The movie The Wizard of Oz will be 72 years old this August. Yet it refuses to get old and has been incarnated in references and quotes in many movies from The Matrix (“Kansas is going bye-bye”) to “No place like home” in Toy Story. Please post more movie references, if you know some:)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was the closing song at this year’s Academy Awards, performed by the 5th grade chorus of PS 22 in Staten Island (never mind that the rest of this year’s awards was not too exciting, that’s another story.)
Here’s the Brooklyn take on the Wizard of Oz:
15 kids from PS 372 are in the process of creating a movie inspired by the Wizard of Oz in their after-school movie class. It’s just like the Wizard… except in Dorothy’s blue and white checker dress we find the Siamese twins Doreen and Doroo, there are two witches who are not-so-gifted fortune tellers, three Freds, Dr. Cheese, Justin Bieber and his ninjas, Justin Bieber’s girlfriend, and two movie announcers. The Brooklyn Bridge disappears, and so do our three Freds. Super Mario has something to do with it. That’s all we can give away for now, stay tuned for the movie release next Saturday, April 2, 2011!

Here’s a preview (coming Sunday, March 26, 2011)
P.S. SOME WIZARD OF OZ TRIVIA
* The Horse of a Different Color couldn’t be actually painted because of Animal Rights concerns. So they used colored, flavored jelly – which the horse kept licking off.
* It took 20 guys a week to set up the 40,000 wire poppies.
* The song “Over the Rainbow” tested badly in preview screenings, so it was cut out and then later, upon reflection, reinserted. Good thinking.
* The Cowardly Lion’s tail was worked by a technicians on an overhead walkway.
* Toto’s real name was Terry and she was a Cairn Terrier. Only she was paid much less than Judy Garland 🙂
* The 124 midgets who were the Munchkins only got $50 a week.
Trivia source
Filed under: Short Movies | Tagged: Academy Awards, cowardly lion, Dorothy, Justin Bieber, ninjas, PS 22 Staten Island, PS 372 New York, Somewhere over the rainbow, The Matrix, The Wizard of Oz, Toto, Toy Story, Wizard of Oz trivia | Leave a comment »