The Wizard of Oz movie — Page 2

There is not a moment of my life that I can recall, that I didn't love all things Oz. The movie (of course), the Baum books, the Thompson books, the collectables, etc. Oz has been my world for a full 18 years. We are both very happy together :)

Oz bedroom love <3

I have to say that after I saw Wicked, I put on The Wizard of Oz and fast forwarded to all of the scenes featuring Elphaba (that's right, I'm calling her Elphaba now!!!!) and thought, "You poor kid."

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Do you know about the Jitterbug? It was a cut scene that took a lot of money to make. The Jitterbug is referenced in the film when the witch says 'I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them!'

The Jitterbug itself was going to be a pink, furry mosquito like creature that bit Dorothy and company and made them do a frenzied, jivey dance in the Haunted Forest.

Here's the script of the cut scene, and videos of it.


(Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are walking forward thru Haunted Forest. The Jitterbug lands on the Lion's nose.)

Lion:
(yells and growls) What's that? What's that? Take it away- take it away- Take it away! (cries)

Tin Man:
Hold still- hold still-- (slaps Jitterbug away)

Dorothy:
(jumps as the Jitterbug bites her leg) Oh! Something bit me, too!

Tin Man:
Now come on - you're acting silly -- (yells as the Jitterbug lands on his neck, Dorothy takes bug off)

Scarecrow:
Oh, come on now - everybody -- (yells as bug bites him, Scarecrow jumps in the air, falls to ground, and jumps up again)


(the trees quiver and make noise.)


Singing:


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.


All run around, then huddle together.


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 dances and sings.


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!


All dance.


Dorothy:
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:

Bug-bug-a-bug-bug-bug-bug-bug-a-boo!


(Lion runs over by a tree. The tree catches hold of Lion's tail. Scarecrow runs to release the tail, and the tree grabs Scarecrow. He gets free and runs to Dorothy held by another tree. Tin Man starts to chop at the tree, and a limb of the tree hits him over the head. He staggers and throws the axe, as they are singing...)


All:
In a twitter
In the throes

Scarecrow:
Oh, the critter's
Got me dancin' on a thousand toes.

Tin Man:
Thar she blows!


(All dance with each other, as the trees move in rhythm with the music.)


(The music stops as the army of the Winged Monkeys flies over the Haunted Forest, and the four look up. The Winged Monkeys fly down into the forest to capture the four.)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbA83Fqfh8E&mode=related&search=

Here's a school video of the Wicked Witch singing it XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4PAdRvWxJ8&mode=related&search=

They included "Jitterbug" in the Wizard of Oz in Concert. I didn't realize until now that that was actually a deleted scene of the original movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114964/

Hey, paisans!

I actually still have a cassette of little me singing "Over the Rainbow" a cappella into the tape recorder. At the time, I didn't know the entire lyrics, so it's kinda funny listening to me make up words as I sing along.

Mattbrain: That's blasphemy!

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Updated On: 10/22/06 at 10:39 PM

I know... I know... how weird am I!?!?!

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Wasn't there also a big musical production number showing Dorothy and her friends returning to the Emerald City with the broom of the Wicked Witch? Supposedly it was cut from the finished film because it would have made the film too long. Is there any footage of that number that has survived? Out-takes are so much fun to see or at least to hear about.

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Anyone notice how ugly the Ruby Slippers look on the Wicked Witch of the East? I know there were different pairs of Ruby Slippers, but they look ugly on her feet.



But they look great on Dorothy's feet!

Updated On: 10/22/06 at 01:22 PM

Strangely enough, the original authors said they were not specifically echoing the "jitterbug" dance craze (which hadn't really begun yet.) The number was cut, not only for length, but because the comedy in it diluted the terror of the journey to the Witch's castle. Yet there's a seam in the editing; when the Witch orders the monkeys to bring her Dorothy, she says, "They'll give you no trouble, I promise you that! I'll send little insects on ahead to take the fight out of them!"--a specific reference to the Jitter "bugs", which the editors forgot to take out.

Another seam (for hopeless Oz trivia buffs like luvliza and best12bars)--in the book, the Witch controls the monkeys by means of a magical Golden Cap. This concept remained in the movie at first--after the Deadly Poppy Field scene, there was a scene where the Witch used the Golden Cap to summon the monkeys and told them to fly to the Poppy Field and steal the slippers. In the finished film, the notion of the Golden Cap was cut out, but in the fragment of the scene that remains ("Curses! Curses! Somebody always helps that girl!") the head Monkey hands the Cap to the Witch, who flings it across the room as she cries "Woe to those who try to stop me!!!!"

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I never understood the appeal of this film. It's horribly miscast (Judy Garland is about 12 years too old), and the musical sounds like it was written by a first year music student. The colors are garish, and the effects, even for 1939, are laughably cheap. On top of that, the story is utterly ridiculous, and the characters are all so annoying. I think it's only popular because they showed it on television for so many years, and it just became a habit. People like to remember things from their childhood, even if they are really poor quality snore-fests like THE WIZARD OF OZ



























Just kidding!

Why are you turning this thread into an OKLAHOMA!-bashing thread?

Best 12bars,
PLEASE be my husband..I always love your posts..but your love for OZ...I'm fainting!
:)

I remember being little and running up the stairs when the Wicked Witch of the West came on. There's a reason why she was named one of the best villains in cinema history.

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