{"id":16441,"date":"2025-12-14T20:38:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/?p=16441"},"modified":"2025-12-14T20:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:38:42","slug":"from-book-to-film-the-making-of-the-wizard-of-oz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/from-book-to-film-the-making-of-the-wizard-of-oz\/","title":{"rendered":"From Book to Film, The Making of The Wizard of Oz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1939, the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer<\/em> (MGM<\/em>) produced an extraordinarily imaginative musical fantasy film adaptation of L. Frank Baum\u2019s 1900 children\u2019s fantasy novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable for its use of Technicolor<\/em> (a technique using a color motion picture process dating back to 1916 that provides a particularly surreal quality to this film), unforgettable characters, fantastic storyline, and a memorable musical score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton, and Billie Burke withFrank Morgan appearing as the \u201cWizard\u201d of Oz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> Wizard of Oz<\/em> first premiered at the Orpheum Theatre<\/em> in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on August 10, 1939 (after a \u201csneak preview\u201d held in San Bernardino, California), followed by the Hollywood, California, premiere at the world-famous Grauman\u2019s Chinese Theatre <\/em>on August 15, 1939, <\/em>and the New York City premiere at Loew\u2019s Capitol Theatre<\/em>, on August 17, 1939.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 25, 1939, the film opened in theaters all across America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though not an immediate financial nor critical success, The<\/em> Wizard of Oz<\/em> has gone on to become one of the most enduring and beloved family films in cinema history, in the 8+ decades since its release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving six Academy Award<\/em> nominations for \u201cBest Picture,\u201d \u201cBest Cinematography\u201d (color), \u201cBest Special Effects,\u201d \u201cBest Art Direction,\u201d \u201cBest Original Score,\u201d and \u201cBest Original Song\u201d (\u201c[Somewhere] Over the Rainbow\u201d), The<\/em> Wizard<\/em> won Oscars<\/em> for both \u201cBest Score\u201d and \u201cBest Song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deemed \u201cculturally, historically, and aesthetically significant\u201d to America\u2019s film heritage, it was one of the first films selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress\u2019 National Film Registry<\/em> in 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, according to the US Library of Congress<\/em> exhibition, The Wizard of Oz: an American Fairy Tale <\/em>(established in 2010), \u201cThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is America\u2019s greatest and best-loved home-grown fairytale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a study conducted by the University of Turin, <\/em>Italy, to measure the success and significance of 47,000 films from around the world, in 2018, The<\/em> Wizard of Oz<\/em> was named the \u201cmost influential film of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, the film was ranked 2nd in Variety\u2019s<\/em> inaugural list of \u201cThe 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concept and Production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Production on The Wizard of Oz<\/em> began after Walt Disney\u2019s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em> (made in 1937) proved that films adapted from popular children\u2019s stories and fairytales could be box-office hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January of 1938, MGM <\/em>(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer<\/em>) purchased the rights to L. Frank Baum\u2019s popular novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,<\/em> from American film industry pioneer Samuel Goldwyn. Goldwyn had considered making the film as a vehicle for actor\/singer\/comedian Eddie Cantor (already under contract to Samuel Goldwyn Productions<\/em>), whom Goldwyn envisioned playing the part of the \u201cScarecrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After seeing drafts from a number of renowned screenwriters (including Herman J. Mankiewicz, Noel Langley, [poet] Frederic Ogden Nash, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf), MGM<\/em> producer Arthur Freed assigned the screenplay to Noel Langley. During filming, however, director Victor Fleming and writer John Lee Mahin revised the script, adding and cutting scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Haley, who would play farmhand \u201cHickory\u201d and the \u201cTin Man,\u201d and Bert Lahr, who would play farmhand \u201cZeke\u201d and the \u201cCowardly Lion,\u201d are also known to have written some of their own dialogue for the Kansas sequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After more than a dozen revisions, on October 8, 1938, the \u201cworking\u201d draft of the script was completed, with further rewrites and revisions occurring long into production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those known to have subsequently contributed to the final product (but received no writing credit) included: Irving Brecher, Jack Mintz, Herbert Fields, Yip Harburg, Arthur Freed, Richard Thorpe, Samuel Hoffenstein, Sid Silvers, King Vidor, and George Cukor. Only Langley, Ryerson, and Woolf received official credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even before the \u201cworking\u201d draft of The<\/em> Wizard of Oz <\/em>was complete, casting became problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shirley Temple (who was under contract with 20th Century Fox<\/em>) was first to be considered for the role of Dorothy, followed by Canadian-born actress and singer Deanna Durbin. But ultimately, Judy Garland (the most experienced of the three) was chosen because she had no previous contractual obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage performer\/professional dancer Ray Bolger was originally cast as the \u201cTin Man\u201d (and farmhand \u201cHunk\u201d), and fellow \u201choofer\u201d Buddy Ebsen was set to play the \u201cScarecrow\u201d (and farmhand \u201cHickory\u201d), but Bolger convinced producer Mervyn LeRoy that he\u2019d make a better \u201cScarecrow,\u201d and since Ebsen made no protest against the role reversal, the parts were switched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, ten days into shooting, Ebsen suffered a severe allergic reaction to the aluminum dust from his costume, and had to be replaced by drummer\/actor, Jack Haley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Initially approaching well-known actor Ed Winn to play the part of \u201cThe Wizard\u201d (who turned it down, saying the part was \u201ctoo small\u201d), famed comedian W. C. Fields was then offered the part–but the studio couldn\u2019t afford the fee Fields demanded. Meanwhile, the highly accomplished and popular actor Wallace Beery lobbied for the role, but the studio refused to release him from his other projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after weeks of having no title role character (and no \u201cProfessor Marvel\u201d), the studio gave the parts to veteran silent film star Frank Morgan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American glamour actress Gale Sondergaard was originally cast to play \u201cAlmira Gulch\u201d and the \u201cWicked Witch of the West,\u201d but withdrew from the role when she realized she\u2019d be acting most of the film as an \u201cugly, green hag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just three days before filming began, MGM<\/em> contract-actress Margaret Hamilton was chosen to replace Sondergaard. Upon seeing Hamilton\u2019s test shots, MGM<\/em> knew she should have been their first choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the film adaptation, screenwriter Noel Langley envisioned a much different \u201cCowardly Lion\u201d than the one in the original book. Essentially working backwards, after Broadway<\/em> star Bert Lahr agreed to take on the part, Langley began incorporating Lahr\u2019s trademark mannerisms into the script. On the set, director Victor Fleming encouraged Lahr to improvise comedic lines to enliven his character, as well as his now iconic roar<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To his credit, Lahr essentially created a character that could both run on all fours and walk upright, while donning an extremely hot costume, much of which was made from actual animal fur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, once American Broadway actress Billie Burke agreed to play \u201cGlinda, the Good Witch of the North,\u201d stage and film actor Charley Grapewin was chosen to play \u201cUncle Henry,\u201d character actress Clara Blandick was signed to play Dorothy\u2019s \u201cAunt Em,\u201d actor Pat Walshe signed on to play \u201cNikko, the Head Winged-Monkey,\u201d and the popular vaudevillian group Singer\u2019s Midgets <\/em>were signed to play the \u201cMunchkins,\u201d filming began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actors Who Received No Credit:<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mitchell Lewis, as the \u201cWinkie Guard Captain\u201d (though he had a speaking part).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adriana Caselotti (the voice of \u201cSnow White\u201d in the Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em>), <\/em>as the voice of \u201cJuliet\u201d in the \u201cTin Man\u2019s\u201d song, \u201cIf I Only Had a Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American voice actor Johnathan \u201cCandy\u201d Candido, as the voice of the \u201cangry apple tree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Munchkins of Munchkinland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the absolutely fantastical realms created to bring The Wizard of Oz <\/em>to life (\u201cMunchkinland,\u201d the Yellow Brick Road, Emerald City<\/em>, the Witch\u2019s Forest, the Witch\u2019s Castle), the \u201cMunchkins\u201d of Munchkinland, and the Wicked Witch of the West\u2019s \u201cWinged Monkeys\u201d and \u201cWinkie Guards\u201d are without question among the most memorable characters in cinematic history. The sheer artistry involved in conceiving and then bringing to life these beings is nothing short of brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create the \u201cMunchkins,\u201d Leo Singer, organizer of \u201cSinger\u2019s Midgets,\u201d assembled an estimated 124 \u201clittle\u201d people, with MGM<\/em> hiring an additional dozen or more child actors to fill out the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, of the nearly 140 actors hired for the Munchkinland scenes, only two actors, Joseph Koziel and Frank Cucksey, used their natural voices for the \u201cMunchkin\u201d dialogue when Dorothy is presented flowers, the remaining voices, including those of the \u201cMunchkin chorus\u201d and \u201cLollipop Guild,\u201d created by voice actors Pinto Colvig and Billy Bletcher, recording their voices at normal speed, then sped up to achieve the desired effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: In the original book, the \u201cMunchkins\u201d wore all blue, not the colorful, flower-lively attire chosen for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winged \u201cFlying\u201d Monkeys<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Though ultimately playing a much smaller role in the film than in the original book, the \u201cWinged Monkeys\u201d are for many Oz-fans the most memorable characters of the film, and play a crucial role in Dorothy\u2019s journey through the \u201cLand of Oz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These menacing creatures (more mischievous than evil), often described as \u201cjungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings wearing bell-hop hats,\u201d constitute the \u201cWicked Witch of the West\u2019s\u201d aerial army, sent en masse<\/em> to do the Witch\u2019s bidding, like snatching Dorothy and \u201cToto\u201d from the forest and bringing them to the Witch\u2019s castle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often spotlighting \u201cNikko,\u201d Patrick Walshe, the head \u201cWinged Monkey,\u201d the scenes featuring these creatures are among the most suspenseful and dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special effects director Arnold Gillespie employed several types of technicians to provide the illusion of flight, and enable the \u201cWinged Monkeys\u201d to imitate monkey mannerisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winkie Palace Guards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Memorable for their imposing militaristic uniforms, giant spears, green skin, and ominous chant, \u201cOh-Ee-Yah, Ee-oh-Ah! Oh-Ee-Yah, Ee oh-Ah! (otherwise known as the \u201cMarch of the Winkies\u201d), the \u201cWicked Witch of the West\u2019s\u201d foot soldiers\/palace guards, the \u201cWinkies\u201d provide yet another level of menace to the \u201cWicked Witch\u2019s power and seeming invincibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soundtrack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For The Wizard of Oz <\/em>soundtrack, MGM<\/em> hired two giants of the songwriting business: the prolific American composer Harold Arlen, known for hits like, \u201cThat Old Black Magic,\u201d \u201cCome Rain or Come Shine,\u201d and \u201cLydia the Tattooed Lady,\u201d and renowned lyricist E. Y. \u201cYip\u201d Harburg, famous for writing, \u201cBrother, Can You Spare a Dime?\u201d \u201cApril in Paris.\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Only a Paper Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the accompanying score, MGM<\/em> hired its own arranger\/composer, Herbert Stothart (for which he won the Academy Award<\/em> for \u201cBest Original Score\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, 21 songs were written for the film, including \u201cDing-Dong! The Witch Is Dead\u201d and \u201cThe Lollipop Guild\u201d (sung by the Munchkins Chorus), \u201cWe\u2019re Off to See the Wizard\u201d (sung by Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Buddy Ebsen, and Bert Lahr), \u201cIf I Were King of the Forest\u201d (sung primarily by Bert Lahr; but also Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley), and of course the Academy Award \u201c<\/em>Best Original Song\u201d winner, \u201c[Somewhere]Over the Rainbow\u201d (sung by Judy Garland).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d ranks first in the American Film Industry\u2019s \u201c<\/em>100 Years . . . 100 Songs,\u201d and the Recording Industry Association of America\u2019s<\/em> \u201c365 Songs of the Century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Television and Home Media<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since 1956, new generations of children and young-at-heart have enjoyed the magic of The Wizard of Oz <\/em>via a medium that didn\u2019t exist in 1939: television. That was the year MGM<\/em> sold CBS Television<\/em> the rights to televise the film at a fee of $225,000 per broadcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First shown on November 3, 1956, The Wizard <\/em>was a huge ratings success, with a Nielsen<\/em> rating of 33.9 and an audience share of 53%. When it was rebroadcast on December 13, 1959, it drew an ever larger audience (Nielsen<\/em> rating of 36.5 and an audience share of 58%)\u2014convincing the network that it should be an annual television tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 25, 1980, the film was released on videocassette in both VHS and Betamax format by MGM\/CBS Home Video, <\/em>and made available to video rental shops around the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 90s, it was made available on laser disk; DVD in 2005; Blu-ray in 2009, Blu-ray 3-D in 2013, with a number of Box-Sets and Special Editions commemorating annual milestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significantly, for the film\u2019s 75th anniversary, an IMAX 3-D<\/em> theatrical re-release was shown at 300 theaters across North America for one week, starting September 20, 2013, and on June 5 and 6, 2022, the film returned to theaters to celebrate Judy Garland\u2019s 100th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s difficult to measure the impact The Wizard of Oz <\/em>has had on cinematography, film-making, culture, literature, theater, writing, video games, or even human imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Famed film critic Roger Ebert chose The Wizard of Oz<\/em> as one of his \u201cGreat Films,\u201d writing, \u201cThe Wizard of Oz has a wonderful surface of comedy and music, special effects and excitement, but we still watch it six decades later because its underlying story penetrates straight to the deepest insecurities of childhood, stirs them and then reassures them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> film critic Mick LaSalle stated, \u201cthat the entire Munchkinland sequence, from Dorothy\u2019s arrival in Oz to her departure on the yellow brick road, has to be one of the greatest in cinema history–a masterpiece of set design, costuming, choreography, music, lyrics, storytelling, and sheer imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s been an animated sequel, two Broadway musicals (The Wiz <\/em>and Wicked)<\/em>, a DC Comics\/Marvel Comics<\/em> comic book adaptation, and a big-budget animated musical film, Legends of Oz: Dorothy\u2019s Return, <\/em>which follows Dorothy\u2019s second trip to Oz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tribute to its extraordinary popularity, the 2024 marketing campaign for season 22 of American Idol<\/em> is directly themed after this film–with a commercial featuring Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan as the \u201cTin Man,\u201d \u201cDorothy,\u201d the \u201cCowardly Lion,\u201d and the \u201cScarecrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although most of the original costumes are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History<\/em>, many copies, memorabilia, and set pieces have been sold or auctioned off for exorbitant amounts of money, one of the five original pairs of Ruby Slippers (one not worn in the film) sold for over half a million dollars, while one of the six dresses Garland actually wore in the film sold for nearly $1.6 million in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last 80+ years, dozens of fantasy films have drawn record numbers to the theaters (The Lord of the Rings<\/em> trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em>, Labyrinth<\/em>, the Princess Bride<\/em>, to name just a few), but none have had the lasting impact of The Wizard of Oz<\/em>. And it seems likely that none ever will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1939, the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) produced an extraordinarily imaginative musical fantasy film adaptation of L. Frank Baum\u2019s 1900 children\u2019s fantasy novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Notable for its use of Technicolor (a technique using a color motion picture process dating back to 1916 that provides a particularly surreal quality to this film), unforgettable characters, fantastic storyline, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t