Have you ever wanted to take a peek behind the curtain of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz? This video posted to the MsMojo YouTube channel takes you through a top 10 list of facts that may or may not leave you looking at this classic childhood favorite in a whole new light.
The movie was based on the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and one noteworthy fact that’s a little off-putting is that the character of Dorothy was actually named after the author’s niece who died when she was just 5 months old. He would even read his stories to his baby niece prior to her untimely death.
For a movie that was produced in the 1930s, a lot of the costumes are truly something to marvel at because they all look so vibrant and cool. But could some of them be a little too real?
It seems that the costume for the Cowardly Lion was fashioned out of actual lion skin and fur. Talk about wrong! That is something we’re going to put on our list of things that we now wish we didn’t know about this movie.
And remember the snowy scene in the poppy fields? It turns out that the wintry mess falling from the sky in that scene was actually asbestos. The fibrous silicate mineral was actually regularly used on movie sets during that time period because it was fireproof and looked authentic. You just have to hope that the cancer-causing agent didn’t have any harmful effects on the actors who starred in that scene.
These aren’t even the most shocking and gruesome facts about your favorite childhood movie musical. To learn the rest, check out the video in full.
