A Look Behind Oz

As the 1939 film of "The Wizard of Oz" celebrates its 70^th anniversary, many have had the privilege of recognizing the infamous characters of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. Throughout the film the audience can capture a great deal of color among scenery and the costumes of each character in the film. Most of the ideas for the costumes brought great difficulty among the actors as make-up artists and costume designers worked to bring each character to life from the book.

One of the characters in need of a heart, the Tin Man, involved many experiments among the body suit with materials like real tin, silver paper, and cardboard covered with a silver cloth. The original suit was then made of leather and buckram (a stiff cloth) that was painted silver. The first man originally given the role of the Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen, was forced to give up the role due to the first choice of makeup called powdered aluminum dust. After completing four weeks of rehearsal, Ebsen suffered an allergic reaction to the aluminum dust and the role was then given to Jack Haley. The funnel-hatted character’s makeup was then replaced with silver paint and blue highlights added, as seen in the film. 

               Jack Haley as Tin Man

Another look that involved great detail was the Scarecrow. His final look consisted of a rubber mask simulation of burlap. The actor Ray Bolger once stated, “The rubber mask wasn’t porous, so you couldn’t breathe through your skin. I felt like I was suffocating.” The Scarecrow’s

 costume was made of lightweight cotton and denim that was stuffed with actual straw.  This made it a lot easier for the actor to jump and dance to during each scene.

As for the Cowardly Lion, Bert Lahr wore the costume that weighed over fifty pounds. The costume was constructed together from a wool and cotton jumpsuit and some of the pieces were actually made of lion fur, like the tail. The wig on the character weighed about five pounds and on top of his head two plastic ears that completed the outfit.

On the brighter side, how could I forget to mention the Munchkins? One of the biggest projects was creating different looks for a total of 124 Munchkins. Every character had a different charm from ballerina’s to the “Lollipop Guild.”

                                                                                    The Lollipop Guild

Even though "The Wizard of Oz" was not an easy task to film, some of our young and older audiences tend to not realize the hard work and struggles that came across creating a character for the film. As well as, the unique actors and actresses that stay in character while filming. 

Sources

Essman, Scott. “Return to Oz.” Make-Up Artist Magazine (Dec. 1998): 6. Print.
**Click pictures to lead to source.