10 Bizarre Wizard of Oz Myths & Urban Legends, DEBUNKED

Welcome to MsMojo, and today were busting some major myths surrounding the fabled behind-the-scenes story of a Hollywood classic.

The Movie Was Cursed

The Wizard of Oz is constantly listed among movies with so-called cursed productions. Regardless of your stance on the supernatural, the movies hazards and challenges are not very mysterious. Making the movie was an arduous process. The shoot took over half a year, seeing dramatic personnel changes, and requiring long and tiring days. All these things make accidents and workplace tensions way more likely. Filming in three-strip Technicolor, which was still novel, required hotter lights to capture the colors, therefore making heavy, hot costumes even harder to manage. If a curse did surround the movie, it was intolerable labor conditions. Its many myths are most likely helped along by the movies allegorical nature and our unwavering desire to ruin our own childhoods.

Over the Rainbows Origins

Songwriters Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburgs now classic ballad was almost cut from The Wizard of Oz. Its alleged that executives at MGM thought it slowed the film down. But without the songs beauty and wistful optimism, and Judy Garlands excellent performance, the movie wouldnt be the same. A rumor sprouted up that its writers wrote it about the Holocaust. While it was written in 1938, as the groundwork was being set for the coming genocide, it was not written as a response to it. Myth-busting website Snopes.com suggests this false history came from misquoted passages of a piece written by Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg. Its a flattering testament to the power of the songs sense of hope and escapism.

L. Frank Baums Coat Is Worn in the Film

Some claims seem a little too outlandish and serendipitous to be true - like this one. An oft-repeated claim is that a coat worn by Frank Morgan, the actor who played the Wizard of Oz among several other roles, was once owned by L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books. The story goes that it was purchased by the studios costume department in a secondhand store, and Baums name was later found in it. Sometimes, the story goes that only his initials, L.F.B. were found in the coat. Theres no documentation anywhere to support the claim except the studios marketing materials, some of which cast further doubt by asserting the coat is worn by the Scarecrow rather than Morgan. Either way, Its also widely known that studios in this era could and would say anything to sell a movie.

The Dog Playing Toto Was Paid More Than Judy Garland

This is a case of a fact being blown out of proportion. Terry, the terrier who co-starred as Toto, did make a pretty penny for her appearance. Her owners actually made more on the movie than most Americans did in a week. However, this has given way to the clickbaity claim that the dog made even more than star Judy Garland. While this is probably an exaggeration to illustrate how the studio system lowballed its stars, its far from true. Totos performer did make more than the actors cast as Munchkins, though. The performers allegedly made only $50 a week as opposed to the dogs $125.

The Munchkins Behavior

One of the enduring stories about the making of The Wizard of Oz involves the little people cast as Ozs Munchkins. Stories told over the years by Judy Garland and other stars at MGM during the shoot paint a picture of the performers that feels completely opposed to their on screen nature. In fact, the surviving actors spent many of their later years combating stories of their hotel rowdiness and substance-fueled antics off-set. These stories became the basis for the 1981 movie Under the Rainbow, which was widely panned for many reasons, including its dehumanizing treatment of little people.

The Alternate Ending

Even The Wizard of Oz isnt immune from the Mandela Effect. Some fans swear theyve seen a deleted ending. The movie famously ends with Dorothy waking from her extended dream of Oz to find none of it really happened. This supposed alternate ending, often claimed as the version for television, supposedly includes a shot of Dorothys ruby slippers, suggesting it wasnt a dream after all. However, some viewers remember the slippers on her feet, while some say under the bed. While modern, this twist doesnt really make much sense with the message the movie leaves us with. Theres no evidence that another ending was ever broadcast or added to a home video release.

The Poppy Trip

Over time, theories have implied that The Wizard of Oz makes covert references to substance use. But how many of them are true, and how many have been placed on the film retrospectively? Audiences have surmised that the Poppy Fields that Dorothy and the gang enter are meant to represent opioids, as poppy flowers are a natural source of opium. While this initial connection is true, some further reads on the scene are a bit extreme. In the film, Glinda wakes the sleeping quartet with sprinkled snow, which some viewers have assumed must represent another illicit substance. There is no confirmation to this claim, though we could understand why such a connection was drawn after giving this scene another watch!

The Dark Side of the Rainbow

Sometime in the 1990s, a fun, slightly ominous anecdote began to spring up around Oz. Fans of Pink Floyds classic The Dark Side of the Moon album swore that the album synced up perfectly with The Wizard of Oz. It became part of the legend that the band did this on purpose. Its members vehemently deny this, going so far as to call B.S. Coincidental music cues and lyrics are sometimes uncanny, the proof that its unintentional is evidenced more by what doesnt sync up with the movie, which is most of it. At 42 minutes and 50 seconds, Pink Floyds album is less than half the movies runtime, and there are only a few eerie moments of true synchronicity.

The Book The Movie Was Based On Was a Populist Allegory

Professor Henry Littlefield was adamant that L. Frank Baums fairy tale about a girl who lands in a vibrant fantasy land was a covert populist parable. He proposed that Dorothys silver slippers, changed to ruby for the film, represented the movement to move toward a silver standard. Meanwhile, the gold standard was supposedly represented by the Yellow Brick Road. While theres a lot more to Littlefields interpretation, its been heavily criticized by historians of the era. That hasnt stopped the Internet from claiming this was Baums intention. This is also just one of the many political frameworks others have mapped onto Baums story, proving its power to remain relevant and timeless.

Whats In the Background

By far the darkest and most common myth about The Wizard of Oz involves a tragic death. Before remastering, a shape in the background of the set looked vaguely like a swinging body. The legend goes that a Munchkin performer took their own life on set, and the aftermath is in the shot. Apparently, no one at MGM bothered to edit it out of the original release. Only years later, after the movie was compressed for grainy home video releases did anyone notice. This myth has been thoroughly debunked. Its actually an exotic bird, many of which can be seen in earlier scenes. But that cant keep a good conspiracy theorist down. A YouTube user has even edited the footage to keep the ruse going.

Whats your favorite story from the set of The Wizard of Oz? Tell us in the comments.