LOS ANGELES—Complaining she’s been bored lying around like the Wicked Witch of the East, legendary actress Judy Garland has agreed to reprise her iconic role as Dorothy Gale in a remake of the Hollywood film classic “The Wizard of Oz.” Production is slated to begin next summer, with movie studio MGM expecting that the Biden administration’s Build Back Better infrastructure bill will cover the cost of rebuilding the L. Frank Baum story’s unique yellow brick road but also expressing concern that supply chain issues may prevent costumers from acquiring the thousands of sequins needed for Dorothy’s famous ruby-red slippers.
The fantastical announcement comes on the heels of the news that the classic British comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” would be remade with its entire original cast returning. One industry insider says that anyone with a brain should be able to put two and two together that the “Holy Grail” remake is what finally galvanized Garland to sign on for the redo of her own classic. However, a source familiar with “The Wizard of Oz” says that the real reason Garland has always refused to participate in the remake is because director Victor Fleming would have once again helmed the film. For decades there have been reports that Fleming treated Garland poorly during the production, with some alleging that he abused the young actress. The source said, “If any of what Garland is reported to have endured from Fleming during the original is true, you’d have to lack a heart not to feel for her.” Fleming recently withdrew from “The Wizard of Oz” remake after rumors began circulating that another Hollywood classic, “Gone with the Wind,” will also be remade with its entire cast returning, though with Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh deceased it’s clear Fleming fell for the clever, funny, and definitely not deliberately misleading satire in those rumors. Garland is reported to have agreed to join “The Wizard of Oz” do-over immediately after he withdrew. However, one industry exec, who didn’t have the courage to be publicly named, says that he thinks the timing of Fleming’s withdrawal and Garland’s entry is coincidental and that the real reason why Garland finally signed on is because Toto, whose agent insisted on a hefty backend deal, bit after MGM threw the scrappy Cain terrier a hefty bone that she (yes, Toto was played by a female) reportedly really—and literally—dug.
Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, the 1939 movie was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two, for Best Original Song and for Best Original Score. Garland, who sang “Over the Rainbow,” which would become her signature song, took home an Academy Juvenile Award (or Juvenile Oscar) for her performances in “The Wizard of Oz” and “Babes in Arms.” Though twice nominated later in her career for a regular Academy Award, she never won one. Through her manager, Garland said she expected the remake “would finally win me a real man,” an apparent reference to the size difference between the standard Oscar statuette, which at 13.5 inches tall, is almost twice the size of the Juvenile Oscar, at around 7 inches.
