The Wizard of Oz

Continuity mistake: In the poppy field, when Dorothy points at the Emerald City, the Lion is standing more than a meter away from her. In the close-up he stands very close to her.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: In the haunted forest, when the Tin Man is lifted up in the air, the Lion crouches and covers his face with his paws. A frame later he is standing up in a totally different position.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: Aunt Em places a cold towel on Dorothy's head. The towel is sometimes away from the eyebrow, slightly on top, or completely covering it, depending on the angle.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: The Lion says, "Read what my medal says," and holds it with his paw. In the close-ups the paw is away and the medal lies flat on his chest.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: Dorothy's Aunt hands out some food, walks with her and leaves Dorothy alone. Several meters ahead there's a cart wheel and one chicken. When the angle changes, Dorothy is standing next to the wheel, which is also facing a different position, and there's a lot of chickens around.

Sacha

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: After she watches the Wicked Witch "melt", Dorothy holds the pail in her hands. She never walks away but if you look closely the pail just disappears from the scene, never to return or be seen again. (01:26:45)

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Continuity mistake: Dorothy says to the Good Witch, "Will you help me? Can you help me?" and Toto goes from facing the camera to facing the other way between shots. (01:36:25)

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Continuity mistake: Aunt Em puts a compress on Dorothy's head as she returns to consciousness. In the next shot the top is folded differently. (01:39:15)

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Continuity mistake: In the Wicked Witch's room, she puts Toto in Dorothy's basket which now has a lid on both sides of it. Later when the boys come to rescue her, Dorothy walks over toward the hourglass, and picks up the same basket and it now has no lids on it (like earlier in the movie). (01:17:20 - 01:23:50)

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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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Continuity mistake: After the Wicked Witch turns the hourglass over and leaves, Dorothy is crying and has wet spots on her dress from the tears. In the next shot her dress is dry. (01:18:05)

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Continuity mistake: Dorothy says to herself, "Someplace where there isn't any trouble". If you look closely her hair is blowing in the pre-tornado Kansas wind. In the next shot it isn't. (00:05:25)

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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: In the scene when Dorothy taps her ruby slippers together, there is a bow on the toe. When she is walking to Emerald City, her shoes have no bow.

Continuity mistake: In Munchkinland, when Dorothy walks the road and everyone sings "Follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick road," the angle cuts and a group of Munchkins have suddenly appeared in the center of the previously empty road. Dorothy was standing on the farthest point, so they had half a second to walk 10 meters, which is impossible.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: The Lollipop Guild teleports all over the scene. As Glinda departs, they are behind Dorothy. As Glinda's bubble rises, several Munchkins run to where she was and wave goodbye, green shirted Lollipop Guilder (Jerry Maren) among them. Cut to Dorothy and Jerry's still behind her. (00:32:40)

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the Wicked Witch scares the Munchkins in Munchkinland, where Dorothy lands, she disappears into a cloud of smoke she creates. But you can see her sneak down into a trap door below. [As a sidenote to this entry, Margaret Hamilton was hospitalized for severe burns after a take of this shot (not the final one used) when the stage elevator got stuck and the explosion went off.] (00:30:45)

More mistakes in The Wizard of Oz

Wicked Witch: Ohhh... You cursed brat! Look what you've DONE! I'm melting! Melting! Oh... What a world, what a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness?!

More quotes from The Wizard of Oz
More trivia for The Wizard of Oz

Question: It is implied strongly in this movie that water makes witches melt, and this is spoofed in other media. I've only ever seen this referenced to wicked witches. Does water make good witches, such as Glinda, melt too?

Answer: In all likelihood, probably not. Water is often depicted and represents purity, and cleansing. It flows smoothly, is beautiful, clear, and responsible for life on Earth. Everything the Wicked Witch is not. Where as the good Witch is pure and of a true heart. So it makes sense that something so evil and impure as the evil witch would be effected by the purest substance there is, yet not harm the good witch because she is good.

Quantom X

Answer: In the original book, water caused the wicked witches to melt away because they were so old and shriveled that all the fluid in their bodies had long since dried away. Meanwhile, the film Oz: The Great and Powerful instead implies that the Wicked Witch of the West is weak against water due to being a fire-elemental witch, which could also be the case for this incarnation, meaning it wouldn't apply to other witches like Glinda (whose element in both films appears to be ice) or even the Wicked Witch of the East (whose powers are never shown in this film, but were electricity-based in Oz the Great and Powerful).

More questions & answers from The Wizard of Oz

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