# Wizard of Oz how did the make the corn and plants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 20, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261 "2022-07-20T12:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/21 "2024-02-03T14:41:33Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > It looks like vinyl to me, Those are definitely not natural. Real leaves do not reflect light like that. Especially watching it in 4K it looks completely artificial. Don’t imagine that everything you see in a movie “reflects” reality - the director or a camera guy might have said “Boring, it doesn’t pop! Spray a little glycerine on those leaves!”. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/22 "2024-02-03T16:13:40Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Gotta love some Drive-By Knowledge! Tuna is a fish _and_ a plant. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/23 "2024-02-03T16:32:01Z")
Okay, but it’s an artificial stage with painted backdrops and under the tremendous lights they had to use for early Technicolor. MGM used 150 36-inch arc lamps for the production, and had to borrow lights from other studios. Temperatures on the sound stages sometimes reached 100 degrees F. Real leaves would wither under such conditions and a spritz of glycerine would not help. Plus, the sets were still standing from early tests having Dorothy as blonde. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/24 "2024-02-03T16:43:05Z")
A hundred degrees…huh…talent must have gotten awful sweaty. Prob no roof fans in that era to keep the ground zone cooler. The corn could have been switched out (we did), or it may have been artificial. Or something else. In any case…? Dan ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/25 "2024-02-03T17:46:45Z")
And I thought this thread was revived to mention that the corn had just died… ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/26 "2024-02-03T18:00:05Z")
The talent was known to faint and many complained about eyestrain and permanent vision problems. As for the corn, again, in a huge, expensive production filled with artifice, why would you do that? Your production was modern and not a storybook one on painted sets. Regardless, there doesn’t seem to be much information out there so we might not get a definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/27 "2024-02-03T18:25:28Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > If you haven’t seen the new remastered video…its here: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lstxoqQyfX4) "Video unavailable This video is private" ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/28 "2024-02-03T18:26:04Z")
> [@TonySpumoni](#): > > Vinyl was invented in 1948. Thank you and welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/29 "2024-02-03T21:19:29Z")
Artificial foliage and silk flowers have been around for centuries. Go to your local floral shop and look at how real they look. The corn was created. Stage decorators know many tricks to fool the eye. Some of their tricks are better than others. I think W of O was probably meant to look fantastical. I mean look at the characters. Horses don’t change colors and Monkeys don’t fly either. Willy Wonka was fantastical in the same way. It’s a movie. Not real life. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/30 "2024-02-03T21:20:10Z")
Oops. Sorry ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/31 "2024-02-03T21:44:18Z")
You’re likely wrong about them being real, but your smart-assed answer made me laugh. I’m very often a smart-ass. Maybe that’s why I’m not liked by many. Or they could have other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/32 "2024-02-03T22:01:22Z")
If you go back to the Munchkin City scene, it sure looks like all the fake plants and flowers are made of plastic. They don’t look like metal, yet they’re majorly shiny. I’m trying to find videos of the scene in question, but having no luck so far. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/33 "2024-02-03T22:16:31Z")
must have been pulled for copyright violations in the last 2 years when I first posted this. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261/34 "2024-02-03T23:12:13Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > MGM used 150 36-inch arc lamps for the production, and had to borrow lights from other studios. Yea, those carbon arcs must have been miserable to be around and there were a bunch. Here’s one, note the chimney. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/B3MIRtDIfMk/maxresdefault.jpg "Carbon Arc light demo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3MIRtDIfMk&t=79) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-how-did-the-make-the-corn-and-plants/968261.md?page=1)