Top Ten Fantasy Movies -- Featuring The Wizard of Oz

Welcome to Fun Fact Friday! Today we draw from the Top 10 Fantasy Movies to date. I'm sure down the road Avatar will make the list, but I sure hope it doesn't knock Oz of the map.

Top Ten Fantasy Movies

1 WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939)

2 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)

3 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1947)

4 KING KONG (1933)

5 MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947)

6 FIELD OF DREAMS (1989)

7 HARVEY (1950)

8 GROUNDHOG DAY (1993)

9 THIEF OF BAGDAD, THE (1924)

10 BIG (1988)

Trivia on the Wizard of Oz:

• The horses in Emerald City palace were colored with Jell-O crystals. The relevant scenes had to be shot quickly, before the horses started to lick it off.
• Judy Garland's portrayal of Dorothy was the main inspiration for the character of Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" (1964).
• In the song "If I Only Had A Heart", the girl who says, "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" is Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
• When The Witch tries to get off the Ruby Slippers, fire strikes her hands. This "fire" was actually dark apple juice spewing out of the shoes. The film was sped up to make it look like fire.
• When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel / The Wizard), they decided they wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed". They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department, and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility". One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum.
• I saw Wicked, the Broadway play, recently and enjoyed the story from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view. Very well done. I also read the book. My commentary: Ick. See the play, skip the book. (By the way, the author of the book, Gregory Maguire, realized that the witch was never given a name. So he made one up: Elfaba, which pays tribute to the original author of the beloved children's books, L. Frank Baum.) I have also viewed the film a hundred-eleventy times. Besides seeing it every year on my own television set growing up, it's my granddaughter's favorite movie. 'Nuf said.

Craft Lesson - Subtle Character Attributes

In the following You Tube offering, Harold Ramis mentions the gifts that the Wizard gave to Dorothy's three companions. How they also apply to Dorothy shows the creative process when developing a character.

After watching the You Tube video, I invite you to read my article, "WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE --An Allegorical View Depicting the Writer's Life."

*****

Source:

The Internet Movie Database

The American Film Institute

Top Ten Animated Movies - Featuring The Lion King

FUN FACT FRIDAY!

This is a new feature that will list the top movies and trivia in different categories. These will include genres, characters, even songs. Watch for Craft Lessons, as well. I can't guarantee that all elements will be included every Friday, but below is what I hope to strive for in some coherent order.

Top Ten Animated Movies

1 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)

2 PINOCCHIO (1940)

3 BAMBI (1942)

4 LION KING, THE (1994)

5 FANTASIA (1942)

6 TOY STORY (1995)

7 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991)

8 SHREK (2001)

9 CINDERELLA (1950)

10 FINDING NEMO (2003)

Trivia on The Lion King:

• Mickey Mouse appears in two cameos: 1)One of the bugs that Timon pulls out of a knothole during Hakuna Matata is wearing Mickey Mouse ears. 2) When Mufasa tells Simba about the Great Kings of the Past if you look at the stars in the wide shot you can see Mickey Mouse.
• There have been rumors that when Simba collapses on the cliff after talking with Timon and Pumbaa about stars, the dust that flies off the cliff forms the letters SEX. In fact it forms the letters SFX, the abbreviation of the special-effects team that worked on that portion of the film.
• I saw the Broadway version of The Lion King at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. As a puppet buff, (that's a bit of trivia in itself!) I thought I'd died and gone to puppet heaven. The special effects in this live action performance that had nothing to do with computer generated "anything" and left me breathless. If it comes to your town, SEE IT!

Craft Lesson - There is nothing new under the sun.:

• The plot-line is loosely based upon William Shakespeare's Hamlet; a story of a young prince whose uncle takes over the kingdom and marries the queen after killing the king/prince's father. After being away from home for a period of time, these events lead to the prince's plans for revenge. The prince receives some advice from his father's ghost. Also, during the scene where Zazu sings I've got a lovely bunch of Coconuts, Scar Has a skull in his hand.
• Besides inspirations from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the story also has elements of the Osirian family myths of Ancient Egyptian mythology. In the Osirian myths, the king (Mufasa/Osiris) is killed by his jealous brother (Scar/Seth) and the rightful heir (Simba/Horus) is sent into exile as a boy. The murdered king visits and mentors his son in ghostly visits and when the heir comes of age, he returns to exact revenge on his father's murderer.

In the You Tube video, Nathan Lane describes how he and Ernie Sabella won the role of Timon, the meercat, and Pumbaa, the warthog.

Hakuna Matata, Everybody!

*****

Source:

The Internet Movie Database

The American Film Institute