# Suicidal munchkin **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 17, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586 "2013-12-17T19:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/1 "2013-12-17T19:14:07Z")
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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8YVeMwhDNI) obvious crane: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4gh6BEPN8Q) * * * MODERATOR NOTE: Link to original column: [Can a Munchkin be seen committing suicide in The Wizard of Oz? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1063/can-a-munchkin-be-seen-committing-suicide-in-em-the-wizard-of-oz-em) (from 1997, before all the high-def stuff and trivial Photoshop-type manipulations.) ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/2 "2013-12-17T19:17:15Z")
BTW… my theory if real is that it was supposed to look like the wicked witch flying away on her broomstick. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/3 "2013-12-17T19:24:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/4 "2013-12-17T19:32:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/5 "2013-12-17T20:11:24Z")
> [@Whammo72](#): > > My apologies if this has been re-hashed to death. A few of the previous threads: [New development in Wizard of Oz “hanging”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621502&) - This one demolishes the video tape. [wizard of oz suicide](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=152329) [The original column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1063/can-a-munchkin-be-seen-committing-suicide-in-em-the-wizard-of-oz-em) ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/6 "2013-12-17T20:31:05Z")
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. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4gh6BEPN8Q) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/7 "2013-12-17T21:26:49Z")
> [@Whammo72](#): > > BTW… my theory if real is that it was supposed to look like the wicked witch flying away on her broomstick. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/8 "2013-12-17T21:52:08Z")
> [@Whammo72](#): > > 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? 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). ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/9 "2013-12-18T01:58:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicidal-munchkin/676586/10 "2013-12-18T14:39:44Z")
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. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aAqvkj3HtGY/maxresdefault.jpg "Clear proof the hanging munchkin video is fake") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAqvkj3HtGY)