I actually used to kinda believe the populist theory but also questioned the fact that there is a whole series of Oz books. Shirley Temple just didn't have the same tone Judy Garland had, and I'm happy Judy was chosen for the role. I always thought the hanging munchkin conspiracy was really fake, and it's obvious being how are they going to edit it out when they didn't have that technology even in the early 80s. BTW you can't say they re-filmed it which I have heard because how would they have been able to recreate the scene perfectly without looking different.
I had my doubts about the populist theory when I heard it back in High School, but didn't know any real facts about it until much later. Like you, I too couldn't believe it since there were _many_ sequels to the original book. That's hilarious someone suggested they re-filmed the entire sequence. HUGE LOL. Like... um... how is that even possible? 🤦🏻♂️
Yeah. I kind of think that if that really was a hanging munckin in that scene, giving that the actors were looking and walking towards it in the scene, I think they would've freaked out in that scene and would have to retake it.
There are _so_ many ways to debunk the 'populist parable' theory. I think perhaps the most telling is that until 1963, not one person noticed this obvious parable, even though the book was very successful from its first printing (to say nothing of the stage musical). But no, no editorials, no complaints that the musical (or later, the MGM movie) obfuscated the political content of the book, nothing. There were probably political cartoons of course, since politicians are always lacking in heart, brains, courage, or all three. But free silver and gold and workers and farmers and politics? Nah. There are endless other details one can cite. For example, although he had plenty of opportunities, Baum never referred to the Road of Yellow Bricks ('Yellow Brick Road' came later) as golden in color. If it was a parable, it is the subtlest parable ever committed to paper. As you point out, Baum was pretty transparent when he wanted to refer to contemporary matters. General Jinjur was a good example; also see the octopus who is horrified to learn that he has been compared to the Standard Oil Company, in The Sea Fairies. Some people think that literature must have some ulterior motive, or encoding, to be valuable. They cannot accept a book that was just written 'to please a child' (nor accept that Tolkien's work is not allegory in a technical sense).
You debunked the Shirley Temple myth so well! That always bugs the absolute heck out of me, lol. It was a more complex situation than biographies let on. I also love how you presented the hanging Munchkin thing. A+ sarcasm, ha.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my sarcasm! As _Oz_ fans, we all too often get these myths presented to us as "facts". It's a shame they still get circulated today, even with all of the technology we have on hand to debunk them.
@@LAQuadling If The Hanging Munchkin was real don't You think that The Police and The News would have investigated and Probably would have Shut down MGM Studios for Life and The Movie whould probably be banned for Life
@@LAQuadling Also You can very Easily figure out that Sucidal Munchkin's Tape is Fake When He plays A Tape with The Hanging Munchkin He did A Terrible job at Editing The Footage The Pictures is very blurry and You can see part of The Bird Wing in The Background Yes it's Shocking seeing The So called Body which looks more like A Giant Black Sack but that is just very badly Edited in and One of The Trees turns from Invisible to visible and You couldn't even hang Yourself from The Trees it's part of A Painted background The Rumor is ridiculous
The rumor is ridiculous. The most hilarious aspect of the rumor is that it is assumed the Munchkinland scenes were filmed before the forest scenes. They weren't. The Munchkinland scenes were some of the last scenes filmed for _The Wizard of Oz_ making it impossible for Judy Garland to turn one of the munchkins down for a date, since the munchkins weren't needed on set until after the "hanging" scene was completed.
@@LAQuadling It's about as Believable as The Ghost Boy in 3 Men and A Baby I haven't That Movie but Someone started A Rumor that A Little Boy Had Either thrown Himself out of The Bathroom Window or Shot Himself with A Shotgun or A Rifle Someone also started The Rumor that His Mother got upside seeing at seeing His Ghost that She tried to Sue The Company making The Movie and was put in A Mental Institution but that is just A bunch of Nonsense it turned out that The Ghost was just A Cardboard Cutout of Actor Ted Danson for A Dogfood Commerical but for some reason The Commercial was cut from The Movie and Someone left The Cardboard Cutout in The Bathroom and became of The Awful Picture Quality on Vhs and probably when The Movie was in Theaters it made it look like A Ghost was peeking from The Bathroom Curtains Ted Danson had A White T Shirt under A Black Jacket A Black Top Hat and with The Curtains over The Cardboard Cutout it looked really Creepy and started The Rumor of course Nobody really Died just like The 2004 version of The Grudge most of The Movie was shot on A Sound Stage even Tom Selleck Himself was on The Daily Show and admitted that The Rumor is Fake I highly doubt that Spock would let something like that in The Movie The Director was Leonard Nimoy
Thanks for covering these myths! The hanging Munchkin myth is especially ridiculous. I covered that myth in a couple of videos on my channel SPOILER ALERT it's fake. 6:58 This actually confirms a theory I made in my more recent video. Long story short, there was a 1955 reissue trailer that showed this scene of the film but they crossfade to the next scene just before the bird's wings spread. The reissue trailer would have also likely been a lot of people's first exposure to The Wizard of Oz. Considering the poor TV quality at the time, and the fact that the bird was hiding behind the tree, and the fact that the most notable feature about the bird (the wings) weren't shown in the reissue trailers for the film, it has made think that the bird looked like a generic figure, and people's wild imaginations took care of the rest.
Top 5 The Wizard Of Oz Myths DEBUNKED NUMBER 5 THE WIZARD OF OZ PARABLE ON POPULISM NUMBER 4 SHIRLEY TEMPLE WAS THE ORIGINAL DOROTHY NUMBER 3 THE HANGING MUNCHKIN NUMBER 2 THE WIZARD OF OZ THE FIRST COLOR MOVIE NUMBER 1 THE ORIGINAL MOVIE
I've never understood the mystic about the supposed "hanging" munchkin... or how it's managed to still somehow stick with people, and it's not even in the movie!
What do you mean by "the bird is fake"?, look I hope you already believe that Hanging Munchkin is a lie, but what do you mean?, that the bird is an animatronic?, NO, it's not
I discussed the scene as it is in the film. The scene has never been released commercially with a hanging figure in the background. That video has been doctored. Since the myth claims this scene was "altered" when the film was restored for the original home movie VHS release, then I would suggest purchasing a film print from before the VHS release (yes those exist) and prove everyone wrong. Until then, I will view that video as fake.
@@LAQuadling Thanks for your answer. I have been debunking that clip with a hanging for about 10 years now. Yes that video is fake, and you are correct to focus on the bird. Here is my video proving the hanging video was edited if you're interested. th-cam.com/video/0ZNSpVt5tlw/w-d-xo.html The guy who originally uploaded the 'hanging' video showed it to be on a 1986 tape, so we use the 1985 tape to debunk it.
@@DiscordC There is no other release. All remastering involves is revitalizing the image and sound quality. Nothing about the film's content was ever changed. The "hanging" clip that everyone has spread around on TH-cam like herpes is a doctored video that someone did using editing software in 2011.
There is only one version. "remaster" is a term that people who don't even know what it means love to throw around to make themselves sound like some sort of smart cookie. There have been around 5 totally separate restorations of this film, none of which feature any significant content changes. The "hanging" footage is a TH-cam exclusive clip that someone edited on their home computer and purported it to be "original". Every single video of it on TH-cam that people have copied and pasted have the bottom of the frame conveniently cropped off, which is because the original uploader's watermark, "SuicidalMunchkin" was originally at the bottom of the video.
Then how is it that I saw the bird, and nobody hanging, in a film print in 1979, before it was ever released on home video? It was not in passing, this was a copy belonging to a friend of mine who stopped the film and pointed out the bird in the freeze frame. He did this at many other points as well, such as the toucan and the peacock in the same scene, and Judy Garland's black booties that snuck into the scene as she and the Scarecrow were picking up apples.
I stop listening when someone insists that a children's book " is actually an allegory for _____". If the author is still alive, and replies that the story isn't an allegory for anything, the response is usually that authors aren't a reliable source for information about their books. 😵💫
Lol. I don't know why people _want_ children's books to have more adult allegories or meanings... can't we all just enjoy the simplicities of children's stories?
I get so sick of hearing people talk about the "hanging munchkin" as though it's true. Such rubbish! Thank you for posting this and clarifying the details. Love the Victor Fleming picture with the bird!
You're welcome! It's truly unfortunate when a conversation about this classic discusses aspects that are not even in the film. It was a lot of fun to get some pent up frustrations out with these common misconceptions!
For many people today, the truth is what they want it to be. It doesn't matter if it's an actual fact anymore, people just accept what they want to as truth and spread it around like its the gospel.
David Parker's excellent article is another resource for people who'd like some debunking facts about the Parable of Populism theory. www.halcyon.com/piglet/Populism.htm
Someone should debunk your hair. Also the bird shot is from a different shot that was used to replace the original (which you can still find) with the hanging munchkin. Completely different shot. So no, it's not a bird. If your level of research is this lazy I can't trust your other debunks either.
Thanks! That was the inspiration for this one. The crazy things I've heard from people when they find out I'm a Wizard of Oz collector. It certainly does get tiring correcting these myths, but I don't know what's more frustrating: the fact that these myths are so well circulated or that the individuals who pass them on to me think I've never heard them before.
I actually used to kinda believe the populist theory but also questioned the fact that there is a whole series of Oz books. Shirley Temple just didn't have the same tone Judy Garland had, and I'm happy Judy was chosen for the role. I always thought the hanging munchkin conspiracy was really fake, and it's obvious being how are they going to edit it out when they didn't have that technology even in the early 80s. BTW you can't say they re-filmed it which I have heard because how would they have been able to recreate the scene perfectly without looking different.
I had my doubts about the populist theory when I heard it back in High School, but didn't know any real facts about it until much later. Like you, I too couldn't believe it since there were _many_ sequels to the original book.
That's hilarious someone suggested they re-filmed the entire sequence. HUGE LOL. Like... um... how is that even possible? 🤦🏻♂️
@@LAQuadling ikr
Yeah. I kind of think that if that really was a hanging munckin in that scene, giving that the actors were looking and walking towards it in the scene, I think they would've freaked out in that scene and would have to retake it.
There are still four munchkins that where kids at the time
So they are like 90
And then caren marsh doll as judy garland's stand age 104
I really like the great tips what you’re saying that I really enjoy, enjoying the great movie experts that it made the film
There are _so_ many ways to debunk the 'populist parable' theory. I think perhaps the most telling is that until 1963, not one person noticed this obvious parable, even though the book was very successful from its first printing (to say nothing of the stage musical). But no, no editorials, no complaints that the musical (or later, the MGM movie) obfuscated the political content of the book, nothing. There were probably political cartoons of course, since politicians are always lacking in heart, brains, courage, or all three. But free silver and gold and workers and farmers and politics? Nah. There are endless other details one can cite. For example, although he had plenty of opportunities, Baum never referred to the Road of Yellow Bricks ('Yellow Brick Road' came later) as golden in color. If it was a parable, it is the subtlest parable ever committed to paper. As you point out, Baum was pretty transparent when he wanted to refer to contemporary matters. General Jinjur was a good example; also see the octopus who is horrified to learn that he has been compared to the Standard Oil Company, in The Sea Fairies.
Some people think that literature must have some ulterior motive, or encoding, to be valuable. They cannot accept a book that was just written 'to please a child' (nor accept that Tolkien's work is not allegory in a technical sense).
You debunked the Shirley Temple myth so well! That always bugs the absolute heck out of me, lol. It was a more complex situation than biographies let on. I also love how you presented the hanging Munchkin thing. A+ sarcasm, ha.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my sarcasm! As _Oz_ fans, we all too often get these myths presented to us as "facts". It's a shame they still get circulated today, even with all of the technology we have on hand to debunk them.
@@LAQuadling If The Hanging Munchkin was real don't You think that The Police and The News would have investigated and Probably would have Shut down MGM Studios for Life and The Movie whould probably be banned for Life
@@LAQuadling Also You can very Easily figure out that Sucidal Munchkin's Tape is Fake When He plays A Tape with The Hanging Munchkin He did A Terrible job at Editing The Footage The Pictures is very blurry and You can see part of The Bird Wing in The Background Yes it's Shocking seeing The So called Body which looks more like A Giant Black Sack but that is just very badly Edited in and One of The Trees turns from Invisible to visible and You couldn't even hang Yourself from The Trees it's part of A Painted background The Rumor is ridiculous
The rumor is ridiculous. The most hilarious aspect of the rumor is that it is assumed the Munchkinland scenes were filmed before the forest scenes. They weren't. The Munchkinland scenes were some of the last scenes filmed for _The Wizard of Oz_ making it impossible for Judy Garland to turn one of the munchkins down for a date, since the munchkins weren't needed on set until after the "hanging" scene was completed.
@@LAQuadling It's about as Believable as The Ghost Boy in 3 Men and A Baby I haven't That Movie but Someone started A Rumor that A Little Boy Had Either thrown Himself out of The Bathroom Window or Shot Himself with A Shotgun or A Rifle Someone also started The Rumor that His Mother got upside seeing at seeing His Ghost that She tried to Sue The Company making The Movie and was put in A Mental Institution but that is just A bunch of Nonsense it turned out that The Ghost was just A Cardboard Cutout of Actor Ted Danson for A Dogfood Commerical but for some reason The Commercial was cut from The Movie and Someone left The Cardboard Cutout in The Bathroom and became of The Awful Picture Quality on Vhs and probably when The Movie was in Theaters it made it look like A Ghost was peeking from The Bathroom Curtains Ted Danson had A White T Shirt under A Black Jacket A Black Top Hat and with The Curtains over The Cardboard Cutout it looked really Creepy and started The Rumor of course Nobody really Died just like The 2004 version of The Grudge most of The Movie was shot on A Sound Stage even Tom Selleck Himself was on The Daily Show and admitted that The Rumor is Fake I highly doubt that Spock would let something like that in The Movie The Director was Leonard Nimoy
Thanks for covering these myths! The hanging Munchkin myth is especially ridiculous. I covered that myth in a couple of videos on my channel SPOILER ALERT it's fake.
6:58 This actually confirms a theory I made in my more recent video. Long story short, there was a 1955 reissue trailer that showed this scene of the film but they crossfade to the next scene just before the bird's wings spread. The reissue trailer would have also likely been a lot of people's first exposure to The Wizard of Oz.
Considering the poor TV quality at the time, and the fact that the bird was hiding behind the tree, and the fact that the most notable feature about the bird (the wings) weren't shown in the reissue trailers for the film, it has made think that the bird looked like a generic figure, and people's wild imaginations took care of the rest.
Top 5 The Wizard Of Oz Myths DEBUNKED
NUMBER 5 THE WIZARD OF OZ PARABLE ON POPULISM
NUMBER 4 SHIRLEY TEMPLE WAS THE ORIGINAL DOROTHY
NUMBER 3 THE HANGING MUNCHKIN
NUMBER 2 THE WIZARD OF OZ THE FIRST COLOR MOVIE
NUMBER 1 THE ORIGINAL MOVIE
Judy Garland made another version of the Wizard of Oz for radio in 1950. Did you know?
Yes! I've got a recording of that radio show on vinyl.
It was a bird seriously. Not a hanging Munchkin
I've never understood the mystic about the supposed "hanging" munchkin... or how it's managed to still somehow stick with people, and it's not even in the movie!
6:08
Very interesting. Thank you for this info.
the bird is fake
What do you mean by "the bird is fake"?, look I hope you already believe that Hanging Munchkin is a lie, but what do you mean?, that the bird is an animatronic?, NO, it's not
Just out of interest, why did you comment on the 'hanging' scene that shows a bird?
Instead of the video that actually has a hanging figure?
I discussed the scene as it is in the film. The scene has never been released commercially with a hanging figure in the background. That video has been doctored.
Since the myth claims this scene was "altered" when the film was restored for the original home movie VHS release, then I would suggest purchasing a film print from before the VHS release (yes those exist) and prove everyone wrong. Until then, I will view that video as fake.
@@LAQuadling Thanks for your answer.
I have been debunking that clip with a hanging for about 10 years now.
Yes that video is fake, and you are correct to focus on the bird.
Here is my video proving the hanging video was edited if you're interested.
th-cam.com/video/0ZNSpVt5tlw/w-d-xo.html
The guy who originally uploaded the 'hanging' video showed it to be on a 1986 tape, so we use the 1985 tape to debunk it.
@@LAQuadling you discussed as it is in the 1980's REMASTERED release.
@@DiscordC I just watched @fallentwig video and he literally disproved it. Go watch it.
@@DiscordC There is no other release. All remastering involves is revitalizing the image and sound quality. Nothing about the film's content was ever changed. The "hanging" clip that everyone has spread around on TH-cam like herpes is a doctored video that someone did using editing software in 2011.
all the youtubers who tried to debunk the hanging munchkin all played the remastered version released in the 1980's, NOT the original release.
There is only one version. "remaster" is a term that people who don't even know what it means love to throw around to make themselves sound like some sort of smart cookie. There have been around 5 totally separate restorations of this film, none of which feature any significant content changes. The "hanging" footage is a TH-cam exclusive clip that someone edited on their home computer and purported it to be "original". Every single video of it on TH-cam that people have copied and pasted have the bottom of the frame conveniently cropped off, which is because the original uploader's watermark, "SuicidalMunchkin" was originally at the bottom of the video.
When movies are remastered they don’t edit stuff. There was no hanging munchkin.
All of the youtuber claiming it was a hanging munchkin doesn't play any version of the film because it's fake
Then how is it that I saw the bird, and nobody hanging, in a film print in 1979, before it was ever released on home video? It was not in passing, this was a copy belonging to a friend of mine who stopped the film and pointed out the bird in the freeze frame. He did this at many other points as well, such as the toucan and the peacock in the same scene, and Judy Garland's black booties that snuck into the scene as she and the Scarecrow were picking up apples.
I stop listening when someone insists that a children's book " is actually an allegory for _____". If the author is still alive, and replies that the story isn't an allegory for anything, the response is usually that authors aren't a reliable source for information about their books. 😵💫
Lol. I don't know why people _want_ children's books to have more adult allegories or meanings... can't we all just enjoy the simplicities of children's stories?
I get so sick of hearing people talk about the "hanging munchkin" as though it's true. Such rubbish! Thank you for posting this and clarifying the details. Love the Victor Fleming picture with the bird!
You're welcome! It's truly unfortunate when a conversation about this classic discusses aspects that are not even in the film. It was a lot of fun to get some pent up frustrations out with these common misconceptions!
For many people today, the truth is what they want it to be. It doesn't matter if it's an actual fact anymore, people just accept what they want to as truth and spread it around like its the gospel.
omg, he looks like he belongs in return to oz 🫣😱
David Parker's excellent article is another resource for people who'd like some debunking facts about the Parable of Populism theory. www.halcyon.com/piglet/Populism.htm
Someone should debunk your hair. Also the bird shot is from a different shot that was used to replace the original (which you can still find) with the hanging munchkin. Completely different shot. So no, it's not a bird. If your level of research is this lazy I can't trust your other debunks either.
Haha 😂 I love it! A
It’s great that I don’t have to correct people anymore and I could just show them this video!! Great video!
Thanks! That was the inspiration for this one. The crazy things I've heard from people when they find out I'm a Wizard of Oz collector. It certainly does get tiring correcting these myths, but I don't know what's more frustrating: the fact that these myths are so well circulated or that the individuals who pass them on to me think I've never heard them before.