My apologies if this has been re-hashed to death. I have not seen it if it has. In Cecil’s column he points out the hanging munchkin was obviously a bird. A youtube search proved this to me and then I found another youtube video claiming to be from an old VHS tape that has not been edited. In that video there is CLEARLY something hanging from a rope in a tree. Now what THAT edited in trickery or was the crane? Anyone have expertise in these things?
Hanging munchkin: - YouTube
obvious crane: - YouTube
MODERATOR NOTE: Link to original column: Can a Munchkin be seen committing suicide in The Wizard of Oz? - The Straight Dope (from 1997, before all the high-def stuff and trivial Photoshop-type manipulations.)
BTW… my theory if real is that it was supposed to look like the wicked witch flying away on her broomstick.
Is that object seen in any other copy, or just this “old VHS tape”?
I have the restored DVD upstairs, but I’m not going to run right up and check it. I don’t recall ever seeing this “artifact” before, though. I suspect trickery.
Edited trickery. I think we’ve been through that edited video before on a previous thread. The originals are clear - it was a bird not a suicidal munchkin.
PERFECT! Thank you! I can always count on the SDMB for a clear answer. Special thanks to Andyfighter for his/her video link in the other thread posted.
I have no cite, but I have HEARD that the simple answer is: That one is a fake/edited.
Take that for what it’s worth, though (not much, since no cite).
Perhaps another reason to think the ‘hanging’ image is faked is that the stage set is probably built with forced perspective. This would mean that the actor would pass within a couple of feet of the ‘body’. I think anyone would notice that.
All the trailers that show this scene show the bird. I don’t think it would be possible to ‘fix’ all of them.
I posted the wrong link above. This video from Andyfighter is ultimate proof of the faking to me. Fantastic spot imo. Any doubt in my mind has been satisfied.
