Learn more about Thomas Kinkade’s Wizard of Oz painting releasing August 9th, 2010. Thomas Kinkade is the official artist for the Wizard of Oz after being recruited by Warner Brothers to paint an eight part tribute to this wonderful American story. Much like Thom’s Disney Dreams Collection, customers can purchase the same certificate number if they choose to purchase all 8 Wizard of Oz pieces. Growing up and raising his three daughters, Thomas Kinkade has always been a fan of The Wizard of Oz and it was an honor for him to be chosen to paint such an American Icon. The Wizard of Oz was very meaningful to Thom since it depicts friendship, the battle of good over evil, and just because the movie makes you happy during and after seeing it.

Much like his Disney Dreams series, The Wizard of Oz by Thomas Kinkade was completed in a panoramic format in which the entire story is told in one image. You will find tremendous detail throughout the painting along with all the major characters including Dorothy and her dog Toto with her three friends, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man as they dance down the Yellow Brick Road in search for The Wizard of Oz. Of course, Thom could not forget to include the Wicked Witch in hot pursuit over Dorothy’s magic slippers. What is truly amazing about this painting is the incredible detail of each character’s face. In addition, the illumination effect this painting has when dimming the lights is also remarkable. The Wizard of Oz has been in our family’s lives now for seventy one years and counting. Now you have the opportunity to continue sharing this story with your family, friends, and children. Thomas Kinkade’s The Wizard of Oz is now available but is already selling out at record speed. Be sure to reserve yours today. Click here for further details and don’t forget, our galleries do 12 month financing at 0% and we also offer 6 month layaway. Listed below are some real fascinating facts about the film and production of The Wizard of Oz:
• The movie’s creater, Mervyn Leroy had put some serious thought into featuring The Tin Man as a convicted criminal whose punishment was to wear a tin suit. This punishment eventually turned him into a kind man.
• The Wizard of Oz barely made any profit upon its release in 1939. It was not until its rerelease in 1949 when it received huge profit numbers.
• The Library of Congress named the Wizard of Oz as The Most Watched Film in History.
• All of the characters with the exception of Uncle Henry, appear in both Kansas and in Oz.
• The success of Disney’s Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs ha d a big influence in the producers’ decision to create the Wizard of Oz since they realized that a children’s story can also be made into a successful movie.
• A romantic portion of the script was cutout in which towards the end of the movie Dorothy promises to write to “Hunk” who is the Kansas character (whose counterpart was the Scarecrow) who is about to leave to go to college. This scene was supposed to lead viewers to assume a romantic relationship would soon evolve between these two characters. Some of this was built up in the movie in which Dorothy tends to favor the Scarecrow over the Lion and Tin Man and is very evident in the scene in which Dorothy tells the Scarecrow, just prior to leaving Oz, that she’ll miss the Scarecrow the most.

• Shirley Temple was originally going to play the role of Dorothy due to her incredible popularity at the time. However, upon hearing her sing, producers decided they needed a different singing style. In addition, W.C. Fields was supposed to play the Great Wizard of Oz but producers claimed he sought too much money for the part.
• The role of the Tin Man was originally given to Buddy Ebsen who later became famous from his role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies. However, after 9 days of filming, Buddy developed a horrific reaction to the aluminum makeup and was hospitalized. This led to a halt on production until Jack Haley was cast as his replacement.
• The Wizard of Oz changed directors three times during production. George Cukor was the first director who began shooting with the crew before having to leave due to his prior commitment in directing “Gone With the Wind.” Victor Fleming then replaced Cukor and directed most of the film before ironically having to leave production to replace Cukor again, this time as director of Gone With The Wind. King Vidor replaced Fleming and finished shooting the remainder scenes to the Wizard of Oz including Garland’s scene where she sings “Over the Rainbow.”
• It took six months to film the Wizard of Oz and cast and crew were often required to work 12 to 14 hour days. In addition, due to the new “Technicolor” process, the set would often reach 100+ degrees.
• Several rumors ran rampant concerning The Wizard of Oz. Probably the most famous was the rumor that during the filming of the song “We’re Off To See The Wizard,” one of the actors who played a Muchkin hung himself which could be seen in the background. Rumors quickly ended however, when due to modern technology, Blue Rey, etc. the character in question was actually a bird spreading its wings.
• Another rumor was that towards the beginning of the film, after Miss Gulch is bitten by Toto, she curses by telling Aunt Em that she will “bring a damn suit that will take your whole farm.” In actuality, she really stated “a damaged suit” not “damn suit.”
• The actress who played Miss Gulch and The Wicked Witch, Margaret Hamilton, was severely burned during the second take of the filming of the Munchkinland scene by the fire used to dramatize her exit. As a result, the first take was used for the movie.
• MGM wanted to edit out Judy garland’s scene in which she sings “Over the Rainbow” because they felt the Kansas scene was too long and it was an insult to Judy’s reputation by having her sing in a barnyard. Producers fought this issue with MGM and eventually won. “Over the Rainbow” would later win the Academy Award for Best Original Song of the year and in 2004, The American Film Institute ranked “Over the Rainbow” number one on the 100 Best Songs List.

• The rock band Pink Floyd enjoyed a tremendous amount of publicity for the synchronicity of their “Dark Side of the Moon” album with the Wizard of Oz. Although the band never admitted to purposely doing it, if you start the “Dark Side of the Moon” album after the third roar of the lion at the start of The Wizard of Oz movie, you’ll see that Pink Floyd’s music and words seem to fit perfect with the movie itself. In addition, the cover of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” features a rainbow. American cult artists quickly referred to these coincidences as “The Dark Side of the Rainbow.”
• 45 milllion viewers tuned in to the first television broadcast of The Wizard of Oz on November 3rd, 1956. For the next six years, CBS would broadcast The Wizard of Oz annually during the second week of December. This abruptly came to a halt in December 1963 due to the U.S. mourning of the assassination of JFK the month before.
• The Wizard of Oz is set to have a prequel to be released in 2013 which currently is titled Oz, The Great and Powerful. Sam Raimi who directed the Spider Man movies is set to direct it and it is rumored that Robert Downey Jr will star in it.