The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Revealing mistake: When the Lion runs out of the Wizard's room, the group disappears because it is an obvious backdrop.

Sacha ★

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)

Revealing mistake: Soon after Dorothy slaps the Cowardly Lion, she looks as though she is about to laugh out loud. This happens about 10 seconds or so after the slap. She even tries to put Toto in front of her face to cover up her smirking. (00:48:45)

Revealing mistake: When the guard tells Dorothy that she may not see the Wizard, Dorothy starts crying and tells a sob story about Auntie Em. Then, it shows the guard crying, but the tears aren't coming from his eyes. They're coming from above his eyebrows. (01:08:00)

Revealing mistake: When the Lion is pulling up the Tin Man with his tail on the way to the castle, you can see a square block inside the Lion's costume to hold the tail on. (01:20:00)

Revealing mistake: During the Lion's song of, "If I only had the nerve." You can see the cameraman's shadow pass over Dorothy, the Lion, and then the log on the side of the road. Watch carefully, it comes back. (00:52:18)

Revealing mistake: In the scene of the Haunted Forest, when Dorothy is taken away by two of the flying monkeys, you can see that as she's kicking her legs in the air that they are mechanical. The kicking is very stiff and inhuman. (01:15:30)

Revealing mistake: When everyone is still in the poppy field, after the snowstorm, Dorothy says "Look. Emerald City is closer and prettier than ever." Look behind the Lion just as Dorothy says the word "City" and you'll see that the wire attached to his tail brushes over the top of some of the poppies, knocking the snow off. (00:57:15)

Jeff Swanson

Revealing mistake: When the group is waiting to see the Wizard, the Lion sings the "If I Were King" song. The Tin Man grabs a flower pot and breaks it to make a crown. When the crown falls off the Lion's head later, it bounces around like plastic. (01:07:20)

Revealing mistake: If you listen closely, during the singing of "We're Off To See The Wizard" by Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, you can recognise Buddy Ebsen's gravelly voice. He was the original Tin Man, but had a reaction to the makeup. They had already recorded the songs and it was too expensive to re-do it. (This film was WAY over budget and they couldn't waste time and money re-recording songs) (00:47:30)

Revealing mistake: When the foursome are granted permission to see the Wizard, they get up, link arms and proceed up the steps. You can see the wire that holds up the Lion's tail get caught in front of the Scarecrow's arm. He then lets it loose very carefully by unlinking his arm. (01:08:30)

Revealing mistake: When the Tin Man breaks the flower pot for the Lion in the palace you can see the lines that it is supposed to break on. (01:00:55)

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)

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.

Revealing mistake: When Dorothy first meets the Scarecrow, he is placed up on a wooden stick and you can blatantly see the wire holding him up on it. (00:33:40)

Hamster ★

Revealing mistake: When Dorothy runs to the back of the house during the storm a crewmember is moving the rocking chair in the room on the left. The wind never stops blowing, but the chair stops moving after it's left alone. (00:16:35)

????

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)

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)

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)

????

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)