeing. The most plausible explanation is that this is probably one of the many live birds that were used to add realism to the set, and it may have been one of the larger birds, such as an emu or a crane, that was standing in the background. It has also been pointed out (see Snopes.com) that this particular scene was filmed "before" any of the Munchkin actors were working on the sound stage, and it would be impossible for there to have been a dead body on a movie set without the many crew noticing it. Also, the idea that the filmmakers would use a scene in which a dead body appeared in their finished film or that a suspended body could go undetected while filming is underway is beyond belief.

Question: In one of the previous questions answered, it mentioned the ending originally panned down to show the Ruby Slippers near Dorothy's bed and thus confirming she didn't dream the whole story. I was just wondering if there's a youtube link or movie clip of this scene?

Answer: Actually, all of the information points that the scene never existed. The movie deals with Oz as being an escape, a dream land. The book deals with Oz being a real place visited by Dorothy. Finding the shoes under the bed sounds like something from the book, but it isn't there either. The slippers are lost forever in the book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_%281939_film%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_book_to_film_comparison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz

Question: Does anyone know what Dorothy's last name was? As far as I know I haven't seen it mentioned in the movie.

Answer: It's 'Gale', and it is mentioned in the movie when Dorothy tells the Good Witch 'I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas'.

Question: During the scene in the Poppy field, does the Scarecrow fall asleep or is it just Dorothy and the Lion?

Answer: Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion all fall asleep. The Tin Man and the Scarecrow cry out for help, and Glinda makes it snow. The Tin Man rusts, making the Scarecrow the only one who suffers no side effects from the poppy field.

Question: According to imdb.com, the woman who provided Snow White's voice in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs also provides the voice for a character named Juliet in this film. Does anyone know who this is supposed to be?

Answer: In the film, when we hear a female voice ask, "Where for art thou Romeo?" it is in fact Juliet that asks that question - as in "Romeo and Juliet".

Question: When Dorothy is in Munchkinland and she starts off on the Yellow Brick Road, it spirals around with a Red Brick Road before splitting off toward the Emerald City. Where does the Red Brick Road lead to?

Answer: The Sapphire City.

Question: Could someone tell me more about the scene in which a person is rumoured to be hanging themselves? I know its not true and all. I'm just curious about it.

Answer: According to snopes.com it's an emu or a crane that is flapping its wings in the background. Check it out here: http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozsuicid.htm

Question: At the very end of the movie after Dorothy says "Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home," normally, it fades out to the credits, but once - and only once - when I was very young, I thought I remembered seeing the camera pan away from her face and down to the foot of the bed where you see the ruby slippers tucked underneath the bed, then a fade to the credits. It is obviously a black-and-white shot, but there were the glittering shoes. Has anyone else seen this version of the ending?

Answer: Yes. I'm sure I've seen that version. It shows that Dorothy didn't just dream about Oz and makes for a more satisfying conclusion. This version was original but edited out because it didn't follow the book's storyline for "Return to Oz" and the other long series of Oz books. The sequel pertains that she loses the slippers in transit back to her home and falls to the gnome king who destroys Oz which in turn causes Dorothy to return. So seeing the slippers at the end of the bed, while more satisfying, wouldn't really stay true to the Oz series.