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From: zimickimouse@verizon.net (Eddie)
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Subject: THE WIZARD OF OZ Restored INFO.rtf (1/1)
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Date: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 07:13:58 GMT
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THE WIZARD OF OZ Restored INFO.rtf
The Wizard Of Oz RESTORED
I hope I've done this correctly and that it's not inappropriate to post it here.
Many years ago when I first began to read about the making of my favorite childhood film, The Wizard Of Oz, I knew I'd always desire to see it the way it was seen by the very first preview audiences, before it was recut and shortened, for various reasons and about which everyone can read online these days.
Over the years much of this discarded material has turned up and been released on both CD and DVD, but only as supplements, never incorporated into the body of the film.
I've worked (strictly as an amateur and for my own pleasure) with audio for a number of years but never video. Earlier this year I decided to attempt to recreate The Wizard Of Oz as closely as I could to its original preview condition, since as far as I knew nobody else was doing it and I really, REALLY wanted to experience that edition.
This is the result. IT'S NOT PERFECT, but it's made me happy and until someone more experienced than I am offers something better, I'll live with it. I don't think I'll ever again watch any of the various legitimate, commercial DVD editions I own.
I cannot and do not take full credit for this restoration. Five of the six additions I've made to the film would likely not have been possible without the loving work of others, which I've um... appropriated... and assembled here.
The restored footage is as follows:
1 The SCARECROW DANCE. A number of years ago I got a copy of the film from a friend who had found an edition online with the Scarecrow Dance incorporated. It's basically that copy of the film that I cut up and inserted the other additions into. So thanks to the individual who did that.
2 The Complete IF I WERE KING OF THE FOREST. Found on Youtube. Thanks tomy9878. There's a jarring shift in color, but the number is complete, incorporating a few lines for the lion's friends in the middle of the number and a funny tag at the end of the song.
3 THE JITTERBUG. Probably the most famous excision from the film we all know. The actual footage hasn't surfaced. This is the home video rehearsal footage we've probably all seen. Found on Youtube also. Thanks tomy9878. Various DVD supplements have this with the dialogue leading into the song heard over black and white stills of the characters speaking. What's different about this presentation is the dialogue leading into the song has been dubbed on top of edited and rearranged film footage of the characters speaking. It's not - it can't be, perfectly in sync, but it works.
4 The OVER THE RAINBOW Reprise. In the Witch's castle. Thanks again tomy9878. Same re-edited and re-arranged footage leading into the song. A masterful job.
5 The TRIUMPHAL RETURN TO THE EMERALD CITY. A reprise of Ding Dong The WItch Is Dead and We're Off To See The Wizard begun by the Winkie guards and then taken up by the Emerald City populace during a dissolve into a grand procession through the City as the happy four, no, five (Toto, too!) returned for what the Wizard had promised them. Mostly stills, but includes a very brief clip of actual footage from this number, the rest of which has not survived.
6 An unused musical tag. After the final credits, a twenty second additional musical coda, mor e jaunty than the one we all know.
Again, not perfect. The frame size changes during The Jitterbug and the Over The Rainbow reprise, more for the Jitterbug. I couldn't figure out how to fix this. The video is a times a little jerky and not all joins are perfect, but I did my best and I'm happy with it. I hope you will be too.
Eddie
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