An original pair of ruby slippers used in The Wizard of Oz; now part of the Philip Samuels Collection.

The ruby slippers are the magical shoes worn by Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and Dorothy Gale is a Fictional character, the Protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s In the film, Dorothy acquires the slippers after her house falls on and kills the Wicked Witch of the East, freeing the Munchkins from the Witch's tyranny. The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L In return for her unintentional good deed, Dorothy receives the slippers to protect her from the Witch's vengeful sister, the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch of the West (or simply The Wicked Witch) is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L Dorothy knows the slippers are magical, but she is unaware of their specific powers. Only at the end of the film does Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, reveal the slippers' secret: Whenever Dorothy wishes, she can return home to Kansas by simply clicking her heels three times and repeating, "There's no place like home". Glinda (or Glinda the Good Witch) is a Fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L

In L. Frank Baum's original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wore silver slippers. Lyman Frank Baum ( May 15 1856 &ndash May 5 1919) was an American Author, Actor, and Independent filmmaker The movie's creators changed them to ruby to take advantage of the chromatic possibilities of the new Technicolor film process. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation

Film

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Publicity photograph of Judy Garland wearing the now famous slippers

The ruby slippers were designed by Gilbert Adrian. Adrian Adolph Greenberg ( March 3, 1903 - September 13, 1959) most widely known as Adrian, was a Hollywood Costume At least seven pairs were made in Judy Garland's sizes 5 and 6; five pairs have been accounted for today. One is on permanent exhibition at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC^[1]. The National Museum of American History collects preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social political cultural scientific and military history The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D This pair do not match (the right bow is higher than left; see picture), fueling speculation that more of the slippers may exist. The others pairs are owned by private collectors. A very elaborate curled-toe pair, not used in the film, is owned by actress and memorabilia preservationist Debbie Reynolds. Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an Academy Award -nominated American actress, Singer Another unused, bugle-beaded pair was made while Richard Thorpe directed the film. For the historian and biographer see D R Thorpe. Richard Thorpe ( February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991 The whereabouts of that pair are unknown.

The four pairs of shoes used in the film were originally white silk pumps from the Innes Shoe Company in Los Angeles, and bear an embossed gold or silver stamp, or an embroidered cloth label, on the white kid leather sole of the right shoe. At the time, many movie studios used plain white silk shoes because they were inexpensive and easily dyed. It is likely that most of the shoes worn by female characters in The Wizard of Oz were plain Innes shoes with varying heel heights, dyed to match each costume. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s The shoes used for Dorothy's slippers were dyed red; then burgundy sequined organza overlays were attached to each shoe's upper and heel. The film's early 3-strip Technicolor process required the sequins to be darker than most red sequins found today; bright red sequins would have appeared orange on screen. The Art Deco-inspired bows comprised three large rectangular red glass jewels with dark-red bugle beads, outlined in orange-red glass rhinestones in silver settings. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939 affecting the decorative arts such as Architecture, Interior design, and Industrial The stones and beads were sewn to a piece of red strap leather, then to the organza-covered shoe. Three pairs of the surviving slippers have orange felt glued to their soles to deaden noise. The remaining, unmuffled pair, the smallest, was used on the feet of the dead Wicked Witch of the East and possibly for close-ups of Dorothy (e. g. in Munchkinland and at the Emerald City gates). Garland wore one primary pair during shooting. This pair can be seen when the Witch tries to grab them, while holding Dorothy and her friends captive at her castle; and at the film's climax, when Dorothy taps her heels to return to Kansas. The "sister set" to this pair is owned by Michael Shaw, who obtained them from Kent Warner in 1970. This pair has been missing since it was stolen from an exhibit at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, MN. The last known pair was made for Bobbie Koshay, Judy's stunt double. This is most likely the size 6B pair (owned by Roberta Bauman, Anthony Landini, and current owner David Elkouby) whose lining says "Double" instead of "Judy Garland". Judy may have worn this pair for photos and publicity appearances after the film's primary shooting was finished in 1939.

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 Institution, 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. Disney's Hollywood Studios is a Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Great Movie Ride is an attraction at Walt Disney World 's Disney's Hollywood Studios Theme park. Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world containing four Theme parks two Water parks twenty-three themed hotels Orlando is a major City in central Florida, USA and is the County seat of Orange County Florida. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the 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 lending 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 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. Wamego (wɔˈmiɡo is a city in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, United States. Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " 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. Children's Discovery Museum is a Museum in Bangkok, Thailand. Grand Rapids is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Further information about the history of the shoes can be found in the book The Ruby Slippers of Oz, by Rhys Thomas (1989).

Return to Oz

The Ruby Slippers play yet another integral role in the 1985 Disney film "Return to Oz", in which Disney had to obtain rights from MGM to use reproductions in the film. Return to Oz is an Academy Award -nominated 1985 film which is the semi-sequel to The Wizard of Oz. ^[2] 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. Return to Oz is an Academy Award -nominated 1985 film which is the semi-sequel to The Wizard of Oz. ^[2] The stones were soaked in sulphuric acid to remove the silver backing,^[2] and two types of glue were used to adhere them to the shoes (a spray glue and an optical glue). No matter what was done, the stones would not stay in place, and kept falling off during filming. ^[2] 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, men's size 10, for The Gnome King (Nicol Williamson). Stagehands were specifically hired to sweep up loose "rubies" that would fall off 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 they were required to take off the slippers between takes. In 1985 The Walt Disney Company gave away a pair of slippers to promote the film. They were won by a British family, who sold them to prominent Oz collector Willard Carroll in a 2001 eBay auction.

Reproductions

The Western Costume Company in Hollywood claims to have made Garland's original slippers. While it is likely that Western would have been contracted to make some of The Wizard of Oz's many costumes, no records of the original slippers exist to validate their claim. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s In 1989, to commemorate the movie's 50th anniversary, Western produced the only authorized Ruby Slipper reproductions. Hand-lasted on Judy Garland's original foot mold and completely sequined and jeweled, the reproduction slippers were nearly identical to the originals. Western planned a limited edition of 500 pairs at $5000 each, but halted the project after selling only 16 pairs.

An imitation pair of Ruby Slippers appeared in the 2002 movie, The Master of Disguise. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Master of Disguise is a Comedy Film released in 2002 starring Dana Carvey, Jennifer Esposito, James Brolin Another pair appeared in an Oz sequence in the cult comedy Kentucky Fried Movie. The Kentucky Fried Movie is an American Comedy film, released in 1977 and directed by John Landis.

Books

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. Gregory Maguire (born June 9, 1954 in Albany, New York) is an American author Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a Parallel novel published in 1995. Nessarose Thropp is the name of the woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East in Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by 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 without assistance (she was born without arms). The energy of Glinda's spell gave the shoes their famed ruby glow. Maguire's invention thus bridges Baum's Silver Shoes 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. Wicked is a musical with songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Unlike the book, however, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, is the one that enchants the shoes, giving Nessarose the ability to walk. Elphaba Thropp is the name given to the Wicked Witch of the West in Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory This shows the underlying reason why Elphaba wanted the shoes from Dorothy so badly.

The Ruby Slippers of Oz

The Ruby Slippers of Oz by Rhys Thomas. Tale Weaver Publishing. 1989. A true Hollywood mystery story about the most famous shoes in the world, and the definitive work on the Hollywood Memorabilia Underworld and the man who created it.

References in other media

In World of Warcraft, the Ruby Slippers are a pair of epic-level cloth shoes dropped by the Wizard of Oz-themed "opera event" in the Karazhan raid instance. The shoes function similarly to the hearthstone that all characters start out with, allowing them to teleport from their current location to the inn where the hearthstone is set. The caption under the statistic lines, much like in the movie, is "There's no place like home. "

References