Quiz on The Wizard of Oz

What is the name of Dorothy's little dog?

• Rex
• Bingo
• Toto ✓ (Correct answer)
• Spot

Source: Toto was played by a female Cairn Terrier named Terry, who out-earned many human actors on set.

What color is the famous brick road Dorothy follows?

• Red
• Yellow ✓ (Correct answer)
• Gold
• Green

Source: The road's gold paint photographed so oddly that crews had to repaint it to get the right yellow on film.

In which U.S. state does Dorothy live before being swept away?

• Kansas ✓ (Correct answer)
• Nebraska
• Oklahoma
• Texas

Source: Dorothy's gray Kansas farm is shot in sepia, making the Technicolor land of Oz feel even more dazzling.

What carries Dorothy's house away from her farm?

• A tornado ✓ (Correct answer)
• A hurricane
• A flood
• An earthquake

Source: The film's twister was a practical studio effect, not real storm footage spliced into the movie.

Which city is Dorothy told to travel to for help?

• Crystal City
• Ruby City
• Emerald City ✓ (Correct answer)
• Sapphire City

Source: In Baum's book the capital only looks green because everyone is made to wear green-tinted spectacles.

What does the Scarecrow hope the Wizard will give him?

• A heart
• Courage
• A home
• A brain ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The Scarecrow keeps out-thinking the whole group long before the Wizard ever hands him a diploma.

In the 1939 film, what color are Dorothy's magic slippers?

• Silver
• Ruby red ✓ (Correct answer)
• Gold
• Emerald green

Source: The slippers are silver in the original book; MGM made them ruby to pop against new Technicolor film.

Which song does Dorothy sing back home in Kansas?

• Over the Rainbow ✓ (Correct answer)
• Singin' in the Rain
• Moon River
• Somewhere Out There

Source: 'Over the Rainbow' was nearly cut for slowing the pace, then won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

How does Dorothy ultimately defeat the Wicked Witch of the West?

• Uses the slippers
• Casts a spell
• Throws water ✓ (Correct answer)
• Lights a fire

Source: An ordinary bucket of water, not magic, triggers one of cinema's most famous on-screen meltdowns.

Who played Dorothy in the 1939 musical film?

• Shirley Temple
• Liza Minnelli
• Bette Davis
• Judy Garland ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Judy Garland was 16, and the studio bound her chest to make her look like a younger girl on screen.

Who wrote the original 1900 novel that inspired the film?

• Lewis Carroll
• L. Frank Baum ✓ (Correct answer)
• Roald Dahl
• C.S. Lewis

Source: L. Frank Baum wrote 13 more Oz books, building one of America's first great fantasy franchises.

What phrase must Dorothy repeat while clicking her heels three times?

• Follow the yellow brick road
• We're off to see the Wizard
• I'll get you, my pretty
• There's no place like home ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: She just had to click her heels three times and say the line, having had the power to leave all along.

What is the great Wizard finally revealed to be?

• A powerful sorcerer
• A wicked king
• An ordinary man ✓ (Correct answer)
• A magical genie

Source: The all-powerful Wizard is just a humble balloonist from Omaha hiding behind a curtain of tricks.

Which flowers does the Witch use to put the travelers to sleep?

• Roses
• Poppies ✓ (Correct answer)
• Sunflowers
• Tulips

Source: The poppy field is a drowsy trap, nodding to opium's real-world reputation for inducing deep sleep.

Who finally reveals how Dorothy can use the slippers to go home?

• Glinda ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Wizard
• The Tin Man
• Auntie Em

Source: Glinda held the secret until the end, insisting Dorothy had to learn the lesson for herself first.

Why was the actor first cast as the Tin Man forced to leave the film?

• He quit for another role
• He was fired for lateness
• He died during filming
• The makeup poisoned him ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Buddy Ebsen was hospitalized after the aluminum-dust makeup coated his lungs and nearly killed him.

How was the film's terrifying tornado actually created?

• A muslin stocking ✓ (Correct answer)
• Real storm footage
• A smoke machine
• A glass tube

Source: The twister was a 35-foot muslin stocking, spun with fans and dusted with soot to look menacing.

How do some historians interpret Baum's original 1900 story?

• A religious parable
• A war memoir
• A love story
• A political allegory ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Some read it as a coded allegory about gold, silver, and the heated money politics of the 1890s.

Roughly how many little-person actors were cast as the Munchkins?

• About 50
• About 125 ✓ (Correct answer)
• Over 300
• About 75

Source: Around 124 little-person performers played the Munchkins, an enormous casting effort for 1939.

What was the Cowardly Lion's costume primarily made from?

• Synthetic fur
• Horsehair
• Real lion skin ✓ (Correct answer)
• Dyed wool

Source: The suit used real lion pelts and weighed around 90 pounds, baking the actor under hot studio lights.