The Wizard of Oz

Continuity mistake: The yellow brick road is made out of painted bricks. As they enter Oz it changes into shiny linoleum with grey grout marks painted on it. (00:59:25)

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Revealing mistake: Soon after Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow meet the Lion for the first time, they dance along the Yellow Brick Road, singing. As they disappear at the back of the set, their shadows can be seen on the backdrop, equally covering the trees and everything in between. DVD showing. (00:53:10)

Continuity mistake: In the section just after the Tin Man has been oiled, he drops his axe and starts dancing on the road. After the Witch throws the fire at the Scarecrow, the three of them start down the road to Oz, he has mysteriously picked up his axe. (00:42:45 - 00:47:30)

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Dorothy, Tin man, Lion and Scarecrow are in the haunted forest and are discussing whether or not to believe in spooks, Tin Man is lifted up into the air and then comes crashing to the ground. You can see his pants wrinkle up as he's trying to get up. Since when does tin wrinkle like that? (01:14:00)

Audio problem: After the Wicked Witch of the West is liquidated, the soldiers hail Dorothy. After Dorothy asks for the broom, they are heard hailing her again, but none of their mouths move. As the scene fades into the next one, the soldiers' mouths can be seen beginning to move to say the line. (01:27:20)

Continuity mistake: The characters change places from one shot to another as the Wizard gives the Tin Man his heart, etc.

Continuity mistake: The flower pot crown that falls from the Cowardly Lion's head goes from being behind the gang to by the right of them, with no-one touching it. (01:04:38 - 01:05:50)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: In one of the most endearing scenes from one of the greatest movies of all times, nobody noticed that as Dorothy sings "Over the Rainbow" the haystack she's standing next to just materializes between shots. Later it disappears long before the twister reaches the house. If you watch the movie you'll see the exact spot where the haystack should be seen as Aunt Em gives Dorothy a cruller and says to her, "and find yourself a place where you won't get into any trouble". (00:07:25)

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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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Audio problem: The very last line of the scarecrows song "Life would be a ding-a-derry if I only had a brain" does not match with the scarecrow's mouth movements, probably because he's too busy concentrating on his dancing. (00:35:55)

Hamster

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the start of the "lions and tigers and bears, oh my" sequence, Dorothy, the Scarecrow and Tin Man are all standing separately, then the shot cuts and they're suddenly arm in arm. (00:48:45)

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Visible crew/equipment: As they enter the poppy field their shadows can be seen against the painted wall as they walk in front of a stage light just before and after they come into view. (00:54:20)

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Visible crew/equipment: In the close-up when Dorothy sings, "With the thoughts you'd been thinking you could be another Lincoln, if you only had a brain" look closely and you can see the shadow of the camera man on the Scarecrow's arm. (00:36:55)

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Continuity mistake: When the Munchkins start coming out to see Dorothy, one Munchkin comes out of a manhole. But in other wide shots, and when Dorothy leaves to go to Oz, the manhole has totally disappeared. (00:22:25)

Hamster

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: As Zeke feeds the pigs we see his hankie sticking straight up out of his back pocket. He doesn't touch it but later before he pulls it out after rescuing Dorothy, it's hanging downward and much more is showing. (00:04:00)

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Continuity mistake: As Dorothy stands in front of the Wicked Witch the ruby slippers are protruding over the step. In the next shot they are several inches back from the step. (01:16:50)

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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

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: 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 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.

More questions & answers from The Wizard of Oz

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