Trivial Pursuit #135 — Page 2

"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.

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

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



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

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!

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

Thanks for your informative post, Jose'.

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Thanks AGAIN, Jose'.

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





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

Well, Marquise...

I know M_E likes to get correct information.

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!!!

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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...

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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.

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