According to the Library of Congress, The Wizard of Oz is the most viewed film in the history of motion pictures. One of the original pairs of the Ruby Slippers. Even the magical slippers, a major plot device in both the novel and film are changed from silver to ruby, to take advantage of the Technicolor film process used for the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy, over the rainbow Judy Garland faced challenges of a different kind.  Playing the part of a twelve year old required that any appearance of breasts were eliminated by a constrictive corset that forcibly flattened her chest.  Between her mother and the studio, every aspect of Judy’s life was choreographed especially when it came to diet.  She was encouraged to smoke tobacco and drink coffee, practices that inhibited appetite.  Her mother had already exposed her to amphetamines at a young age, again as a diet inhibitor and energy booster.  Billie Burke and Judy Garland, in Munchkinland Another production challenge was the preparation and choreography of the Munschkinland scenes, frequently involving over a hundred individuals.  One blessing was that besides Judy Garland and Billie Burke who played Glinda, all of the other voices were lip synched and ultimately recorded by several voiceover artists associated with Disney productions. Their voices were then sped up to varying degrees to get the appropriate sound for a tiny person. The terrifying Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton One such effort involved The Wicked witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton and her fiery exit from Munschkinland in a cloud of red dust and flame.  Seemingly she magically disappears into thin air, actually her escape was set in motion by an elevator that lowered her beneath the sound stage.  Hamilton had to back her way into an exact spot on the stage with perfect timing to escape any flames as she was lowered out of sight.  If her legs were even slightly unaligned, she could break one or both as she fell through the opening.  Two stagehands were ready to grab her as she came down the elevator.  Hamilton rehearsed the scene and process endlessly, getting to the correct spot, tightening her elbows next her sides so they did not slam on the edge of the pit, keeping her costume behind her and clutching the broomstick close to her chest so it did not get caught on the opening.  The first take was so good that when Hamilton returned to the soundstage from below, the usually stern Fleming was actually smiling.  However, he typically demanded another take as a precaution.  As it was lunch time the entire crew left for a break and when they returned, nothing went right, and after four takes with mistakes, Fleming returned to his typical drill sergeant demeanor.  After demanding that everyone pull themselves together and get the scene done, Hamilton proceeded.  This time the flame effect started way too early, the witch’s broomstick and hat ignited and by the time Hamilton was grabbed off of the elevator below, her eyelashes and one eyebrow were gone and upper lip and one eyelid badly burned.  Her right hand was also severely injured and the toxic copper based makeup had to be removed manually, alcohol painfully applied to a large and essentially open wound.  Hamilton was in agony, claiming subsequently that she had never experienced such pain.  Ointment was also applied to her face and covered with gauze, only...