10 Magical Facts About The Timeless 1939 Classic ‘The Wizard Of Oz’

5. The power of Technicolor

Without the movie being in technicolor, the movie franchise would not be as big as it is today. The ruby slippers are the most iconic part of Dorothy’s getup. In the book series, the slippers were actually silver, but they changed the slippers to ruby red because the contrast of the bright red would show up nicely next to the technicolor yellow brick road.

6. There were actually multiple directors for the film

Victor Fleming was the only director credited on screen, but there were actually four directors who worked on the film at one time. Richard Thorpe was fired after less than two weeks, George Cukor was called to go work on Gone With The Wind, Victor Fleming was also called to work on Gone With The Wind, and King Vidor actually finished up the film.

7. Ray Bolger was initially cast as the Tin Man but convinced Buddy Ebsen to switch roles with him

Apparently, it was just that easy to get the role you wanted. Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow that we all know and love, was originally cast as the Tin Man. He didn’t like this, and so asked Buddy Ebsen (who got cast as Scarecrow) to switch roles.

You can read more magical facts about The Wizard of Oz on the NEXT page