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?
wizard_of_gore
6th Jan 2004
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Chosen answer: Yes. I'm sure I've seen that version. It shows that Dorothy didn't just dream about Oz and makes for a more satisfying conclusion. This version was original but edited out because it didn't follow the book's storyline for "Return to Oz" and the other long series of Oz books. The sequel pertains that she loses the slippers in transit back to her home and falls to the gnome king who destroys Oz which in turn causes Dorothy to return. So seeing the slippers at the end of the bed, while more satisfying, wouldn't really stay true to the Oz series.
I absolutely remember that version with the shoes at her bedside, but nobody I know remembers it.
Thank you! I remember that too but everyone I know thinks I'm nuts.
I remember that version and after that I expected to see the same ending but no I never saw that ending again. I got the response that no-one I know saw that ending of the movie where the ruby slippers being on her feet in her bed. Thank you for that answer. This was a long time mystery.
I absolutely remember that scene.
I remember that too - and I've asked so many people and they said no, I must have dreamed it. Thank you.
I saw that version once when I was a little kid too! I remember it vividly. Now I know I'm not crazy.
Answer: This seems to be one of those mass examples of people remembering something that never happened. There are also other variations, like people claiming to remember the film switching to color as the shot pans down to her slipper-clad feet, or the slippers being in color against the sepia-toned B&W footage. But sadly, it seems no officially released version of the film has had such an ending. It's similar to how everyone thinks Darth Vader says "Luke, I am your father," or how everyone thinks Humphrey Bogart says "Play it again, Sam!", even though neither of those lines are real, and people are merely incorrectly remembering them. The film is so ingrained in pop-culture, that people think they know it forwards-and-back, and false memories are created.
I agree that people think they remember things that never happened, but usually for things like this, remembering a scene wrong misquoting a movie lines, it comes from parody versions and people are (correctly) remembering the parody. I've never seen "Silence of the Lambs", but I know the line "Hello, Clarice" from films like "Cable Guy" and not from a false memory of the film.
Answer: https://criticsrant.com/mythbusters-dorothys-ruby-slippers/ This website gives some confirmation it's one of those myths that spread around and get mixed up in people's memories to being convinced they have seen it despite no evidence of it existing. In a film as big as the Wizard of Oz where die hard fans have collected original scripts, notes, and "lost" imagery over the years; we certainly would have something to back this up other than eye witness memory. Especially if it supposedly made it to the final print for viewing audiences as the original Wizard of Oz footage has been carefully preserved, as it's considered one of the most important films of all time. This footage wouldn't be completely lost if it made it to final showing print. Surely somebody would have posted it by now on YouTube. It is possible somebody made a skit or parody of this though contributing to the idea that it was actually in a print of the real movie.
Answer: I remember this being part of a special that was hosted by Angela Lansbury in 1990 and they showed that this ending was considered for the movie. For many years I couldn't remember why I remembered that ending and Angela Lansbury until I looked it up. I wish that it had been left like that. Kids always want their dreams to come true.
Answer: I and a friend of mine remember seeing the ruby slippers under Dorthy's bed at the end of the movie. Glad to know we didn't imagine it.
24th Aug 2012
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: Even though it's meant as a comedic moment, I've never really understood why Kirk would be so nervous about Saavik piloting the ship out of space dock. She's not actually flying the ship, so it's not like she's going to crash it into the wall or something. Plus, Sulu is an experienced pilot, so even if she said something stupid like "Warp speed!", he's unlikely to follow the order. Just something odd that I have always wondered about.
Chosen answer: He's nervous because she's a trainee and had never done this maneuver before. Even if Sulu is there, she could still possibly make one small error that he would be unable to react to in time. As you point out, the scene is meant to be comedic, and it's being a little over-played strictly for that.
Again though, she is not actually piloting the ship, only giving orders.
Even though Sulu is an experienced pilot, taking the ship out of space dock under power is still prohibited for a reason. If something were to go wrong and a quick decision had to be made, Savick would be the one giving orders to correct the problem. That's what makes Kirk nervous, not the piloting skill involved but the decision making required in an emergency.
Answer: Normally a ship is piloted out of spacedock using thrusters (see ST:TMP). Saavik ordered impulse power.
Answer: Saavik destroyed a simulated Enterprise during her Kobayashi Maru test, with Admiral Kirk chiding her afterwards. When Spock invites Saavik to take the real Enterprise out of space dock, Kirk is obviously nervous because he thinks Saavik is unready for command, as she destroyed the Enterprise earlier.
To my original point though, she is not actually touching any controls, only giving orders. The Enterprise was destroyed in the simulation during a Klingon attack, which is very different than guiding a ship out of spacedock. Not to mention the fact that the simulation is designed to make the cadet fail.
The whole scene is about Spock taking a dig at Kirk's ego. Being the only cadet in Starfleet history to ever actually beat the Kobayashi Maru test (albeit by trickery), Kirk has an inflated standard for what constitutes "readiness for command," and it shows in his reaction. Knowing full well that it will raise Kirk's hackles, Spock deliberately invites Saavik to handle the simple space dock maneuver. McCoy also knows that Kirk will over-react, which is why he offers Kirk a tranquilizer.
21st Jun 2017
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
16th Jul 2015
Lone Survivor (2013)
Question: What happens to the soldier that kills the Lone Survivor?
Answer: This question makes no sense. The Lone Survivor doesn't get killed. That's why he's the Lone "Survivor".
4th Dec 2014
The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
9th May 2012
The Avengers (2012)
Question: How exactly was Thor able to get back to Earth when the bifrost bridge was previously destroyed in his movie?
Chosen answer: In the original "Thor" movie, Loki tells Thor that there are ways into Asgard other than the Bifrost. Then when Thor takes Loki from the transport and the two of them are alone, Loki says "How much dark energy did the Allfather have to use to conjure you here?". Odin used dark energy to open a wormhole to send Thor back to earth.
10th Mar 2011
It (1990)
Question: Does Stephen King make a cameo appearance in this movie?
Chosen answer: No. It is a common misconception that he has a cameo in all of the movies/TV movies based on his works.
1st Aug 2009
Orphan (2009)
Question: Maybe I missed something, but how was Esther able to fool everyone practically all her life and hide the fact that she's a 33-year old sociopath? When Kate finally learns the truth by getting the phone call, they show a photo of the "real" Esther, so at least those records of her exist somewhere. How could the boarding school not have known her true identity?
Answer: The boarding school was going by the falsified records that Esther had with her. They did not suspect anything, so they had no reason to dig any further at the time.
Answer: High quality makeup was an important part of her disguise as the alternative ending make apparent. Her fake freckles were the master's touch.
13th Jul 2009
General questions
I am looking for a movie that was a direct to DVD movie. It had 3 or 4 stories in it. I remember the first story had a man fighting toy soldiers in his penthouse apartment. The last story had a couple where their car broke down in a small town. The town was being run by dead celebrities (Elvis was the sheriff) and the celebrities forced the visitors to stay and watch them perform every night. Anybody know the name of this movie?
Chosen answer: These stories were not from a movie, but from an anthology series called "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" that was shown on TNT in 2006. All of the episodes are based on Stephen King short stories. The first one you mentioned is called "Battleground" and the second one is called "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band".
10th Jul 2009
The Fly 2 (1989)
Question: After the gene-swapping sequence, why was Bartok placed in observation? Also, what was that food they gave him?
Chosen answer: Obviously, he was kept alive so he could be studied, which was a nasty twist on the fact that he kept the dog alive, and suffering, for so long. As far as the food, there is no way to know what it was. Probably some kind of bland mush.
23rd Jun 2009
The Fly 2 (1989)
Question: Why did the scientists at Bartok Industries keep that poor dog alive in observation? what were they hoping to gain?
Chosen answer: They were studying the mutation. It was cruel to keep the animal alive, but they didn't care about that.
22nd Jun 2009
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Question: Patricia Quinn (Magenta) and Patricia Heaton (Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond) bear a very strong resemblance. I'm wondering if they are the same actress?
Chosen answer: They are most definitely NOT the same actress. Patricia Quinn was born in 1944 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Patricia Heaton was born in 1958 in Ohio.
20th Jun 2009
Taken (2008)
Question: What was on the translation note to make the bad guy say, "good luck"?
Answer: It actually did say "Good Luck". Bryan was trying to get the villain to say that phrase so he could be certain that it was him by matching the voice to the one on the tape.
Answer: Bryan looked up the Albanian translation of "good luck", and wrote it down, from the English-Albanian dictionary he had purchased from the translator. He gave it to the kidnappers to read it back to him in English, so that he would be able to identify the speaker by voice. It was more plausible to create a story of needing something translated than to try to get one of the criminals to repeat "good luck" in English directly. The note is an implied office prank at Bryan's expense, since Bryan was pretending he was sent by French intelligence to shake down the criminals - his supposed "office staff" were wishing him "good luck" in Albanian. Bryan wrote the note himself, of course, but the criminals didn't know that, and chuckled about it.
14th Jun 2009
The Terminator (1984)
Question: Is it usual for gun store clerks to leave ammunition and bullets on the counter where anyone can pick them up and load them into a gun?
Chosen answer: No, it's not, but not every gun shop owner is reputable or responsible.
8th Jun 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Question: Was the scene of a naked Wolverine arriving at the elderly couple's farmhouse supposed to be some kind of a reference to Superman? The couple seemed to resemble Ma and Pa Kent, the house and farm looked identical to the ones in the Superman films and Logan turning up naked seemed to mirror the fact that baby Clark was naked when he first arrived. So was it intentional?
Chosen answer: There is nothing that the filmakers have said to indicate that this is a reference to Superman. In addition, since this is a Marvel comic, and Superman was was/is a DC comic, it's unlikely.
7th Apr 2009
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Question: Is there any significance to the pantyhose that the team gives out being encased in plastic eggs?
Chosen answer: L'Eggs was a famous brand of panty hose that came inside plastic eggs. That's the joke.
19th Mar 2009
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Question: Even with Diplomatic Immunity surely the cops aren't just going to stand back and let their colleagues die? is Diplomatic Immunity REALLY that infallible?
Chosen answer: Not in this case. This movie is notable for taking extreme liberties with the concept of diplomatic immunity. For one thing, the character was the head of a consulate, and would have had the much more limited 'consular immunity'. Generally, diplomatic immunity covers things like parking tickets, but even in cases of car injury and death, diplomats are not prosecuted in the host country, but can be expelled. In any case, diplomats cannot simply commit brazen crimes and get away with it.
Answer: It all depends on the level of immunity and who the person is. If the Diplomat commits a serious crime, there are a few courses of actions. They can ask the Diplomat to leave the country, they can ask the foreign country's government to recall the Diplomat, they can expel the Diplomat, or they can request the government of the Diplomat's country to waive Diplomatic Immunity. https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-DipConImm_v5_Web.pdf.
13th Mar 2009
Watchmen (2009)
Question: How does the public know they are called "Watchmen"? Was information slipped from the 1966 meeting when Ozymandias calls the group "Watchmen"? I wonder this because I don't know why the public would spray paint, "Who Watches the Watchmen?"
Answer: The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen" comes from "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, and refers to any group of people who polices the public (especially vigilantes). Basically, it means "they are watching us, but who is watching them?"
2nd Feb 2009
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: I am resubmitting my question because the posted answer is incomplete and/or irrelevant. In FOTR, Bilbo says something like "There has always been a Baggins living at Bag End, and there always will be." Presumably he thinks Frodo, and Frodo's descendants, will always live there, but Frodo goes to the Undying Lands, leaving no heirs behind. In the book, Sam and Rosie move into Bag End, but this does not happen in the movie - at the end of ROTK, you can see that the hobbit hole Sam goes home to is not Bag End. My question is, why did the filmmakers change these 2 things? In other words, if Bilbo's line is included to make it important who ends up in Bag End, why not show who does end up there in ROTK? If it is not important who lives there (thus explaining why Sam and Rosie don't appear there), then why have Bilbo make a fuss over it in FOTR? Someone answered that "Bilbo is simply stating the way things have always been", but this is not what I'm asking. I'm not asking "why would Bilbo say this?", I'm asking "why did Peter Jackson think it was important to have this line in the movie?" Why make a scene about who Bilbo thinks will end up in Bag End, and then not show who does end up in Bag End? I want to know what dramatic or story-telling purpose the juxtaposition of these 2 scenes (Bilbo's line and showing that Sam and Rosie do not move into Bag End) serves.
Answer: I think the point is that, at the time he speak the line, Bilbo has NO WAY to know the events that are to come. Clearly, he thinks that the Baggins' will always live at Bag End. How can he possibly know the way things will turn out? Even in the book, at the beginning of the story, Bilbo has no way to know that Sam and Rosie will move into Bag End and that Frodo will not. Also, you might be attaching far too much significance to this one line. We cannot assume that the line was included for the express purpose of "making it important who ends up in Bag End". All that matters is Bilbo is making an assumption that Baggins' will always live there.
Answer: Peter Jackson and the writing team made an effort to put lines of all the books in the movies. Can't remember if this line was actually in the book or if that was some kind of implicit statement. But I think Jackson chose not to place Sam in Bag End because it could be unpopular for the audience (at least some). It gives you no hope that Frodo will be back. It would be like admitting he was dead, and he would never ever come back. On another point of view you might consider that keeps the integrity, honesty and simplicity of Sam's life as gardener, and not as someone who is now part of the upper class. Not sure but I think we also do not know exactly when Sam actually took Bag End in his possession and actually started living there. I would imagine, if I was him, I would keep Bag End in neat condition but prefer to live in my cosy known family house. As his family grew bigger with Rosie, then he would move to Bag End for more space. They had thirteen children and you only see 2.
19th Jan 2009
Liar Liar (1997)
Question: Near the beginning of the movie, Fletcher can't lie and tries saying the word that sounds like "sight-ull". Why can't he say "Settle"? Just saying "Settle!" is a command or suggestion. It isn't telling a lie about something.
Answer: Because the underlying reason the parties would settle is a lie. He knows that settling the case is not really the right thing to do.
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Answer: Another fine example of the Mandela Effect. None of the "making of" books reference this alternate ending. The original book ends with Dorothy losing the slippers on her journey back to Kansas.
wizard_of_gore ★
I also remember this scene; however, I remember it in a television movie, and it was at the beginning, not the end, of an entirely different movie.