Why do they walk into the Haunted Forest carrying weapons?
In The Wizard of Oz, right after the group leave the Wizard's Castle to begin their quest to retrieve the witched broom, they enter the haunted forest... carrying weapons!
- Scarecrow: a gun
- Lion: a net and bug sprayer
- Tin Man: a pipe wrench
Where did they get them? (it isn't explained or shown)
Oz doesn't seem to be the type of place where these should be readily available... especially a gun.
Also, why does the Tin Man need a pipe wrench, when he's already carrying an axe?
Best Answer
In the original script (by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf) there’s no mention of a gun. The ax is explicitly referenced. The bug spray and net are left over from a previous musical number called “The Jitterbug” that was shot but cut in the editing room. (The song — with such lyrics as, “Oh, the bats and the bees and the breeze in the trees have a terrible, horrible buzz” — was an attempt to capitalize on the dance fad.)
There is even some rehearsal footage for this scene:
However:
Pistols, revolvers, sidearms, six-shooters — nothing. Someone made a conscious decision during production that the Scarecrow should pack heat.
To be frank, there are numerous issues with the film:
The production, restoration, and continuity of the film is a mess. The Movie Mistakes website entry for The Wizard of Oz has 22 pages of errors (which features this “Mandela Effect” funnily enough). This scene appearing in the movie with inexplicable items is not out of the realm of possibilities.
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GHOST HUNTING in HAUNTED FOREST at 3AM! (Warning: Incredibly Scary)
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