19. Richard Thorpe wanted to mimic the scenery of the Oz books’ illustrations
Richard Thorpe wanted the Wicked Witch to resemble the Evil Queen as seen in Snow White, rather than the ugly (and green) hag in the final film. Thorpe also wanted a more mature Dorothy, and it was he who worked with Buddy Ebsen as the Tin Man, shooting scenes of Ebsen in the role, which were recently rediscovered. Thorpe also envisioned Oz as being less garish, with colors more muted, as they had been in the original illustrations in the books.
Thorpe’s Dorothy was a blonde, requiring Judy Garland to wear a wig. She was also heavily made up, and in Thorpe’s vision was closer to her own real age. MGM’s producers and Louis B. Mayer found themselves at odds with his approach to the film, and he was fired after just two weeks of shooting. Although the scenes he shot with Ebsen were necessarily never used, part of the soundtrack recorded by Ebsen can be heard in the released film, when singing “We’re off to see the Wizard”.
