tgd@clyde.UUCP (Thomas G. Dennehy) (10/13/83)
Dear Auntie Em -
Hate you.
Hate Kansas.
Taking the dog.
Love,
Dorothy
ENOUGH ALEADY!!
---------------------------------------------------
Tom Dennehy AT&T BL Whippany, NJ {clyde!tgd}john@hp-pcd.UUCP (06/08/84)
So W.C Fields turned down the job as the Wizard of Oz. I guess he was mad because they didn't cast Mae West as the good witch of the North. John Eaton !hplabs!hp-pcd!john
cmb@ihima.UUCP (Christine M. Buss) (06/14/84)
I urgently request anybody's recollection of what the Wizard of Oz says to the Scarecrow when he gives him the diploma. What degree does the Scarecrow get? Chris Buss ihnp4!ihima!cmb
jackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (06/14/84)
>I urgently request anybody's recollection of what the Wizard of Oz >says to the Scarecrow when he gives him the diploma. What degree >does the Scarecrow get? The Scarecrow gets a "ThD" (Doctor of Thinkology). The presentation speech by the Wizard goes as follows: "You, my freind, are simply a victim of disorganized thinking. A lot of people without brains do an awful lot of thinking, don't they? So, by the powers invested in me by the Universitatus Committeeatum (sp?) E. Pluribus Unum, I confer upon you the honorary degree of ThD!" ------ Frank Morgan, by the way, did all of those speeches ad lib. Jack Hagerty Zehntel, Inc. !ihnp4!zehntel!jackh
jackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (06/15/84)
I posted my reply to the "Scarecrow Diploma" question off the top
of my head and while on the way home last night it struck me (it
didn't hurt much) that the reply was not only incomplete but contained
an error.
The error is that the Wizard did not say "a lot of people without brains
do an awful lot of thinking, don't they?" That's a misquote from earlier
in the film when Dorthy asks the Scarecrow how he could talk without a brain
and he answers: "I don't know, but a lot of people without brains do an
awful lot of talking, don't they?"
The full text of the Wizard's speech (still done from memory so there may
be a few glitches) is:
"You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. Every puceanaomous
(sp?) creature who crawls on the earth or slinks through slimy seas has a
brain. Back where I come from we have Universities, seats of great learning
where men go to become great thinkers; and when they come out they think
deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have! But, they have one
thing you don't have, a diploma. So, by the power vested in me by the
Universitatus Committeeatum (sp?) E. Pluribus Unum, I confer upon you the
honorary degree of ThD!"
The Scarecrow then shows that his brain is defective by putting his finger
to his head and mutilating the Pythagorian Theorem:
"The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an Isosceles triangle is
equal to the square root of the remaining side! Oh joy! Rapture! I have a
brain!"
Yeah, it's probably the same one Marty Feldman gave to Gene Wilder in
"Young Frankenstein". Used to belong to Abby somebody.
-- Jack Hagerty
Zehntel, Inc.
!ihnp4!zehntel!jackhmag@whuxle.UUCP (Gray Mike) (06/15/84)
I'm not sure of the verbatim speech of the wizard to the scarecrow, but I can paraphrase it: So, scarecrow, you want a brain. . . . Many people who have graduated from fine universities have no brains at all! However, they *do* have something that you don't -- a diploma. Therefore, without further ado, [pulls out huge diploma in red ribbon] I hereby award you the degree of "Doctor of Thinkology." [Musical flourish -- trumpets] Scarecrow [points index finger at temple and raps out like a machine gun:] Thesquareofthehypotenuseofarighttriangleisequaltothesumofthesquares oftheothertwosides! Hope this is specific enough. Mike Gray, BTL, WH
rhaynes@sunfun.DEC (Rae Haynes) (06/18/84)
I watched "The Wizard of Oz" again yesterday; and I jotted down
the lines in question. After I transcribed my shorthand, I
replayed that part of the movie and double checked that I had it
correct, word-for-word.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wizard: "Why anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre
commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls
on the earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain.
Back where I come from we have universities; seats of
great learning where men go to become great thinkers.
And when they come out they think deep thoughts and
with no more brains than you have. But! They have
one thing you haven't got -- a diploma.
Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by
the universitatus committiatum e pluribus unum, I
hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of Thd."
Scarecrow: "Thd?"
Wiz: (mumbles) "Doctor of Thinkology."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: I have no idea how to spell 'universitatus committiatum';
so I guessed.
"Say good-bye, Toto."
Rae E. Haynes DEC, Costa Mesa, California
UUCP: ...!{allegra, decvax, ihnp4, ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-sunfun!rhaynes
or
ARPA: rhaynes%sunfun.dec@decwrl.ARPA
Mon 18-Jun-1984 11:48 PDTsdi@loral.UUCP (Steve Irwin) (06/19/84)
I believe that the scarecrow received a Phd in Mathematics at which
time he started rattling off "E=mc2 and the square root of 3 is ....
"Life is like OZ man....."rhaynes@sunfun.DEC (Rae Haynes) (06/20/84)
>> I urgently request anybody's recollection of what the >> Wizard of Oz says to the Scaredrow when he gives him the >> diploma. > "You, my friend, are simply a victim of disorganized > thinking...." Close, but no cigar. It is the Cowardly Lion who is told that he is a victim of disorganized thinking. Basically, the Wizard says to the Scarecrow: 'Why anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity.' Tin Man: 'You don't know how lucky you are. Hearts will not be practical until they can be made unbreakable.' Cowardly Lion: "You, my friend, are simply a victim of disorganized thinking. Because you run away from danger, you think yourself a coward." (I've already posted a message with the entire speech to the Scarecrow.) Rae E. Haynes DEC, Costa Mesa, California UUCP: ...!{allegra, decvax, ihnp4, ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-sunfun!rhaynes or ARPA: rhaynes%sunfun.dec@decwrl.ARPA Tue 19-Jun-1984 16:42 PDT
ea@hogpc.UUCP (E.ARIAS) (06/22/84)
A follow-up to the WoO postings (may classify as trivia).
The actor who played the WoO was actually the second
choice. Can anyone name the first choice actor who
actually refused the part?
Ernie Arias AT&T-ISL Lincroft,NJ {ihnp4!}hogpc!eamag@whuxle.UUCP (Gray Mike) (06/23/84)
> > A follow-up to the WoO postings (may classify as trivia). > > The actor who played the WoO was actually the second > choice. Can anyone name the first choice actor who > actually refused the part? > > Ernie Arias AT&T-ISL Lincroft,NJ {ihnp4!}hogpc!ea > No, but I know that Judy Garland was also the second choice! The first was Shirley Temple, but they couldn't get her. Mike Gray, BTL WH.
cathleen@ism70.UUCP (06/23/84)
#R:ihima:-18900:ism70:13100019:000:268 ism70!cathleen Jun 14 19:59:00 1984 He gets a ThD, Doctor of Thinkology. Wizard of Oz: By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Universitatus Committeeatum E Pluribus Unum, I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of ThD. Scarecrow: ThD? Wizard of Oz: Doctor of Thinkology.
simard@loral.UUCP (06/23/84)
With great trepidation, may I submit the guess: Ronald Reagan?
--
Ray Simard
Loral Instrumentation, San Diego
{ucbvax, ittvax!dcdwest}!sdcsvax!sdccsu3!loral!simardjpg@sdchema.UUCP (06/24/84)
> The actor who played the WoO was actually the second > choice. Can anyone name the first choice actor who > actually refused the part? W. C. Fields? Also, who was originally cast as the Scarecrow? Jerry Greenberg
richl@daemon.UUCP (Rick Lindsley) (06/24/84)
You're not thinking of Buddy Ebsen for the Tin Man, are you?
Rick Lindsley
richl@tektronix
..{allegra,ihnp4,decvax}!tektronix!richljkb@sdcrdcf.UUCP (John Barbee) (06/25/84)
If I'm not mistaken, the part of the Scarecrow (played by Ray Bolger) was originally offered to Buddy Ebsen. jb ...somewhere, over the rainbow...
hobbit@sunybcs.UUCP (06/26/84)
[You'd have to be a little 'off' to see the Wizard....]
I don't remember who was suppose to play the Great Oz first, but...
All of the main characters except the Cowardly Lion were Second Choices!!
Character Original Final
Wicked Witch ??? Margret Hamilton
Dorothy Shirley Temple Judy Garland
Scarecrow ??? Ray Bolger
Tin Man Ray Bolger,
Buddy Epson Jack (?)
Lion Bert Lahr all the way across!!
The first choice for the Wicked Witch and Buddy Epson were both allergic
to the makeup being used in the filming. Also, Ray Bolger was originally
to play the Tin Man, but he asked to play the Scarecrow instead.
Other problems: Margret Hamilton's costume caught fire in one scene, and
she was fortunate that they got the makeup off her quickly, as it could have
permanently disfigured her. Bert Lahr lost a LOT of weight in that costume
during the filming as well.
By the way, the coat the 'Wizard' wears in the last scenes actually belonged
to L. Frank Baum at one time! His wife had donated it to a second-hand shop
where the costume department picked it up!!
Trivia Question (don't we have enough already??):
What musical number was cut from the final version of the film?
(Not "Over the Rainbow", which almost didn't make it in, since MGM thought
that none of their stars should be seen singing in a barnyard......)
PS -- A friend of mine here at Univ. of Buffalo (UB) once wrote a version of
the story with the song:
"We're off to see the Wizard ... of UB. We here he is a Wiz of a Wiz
When he's not at the Faculty Club..."
Oh joy! Rapture!
--
-The Parker Hobbit
a.k.a. Thomas R. Pellitieri
UUCP: {allegra, seismo}!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!hobbit
decvax!watmath!sunybcs!hobbit
ARPA & CSNET: hobbit.buffalo@rand-relayron@brl-vgr.UUCP (06/27/84)
...and Shirly Temple was orginally going to play Dorothy but MGM couldn't get her away from Fox. What a different movie that would have been. -Ron
isenberg@nybcb.UUCP (06/27/84)
If the original role of the Scarecrow was offered to Buddy Ebsen... then how about the original role of tinman being offered to Ray Bolger...?
oz@rlgvax.UUCP (THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ) (06/28/84)
Rumor has it that the role of the WIZARD was first offered to W.C. Fields! "Pay no attention to man behind the curtain, yes indeed my little chickadee." I AM ... OZ seismo!rlgvax!oz
steve@zinfandel.UUCP (06/28/84)
#R:ihima:-18900:zinfandel:8300025:000:74 zinfandel!steve Jun 26 10:52:00 1984 W.C. Fields was the first choice as the Wizard... zinfandel!steve nelson
mazur@inmet.UUCP (06/28/84)
#R:ihima:-18900:inmet:6500044:000:176
inmet!mazur Jun 27 23:41:00 1984
Actually, the part of the Tin Man was offered to Buddy Ebsen, but they soon
found out that he was *violently* allergic to the makeup.
Beth Mazur
{ihnp4,ima,harpo}!inmet!mazurix21@sdccs6.UUCP (07/02/84)
The Jitterbug scene as previously mentioned in net.movies was a dance number removed from the movie during editing. This summer the scene will appear on Entertainment Tonight; I am sorry I can not give a more precise date, but I will announce it later if there is time. David