85 years ago — on Aug. 25, 1939 — American director and cinematographer Victor Fleming’s most iconic film, “The Wizard of Oz,” was released in theaters, forever changing the standards for motion pictures.
When the film was released in 1939, it received Oscars for Best Original Score — which was conducted by Herbert Stothart — and Best Original Song for Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s “Over The Rainbow.” Judy Garland also went on to receive an honorary Academy Award for her performance as Dorothy Gale in the film.
What many remember most from the iconic film was its colorful set design — from George Gibson, the head of scenic design at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) at the time — and its vibrant costumes — from costume designer Adrian Adolph Greenberg — costumes which have since become some of the most well-known of all time.
Though it is arguably the most mundane costume in the film, Gale’s dress serves an important purpose in the film by emphasizing the difference between Kansas and Oz, the world originally imagined by American author L. Frank Baum in his 1900 children’s novel of the same name.
According to The Wizard of Oz Museum’s website, the entire ensemble — comprised of a blue and white dress with a fitted bodice and straps fixed at the top and back with two large buttons and a high-neck cream blouse — along with all of the other costumes in the film were created by hand by Greenberg.
According to the museum’s website, Greenberg created several versions of Gale’s outfit, despite the fact that Garland only donned one outfit for the duration of the film. This was a common studio practice, often done in case of any damage that may occur during filming.
What many don’t know is that Gale’s iconic ruby red slippers weren’t originally going to be red. For those who have read Baum's novel, they would know that the ruby slippers were originally silver.
According to an article from Screen Rant, when the studio was making the film, they knew the film would be produced in color, and rub red slippers were just the thing to make the screen pop.
Those iconic slippers, according to the museum’s website, sold for $15,000 — equivalent to around $6 million today — during the 1970s MGM auction.
Though many don’t remember the costume for The Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) to be the most realistic in the film, according to an article from Screen Rant, the 90-pound costume designed for Lahr used real lion pelts.
According to the article, when one of The Cowardly Lion's costumes came up for auction in November of 2014, a film memorabilia collector purchased the costume for $3,100,000.
The real irony is in the fact that Jack Haley, who played The Tin Man in the film, had almost no mobility while in his costume.
According to the same article from Screen Rant, when the cast and crew were waiting in between takes, Haley had to find a place where he could lean rather than sit, because the costume was too inflexible to sit down or move around in, making Haley’s struggles in the costume realistic to the struggles of the character himself.
One of the most important aspects of the costumes was the makeup. According to an article from The Cinema History Blog, the makeup for The Tin Man almost killed one of the actors.
According to the article, Buddy Ebsen was the actor to first take on the role of The Tin Man, but when he first arrived on set he began to experience bouts of short breath and cramps. His health quickly deteriorated and after being hospitalized it was revealed that he had aluminum dust in his lungs from the silver face paint.
Haley became Ebsen’s replacement and according to the article, the makeup crew switched to using an aluminum paste rather than dust. Though Haley didn’t inhale any dust, he did suffer an eye infection.
Margaret Hamilton, who plays The Wicked Witch of the West in the film, also suffered from injuries during filming.
According to the same article from The Cinema History Blog, Hamilton’s costume caught fire during the filming of her dramatic exit from Munchkin Land, leaving the actress with severe burns.
Nonetheless, these outfits have served as some of the most iconic film costumes of all time — having been recreated again and again for Broadway productions including “Wicked” and film renditions including Sam Raimi’s 2013 “Oz the Great and Powerful.”
Now, 85 years later, costume designer Paul Tazewell has been tasked with creating Oz-esque costumes for the 2024 film adaptation of “Wicked,” which will star Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The film is set to release in theaters on Nov. 22 of this year.
