Before Victor Fleming came onto the project, but after Richard Thorpe had departed, George Cukor was at the project’s helm. At the time Cukor was angling to be hired as director for “Gone with the Wind,” and never intended to finish the Wizard of Oz. In the end Cukor lost both The Wizard of Oz and the Gone with the Wind jobs to the same man, Victor Fleming.
However, it was during Cukor’s time on the picture that Dorothy’s iconic look came to be. He rid the production of any thought of blonde wigs or dye and insisted on a “natural” look for the Kansas farm girl. He wanted her looks to contrast the fantastical Technicolor style of the rest of Oz.
Dorothy Was Supposed To Be Blonde
Victor Fleming was not the original director of the film. The original director was a man named Richard Thorpe. He had envisioned a film that resembled the book much more closely. He wanted a Dorothy that looked like the illustrations of John R. Neill. In the original illustrations Dorothy is blonde. Thorpe wanted his and sporting a face of baby doll styled makeup.
Thorpe did not cast Judy Garland in his film. He was hoping he would be able to cast the young blonde star, Shirley Temple. He also cast a different actor for the Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen of "Beverly Hillbillies" fame. His vision didn't matter much in the end because Thorpe's tenure on the film lasted for only two weeks.
Judy Garland Almost Didn’t Get The Lead Role
Many years later, it is almost impossible to imagine The Wizard of Oz without Judy Garland. MGM Studio executives always had her in mind, but she wasn't at the top of their lists. Everyone thought the blonde star, Shirley Temple, would be a better casting decision. She was younger than Garland and a much bigger star at the time. However, despite her baby doll looks and successful filmography, no one was sure that she had the singing voice necessary to make the movie successful.
In the end it was the studio system itself that sealed both actresses' fates. Shirley Temple was contracted to 20th Century Fox at the time. MGM offered to trade both Clark Gable and Jean Harlow's contracts to secure Shirley Temple but when Jean Harlow died unexpectedly the deal fell through. The studio system itself may have led to Harlow's untimely death. It has been implied that the hair dye the star used may have caused her death from liver failure.
Playing The Tin Man Was Quite The Hassle
No one had any luck, it seems, when it came to being cast as the Tin Man. Jack Haley was not poisoned as his predecessor, Buddy Ebsen, but it was not an easy assignment. While Haley did not have breathing problems, or have to spend two weeks in a hospital, he did contract an eye infection from all the makeup he was forced to use.
The Tin Man costume itself was very stiff and awkward to move around in. It was impossible for Jack Haley to rest or relax while dressed for his part; there was no way to sit down while in character. If Haley decided to lay down on the ground, it was then impossible for him to stand up again without assistance from the cast and crew. The only relief he was able to find was by leaning up against walls or pillars to take some of the weight off his feet. Otherwise, he was standing the entire time he was in costume.
The Lion Costume Was Made From Real Lion Fur!
The costume for the Cowardly Lion is something to behold. If a man and a lion had a baby, odds are, it would look something like Bert Lahr did in The Wizard of Oz. This makes even more sense when you realize that a large portion of Lahr's costume is in fact made from the pelts of real lions. The look was great but, like the saga of the Tin Man, there were struggles involved. The costume, and its real lion pelts, weighed almost 50 pounds.
Early on there were rumors the MGM actually wanted to use a real lion, their famous mascot Jackie, from their logo, to play at least a small part of the role, but in the end, other than the pelts, the part was all human. Bert Lahr's humor and warmth would not have been a part of the character, or even possible, had an actual lion been cast in his place.