For five consecutive years I went trick-or-treating as a character from the Wizard of Oz. One year, my mom spent hours curling my pin-straight hair into a cascade of spirals for my debut as Dorothy. The next year, I went out as the Scarecrow. Then, I went out as Glinda the Good Witch… two years in a row.  The year after that I was the Wicked Witch of the East – complete with crushed hat, roof slats, striped stockings and ruby slippers.

Those legendary ruby slippers……

Last week, I read the L. Frank Baum classic in anticipation of the release of the 2-disc special edition. It was my first time reading the story and boy was I in for a surprise.

First off, the film is better than the book.

MUCH better.

Second, Dorothy’s ruby slippers are pure MGM magic. In the book, Dorothy wears silver shoes. Silver!

I did a double take while reading. How could Baum not have realized that the slippers were RUBY? Couldn’t he see the story running in his head? Did he picture Dorothy wearing blue shoes before he settled on silver?

Thank the movie gods that someone at MGM got it right!