Ruby slippers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz, which give her the power of returning home anytime she wishes. She acquires the shoes after her house falls on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing the Witch and liberating the Munchkins. The slippers protect Dorothy from the evil magic of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the original novel by L. Frank Baum, they are silver slippers, but the color was changed for the movie to take advantage of the chromatic possiblilities of the still relatively new Technicolor process.
Contents |
[edit] Film
[edit] The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The actual slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film were designed by Gilbert Adrian. Several pairs of slippers were constructed for the film in sizes 5 to 6 (Judy Garland's foot size in 1938), and there are five pairs that exist today: four virtually identical pairs and one test pair. One pair is on permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the others are owned by private collectors. As can be seen in the above picture, the pair featured at the Smithsonian are not matching (the right slipper's bow is placed higher on the shoe). This has led to the theories that there could be more pairs of ruby slippers that have yet to surface. Two test pairs of slippers were created for Garland in 1938, a bugle beaded pair that were worn when Richard Thorpe was directing and a very elaborate curled toe pair that now belong to actress and memorabilia preservationist Debbie Reynolds. The bugle bead pair has not surfaced.
The 4 pairs of screen-used shoes were original white silk pumps acquired from the Innes Shoe Co. in Los Angeles. All authentic pairs of slippers bear either an embossed stamp in gold or silver, or an embroidered cloth label on the white kid leather sole of the right shoe. Many studios used plain white silk dyable shoes at the time, because of the cost effectiveness and ease of use. It's most likely safe to say that most female character shoes used in MGM Production #1060 were plain Innes shoes in varying heel height, dyed to match costumes (witches, Emerald City Citizens, etc.). The shoes used for the Ruby Slippers were all dyed red, and burgundy sequined organza overlays were made for each shoes upper and heel. The sequins had to be a darker red than most sequins found today because of the 3-strip technicolor process. If they had been bright red sequins, they would have shown up orange on screen. The art-deco inspired bows are comprised of 3 large rectangular red glass jewels, dark red bugle beads and outlined in orange-red glass rhinestones in silver settings. All of the stones and beads are sewn to an organza overlay, sewn to a piece of red strap leather and then sewn to the vamp of the shoe. 3 pairs of slippers have orange felt glued to the bottom sole as noise prevention, and one pair is void of felt. This pair, the smallest of the lot, was used on the dead feet of the Wicked Witch of the East and possibly close-up shots (at the gates of the Emerald City, Munchkinland). Garland wore one primary pair during shooting (those found at The Smithsonian). This pair can be seen in the movie when the Wicked Witch makes a grab for them in her castle, and also when Dorothy taps her heels together to go home. The "sister set" to this pair is owned by Michael Shaw, who obtained them straight from Kent Warner in 1970. This pair is currently missing, stolen from their exhibit at The Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, MN. The last pair was made for Bobbie Koshay, Judy's stunt double, for scenes that required full body shots. This is most likely the size 6B pair that were owned by Roberta Bauman before she sold them to Anthony Landini, and then to current owner David Elkouby. This pair doesn't sport Judy's name on the lining, but simply the word "double". This pair was held back after shooting for publicity purposes, and Judy could have possibly worn them for stills and publicity directly following primary shooting in 1939.
[edit] Auctions
At a 1970 MGM auction, a pair sold for $15,000 (the pair now on permanent exhibition in the Popular Culture wing; The American History Museum; The Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.). Another pair was originally owned by a Tennessee woman named Roberta Bauman who won them in a "Name the Best Movies of 1939" Contest at her high school. She owned them until 1988, when she sold them to the auction house Christie's East for $165,000 plus commission. Anthony Landini bought the shoes, and immediately started showing them at The Disney/MGM Studios The Great Movie Ride in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Two weeks after Landini bought his pair, yet another authentic pair surfaced, previously owned by Kent Warner, who found most surviving pairs of slippers while working in the Hollywood costume industry. This pair was offered privately through Christie's to the under-bidder of the Bauman shoes. Philip Samuels of St. Louis, Missouri bought them for the same price that Anthony paid, $165,000. Samuels has used his shoes for fund raising for children's charities as well as loaning them to The Smithsonian when their slippers are cleaned, repaired or (previously) on tour. Landini auctioned his pair of slippers off, yet again at Christie's East, on May 24, 2000 for $666,000, which included the buyers premium and commission to the auction house. They were sold to David Elkouby and his partners, who own memorabilia shops in Hollywood. Elkouby has been convicted of allegedly selling costumes stolen from movie sets. Elkouby and Co. have yet to display the shoes again. Yet another pair of ruby slippers from the film, owned by Michael Shaw, was exhibited in the Oz museum in Wamego, Kansas. They were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum, part of the Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in August, 2005 and have yet to be recovered. Further information about the history of the shoes can be found in the book The Ruby Slippers of Oz, by Rhys Thomas (1989).
[edit] Return to Oz
The Ruby Slippers play yet another intregal role in the 1985 Disney movie "Return to Oz". According to a 1985 BAUM BUGLE®, Disney had to obtain rights from MGM to use their likeness. Unlike the slippers used in the 1939 film, the hand-made British spool-heeled shoes for "RETURN TO OZ" were covered in hundreds of red crystals. The stones were soaked in sulphuric acid to remove the silver backing, and two types of glue were used to adhere them to the shoes (a spray glue and an optical glue). Effects were later added in post production to give the slippers their magical glow. Simple, red grosgrain ribbon with additional stones were used for the bows. Four pairs were made for the filming. One pair, size one, for Ozma (Emma Ridley). Two pairs, size 2, for Dorothy (Fairuza Balk), and one pair, mens size 10, for The Gnome King (Nicol Williamson). Stagehands were specifically hired to sweep up loose "rubies" that would fall off of the slippers after a scene was shot. Fairuza and Emma, being the little girls they were, couldn't keep from playing, skipping and tapping their heels, so eventually the slippers had to be taken off of their feet in between takes. A pair was given away by the Walt Disney Company in 1985 to promote the film, and were won by a British family. This pair was later sold on eBay in 2001 and bought by prominent Oz collector Willard Carroll.
[edit] Reproductions
The only authorized reproductions of The Ruby Slippers were made by the Western Costume Company in Hollywood, for the movie's 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1989. Western Costume argues that they made the original slippers for Garland, but because there are no records left from either MGM or Western, this cannot be proven. It is very likely that with a production as large as The Wizard of Oz, a portion of the high numbers of costumes needed would have been contracted out to Western to complete deadlines. The replica slippers were hand lasted on Judy Garland's original foot mold and completely sequined and jeweled, and are nearly identical to the originals, minus a few exacting details. Originally planned to be limited to 500 sets and priced at $5000, the company ended up selling only 16 pairs.
An obviously fake pair of ruby slippers were shown in the 2002 movie, The Master of Disguise. And another pair show up in the Oz spoof in the cult comedy movie Kentucky Fried Movie.
[edit] Books
[edit] Wicked
According to the revisionist version of the Oz history chronicled in Gregory Maguire's Wicked, the slippers were given to the Wicked Witch of the East (Nessarose) by her father. At the time the shoes appeared silver. After being enchanted by Glinda (the Good Witch of the North) they become items of power that allow Nessarose to walk (being that she was crippled). The energy of Glinda's spell gave the shoes their famed ruby glow. Maguire's invention thus bridges Baum's silver slippers and the ruby slippers of the film. In the musical adaptation of Wicked, like the novel, the slippers are given to Nessarose by her father. Unlike the book, however, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, is the one that enchants the shoes, giving Nessarose the ability to walk. This shows the underlying reason why Elphaba wanted the shoes from Dorothy so badly.
Dorothy knows that the slippers are magical, but is unaware of their exact powers. It is only at the end of the film that she is taught the secret of their magic by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North: tap your heels together three times, and repeat "There's no place like home."
