• There is a Good Witch of the South (and Her Name is Glinda!). In the classic movie, no mention is made of the Good Witch of the South, just the Good Witch of the North, whose name is Glinda. But in the original L. Frank Baum books, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South — a different witch than the elderly north witch who greets Dorothy upon her arrival in Oz. Then again, even in the books, the Good Witch of the North mostly disappears from the scene, with “good witch” plot duties taken over by the south witch. As such, the makers of the 1939 movie simply condensed the two witches.

• Toto Talks! While animals (such as the Cowardly Lion) can speak in Oz, it appears in the movie that Toto cannot. But in the eighth book in Baum’s series, Toto reveals he can talk in Oz — he’s just, until then, chosen not to.

• Wicked is Not the First Broadway Adaptation of the Story. A 1902 musical version of Baum’s first book was such a success on Broadway than it encouraged him to write thirteen more books in the series.

• Dorothy Had a Thing For the Scarecrow. In an early version of the movie screenplay, there were hints that Dorothy would develop a relationship with Hunk, the real-world counterpart to the Scarecrow, with him leaving for agricultural college at the end of the movie, but getting Dorothy’s promise to write to him. The relationship wasn’t completely eliminated from the final screenplay, however, most notably when Dorothy says to the Scarecrow, “I think I’ll miss you most of all.”

• A Tin Woodman Would Never Rust. Iron rusts, but tin does not. Since the Tin Woodman obviously does rust, some speculate that the Tin Woodman is actually an Iron Woodman (with a tin veneer, as is often common), or that he has joints of iron.

• After Margaret Hamilton was Injured, Her Stand-In Was Injured Too. Hamilton was famously burned on the second take of her first smoke-and-flame-filled disappearance from the Yellow Brick Road — so much so that when she returned from the hospital, she refused to participate in a scene where the Witch is seen riding a broom with smoke billowing out behind. Her stand-in was used instead, and she was seriously burned and hospitalized as well.
  

• No Footage of Buddy Ebsen, the Original Tin Man, Still Exists. Ebsen, who was famously replaced because he had an allergic reaction to the make-up, worked on the movie for nine days of filming, mostly scenes in the witch’s castle, but none of the footage (apparently) still exists. All the existing shots of Ebsen in Tin Man garb are still-shots. (The movie has lots of other “lost” footage as well, including the entire “Jitterbug” scene. This is the problem with the fact that you never know you’re making a classic at the time you’re making it!)

• The Movie Had at Least Four Directors. Victor Fleming was responsible for directing most of the film’s actual footage (and is the credited director), but in addition to temporary director George Cukor (who left to film Gone With the Wind), the movie’s initial director, Norman Taurog, was replaced before actual filming began, and its second director Richard Thorpe was replaced after two weeks, the same time that Buddy Ebsen was let go. When Flemming then left to (ironically) take over Gone With the Wind from Cukor, King Vidor stepped in to film the final scenes, including Dorothy singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Producer Mervyn LeRoy is also sometimes listed as an uncredited director.

• The Wizard Gives the Cowardly Lion “Liquid” Courage. In the book, the Wizard doesn’t give the Lion a “badge of courage” — he gives him an unnamed liquid: “liquid courage.” Pretty cheeky, Baum, pretty cheeky.

• Since the Classic 1939 Movie, the Oz Story Has Never Been Reimagined in Any Form. Just kidding!

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