The Wizard of Oz

Visible crew/equipment: As Dorothy and the Scarecrow dance off and sing, "We're off to see the Wizard" moving spot lights and equipment shadows can be seen on the grass on the right of the Yellow Brick Road. (00:39:00)

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Audio problem: Just before Aunt Em and the others go into the storm cellar, Em calls for Dorothy and tells Henry she can't find her. Em's mouth never matches any of the words she is saying. (00:16:00)

Visible crew/equipment: As the door keeper tells them he will get them to the Wizard the camera shadow can be seen moving across the green door. (01:08:15)

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Revealing mistake: As Dorothy skips off on her journey at the very end of the song "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", the shot cuts just in time to prevent her hitting the painted backdrop. The join between the ground and the backdrop is visible.

Continuity mistake: When the Wizard says, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" he pulls the curtain closed and Toto's not there. In the next shot Toto's tied to the curtain again. (01:28:35)

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Revealing mistake: In the scene when the Wicked Witch of the West bends down to retrieve the ruby shoes from the feet of her sister sticking out underneath Dorothy's house, there is one quick shot in the middle of the scene that shows her in front of a screen with a picture (film) of the house on it. Maybe that shot was filmed after the original set was unavailable? That would seem to be the only possible and reasonable explanation why such a shot would be necessary. (00:29:55)

Continuity mistake: When Dorothy first meets the scarecrow, there is a patch of grass in front of the field the scarecrow is in. On the grass there's two beds of flowers. The flowers change colors from when Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, to when the Scarecrow starts his "If only I had a Brain" song. (00:33:00 - 00:35:30)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: During the storm the farm hands let the horses go and Dorothy runs to the back of the house as the wind blows directly in her face. If you look closely a large wood plank is sent sliding on the road, in the wrong direction into the wind. (00:15:50)

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Continuity mistake: Glinda says to Dorothy, "I'm afraid you've made a rather a bad enemy of the Wicked Witch of the WestÂ…" and the mayor of the Munchkin city walks up from behind them. In the next shot he re-approaches them from the left. (00:31:00)

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Other mistake: In the close-up as the Wicked Witch pets him, Toto, who has been referred to as a "he" throughout the movie appears to be a she. In actuality, Toto is a female Cairn terrier. (01:16:05)

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Continuity mistake: When the Tin Man is attacked by six flying monkeys they take away his axe. Several seconds later he has it again. (01:15:20)

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Suggested correction: The "several seconds later" between his axe being taken and him having it back is a 25-second scene of the Scarecrow being pulled apart, and Dorothy and Toto being taken away. There was plenty of time for the Tin Man to retrieve his axe. Also, when we see the Tin Man with his axe again, there are still many flying monkeys on the ground, so it's possible that the flying monkey who took his axe didn't just immediately fly away with it.

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Continuity mistake: When the Lion is singing about being King of the Forest, the Tin Man breaks a flower pot to "crown" him. Pay close attention, as the break marks on the pot change. In one shot there's a big jagged edge sticking up (obviously longer than the others) and in the next shot most of the edges are even.

Audio problem: The talking trees throw their apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow and if you look closely behind the tree on the right, Toto can be seen barking his head off, but we never hear a thing. (00:40:20)

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Continuity mistake: When Dorothy first meets the Scarecrow there are no pumpkins on the left side of the Yellow Brick Road. Later when he starts to dance pumpkins have been added. (00:33:55 - 00:36:50)

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Continuity mistake: Before Dorothy leaves Munchkinland she has a blue flower in her basket. She never touches the basket but as she dances out of town it's not there. (00:32:55)

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Continuity mistake: Near the end of the movie, when Dorothy is saying good-bye to the Scarecrow, he is looking at Dorothy and begins to wave good-bye. In the next shot, his head is down and he lifts it slowly and begins to wave. (01:38:30)

Continuity mistake: As the Munchkins send Dorothy off singing "We're off to see the Wizard" the red coated guard is hanging out of his booth as he waves his sword. In the next shot he's inside the booth tapping time with his sword. (00:33:30)

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Continuity mistake: As the Scarecrow yells for "help" in the poppy field, the Tin Man goes from holding the head of his axe to holding his head between shots. (00:56:15)

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Dorothy: There's no place like home.

More quotes from The Wizard of Oz

Trivia: "Over the Rainbow", which the American Film Institute recently named the greatest movie song of all time, was nearly cut from the film.

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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