80th Anniversary of Wizard of Oz

[gblowfish]

The lovely Mrs. B collects Wizard of Oz stuff (she grew up in Topeka). Last night Union Station was all emerald green to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the movie coming out. So I took Mrs B down to Crown Center and we took a few pics. Nobody around, it had stopped raining, and it was misty and cool and the lights were awesome. Took some pics with my phone inside and out of the train station. If you've never been to KC, Union Station and the National WWI Museum and Monument are really stunning. Especially at night. Pics attached:

[Lprechaun]

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

In the 60's my grandparents got a color tv. Every year when Oz was on we'd go over there and watch it. We'd get our favorite drive-in food and set up tv trays. It was awesome.

I think that's where we as kids watched it most times was the various grandparents.
It was almost a holiday

[mlyonsd]

Originally Posted by Lprechaun

I think that's where we as kids watched it most times was the various grandparents.
It was almost a holiday

It was. And back then before being exposed to CGI on a daily basis those flying monkeys and mean apple trees were intimidating to a 6 or 7 year old.

[mcknzAlex]

I have heard that Dorothy's dress will be up to auction 80 years after the film has been release.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Are any munchkins still alive, or did the last one die?

I can talk like a Munchkin and sing the songs like one with a cousin of mine.

[RealSNR]

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

It was. And back then before being exposed to CGI on a daily basis those flying monkeys and mean apple trees were intimidating to a 6 or 7 year old.

I was terrified of those flying monkeys. Every year when I was little we'd watch it until those flying monkeys showed up, then I'd make my parents and brother switch to Dukes of Hazzard.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

This movie scared the heck out of me when I was a kid... but loved to watch it every year when it was on...

[alpha_omega]

Original release poster.....

[alpha_omega]

Originally Posted by Lprechaun

How many households in 1956 had color TVs? My history of TVs is quite limited but it was shown on TV in 56 for the first time. Wondered if the film was watched mainly in both formats like we see it now or if most just saw it in black and white.

It's from Wiki, but it appears to answer the question....

From the beginning The Wizard of Oz was telecast in color, although few people owned color television sets in 1956. Except for 1961, all U.S. telecasts have been in color, an effect that seemed much more striking in the early 1960s, when there were still relatively few color programs on television. It was not televised in color in 1961 because color telecasts had to be paid for by their sponsors, who declined to do so that year.[17][18] Between 1956 and 1965, the Wizard of Oz showings were rare exceptions to the black and white program schedule at CBS. During this period, CBS had the ability to broadcast programs in color, but generally chose not to do so unless a sponsor paid for a film or program to be shown in color. During this period, the competing network NBC was owned by RCA, which by 1960 manufactured 95% of the color sets sold in the U.S. Hence, CBS perceived that increased use of color broadcasting would primarily benefit its rival by promoting sales of RCA color television sets.[citation needed]

Not until the fall of 1965 did color broadcasts play a major role at CBS and ABC, at which time half the network shows from ABC and CBS were being made and shown in color. Meanwhile, all but two NBC prime time shows were in color and most of NBC’s daytime shows were. By the fall of 1966, all three networks produced all of their prime time shows in color. By the time the movie went to NBC in 1968, all network shows (except for reruns of black and white movies) were in color.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wi...on#Later_hosts

[oldman]

I can remember the NBC peacock and it's feathers at the start of each show.

[alpha_omega]

Apparently, a different witch had been cast originally.......



...Gale Sondergaard was the original actress cast as the Wicked Witch of the West in MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939). The original conception of the character (in the film) was a glamorous, beautiful evil queen like the Wicked Stepmother in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938). When a decision was made to change her to a more traditional ugly witch, Sondergaard left the film, feeling such a character was less to her liking and not good for her image......

https://travsd.wordpress.com/2018/02...-wizard-of-oz/