The Wizard of Oz

Revealing mistake: Whenever Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion go off into the horizon you can see the line on the floor of the sound stage where the fake horizon is and the scene cuts off right as the four get to that point. (00:57:35)

Leonard Hassen

Revealing mistake: As they exit the Tin Man's scene singing, "We're off to see the Wizard", a bird stretching its wings is casting a shadow on the painted sound stage wall slightly to the right of the house, which reveals it to be a fake backdrop instead of an open area. (00:47:45)

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Revealing mistake: In the scene where the Lion sings his "If I Were King" song just before visiting the Wizard, if you watch closely above his moving tail, there is a string holding up and moving around the Lion's tail. (01:04:15)

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When Toto reveals the Wizard by pulling the curtain aside, he doesn't use his mouth; the curtain is tied to the dog. Dorothy can even be seen later removing the rope.

moviefan2345

Revealing mistake: As the cyclone carries the farmhouse through the air, it is evident that the walls of Dorothy's bedroom are not solid walls, but fabric-covered flats. They flutter and vibrate in the wind. (00:17:50)

Revealing mistake: When Dorothy's bedroom is flying away to Oz, there's wind blowing everywhere and bits of hay falling. However, the hay is coming from inside the room, instead of outside, and the papers on the table next to the window don't blow away nor move an inch.

Sacha

Revealing mistake: You can see strings attached to the witches monkeys as they fly, and also strings from their bodies to their wings, to give the wings that flapping effect. (01:11:20)

Hamster

Revealing mistake: When it starts to snow in the poppy field, Dorothy falls asleep, followed by the lion. In many of the later shots, a thin wire attached to the lion is visible the entire time.

ryderpoints

Revealing mistake: When the house lands in Oz, it lands with a bump and Dorothy is laying on her bed with Toto. The objects in the room had moved about a lot due to the twister, and wires attached to the end of the bed and the chair, etc. are really quite clear. (00:18:12)

Hamster

Revealing mistake: After the Wicked Witch throws fire down at them the Scarecrow kicks the stump next to him and it moves several times. The one behind him also moves. (00:46:25)

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Revealing mistake: The candles on the chandelier that fall on the guards are not real. If you look closely at them they're operated with gas. (01:24:50)

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Revealing mistake: As the Wicked Witch throws the hour glass down at them the stone statue on the left of the monkey is shaking. (01:24:45)

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Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It's the monkey that is shaking, not the statue.

zenee

Revealing mistake: As the Wicked Witch chases the four yelling "Seize them," they run around what looks like a concrete pillar. If you look closely it's covered with cloth that moves as they run by. (01:25:00)

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Revealing mistake: After the Wicked Witch exits Munchkinland in a puff of red smoke and flames, you can briefly see sulphur marks left on the trapdoor. (00:31:00)

Revealing mistake: After the doorman tells the four they can't go see the wizard he returns back into the palace and you can see his shadow where it shouldn't be against the painted backdrop wall inside the door on the left. (01:07:25)

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Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: I have the scene up right now, and the nail on the pole just looks like... a huge nail. Then Dorothy bends it, and the Scarecrow falls off. I'm not denying that it's a lever, because it's entirely possible that it is. The thing is, there is nothing in the scene that indicates that it absolutely has to be a lever, and it can't be a nail at all.

zenee

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: In the Haunted Forest, when the Tin Man is lifted up then lands back on the ground, at Tin Man's lower back you can see his white T-shirt tucked into his pants. (01:14:10)

violets69

Revealing mistake: The glass in Dorothy's bedroom windows don't break, they are removed from their frames as the scene progresses, and if you look at the reflections in them the windows are made of plastic. (00:18:45)

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The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Revealing mistake: As Dorothy is about to walk into the cyclarama (backdrop) as she leaves MunchkinLand, a Munchkin Soldier on the very far right is too far and becomes transparent with the matted-in flowers. (00:33:40)

The Wizard of Oz mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the scene when Dorothy and Scarecrow are fighting with the trees, Scarecrow says "I'll show you how to get apples" and he gets hit by the apples. In the very next shot, a quick view of Dorothy reveals she is wearing black shoes, not her ruby slippers. (00:40:15)

More mistakes in The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy: There's no place like home.

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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