Sunday, March 22, 2026

Flopcast 724: The Wizard of Oz 1939 - We're Off to See the Chicken

A few weeks ago, we reviewed the 1925 silent black and white version of The Wizard of Oz, and it was... not great. So this week, we're watching the 1939 version, which has sound and color (you know, mostly), and is arguably the superior film. And we're here to talk about it. Our discussion includes: Professional show chickens, crullers, how people are still suckered by psychics, Dorothy's red hair, professional show crows, Martin Short as a picket fence, the Tin Man's Boston accent, "Existential Blues" by Tom "T-Bone" Stankus, a scarecrow with a gun, fake owls, and Huey Lewis. If this is all too much for you, just click your heels 251 times and download a different podcast.

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Show Notes

Kevin may not be the foremost expert on hair color, so we'll put it to our listeners. Is Dorothy's hair red or brown?

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L. Frank Baum's entire catalog is in the public domain, and you might be interested to see the original illustrations by W.W. Denslow for The Wizard of Oz.

Further volumes in the series were illustrated by John R. Neill, who came up with a very different look for Dorothy. We couldn't resist sharing a picture from Ozma of Oz with Billina the hen and Tik-Tok, both featured in the film Return to Oz.

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The crullers got a mention in a Huffpost article on the occasion of the film's 75th anniversary. This article also reveals that Kevin was right about a bird being the origin of the Munchkin hanging urban legend.

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The Golden Cap allowed the Wicked Witch to command the Winged Monkeys in the book. Dorothy subsequently took ownership it, but like a genie's lamp, the cap could only be used three times.

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You can watch I Martin Short Goes Hollywood on YouTube. The "Man in the Moon" segment starts at 6:05.

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Other celebrities potentially inspired by Oz characters include Rip Taylor...

...and Lynne Marie Stewart as Miss Yvonne on Pee-Wee's Playhouse

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Play us out, T-Bone!