Trivial Pursuit #135- Page 2

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 10:56pm

"The Jitter Bug"


Dorothy:
Did you just hear what I just heard?

Lion:
That noise don't come from no ordinary bird

Dorothy:
It may be just a cricket
Or a critter in the trees

Tin Man:
It's giving me the jitters
In the joints around my knees

Scarecrow:
Oh, I think I see a jijik
And he's fuzzy and he's furry
I haven't got a brain
But I think I ought to worry!

Tin Man:
I haven't got a heart
But I got a palpitation

Lion:
As Monarch of the Forest
I don't like the situation

Dorothy:
Are you gonna stand around
And let 'em fill us full of horror?

Lion:
I'd like to roar 'em down --
But I think I lost my roarer

Tin Man:
It's a whozis

Scarecrow:
It's a whozis?

Lion:
It's a whatzis

Tin Man:
It's a whatzis?

Lion:
Whozat?

Tin Man:
Whozat?

Scarecrow:
Whozat?

Dorothy:
Whozat?
Who's that hiding
In the tree top?

It's that rascal
The Jitter Bug

Should you catch him
Buzzin' round you
Keep away from
The Jitter Bug!

Oh, the bats
And the bees
And the breeze in the trees
Have a terrible, horrible buzz

But the bats and the bees
And the breeze in the trees
Couldn't do what the Jitter Bug does

So be careful
Of that rascal
Keep away from--

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion:
--The Jitter Bug!
Oh, the Jitter-
Oh, the Bug
Oh, the Jitter-

All:
Watch Out For That Bug!



Music: Harold Arlen
Lyrics: E.Y. Harburg


Copyright © ASCAP. All rights reserved.

Updated On: 7/17/05 at 10:56 PM

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 10:58pm

And while i was busy typing the above Mary_Ethel posted her response, which was quite informative. Praise Jesus we have an answer for now I can rest easy tonight.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:00pm

Oh my god, M_E I missed you! How are you doing?



Ahh the Jitterbug. Memories of an 8th grade production...

[ConvinceMe2]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:00pm

That was the answer that I gave.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:01pm

CM2 and Marquise, as I have already posted, my understanding of what happened veers toward more your interpretation...


It costs MGM $800,000 to film that number!



When they decided to cut it, proucer Arthur Freed asked Louis B. Mayer (head of MGM) did if he any suggestions for the discarded footage.


Mayer respnded, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe Selznick can use in GONE WITH THE WIND [which was in production at the same time]." And he was serious.


Ah, the "intelligence" of Hollywood Moguls!

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:04pm

LF--I'm doin' good. How are you?


CM2--OK. You can get konked on the head and go to a faraway enchanted place as well. I just hope you have an adorable dog to take with you!


Marquise--Sweet Dreams!

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:06pm

I'm good and off to bed. Lovely to see you're back at it. Night night!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:08pm

Why, M_E, on page 26 of the original hardcover edition of "The World of Entertainment" by Hugh Fordin, it says

"...Freed turned to [the director Victor] Fleming, 'I don't know how you handled it--it's terrific! But one thing bothers me...I think you should cut the whole scene where the jitterbug bites Lahr and they do the 'Jitterbug dance' with Judy singing. It slows the picture down and irrelevant to the story..."

Jitterbug is spelled as one word whenever it is referenced in that book.

It's also spelled as one word in the biography of Harold Arlen, Happy With The Blues by Ed Jablonski. And the same way in The Official 50th Anniversay Pictorial History THE WIZARD OF OZ by Fricke, Scarfone and Stillman. Any reference of the recording made by Garland with the Ken Darby Singers will show that the song is spelled as one word there, too.

José

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:10pm

Thanks for your informative post, Jose'.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:14pm

You can always use me as a source, M_E.

lol

Oh, and none of reference Cab Calloway.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:16pm

Thanks AGAIN, Jose'.

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:17pm

José if I didn't know any better I would say that the fact Mary_Ethel posts these Trivial Pursuits bugs you.

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:19pm

oops I forgot something..........





[can't forget that sh!t eating passive aggresive grin that's a major requirement when posting here at BWW]

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:20pm

LMAO, Marquise!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:26pm

Well, Marquise...

I know M_E likes to get correct information.

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:26pm

Is that so........

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:29pm

Y'know, Marquise, I just CANNOT take my eyes off your Avatar!


Are you following the "Dynasty" reruns on SoapNet?


(Krystle and Alexis just "duked it out" for the first time the other day!)


Krystle (who won): "If you want a rematch, just whistle. If you're able to!"



LOOOOOVE IT!!!

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 1:34am

Yes I have 5 seasons of Dynasty on videocassette and the first season DVD. I have a couple of friends over and we'll have a marathon.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 4:18pm

As I posted earlier in this Thread, many historical events in Film and The Theatre are open to mutual interpretation.


Let's see what Aljean Harmetz has to say regarding the musical number "The Jitter Bug" in THE WIZARD OF OZ in his book, THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ:


"The Jitter Bug [note it is spelled as TWO words] was less necessary to the plot than most of the other songs. Besides, the word "Jitterbug" [note that it is spelled as ONE word] was already attached to a popular dance.

"When we wrote the song, lryicist E.Y. Harburg recalled, "the word had no meaning. Our 'Jitter Bug' was a bug who gave you the jitters. But they began to worry that the 'The Jitter Bug' might date the picture."


I see no "right" or "wrong" here, but rather information culled from different sources that contradict each other--which I find most interesting!

Yes, looking at ALL sources regarding an event can be MOST illuminating...

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 4:22pm

As a child, the Witch and the Monkeys scared me.

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 4:22pm

I read that one of the reasons why it was cut was because they thought it would date the picture. No one knew at the time that the jitterbug dance would prove to be enduring - lasting in popularity well into the 50s.