1939 Movie Classic 'The Wizard of Oz' Almost Didn't Get Made -What Went Terribly Wrong
Who hasn't seen - and loved - The Wizard of Oz? The 1939 classic movie endures with its cast of beloved characters, from the Tin Man to Dorothy to Toto. It's inspired remakes, including a play and hit movie that look at it all from the witch's perspective.
But what if it had never been made at all? Or what if it was made with a different story or characters? It turns out that a lot went wrong on the set of The Wizard of Oz, and before the film went into production, so it's fortunate that it didn't end up in the dustbin of studio history. Or just a very different movie.
What's everything that went wrong with The Wizard of Oz?
An Actor Playing the Tin Man Had a Near-Fatal Allergic Reaction to the Aluminum Dust
According to the fact-checking site Snopes, the original actor cast as the Tin Man had to be replaced because he had an allergic reaction to the makeup used.
The actor Buddy Ebsen, who later starred as the father on The Beverly Hillbillies sitcom franchise, was supposed to play the Scarecrow, but Ray Bolger convinced him to play the Tin Man instead and swap roles. Ebsen was covered in aluminum dust to play the Tin Man.
"Nine days later, he was rushed to the hospital and placed in an oxygen tent when his lungs failed," Snopes reported. "The aluminum dust used in Ebsen's makeup had caused an allergic reaction or infection in his lungs that left him scarcely able to breathe." He eventually recovered, but he was replaced as the Tin Man by Jack Haley, Snopes noted.
Toto Wouldn't Behave on the Set of 'The Wizard of Oz'
According to BBC America, there were also problems keeping Toto, the little dog, in line on the set of the movie.
"The little dog who played Toto misbehaved, ruining take after take," BBC America revealed.
Margaret Hamilton, Who Played the Wicked Witch, Was Burned on Set
Margaret Hamilton made the Wicked Witch of the West an iconic and terrifying character. However, she was burned on set during filming.
According to BBC America, Hamilton "was burned during the filming of a Munchkinland scene."
The incident occurred while Hamilton was filming a scene where she tells Dorothy on the yellow brick road, "I'll get you my pretty and your little dog, too," and then "she disappears in a cloud of red smoke and fire," People reported.
"Her shoulders and her head and the broom straw and her hat, which had that hanging piece of gauze from it as well, that much was still above the ground," author John Fricke told People. "The gauze caught fire, the broom straw caught fire."
He added: ""The broom straw was next to the side of her face and near her right hand. And the upshot was that she had second-degree burns on her face, third-degree burns on her hand where the green makeup was." According to People, it took six weeks for Hamilton to heal.
The Studio Worried That Children Wouldn't Want a Live Action Oz Instead of Animation & Stressed About the Cost
The studio had concerns that children would be turned off by the live actors since Disney animation was at its height.
So they came up with a fix. They insisted that Dorothy's experiences be painted as a dream, which was not the case in the book, according to AOL.
According to the OZ Museum, the studio also fretted about the cost: "Before, during, and after production, Metro worried about its cost: $1.7 million – an outrageous amount for that time – and OZ would ultimately exceed that estimate by sixty-five per cent."
The Studio Went Through Many Scripts for the Movie
The Wizard of Oz plot was much debated, and the studio went through many scripts. What were some of the ideas that didn't make it into the final film?
"Preliminary OZ scripts also included such new characters as a Munchkinland Princess who sang operetta-style duets with her Grand Duke boyfriend. They were both to be captured by The Wicked Witch, who would turn him into a cowardly lion and force him to fight a dragon (or gorilla) to prove his bravery," Fricke wrote on the website of the OZ Museum.
"The Witch was given a dimwit son, whom she wanted to place on the throne of the Emerald City. There was a pert and perky female assistant to the Wizard. And all of these new residents of Oz were to have Kansas counterparts as well."
Noted Fricke for the museum: "Luckily (blessedly!) preproduction – casting, songwriting, design, etc., -- ran on so long that there was time to re-re-re-re-re-write all those scripts and eliminate most of those concepts."
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 8:42 AM.