The Wizard of Oz

Continuity mistake: When Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion are marching into the Wicked Witch's castle after taking the guards' uniforms, all three of them are shown holding the same types of spears as the guards, so when they go rescue Dorothy out of the locked room and Tin Man chops through the door with his axe, where did the axe come from? (01:22:50)

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Suggested correction: I'm 63 years old and still watch The Wizard of Oz. If I remember correctly, the axe was taken off a nearby wall.

There is no scene of him taking the axe off the wall, nor is there any axe seen on any of the walls. Plus, it's the same axe he had the whole time. But the 3 also take off their coats/disguises while the camera is on Dorothy and it's possible he had the axe tucked away in the coat.

Bishop73

In the books, the Tin Man always has his axe and he uses it often. Perhaps it is the same in the movie.

Suggested correction: I'm with Bishop73 on this one. The Tin Man has his axe with him when they put on the guards' uniforms, and when they get to the room that Dorothy is in, he uses his axe to break the doors, so it's plausible to believe that he tucked the axe in his uniform, then took it out to rescue Dorothy.

zenee

Continuity mistake: At the Witch's door the Tin Man is not the wearing his metal suit underneath the guards clothing. Look at his waist. (01:23:30)

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Continuity mistake: When the Tin Man starts chopping the Witch's door his axe has marks all over it. Several shots later he raises it again to chop down another door and it's as new as the day he bought it. (01:23:35)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The Tin Man starts chopping the Witch's door and it's not the same one we just saw three shots before. The wood is a different color and the dark metal brace has been polished in the close-up. (01:23:40)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At first the Tin Man starts chopping the top part of the Witch's door with his ax and two shots later he's chopping about two feet lower, near the handle. If you look closely when he eventually gets the door open, the top part has not been touched. (01:23:40)

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Continuity mistake: As the Tin Man chops open the Witch's door only one piece of wood has fallen off of it. In the next shot when Dorothy comes through there's much more rubble on the floor (in front of and behind the door) than there should be. (01:24:00)

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Continuity mistake: When the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are chopping down the witch's door to free Dorothy before the hourglass runs out, they are dressed in the guards' uniforms. We see the axe hit the door, and in the next wide shot they are not in the uniforms. There is a slight view of the uniforms in a pile on the floor, as if the trio had changed out of them between axe blows. (01:24:00)

Continuity mistake: As the Wicked Witch puts her flaming broomstick on the Scarecrow, look closely at the Tin Man. His chest dent that we saw several shots earlier on the left side of his costume, has been dented out. (01:24:20 - 01:26:15)

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Continuity mistake: The Tin Man looks at the rope that holds up the chandelier and it's covering the knot. The next time we see it as he takes the axe to it, the rope is on the left of the knot. (01:24:40)

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Continuity mistake: When the Wicked Witch throws the hour glass down at them the monkey on her right runs and hides behind the statue. In the next shot he's back sitting right next to her. (01:24:45)

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Continuity mistake: As the Wicked Witch throws her hour glass at them we see behind her as she stands on the balcony, and her broomstick is definitely not anywhere near her. As she runs down the stairs, it's in her hand. (01:24:45)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As the chandelier falls on the guards at the witch's castle, all the candles are blown out by the time it lands. The next shot shows some of them relit. (01:24:50)

Continuity mistake: When the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Dorothy are cornered in the witch's castle, the scarecrow grabs the Tin Man's axe and chops a rope, releasing the chandelier, which falls on the guards. In the next shot, however, as the witch is shrieking "seize them", the guards give chase with only 1 or 2 laying on the floor. (01:24:55)

Continuity mistake: The Scarecrow is in the lead as the four run away from the guards and enter the tower where the Wicked Witch is eventually melted. In the next shot the Tin Man is in front. (01:25:35)

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Continuity mistake: As the four enter the tower where the Wicked Witch is eventually melted, we see guards and steps on the left of the tower. When seen from above the entrance that the guards use is on the right of the tower. (01:25:35)

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Continuity mistake: The Wicked Witch enters the tower and says, "Ring around the Rosie" and the broom in her hands changes between shots. The one she sticks in the fire is different. (01:26:00)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the Witch melts, the broom is laying several inches from her dress. In the next shot, the broom is practically touching her dress. (01:26:20)

brantlee

Continuity mistake: Immediately after Dorothy throws the water onto the witch, there is a long shot of the group as they observe the Wicked Witch beginning to melt. In this shot you can see that the Scarecrow's arm is still on fire, yet nothing is done about it as they all focus on the Witch. In the next full shot of the Scarecrow the fire is completely out. (01:26:20)

Continuity mistake: Dorothy throws water at the Wicked Witch not knowing it will melt her. If you look closely the witch is drenched when it hits her but in the next close up shot she doesn't have a drop of water on her. (01:26:20)

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Continuity mistake: If you look at Dorothy's dress, it's wet before she throws the water on the Wicked Witch. In the next shot the water spot (on Dorothy's dress) disappears only to return later when she gets the broomstick. (01:26:20)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Dorothy slaps Lion on the nose for chasing Toto and shouts, "Shame on you!" in the wide shot, we see Dorothy's right arm with no mark on her skin. It then cuts to the medium shots, and there's an inexplicable long, thin blue mark (it's not a loose thread) on Dorothy's arm near her elbow, while she's holding Toto. This blue mark vanishes in the wide shot when she puts Toto down, and Lion begins to sing. (00:50:25)

Super Grover

More mistakes in The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?

More quotes from The Wizard of Oz
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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?

Macalou

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.

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.

TedStixon

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.

Bishop73

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 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.

You may have seen the scene, but it wasn't at the end of this movie for reasons stated above.

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.

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