Things You Never Knew About 1939 The Movie The Wizard Of Oz.

The Wizard Of Oz is a 1939 musical film about a young Kansas girl, played by Judy Garland, cast into a fantasy world. 
Her efforts to return home are aided by three unusual companions.
You probably knew that already, but i bet some of these next facts you didn't know.

Dorothy's blue-and-white dress was blue and light pink, because it was easier to shoot in technicolor.

Her ruby red shoes were originally silver like in the books.

The MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer wanted to show off Technicolor, so he changed them to red.

The sparks from the ruby slippers were apple juice.

11 year-old Shirley Temple was the original choice for Dorothy.

17 year-old Judy Garland was the second choice.

She was ordered to lose 12 lbs, instead she wore a corset to make her look more child like.

Buddy Ebsen swapped rolls from the Scarecrow to the Tin man, but then he had an allergic reaction to the paint and had to quit.

He was replace by Jack Haley.
The Tin man was suppose to cry oil, but that didn't photograph well, so chocolate syrup was used.

Terry that played Toto made $125 a week, while the munchkins only were paid $50.
Terry was a female.
She was injured during filming when one of the guards stepped on her.

The urban legend of one of the munchkins hanging himself is not true.

The dark spot in the background was a bird.

The Wicked Witch Of The West, Margaret Hamilton, was badly burned making her smoky exit from Munchkinland.

Her dress, hat, and broom caught on fire and severely burned her face and hand.

She had to recuperate for six weeks before resuming filming. 

The green face paint was so toxic that she couldn't eat once it was applied and had to only have liquids via straw during the day. 

Also her face stayed green for weeks after ­shooting because of the copper-based ingredients.

After all that she went through, alot of her scenes were cut, because they were deemed to terrifying for children.

The guy that played the Wizard Of Oz, Frank Morgan, also played the fortune-telling Kansas professor, the Emerald City cabby driving the Horse-of-a-Different-Color, a guard at the Wizard's palace, and the doorkeeper there.

Legend goes that MGM's wardrobe department purchased a tattered coat at a local second-hand shop and had the character Professor Marvel wear it.
A tag in the garment read L. Frank Baum, who is the author of the original Wizard of Oz story.

Several people from production vouched that is true.

Billie Burke whom played Glinda the Good Witch of The North, was 54 at the time.

The scarecrow face prosthetics that Ray Bolger wore left a pattern of lines on his face.

They took a whole year after filming to go away.

The early Technicolor process required more light than a normal film production, this made temperatures on set often exceed 100 degrees.

The Cowardly Lion's costume was made of lion pelts.
His facial makeup included pieces of a brown paper bag.

Between the hot temps on-set and the 90 lbs. of costume, Bert Lahr was pretty miserable and had to remove his suit completely between takes.

Jell-O crystals were stuck over all the multiple Emerald City horses playing the Horse-of-a-Different-Color.

This gave them their color, but the scenes were shot quickly, because the horses started to lick them off.

Dorothy's daughter married the Tin man's son.

Judy Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli married producer Jack Haley, Jr. whose father was Jack Haley.

When The Wizard of Oz came out at the box office in 1939, it was at the end of the Great Depression and competing with the movie Gone With the Wind.

The Wizard of Oz barely recouped it's $2.8 million budget.

The film did managed to win two Oscars for best original score and best original song.

The film was shown on television in 1956.