Wizard of Oz: Curse or Neglect?
It was believed that the film set for the famous film, Wizard of Oz was cursed. But for a movie that brings back nostalgic memories for so many of us, you might find some of the reasons surprising.
Memories of our childhood, and for some, our parents' childhood too. Wizard of Oz is iconic, still, for so many reasons — ruby slippers, yellow brick road, and witches melting when you pour water on them. Not to mention how cool it was that the movie starts and finishes in black and white, but while in Oz everything was in colour! 😱
But was the Wizard of Oz film set really cursed? Or was it just the general neglect of workplace safety at the time that caused all the wild non-sense that took place during the filming?
Paint the town…silver
Well, not the town, actually a man. The Tinman. The actor who plays the Tinman in the film we know and love wasn’t the original actor who was chosen for the role. The original actor, Buddy Ebson, suffered from respiratory problems from having his entire body painted with silver aluminium-based paint — the dust of which entered his lungs.
As a result of this illness, his mobility was impaired and had difficulty having to stand for 16-hour workdays. He assumed, like most would, that once he felt better his job would be there waiting for him…but he was wrong. He was replaced with another actor in the meantime.
The weight of it all
The Cowardly Lion, another one of Dorothy’s companions, has become iconic. Lions usually represent bravery and courage, the Lion without any courage made this character very memorable. But what else is there to say about what the actor who played the Cowardly Lion…or more, his costume.
The Lion costume was made of real lion pelts! Yes, that’s right. No faux-fur here, 100% real genuine lion pelts. These pelts are heavy — if you’ve ever worn a fur coat or lifted an animal skin rug, you know that there is a good weight to these. Altogether, the lion costume weighed about 90 lbs (~41 kilos).
It’s also worth mentioning that it was very hot on set (as many sets can be, with such bright lights), and according to the actor, it was not only heavy but super hot and also super stinky.
Asbestos for the best of us
Poppies are usually known for Remembrance day, or for being turned into opium. But the poppies in Wizard of Oz are best known for the large field that stood in the way of Dorothy, her crew and Emerald city. We can all picture that field of poppies where Dorothy and her team start running through and then begin to feel sleepy and lie down to take a nap…yes, Toto too.
Oh, did I say a field of poppies? I meant, a field of asbestos! Yea, that’s right, the lovely field of beautiful red poppies that Dorothy is running and then resting her face, and skin on, is just a field of asbestos. I wonder how many takes it took to film that scene…
Kill a witch with fire or water?
The wicked witch was killed when water was thrown on her, nearing the end of the film. But the actress who played the wicked witch was nearly killed when she caught on fire, on set. There is a scene where there is a flash of smoke, and a trap door opens underneath her, so it appears that she has just “poofed” away.
In reality, there was an instance where the trap door timing was off, and that smoke, which came from a flame burned her face — she lost an eyebrow and eyelashes on one side. It took her 6 weeks to recover, but I suppose “lucky” for her, they didn’t replace her with another actor like they did the Tinman.
Dorothy wasn’t a little girl
In the film, Dorothy was meant to be a prepubescent young girl, but by the time of filming Judy Garland was already a teenager. The studio execs figured out a way to conceal Garland’s figure by getting her to wear a tight corset. She was also prescribed amphetamines to keep her weight down, and barbiturates to help her sleep after long workdays…the good ol’ days?
If you know anything about Garland, she died from an accidental barbiturate overdose later in life, and it’s said that the filming of Wizard of Oz is what started her addiction.
A horse of another colour
How cool were the colour-changing horses? Keeping in mind that Wizard of Oz was filmed in 1939, CGI was not the enabler of those special effects. What was responsible, you ask? J-E-LL-O, Jell-o!
Some of you might be thinking, horse inception — but turns out gelatin isn’t made from horse parts, but rather pig and cattle…not sure that makes it any better though. I’ve probably just upset all animal rights activists but keep in mind, this was a different time.
Apparently, the horses were often sticky later with Jello crystals stuck in their hair, and the scenes had to be shot quickly before the horses tried to lick off the delicious dessert.
There’s no place like home
There’s been quite a bit of discussion about the Wizard of Oz filming. There are even theories about the ruby slippers being cursed and allegations of sexual abuse from some of the “munchkins”…but I think we’ve given enough detail to give you a pretty good picture of what it was like to work on the set of the Wizard of Oz.
So was the set cursed, or do you think it was just a sign of the workplace safety neglect that was rampant until recent times — and still is in some places? Let me know what you think!
