Don't tell me this isn't about technology until you invent a better way to get a pigtailed farm girl and her Yorkshire Terrier from The Land of Oz all the way back to Kansas.
In the meantime, call me heartened by the news this morning that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, led by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, has acquired a pair of the ruby slippers used during production of "The Wizard of Oz," which is without a doubt the movie that I have seen more times than any other. The slippers will now find a home in the academy's museum.
The history of the slippers is interesting. From a press release:
These slippers, known as the "Witch's Shoes," are in the most pristine condition of the four pairs of ruby slippers known to exist. It is widely believed that these are the slippers Judy Garland wore in close-ups and insert shots, most famously when Dorothy clicks her heels three times to return to Kansas. They are called the "Witch's Shoes" because they are likely the pair seen on the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East after Dorothy's house falls on the witch.
After production of the film ended in 1939, the ruby slippers were stored on MGM's Culver City lot for the next three decades. Several pairs of slippers were discovered in 1970 by costumer Kent Warner while he was preparing for that year's historic auction of MGM costumes, props and other production-related items. One pair of slippers was sold at the auction and was donated anonymously to the Smithsonian in 1979.
Warner kept the finest pair - the "Witch's Shoes" - in his private collection for more than a decade before selling them at auction in 1981. They were sold again in 1988 to another private collector, and have been displayed publicly only a handful of times in the years since, most notably at the National Portrait Gallery and the Library of Congress. The 2012 sale to the Academy was handled by auction house Profiles in History.
Which reminds me that I've yet to watch "The Wizard of Oz" with my children. Need to rectify that soon.
