Random Strange Things You Definitely Didn't Know About 'Wizard of Oz' (15 items)

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  (#15) Who Is Nikko?

  The cast members listed in the end titles of The Wizard of Oz are straightforward until you get to someone named Nikko, credited to the actor Pat Walshe. Walshe was an experienced Broadway, vaudeville, and circus performer who worked with and imitated monkeys and apes.

  Because he was 3'10" and the role required an individual with experience in mimicking a large ape, Walshe was cast as the Wicked Witch's chief assistant and the leader of the Winged Monkeys. Dubbed "Nikko" by the filmmakers, Walshe had no lines and his character name was never mentioned in the film. He still received screen credit, probably because of his extensive industry experience. Like most of the Oz monkey performers, his makeup consisted of prosthetics glued to his face and a fur bodysuit, both of which caused extreme discomfort.  

  Walshe lived until 1991 at age 91. 
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  (#10) Glinda's Dress Was A Hand-Me-Down

  Many of the costumes worn in The Wizard of Oz are still regarded as astonishing and beautiful. Their creation was the high point of the career of Adrian Adolph Greenburg, known simply as Adrian. Credited as the designer of the iconic ruby slippers, Adrian also resourcefully recycled previously used materials.

  The spectacular gown worn by Glinda was altered slightly after its use by Jeanette MacDonald in the 1936 film San Francisco. Adrian left MGM to start his own clothing line in 1941. Though openly gay, he married actor Janet Gaynor in 1939. They remained together until he passed from a stroke in 1959.
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  (#9) There's A Continuity Error Involving The Wicked Witch And A Winged Monkey

  After Dorothy and her companions are rescued by Glinda in the poppy fields of Oz, the Wicked Witch is handed a cap by a Winged Monkey. The witch angrily tosses the cap aside and shrieks "Why does somebody always help that girl?!" before exiting in preparation for the "Surrender Dorothy" scene.  

  The cap came from the book version of the story in which the possessor of the Golden Cap controlled the Winged Monkeys. In an early version of the film, the Monkeys were to go to the poppy field and retrieve the slippers, but this was edited out, thus rendering the appearance of the cap meaningless. The film's creators figured that most of the viewers would not notice this continuity lapse, and they were correct. 
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  (#12) Judy Garland And Mickey Rooney Promoted The Movie With Live Song-And-Dance Routines

  MGM put Judy Garland through a brutal publicity campaign upon the release of Wizard of Oz, sending her back and forth between the East and West Coasts to appear in person at screenings in various cities. The most bizarre aspect to this marketing blitz was a three-week-long series of live routines performed before screenings in New York City. 

  During the film's initial run at Loew's Capitol Theater in Manhattan, Garland and fellow child star Mickey Rooney introduced each screening with a song-and-dance routine. This is incredibly strange for a number of reasons, among which is the fact that Rooney had nothing to do with the film.

  Garland was so exhausted from promoting Oz she eventually collapsed and required medical attention. 
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  (#13) The Munchkins Led Depraved Lives Offscreen

  MGM insisted that it wanted adult dwarfs to play the inhabitants of Munchkinland. They contracted with a man named Leo Singer who ran a vaudeville troupe known as Singer's Midgets. Singer put up most of this contingent in the Culver Hotel in Culver City, right down the street from MGM, and pocketed most of the dwarves' wages.

  Angry and bored, they reportedly engaged in orgies at the hotel, routinely pulled knives on and propositioned studio employees and starlets, and got so intoxicated that the police would sometimes have to scoop them up with butterfly nets. The Munchkins were paid less than anyone else on set Toto received better pay. 

  Jerry Maren (Lollipop Guild) was the last surviving Munchkin. He passed in May 2018 at the age of 98.
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  (#14) Terry The Dog Got A Rave Review In 'American Girl Magazine'

  Animal actors don't often get reviews, let alone raves. This is (probably) because they're animals and aren't aware they're acting.

  Yet American Girl Magazine, a publication you might not expect to contain movie reviews at all, gave Terry, who played Toto in Wizard of Oz, glowing commendation in a piece published in March 1940: 

  The hardest thing this little dog ever had to do was during the drawbridge scene in the Wizard of Oz, when she was chased by the huge Winkie guards of the Wicked Witch. Toto had to come running out of the castle and was trying to cross the drawbridge. She had almost reached the middle when the drawbridge was pulled straight up. The only safety Toto had was by clutching the edge of the bridge with her little paws and balancing herself thirty feet in the air. One of a dog’s greatest fears is the fear of falling, so it took a great deal of courage to follow her master’s orders that time.

  Terry allegedly had regular nervous breakdowns on set because of the stressful working conditions. Hopefully, American Girl Magazine's reverent ode to the dog's bravery helped ease that pain just a bit. 

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