The Wizard of Oz: Myths and Legends
The Wizard of Oz Movie has had is share of rumors, myths, and legends over the years. It was even rumored Judy Garland was no help in the matter, for it was said that her time growing up in Vaudeville made her a great story teller, and that she liked to make stories up when asked about The Wizard of Oz. Here are few of the more popular Oz myths, along with their current status.
Is there a Munchkin Suicide or Hanging Munchkin?
Nope. It's a grip, no, it's a bird, no, it's not a dead munchkin. The scene occurs at the end of the Tin man scene as the three of them start towards the Emerald City. In earlier releases, the shadow had been accounted for by perhaps the hand of a grip or camera operator, but upon the advent of home video and rewind, the story somehow shifted to a dead munchkin. Judy Garland's tales of Munchkin misbehavior helped to solidify the story. However, partly in thanks to the clarity of restoration and DVD releases, it's much more clear to see that it's a bird stretching it's wings. Several online sources indicate the MGM had rented some huge flying birds to act as set dressing for the forest.
Professor's Marvel's movie costume Coat really belonged to L. Frank Baum
True. Professor Marvel, who appears in Kansas as the fortune teller, was played by actor Frank Morgan, who like most of the actors in the Wizard of Oz movie was cast in both a role in Kansas and in the Oz sequences. The Kansas shots that framed the movie, since they were not in full technicolor, were the last to be filmed, due to the fact that the technicolor cameras needed to be moved to the Gone with the Wind set. This left the Kansas costumes with plenty of time for tweaking. Professor Marvel's jacket was to be a jacket of a bygone era - once quite nice, but since left quite tatty. So, to quote Mary Mayer, the picture's publicist at the time "the wardrobe department went down to an old second-hand store on Main Street and bought a whole rack of coats. And Frank Morgan and the wardrobe man and [director] Victor Fleming got together and chose one." One afternoon, Frank Morgan turned out the pocket, and found the name L. Frank Baum. In those days, it was quite common to have a gentleman's name written on the label of a tailored suit, along with his measurements. According to Mary Mayer's reports, and confirmed by others, both the Tailor and Baum's widow identified the jacket, and the jacket was presented to Mrs. Baum as a gift. However, there are those that are still skeptical that the whole story was a publicity stunt for the movie.
The Wizard of Oz is a parable on the populist movement, the feminist movement or the Marxist movement
Most of these theories all came out of much later decades, and it's rather odd that none of L. Frank Baum's contemporary political satirists noted or drew any distinct lines between the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and it's political implications. However, while the original book was not known for it's policital implications, it should be noted that Wicked was written with intentional political undershadings.
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