146 Fun Facts About Wizard of Oz

Who illustrated the first edition of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'?

W. W. Denslow shared the copyright with Baum, but each believed his own work had made the book a hit, and the partnership ended after Denslow designed the 1902 stage show's costumes.

To whom did Baum dedicate The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900?

His wife, Maud, got the dedication: 'to my good friend & comrade My Wife'. Her mother had at first disapproved of her marrying a travelling actor.

In the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Golden Cap lets its wearer summon which creatures, with three commands per holder?

Winged Monkeys had already served the Wicked Witch twice before she spent her last command on Dorothy; Glinda later uses the cap to send Dorothy's friends home, then gives it to the Monkey King so his band is free.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what do the talking trees hurl at Dorothy and the Scarecrow?

Apples are what Dorothy was trying to pick when a tree slapped her hand, so the Scarecrow sneers at the fruit until the trees pelt the pair with exactly what they wanted.

What does Dorothy primarily seek from the Wizard of Oz?

Dorothy's main goal throughout her journey in Oz is to find a way to get back to her home in Kansas.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what does the Wizard hand the Scarecrow in place of a brain?

A diploma, naming him a Doctor of Thinkology: the Wizard argues that great thinkers back home have no more brains than he has, just the piece of paper.

What does the Tin Woodman desire from the Wizard of Oz?

A heart is his wish, yet he is already the softest of the party: in the book he weeps so hard over a beetle he steps on that his jaw rusts shut.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what does Toto tug at to expose the Wizard as an ordinary man?

A curtain hides a man working levers and a microphone; in Baum's book the reveal is an accident, when Toto jumps at the Lion's roar and tips over a screen.

What colour are Dorothy's magic shoes in L. Frank Baum's original book?

Silver in the book, the shoes are said to have turned ruby for the 1939 film to make the most of colour photography; either way, they are what carries Dorothy home.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what must Dorothy bring the Wizard before he will grant any wishes?

The Witch's broomstick is the price of his help, to prove the travellers worthy; Baum's Wizard is blunter and tells Dorothy to kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

In the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, what must every visitor put on before entering the Emerald City?

Green-tinted spectacles are locked on with a key by the Guardian of the Gates, supposedly to protect eyes from the city's brilliance, which is why everything inside looks so dazzlingly green.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, how is Toto carried away from the farm under a sheriff's order?

On a bicycle, shut in its basket until he jumps out and runs home; inside the cyclone Dorothy sees the same rider pedal past her window, changing shape in mid-air.

How does Dorothy accidentally defeat the Wicked Witch of the West?

Dorothy throws a bucket of water over the Wicked Witch of the West, who melts away; in the book she does it in anger after the Witch trips her and snatches one of her shoes.

In Baum's novel, the Wizard of Oz confesses he is a circus balloonist from which US city?

Omaha is where he says he was born; a ventriloquist turned circus balloonist, he drifted off course, came down in Oz and let the locals take him for a great wizard.

Terry, the dog who played Toto in the 1939 Wizard of Oz, was what breed?

Terry was a Cairn Terrier, a female playing a male dog for $125 a week; a Winkie guard stepped on her and sprained her paw, so a stand-in filled in while she healed.

Which actor began the 1939 Wizard of Oz as the Tin Man but was hospitalised after breathing in his aluminum-powder makeup?

Buddy Ebsen spent weeks recovering while the trade press was told he had pneumonia; Jack Haley, brought in to replace him, wore the aluminum as a painted-on paste instead.

Which member of the 1939 Wizard of Oz cast played five parts, including Professor Marvel and the title role?

Frank Morgan turns up as Professor Marvel, the Wizard, the city gatekeeper, the cabbie and a palace guard, a running gag the screenwriters added so the humbug keeps reappearing in new guises.

Bert Lahr's sweltering costume in the 1939 Wizard of Oz was made mainly from which material?

Real lion skin and fur made up the suit, worn under Technicolor lamps hot enough to push the set past 100°F; the costume sold at auction in 2014 for more than $3 million.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what tinted the white horses for the 'horse of a different color' scene?

Jell-O powder coloured the white horses shot by shot, so several tints stand in for a single animal: as the cabbie says, 'there's only one of him, and he's it'.

Besides Best Song for 'Over the Rainbow', which Oscar did the 1939 Wizard of Oz win?

Best Original Score went to Herbert Stothart, while the winning song had nearly been lost: after a preview, MGM executives pushed to cut 'Over the Rainbow' from the film.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, which Kansas neighbour gets a sheriff's order to seize Toto after he bites her?

Almira Gulch, who 'owns half the county', takes Toto away; inside the cyclone she turns into the Wicked Witch of the West, both roles played by Margaret Hamilton.

The Kansas scenes of the 1939 Wizard of Oz were shot in black and white and then given which treatment?

A sepia-tone process warmed the black-and-white Kansas scenes as a counterweight to the colour, so that the cut to Oz lands as a burst of Technicolor.

Who directed most of the 1939 Wizard of Oz before leaving to take charge of Gone with the Wind?

Victor Fleming directed most of the picture, then left in February 1939 to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind; another director finished the last Kansas scenes uncredited.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what was the Scarecrow's suit made of when the Witch set him alight?

Asbestos went into a special version of Ray Bolger's Scarecrow suit; the film's historians say the snow that falls on the poppies was crushed gypsum, not asbestos as often told.

Which US network first broadcast the 1939 Wizard of Oz on television, in 1956?

CBS first televised it on November 3, 1956, and the yearly showings that followed made it a family ritual; the Library of Congress says it has been seen by more viewers than any other film.

Who wrote the lyrics to the songs of the 1939 Wizard of Oz, including 'Over the Rainbow'?

Yip Harburg wrote the words to Harold Arlen's music and shaped the script as well: the Wizard's parting gifts to Dorothy's three friends were his idea.

What was the name of the swing-style song cut from the 1939 Wizard of Oz before release?

'The Jitterbug', a swing number shot in the Haunted Forest, was cut before release; a trace remains when the Witch says she has sent 'a little insect on ahead' to take the fight out of them.

Which actress was first cast as the Wicked Witch in the 1939 Wizard of Oz but withdrew before filming?

Gale Sondergaard was cast as a sleek, glamorous witch but withdrew when the character was reworked into an ugly hag; Margaret Hamilton took over the part.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, which Kansas farmhand reappears in Oz as the Scarecrow?

Hunk tells Dorothy to use her head, since it 'ain't made of straw', then turns up in Oz stuffed with it; Hickory becomes the Tin Man and Zeke the Lion.

From which producer did MGM buy the screen rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1938?

Samuel Goldwyn had bought the book in 1933 as a vehicle for comedian Eddie Cantor, whom he pictured as the Scarecrow, but he never made the film and sold the rights on.

The box-office success of which 1937 film set Hollywood studios bidding for the Oz film rights?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs proved a children's fantasy could fill cinemas, and by February 1938 five studios were bidding for a book that had sat unfilmed for years.

Which comedian was MGM's pick to play the Wizard in the 1939 Wizard of Oz before the deal fell through?

W. C. Fields was wanted once Ed Wynn had called the part too small, but accounts differ on why he dropped out: his fee, or the script he was writing for You Can't Cheat an Honest Man.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, how does Professor Marvel earn his living on the road?

Telling fortunes from a crystal is his act, but the vision of Dorothy's aunt is a cheat: he has her shut her eyes, then peeks at a photograph in her basket.

Which stand-in director on the 1939 Wizard of Oz scrapped Judy Garland's blonde wig and told her to 'be herself'?

George Cukor never shot a frame: filling in for about a week after the first director was dropped, he stripped away the wig and heavy make-up so Dorothy looked like a real farm girl.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what was the 'oil' used on the Tin Man's joints really made from?

Chocolate syrup stood in for oil on the Tin Man's joints, and the tin was fake too: his costume was buckram, a stiff cloth, covered in leather.

Margaret Hamilton's green Wicked Witch make-up for the 1939 Wizard of Oz was based on which metal?

Copper made the green paint toxic, so when a fire effect in Munchkinland burned her face and hand, the make-up had to be scrubbed from the raw skin before the burns could be treated.

What was Margaret Hamilton's profession before she turned to acting?

Kindergarten teacher was her first career, and the instinct stayed: in 1975 she went on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to show children that the Witch was only a costume.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, what does the Wicked Witch use to show Dorothy how long she has to live?

An hourglass sets the deadline: the Witch has just remembered the slippers will not come off while Dorothy is alive, so she turns the glass over and leaves to plan the killing.

How did MGM's effects team create the twister in the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

A spinning cloth funnel did it: a rubber cone refused to twist, so Arnold Gillespie hung 35 feet of muslin from a gantry and whipped it across the stage above a scale-model farm.

The Lion and Scarecrow masks in the 1939 Wizard of Oz were early uses of which make-up material?

Foam latex let make-up chief Jack Dawn glue soft, moving faces onto his actors; Ray Bolger's took an hour to peel off each day and left lines on his skin long after filming ended.

How were the Winkie guards' deep chanting voices produced for the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Recorded fast, played back slow gave the Winkies their rumble; the Munchkin chorus was the reverse, studio voices taped slowly and sped up, with only two Munchkin actors heard in their own voices.

Whose "Night on Bald Mountain" underscores the escape from the Witch's castle?

Herbert Stothart's score quotes Mussorgsky's 'Night on Bald Mountain' during the escape from the Witch's castle; Schumann's 'The Happy Farmer' and Mendelssohn also sneak into the score.

What was the film's final running time after test-screening cuts?

After the test-screening cuts the film ran 101 minutes; early cuts ran nearly two hours, when the average 1939 feature was about 90 minutes.

Where did the 1939 Wizard of Oz hold its official Hollywood premiere?

Grauman's Chinese Theatre hosted the official premiere on August 15, 1939, but Hollywood was not first: the film had already opened in Wisconsin towns, starting with Green Bay on August 10.

Who joined Judy Garland on stage after screenings at the 1939 New York premiere of The Wizard of Oz?

Mickey Rooney, her frequent co-star, had toured Eastern cities with her to promote the film, and the pair sang on stage after each screening at Loew's Capitol for the first week.

What finally put the 1939 Wizard of Oz into profit?

A re-release ten years on put it in the black: the first run took about $3 million against a cost of nearly $2.8 million, and distribution and advertising turned that into a loss.

Roughly what was the film's budget, MGM's largest at the time?

The production cost roughly $2.7 million ($2,777,000 on MGM's books), the studio's most expensive film to that date; Technicolor lighting pushed stage temperatures past 100 °F.

Where did the Wicked Witch of the West rank on AFI's list of 50 screen villains?

AFI ranked the Wicked Witch of the West No. 4 among screen villains, behind Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates and Darth Vader; her 'I'll get you, my pretty' line also made AFI's 100 Movie Quotes at No. 99.

Which Oz line ranks highest on AFI's list of 100 movie quotes?

'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore', Dorothy's first line on stepping out into colour, sits at No. 4; 'There's no place like home' is back at No. 23.

Which novelist said The Wizard of Oz 'made a writer of me' and wrote a BFI study of the film?

Salman Rushdie's 1992 BFI study turns the moral upside down: for him the film is about the joy of leaving the grey for the colour, and there is no longer any such place as home.

Which director's obsession with The Wizard of Oz is the subject of a 2022 documentary?

David Lynch called it his favourite film and kept quoting it, down to the red shoes on the heroine of Wild at Heart; Alexandre O. Philippe's Lynch/Oz traces those echoes.

Which Munchkin trio did Jerry Maren belong to in the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

The Lollipop Guild: Jerry Maren was the green-clad middle member who hands Dorothy the giant lollipop, and at his death in 2018 he was the last surviving adult Munchkin of the cast.

Which star voiced Dorothy in the animated sequel Journey Back to Oz, decades after her mother played the role?

Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland's elder daughter, voiced Dorothy in the cartoon, which also brought back Margaret Hamilton, this time as kindly Aunt Em rather than the Witch.

In Baum's novel, which Munchkin hosts a banquet for Dorothy on her first night?

Boq, one of the richest Munchkins, reads Dorothy's dress as proof she is a friendly witch: blue is the Munchkin colour and white the witch colour. Wicked later borrowed his name.

In Baum's novel the Wizard takes a different form for each visitor, so what does Dorothy see?

A giant head, bald and bodiless, speaks to Dorothy; her friends meet a lovely lady, a five-eyed beast and a ball of fire, all props the humbug later pulls out to show them.

In the novel, who tells Dorothy a good witch in the South might send her home?

The Soldier with the Green Whiskers, the Emerald City's one-man army, suggests that Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, is powerful enough to send Dorothy home.

In Baum's novel, unlike the 1939 Wizard of Oz, how does the Wicked Witch watch her whole country?

With one telescope-like eye: Baum's Witch has a single eye that can see everywhere, and from her castle door she spots Dorothy's party asleep; the crystal ball belongs to the film.

In Baum's first Oz novel, the Lion becomes king of a forest after killing what creature?

A giant spider, big as an elephant, has been eating the forest's animals; the Lion finds it asleep, knocks its head off with one blow, and the grateful beasts bow to him as king.

Where are Dorothy's magic shoes lost on her flight home in Baum's first Oz novel?

In the Deadly Desert, the waste that rings Oz: the shoes slip off in mid-flight and are 'lost forever', so Dorothy lands on the Kansas prairie in her stocking feet with no way back.

In Baum's novel, what are the 'brains' the Wizard gives the Scarecrow made of?

Bran mixed with pins and needles goes into his head, 'bran-new brains' in the Wizard's pun; when the points poke through, the Lion calls it proof that he is sharp.

Baum said the name "Oz" came from the label on what household object?

A file cabinet drawer labelled O–Z gave him the word, Baum told Publishers' Weekly in 1903, though his wife always insisted that part of the story was not true.

In Baum's novel, Dorothy crosses a walled country where the people and animals are all made of what?

Porcelain, or china as Baum calls it: the Dainty China Country is so fragile that a startled cow snaps off its leg, and the Lion's tail smashes a church as the travellers climb out.

Dorothy of Oz is thought to be named for which real child in Baum's family?

A niece who died in infancy: Dorothy Louise Gage, his wife's niece, died at five months in 1898 as he was writing the book, and a statue of Dorothy now stands by her grave in Illinois.

The Tin Woodman grew out of a figure Baum built for what purpose?

Baum built the figure for a hardware-store shop window display from a wash-boiler, stovepipe limbs and a saucepan while editing The Show Window, a magazine on window dressing.

The Wizard of the Emerald City, a retelling whose heroine is called Ellie, became a children's classic in which country?

The Soviet Union: Alexander Volkov's 1939 version renamed Dorothy as Ellie and Toto as Totoshka, and grew five sequels of its own.

How was The Royal Book of Oz (1921), the first Oz novel by a new author, credited?

To the dead original author: the cover named L. Frank Baum two years after his death, though Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote every word; she then wrote one a year under her own name until 1939.

Which Oz book was published posthumously in 1920, a year after Baum died?

Glinda of Oz, the last of Baum's fourteen Oz books, appeared in 1920, the year after his death; his last words were reportedly 'Now we can cross the Shifting Sands.'

L. Frank Baum's bleak Kansas was drawn from his hard years as a shopkeeper in which region?

Dakota Territory: in Aberdeen he opened a store, Baum's Bazaar, which failed, then ran a newspaper, and the drought-struck prairie around him became Dorothy's gray Kansas.

Baum's mother-in-law Matilda Joslyn Gage drew him into which spiritual movement?

Theosophy appealed to Baum as a faith for what he called 'the dissenters from all creeds'; his suffragist mother-in-law had embraced it first, and he and Maud joined the Theosophical Society in 1892.

In the 1902 stage musical of The Wizard of Oz, which animal replaced Toto as Dorothy's pet?

A cow named Imogene, played by an actor in costume, took Toto's place in the 1902 show, which also cut the Wicked Witch of the West down to a mere mention.

In Henry Littlefield's 1964 allegory, the yellow brick road represents what?

The gold standard is the road in Littlefield's essay 'The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism'; the idea caught on, and economist Hugh Rockoff later linked 'Oz' itself to the abbreviation for ounces.

In Baum's books, the Wizard shortened his long name to O.Z. because his other initials spelled what?

His full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs; the initials after O.Z. spell PINHEAD, so he kept only the first two.

In which book is Dorothy's surname, Gale, first revealed?

Dorothy's surname first appears in print in Ozma of Oz (1907); it began as a pun in the 1902 stage script, 'one of the Kansas Gales' with a 'breezy manner'.

What is the Tin Woodman's original human name?

Nick Chopper was a Munchkin woodcutter whose axe the Wicked Witch of the East enchanted to chop off his limbs one by one, each replaced by a tinsmith until he was all tin.

In The Tin Woodman of Oz, the hero finds his lost sweetheart married to a man assembled from what?

His own severed body parts: a tinsmith glued the cast-off flesh of two tin men into a new man, Chopfyt, and the Munchkin girl Nimmie Amee married him instead.

In the books, the Lion's closest companion is which animal?

The Hungry Tiger, who longs to eat fat babies but is stopped by his conscience, is the Cowardly Lion's constant companion; the pair pull Ozma's chariot and serve as her guards.

Oz's countries are colour-coded, with blue Munchkins, yellow Winkies and red Quadlings, so what colour is the northern Gillikin Country?

Purple is the Gillikin colour, though Baum left the north of his map almost blank at first and only named the Gillikin Country in the sequel, The Marvelous Land of Oz.

Princess Ozma spent her childhood transformed into a boy with what name?

The witch Mombi raised her as Tip; Glinda forced the reversal in The Marvelous Land of Oz.

What did General Jinjur's all-girl Army of Revolt carry as weapons?

Jinjur's girls each carry two long, glittering knitting needles; they seize the Emerald City, make the men do the housework, and are finally ousted by Glinda's army.

What do the Nomes fear above all else?

Eggs are poison to Nomes, which is why Billina the hen is the Nome King's worst nightmare in Ozma of Oz; her eggs help free the royal family of Ev.

In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy is washed overboard while sailing with Uncle Henry to where?

Dorothy and Uncle Henry are sailing to Australia for his health when a storm washes her overboard; she drifts to the land of Ev in a chicken coop with the hen Billina.

Why were the ruby slippers stolen in 2005 on show in Grand Rapids, Minnesota?

Judy Garland was born there, and her hometown museum had the pair on loan when a thief smashed the display case in 2005; they stayed missing until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

What became of the stolen ruby slippers in December 2024, six years after the FBI recovered them?

Sold at auction for $28 million in Dallas; the thief had taken them believing the rubies were real, and got rid of them once a fence told him they were glass.

Which actress and collector owned the curled-toe 'Arabian' test pair of ruby slippers rejected for the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Debbie Reynolds got the curled-toe pair from the costumer who had found the slippers while preparing MGM's 1970 studio auction; they sold with her collection in 2011 for $510,000.

Which Hawaiian singer paired 'Over the Rainbow' with 'What a Wonderful World' in a ukulele medley?

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole talked his way into a studio by phone at 3 a.m. in 1988 and was given fifteen minutes to get there; the medley he recorded that night later reached No. 1 in Germany.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz, how does Glinda arrive in Munchkinland?

Inside a floating bubble, which on set was a shiny ball about eight inches across: the ball never moved, and the camera did the travelling to make it seem to drift closer.

Who played the Scarecrow opposite Diana Ross in the 1978 film The Wiz?

Michael Jackson met Quincy Jones on the set, and Jones went on to produce Off the Wall and Thriller.

Who originated the role of Dorothy in the stage musical The Wiz?

Stephanie Mills originated Dorothy on Broadway and was the first choice for the film as well, but Diana Ross, at first told she was too old at 33, ended up with the screen role.

In Disney's Return to Oz (1985), where is Dorothy sent because she cannot stop talking about Oz?

A clinic for electric therapy is where her aunt and uncle take the sleepless girl; another patient frees her during a storm, and Dorothy escapes to a river and wakes in Oz.

Who played Dorothy in Return to Oz (1985), her feature-film debut?

Fairuza Balk made her feature debut as Dorothy in Disney's dark sequel, then crossed to the other side of Oz lore a decade later as a teenage witch in The Craft.

Which show beat Wicked for Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards?

Avenue Q, a puppet musical, took Best Musical, Book and Score, leaving the most-nominated Wicked with Best Actress for Idina Menzel and the scenic and costume design awards.

Gregory Maguire built which Wicked character's name from the initials of L. Frank Baum?

Elphaba is L-F-B sounded out, 'El-fa-ba': Maguire's nod to the author, whose Wicked Witch of the West went through the whole of the original book without a name.

Who played Theodora, the witch who turns wicked, in Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)?

Mila Kunis plays Theodora, a good witch whose sister Evanora tricks her into heartbreak and green skin; the turn won her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

For Wicked (2024), which flowers were planted by the million around the Munchkinland set?

Tulips, nine million of them, were planted on location around the set, part of a push for built scenery that also laid a yellow brick road in real mud.

Fans famously play The Wizard of Oz in sync with which Pink Floyd album?

The Dark Side of the Moon pairing, nicknamed 'The Dark Side of the Rainbow', spread from a 1995 Fort Wayne newspaper article; the band denies any intent.

How were Cynthia Erivo's and Ariana Grande's songs captured for the film Wicked (2024)?

Sung live on set: the two leads turned down the usual pre-recorded tracks, so the vocals you hear were performed in front of the camera rather than mimed.

Which children's show had Margaret Hamilton back as the Wicked Witch in 1976, alarming parents?

Sesame Street was flooded with letters from parents who called the episode too frightening for children. Hamilton also visited Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to show that the witch was only a costume.

Whose death in 2013 sent a Munchkin song from The Wizard of Oz to number two in the UK chart?

Margaret Thatcher's death set off a campaign by her opponents to buy Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead. BBC Radio 1 would not play the track in full on its chart show and ran a news report instead.

Which agency said in 2018 that it had recovered Wizard of Oz ruby slippers stolen in 2005?

The FBI got the shoes back in a sting operation after a 13-year search. The pair had been insured for $1 million when it vanished from a Minnesota museum.

Which 20th Century Fox child star was reportedly considered for Dorothy in the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Shirley Temple was the most prominent child star of the day, and the operatic newcomer Deanna Durbin was in the running too. Officially, the final choice was put down to contractual issues.

Unlike the novel, the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz presents Dorothy's whole adventure as what?

A dream sequence was the screenwriters' answer to a worry that 1939 audiences were too sophisticated to take a magic land at face value. In the book, Oz is a real place.

Which singer's 1973 double album bids goodbye to Oz's Yellow Brick Road in its title?

Elton John is drawn on the cover stepping into a poster of the famous road. His lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote the words for the whole record in about two and a half weeks.

Which institution's 1995 list of important films placed The Wizard of Oz in its Art category?

The Vatican marked a century of cinema by naming 45 films, split into three groups: religion, values and art. Dorothy's trip down the road landed in the last of them.

Which cartoon duo joined a 2011 animated retelling of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy's protectors?

Tom and Jerry were written into the story as her guardians for a home-video release. A sequel, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz, followed in 2016.

In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, what does Toto leap from the Wizard's balloon to chase?

A cat held by a woman in the Emerald City crowd tempts Toto out of the basket, and the balloon lifts off while Dorothy is fetching him. In the book the culprit is a kitten.

In which city did the venue Sphere begin screening an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz in 2025?

Las Vegas got a 75-minute cut enlarged for Sphere's 16K screen, with wind, fog and scents in the room. The score was re-recorded by an 80-piece orchestra.

Which actress plays the green-skinned Elphaba in the 2024 film Wicked, a prequel to the Oz story?

Cynthia Erivo plays the misunderstood young woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Ariana Grande as Glinda. Both were cast in 2021, three years before release.

Which Wizard of Oz co-star became Liza Minnelli's father-in-law when she married his son in 1974?

Jack Haley, the film's Tin Man, watched his son Jack Haley Jr. marry the daughter of his 1939 leading lady. The producer and the singer stayed married until 1979.

Which actress, the widow of showman Florenz Ziegfeld, played Glinda in the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Billie Burke had been furious three years earlier, when MGM's Ziegfeld biopic cast Myrna Loy to play her rather than letting her play herself.

In The Wizard of Oz, what falls from the sky and kills the Wicked Witch of the East?

A farmhouse, whisked out of Kansas by a tornado with Dorothy and Toto inside, comes down on her in Munchkinland. The Munchkins celebrate until her sister turns up.

In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, how does Glinda make her first entrance in Munchkinland?

She floats down in a bubble, an effect the New York Times critic of 1939 thought arrived with a few betraying jolts. She leaves the same way.

Dorothy's blue pinafore dress in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is made of which patterned fabric?

Gingham came in two colours for one trick shot: a stand-in in a brown-tinted dress opened the door to Oz, then stepped aside so the star could walk out in blue.

Which Washington, D.C. institution displays a pair of the ruby slippers from the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

The Smithsonian keeps its pair, nicknamed the People's Shoes, in the National Museum of American History. The donor who handed them over insisted on staying anonymous.

Which colour process, demanding huge hot lights, filmed the Oz scenes of the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Technicolor lighting could heat the set past 100 °F and ran up an electricity bill put at $225,000. The film was not the first to use the process, though many assume it was.

Which comedian played the title role in The Wiz, Sidney Lumet's 1978 musical retelling of Oz?

Richard Pryor played the Wiz, who turns out to be Herman Smith, a washed-up politician from Atlantic City. The production was shot in Queens, with Quincy Jones supervising the music.

In the 1939 Wizard of Oz tornado, what is Dorothy's neighbour riding as she turns into a witch?

A bicycle carries her through mid-air until it becomes a broomstick. Earlier she had pedalled away from the farm with Toto in its basket, until he jumped out and ran home.

Which actress won a 2004 Tony Award as the original Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked?

Idina Menzel beat her own co-star to the prize, because Kristin Chenoweth's Glinda was nominated in the same category. Menzel went on to voice Elsa in Disney's Frozen.

Which World's Fair city was home to the author of the first Oz book when he wrote it?

Chicago took him in after his Dakota newspaper failed in 1891, and he found work there as a reporter. Scholars see the gleaming White City of its 1893 fair as a model for the Emerald City.

Which Spider-Man director made Disney's 2013 prequel Oz the Great and Powerful?

Sam Raimi cast James Franco as the con-man magician only after Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp had both turned the title role down.

Which UN agency added the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz to its Memory of the World register in 2007?

UNESCO counts it among the few films on the register, a rare honour for a Hollywood musical that lost its studio more than a million dollars on first release.

A 1975 Wizard of Oz comic was the first co-production between Marvel and which other publisher?

DC Comics and Marvel set their rivalry aside for a joint adaptation of the MGM film. Marvel planned sequels drawn from the later books, but only one more ever appeared.

In which genre did the American Film Institute's 10 Top 10 lists rank The Wizard of Oz number one?

Fantasy was its winning category, ahead of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. On the institute's separate list of great movie musicals it came third.

Which composer of Stormy Weather wrote the music for the songs in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz?

Harold Arlen, a cantor's son from Buffalo, shared the Best Original Song Oscar for Over the Rainbow. He had once roomed with Ray Bolger, one of the film's stars.

Which US institution chose The Wizard of Oz among the first 25 films for its National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress picked it for the registry's inaugural class of 1989. The same body calls it the most seen film in cinema history, thanks to decades of television airings.

Which future half of a famous comedy duo played the Tin Woodman in the 1925 silent Wizard of Oz?

Oliver Hardy shared the screen with director Larry Semon, who gave himself the lead as a Kansas farmhand who ends up disguised as a man of straw.

Which actress played DG, the Dorothy figure in Tin Man, a 2007 miniseries reimagining of Oz?

Zooey Deschanel chose not to rewatch the 1939 film before playing DG, saying the whole point was to reinvent it. The three-part series aired on the Sci Fi Channel.

In which 1974 Sean Connery science-fiction film does reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz expose a false god?

Zardoz takes its name from the words Wizard and Oz. Its hero learns to read, finds the old children's novel in the ruins and realises the god he serves is one man's invention.

Which Oz character, found locked in a cave by Dorothy, is often called an early robot of literature?

Tik-Tok is a clockwork man who has to be wound up before he can move. He appeared in 1907, years before the play R.U.R. gave the world the word robot.

Which 1904 Oz sequel introduces Jack Pumpkinhead but leaves Dorothy out of the story entirely?

The Marvelous Land of Oz gives two of Dorothy's companions top billing because they had been the hits of the stage show. The two actors still refused to return, fearing typecasting.

Which master of kaleidoscopic 1930s musicals directed a Ray Bolger dance cut from The Wizard of Oz?

Busby Berkeley's elaborate routine followed the straw man's solo song. It went, along with other numbers, when previews showed the picture ran close to two hours.

Which future voice of Disney's Mad Hatter rejected the 1939 Wizard of Oz title role as too small?

Ed Wynn passed on the part. Wallace Beery then lobbied for it, but MGM would not spare him for the long shoot, and one of its contract players stepped in.

The Oz author's first published book, in 1886, was a guide to breeding which animals?

Chickens of one fancy breed, the Hamburg, were his subject. He had joined the poultry craze at 20 and also launched a monthly trade journal, The Poultry Record.

In the Oz novel, which small animals drag the sleeping Cowardly Lion out of the poppies?

Field mice do it as a favour: the Tin Woodman has just killed a wildcat that was chasing their queen. Thousands arrive, each with a piece of string, to pull him out on a cart.

In the Oz novel, what does the Witch of the North leave on Dorothy's forehead to keep her from harm?

A kiss from the old witch leaves a round, shining mark. When the Wicked Witch of the West later sees it, she does not dare to strike the girl.

Which MGM costume chief, known by a single name, designed the ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz?

Adrian added the butterfly-shaped leather bows only two weeks before shooting began. His department also had to turn out more than 100 costumes for the Munchkins.

In political readings of Oz, which 1890s presidential candidate does the Cowardly Lion stand for?

William Jennings Bryan, a famous orator who lost three presidential races, is cast as the Lion: all roar and no bite. The same reading turns the Tin Woodman into a factory worker.

Which producer of the 1939 Wizard of Oz had made his name directing the gangster film Little Caesar?

Mervyn LeRoy directed the reshoots himself in the spring of 1939. He was also among those who fought to keep Over the Rainbow when the studio wanted the ballad cut.

Margaret Hamilton, Oz's Wicked Witch, later played storekeeper Cora in commercials for which coffee?

Maxwell House made her Cora, the owner of a general store, in a national series of television commercials. They were her most visible work in her later years.

In the Oz novel, which beasts with bear bodies and tiger heads chase Dorothy's party onto a log?

Kalidahs follow the travellers onto a tree trunk laid across a ravine. The Tin Woodman chops the end away just in time, and two of them fall onto the rocks below.

In the Oz novel, the unmasked Wizard says he mastered which stage skill before taking up ballooning?

Ventriloquism is how the humbug made a giant head seem to speak. He shows off for Dorothy by mewing so like a kitten that Toto looks around for it.

Which future co-writer of Citizen Kane drafted the Kansas scenes for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz?

Herman Mankiewicz handed in 17 pages of Kansas scenes in March 1938 and 56 more four days later. Before the month was out he had been taken off the project.

Which credited screenwriter of the 1939 Wizard of Oz made Dorothy's shoes ruby to suit colour film?

Noel Langley made the switch in pre-production. He had delivered a 43-page treatment within weeks of being hired, and later replaced his co-writers' dialogue with his own.

A long-lost Dorothy dress from The Wizard of Oz turned up in 2021 on which Washington, D.C. campus?

Catholic University found it in its Hartke Building. Actress Mercedes McCambridge is believed to have given the costume to Father Gilbert Hartke as a gift in 1973.

Which 1899 collection of nonsense verse became the Oz author's first bestseller for children?

Father Goose, His Book was the best-selling children's book of its year. An earlier collection of nursery-rhyme stories had already let him quit his job as a salesman.

Under which female pen name did the Oz author write the Aunt Jane's Nieces series for girls?

Edith Van Dyne was his cover for stories in which girls and young women take on traditionally masculine pursuits. One pair of them followed a girl aviator.

Which American poet famed for comic light verse wrote an early outline for the 1939 Wizard of Oz?

Ogden Nash turned in only a four-page outline. He and two other writers had been hired separately, none knowing about the others, a common studio practice of the day.