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Wizard Of Oz

This nOde last updated January 15th, 2008 and is permanently morphing...
(9 Et'znab (Flint) / 6 Muwan (Owl) - 178/260 - 12.19.14.17.18)

In case you haven't already heard about the strange cosmic synchronization that occurs when you play Pink Floyd's _"Dark Side of the Moon_ in place of the original _Wizard of Oz_ movie soundtrack, here's the rundown. Start your Pink Floyd _Dark Side of the Moon_ CD at the precise moment the MGM lion finishes it's third and final roar and you will find some very interesting coincidences.

• video footage showcase shown on MTV (vhs/ntsc)

• You'll know you've got it right when the first chord of _Breathe_ MP3 comes in at the same time "Produced by Mervyn LeRoy" is displayed on the screen.
• Dorothy is teetering on the fence to the pig bin when the band is singing "balanced on the biggest wave" from the song _Breathe_.
• Dorothy falls into the pig bin just as the you hear the words "race towards an early grave" and the music changes at the same time.
• Dorothy holds a little chick up to here face in a caring manner as you hear the band sing the words "Don't be afraid to care" from the track _Breathe_.
• In the beginning of the movie during the song _Breathe_, the band sings "smiles you'll laugh" and you see the Lion and the Tinman in human form laughing "and tears you'll cry" shows the Scarecrow crying.
• When you hear the words "when at last the work is done" from the track _Breathe_, Scarecrow in human form smacks his hand with a hammer and stops working.
• Mrs. Gulch AKA Wicked Witch of the West appears riding her bike at the same moment you hear the alarm clock bells going off at the beginning of the track _Time_ MP3 (192k).
• When the band sings "kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town" from the track _Time_, Toto hops out of Mrs. Gultches basket and runs back to the farm.
• When the band sings "waiting for someone or something to show you the way" from the track _Time_, Dorothy is in her room wondering what she should do when Toto comes hopping through the window to show her the way.
• When you hear the words "ticking away the moments that make up a dull day" from the track _Time_, Dorothys uncle puts his hand up to his head and rolls his eyes just before he kicks back in his chair after arguing with Mrs. Gultch.
• When Dorothy leaves the fortune teller to return to the farm, the lyrical content "home, home again" from the song _Breathe_ is playing.
• A triangle can be seen hanging from a tree and the way the fence rails run look an awful lot like the cover of _Dark Side of the Moon_.
• When you hear the words "Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry", the Lion and the Tin Man are smiling and the Scarecrow is crying.
• Auntie Em appears and starts talking at the same moment you hear the womans voice talking in the track _On the Run_.
• Toto pops his head up in a window at the same time that the band sings "Waiting for someone or something to show you the way" from the song "Time".
• When you hear the words "racing around, to come up behind you again" from the track _Time_, professor marvel appears at Dorothy's back.
• During the guitar solo in the track _Time_, You see the words "Past Present and Future" on the sign of Professor Marvel.
• Glinda, the good witch of the North, appears in her bubble as the band is singing "don't give me that do goody good bullshit" from the track _Money_.
• In the track _Us and Them_ right when the word "Black" is said, they show the wicked witch and when the word "Blue" is said, they show Dorothy in her blue dress.
• The Good witch of the north confronts the wicked witch of the west as the band sings "and who knows which is which" (or would that be "witch is witch"?) from the track _Us and Them_.
• When the Mayor of munchkin land is talking to Dorothy just before she takes off down the yellow brick road, his lips are moving as you hear the dialogue "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time" and it appears to be what he is saying to her.
• The track _Brain Damage_ begins at about the same time the scarecrow starts singing "If I Only Had a Brain".
• track _If I Only Had A Brain_ MP3
• After the scarecrow is let off his post and is stumbling around trying to walk the band is singing "the lunatic is on the grass" from the track _Brain Damage_.
• When the Munchkins are dancing after Dorothy arrives in Oz, the scene appears to be perfectly choreographed with the track _Us and Them_.
• When the Lollipop men hand Dorothy the lollipop , the track _Us And Them_ is playing and it's right at the beginning when they say "US.......AND THEM". Us is said when the munchkins hand it to her , "and them" is said when she takes it .
• When Dorothy opens the door to the house after landing in Oz, the movie switches from black and white to rich color at the same moment that you here the synchronized cash register sounds at the beginning of the song "Money".
• The coolest part of the whole thing though is the tornado scene. _The Great Gig in the Sky_ is the perfect song to the perfect scene. They bind together seamlessly. As glass and debris are flying and Dorothy is being blown around, the vocal screams are in perfect synchronization with the movie.
• About three and a half minutes into the song _The Great Gig in the Sky_, you hear a womans voice say "I never said I was frightened of Dorothy".
• Right as they are showing the twister for the second time and it's well on it's way, you hear a voice in the background saying "I am not frightened of dying, anytime will do, why should I be frightened of dying, there's no reason for it, we've all got to go sometime."
• At the same time you hear the words "all that you taste" from the song "Eclipse", Scarecrow squirts the oil can into the corners of Tinmans mouth.
• The length of the first side of the vinyl is the EXACT length of the black and white part.
• The chimes in _Time_ start and stop when the evil lady on the bike rides up, and the chimes ring as the clocks and such are going off at the end.
• When the lion is doing his little dance number at the end, at the end when he is crying, his mouth movement looks exactly as if he is laughing, which starts and stops as the same time as on the cd.
• Screams are heard when Dorothy enters the trailer and the music kicks in just as she sits down.
• As Marvel begins to attempt to lead Dorothy homeward the lyrics begin.
• "Run rabbit run" is heard as Dorothy runs back toward the farm.
• _On the Run_ is THE perfect song for the tornado, the music changing with every object that flies through the window.
• Laughter is heard as the witch flies by.
• A crash as the house lands, and on cue, the alarms when the door opens and color is revealed.
• _Time_ opening gives an eery feel to Dorothy's perception of this strange new place.
• As soon as Glenda speaks to Dorothy, so does Floyd.
• The guitar solos as the munchkins reveal themselves.
• Ooohs and aaahs are heard when Dorothy stands on the platform in the town center.
• The mellow piano of the _Breathe_ reprise begins at the delivery of the witch's death certificate. This goes on for the duration of the film.
• _Money_ builds to a crescendo when Dorothy comes to a fork in the road.
• The drum solo beats out the Scarecrow's clumsy steps.
• _Us and Them_ lyrics commence as Dorothy and Scarecrow skipping down the road together, as a team, for the first time, and continues as they are attacked by the trees and into the Tin Man's appearance.
• Gospel-like voices as Tin Man gains mobility.
• The album ends with the foursome intact on their journey to see the Wizard. They trot happily down the Yellow Brick Road after a close encounter with the Witch. The film reveals the Witch observing them in her crystal ball as Eclipse comes to a close and as she casts her spell on the poppies we hear "and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon", perhaps a reference to the Witch's crystal ball with which she casts her spell.

• The title role was written with W.C. Fields in mind. Producer Mervyn LeRoy wanted Ed Wynn, who turned down the role.  Studio executive Freed wanted Fields, and offered him $75,000.  Fields supposedly wanted $100,000.  According to a letter from Fields' agent (and supposedly  written by Fields) Fields turned down to role to devote his time to writing the script for _You Can't Cheat an Honest Man_'.
• Frank Morgan has five roles: Professor Marvel, the gatekeeper of the Emerald city, the cab driver (of the horse of a different color), the Wizard's guard, and the Wizard.  It is also possible that he was made up for the projected image of the Wizard.
• Terry (Toto) was stepped on by one of the witch's guards, and had a double for two weeks.  A second double was obtained, because it resembled Toto more closely.
• The Cowardly Lion's facial makeup included a brown paper bag.
• Actor Bert Lahr couldn't eat without ruining his makeup. Tired of eating soup and milkshakes, he decided to eat lunch and have his makeup redone.
• Buddy Ebsen was the original choice for the Scarecrow.
• Ray Bolger was originally brought in as the Tin Woodsman.  Bolger wanted to play the Scarecrow (his childhood idol was Fred Stone who had played the original Scarecrow in the 1902 Baum play _The Wizard of Oz_.  Bolger had seen him in _Jack O Lantern_' in 1919 or 1920.)  He   insisted and was eventually given the Scarecrow role.
• Ebsen was given the Tin Man.  Ebsen got sick from the makeup, but that was not the sole cause:   his symptoms were not consistent with aluminum powder poisoning, but were an allergic reaction to either the aluminum or the other chemicals in the makeup.  (he probably would have gotten sick anyway, but this speeded the process).  The makeup method was changed when Jack Haley took over (the aluminum was originally put on as a powder, they switched to mixing the aluminum in a paste), so Haley did not inhale the aluminum as much.  Haley did not find out what had happened to Ebsen until after the movie. He assumed that Ebsen had been fired.  Ebsen's voice can still be heard in "Off to see the Wizard''. "Over the Rainbow'' was nearly cut.
• The film originally contained an elaborate production number called "The Jitter Bug'', which cost $80,000 and took five weeks to shoot. In the scene, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodsman are on their way to the Witch's castle when they are attacked by "jitter bugs'' - furry pink and blue mosquitolike "rascals'' that give one "the jitters'' as they buzz about in the air. When, after its first preview, the movie was judged too long, MGM officials decided to sacrifice the "Jitter Bug'' scene. They reasoned that it added little to the plot and, because a dance by the same name had just become popular, they feared it might date the picture.  The Witch still refers to the bug in the final film, just before telling the Monkeys to "Fly!'' Only home movies of the filming of "The Jitterbug'' survive, though the song is on current versions   of both the soundtrack CD and the recent anniversary edition videotape. The sequence was also incorporated into a recent stage version of the musical.
• When filming first started, Judy Garland wore a blond wig and heavy, "baby-doll'' makeup; when George Cukor assumed the role of  intermediate director (after the producer took the original director off the picture, and before they found a replacement), he got rid of the wig and most of the makeup and told her to just be herself.
• The "tornado'' was a thirty-five foot long muslin stocking, photographed with miniatures of a Kansas farm and fields.
• The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) was off the film for more than a month after being severely burned during her disappearance from Munchkinland.  Her stand-in was also injured when a broom exploded during a stunt shot.
• Morgan's Professor Marvel coat was taken from a rack of second-hand clothing purchased by the studio wardrobe department; he was astounded when,  just by chance, he turned out the coat's pocket and found the name L. Frank Baum (the Oz books' author) sewn into the lining.  Baum's  widow and the tailor who made the coat confirmed that the coat had, indeed, been his.
• The horses in Emerald City palace were colored with Jello crystals.  The relevant scenes had to be shot quickly, before the horses started to lick it off.
• Rumors of the Munchkin actors' wild drunken orgies and other escapades are greatly exaggerated.
• There is a rumor that a man committed suicide on the set, and that his body can be seen on the left of the screen as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man walk down the Yellow Brick Road after their first encounter with the Wicked Witch.  This is false; the object in question is a strange looking bird.
• Director Victor Fleming did not finish the film, being assigned to take over direction of _Gone with the Wind_ (1939) . Fleming stayed   with Oz until the color photography was completed, and then handed over to King Vidor, who directed the black and white sequences.

Anomalog: Shouting Questions At The Wizard Of Oz's Wife Is Not Allowed In Da Fathaland

acid breakbeat track _Off To Demention X (mixed 4:43)_ MP3 (192k) by The Wizard Of Oh off of _Tricked Out_ MixCD by Omar Santana on Moonshine (1997)

big beat track track _The Wonderful Wizard Of Dub_ MP3 (vK) by Boom Boom Satellites

• _The Wonderful Wizard Of Dub (Dons Of Quixote Mix)_ MP3 off of _Push Eject_ CD on SMEJ Associated #026 (1998)

release _Ooger_ CD by Oz Artists on AE Recordings #001 (1998)

6. _As If The Living Were Moving_ MP3 (320k)(22.2megs)

7. _Matrix Noise_ MP3 (320k)(25.8megs)

8. _Art Of Wresling_ MP3 (192k)

604 release _Wizardry Of Oz_ compilation 12"x2 on Transient (1997)

• Memeflow: "wizardry of oz" reference to film _Wizard Of Oz_ and "oz" aka Australia
• antediluvian rocking horse - the rhythm sticks
• Parasonix - _Warp Phaze_ MP3
• Fluoro Conspiracy - _Chapel Perilous_ MP3
• Shaolin Wooden Men - _Remember The Slime_ MP3
• Reflecta - _Itchy Witches Of Androgenetico_ MP3
• The Visitors - _Tiny Little Engines_ MP3 (192k)
• Rip Van Hippy - _I Couldn't Talk_ MP3
• Insectoid - _The Web_ MP3 (192k)
• Snake Thing - _Shango_ MP3 (192k)

vinyl matrix etching on a release from Twisted records:

(a) "if you want to find the wizards of trance, follow the yellow brick road . . .
(b) but clicking your heels will not save you now."

Today, Oz (from the Wizard of Oz) seems like such a common term that we don't really consider where it came from.  The name for Oz was thought up when the creator of the story, Frank Baum, looked over at his filing cabinet and saw: A-N and O-Z.

film _Zardoz_ (vhs/ntsc) (1972) - a ridiculously grand sci-fi flick from the director of the brilliant _Deliverance_ a year earlier.  the premise of the film is that an entire society is based on the story _Wizard Of Oz_ ("zard oz").  Loin cloth and bandoleer clad Sean Connery learns to read and comes to this realization.

The Simpsons:
 

• _Episode 23: Bart Gets Hit By A Car_  [Aired January 10, 1991] Season 2/Episode 10
• reference: _Wizard of Oz_ - Bart waking up from his dream saying "And you were there, and you and you..."
• _The Simpsons Halloween Special II (aka Treehouse of Horror II)_      [Aired October 31, 1991] Season 3/Episode 2
• references _Wizard Of Oz_ - Burns hums, "If I Only Had a Brain" when removing Homer's brain.

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