Why The Tin Man From The Wizard Of Oz Was Originally So Disturbing
When "The Wizard of Oz" was released in 1939, moviegoers were introduced to Kansas farm girl Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her traveling companions The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley), and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), for the first time. The fantasy musical has the foursome in search of Emerald City's famous Wizard of Oz; meanwhile, the kind Tin Man is in search of a heart. But the backstory, as detailed in the 1900 L. Frank Baum novel the film is based on, paints a much darker picture.
In ”The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the Tin Man is introduced in Chapter 5, "Rescue of the Tin Woodman." He first appears more or less the same way he does in the movie — stuck in a tree, stiff, and in need of oil. But in the book, he shares the disturbing story of how he turned from a regular, wood-chopping human to a man made of tin. In the story, his love for a Munchkin girl hits a roadblock when her elderly caretaker asks the Wicked Witch of the East to curse his ax, which, in turn, slices off his leg.
After his leg is replaced with a tin prosthetic, the woodman's gory story continues with more amputations and more metal replacements. "The Wicked Witch then made me slip and cut off my head ... but the tinner came along and made me a new head," he says, explaining his tin noggin. The Tin Woodman ultimately loses his heart when his ax cuts his body in two. More nightmarish gore came 18 years later with Baum's follow-up, "The Tin Woodman of Oz," where readers learn that the woodman, real name Nick Chopper, eventually finds that his long-lost love's new husband, Chopfyt, was made from his own dismembered limbs.
The movie version of the Tin Man had issues, too
The Tin Man from the film version of "The Wizard of Oz" doesn't go into graphic detail about how he lost his flesh and bones, but it isn't smooth sailing for him, either. The character was riddled with issues when the film was made more than 85 years ago. Actor Buddy Ebsen was originally cast for the role, but the pure aluminum dust in his silver makeup landed him in the hospital — breathing with the assistance of an oxygen tent — for weeks. Even after the makeup artists changed their approach to applying silver makeup to reduce their odds of poisoning actors, Ebsen's replacement Jack Haley still developed a serious eye infection from the makeup.
In addition, the oil used to loosen up the Tin Man's stiff joints was actually chocolate. In the book "The Wizardry of Oz," Haley explained, "The oil Ray Bolger squirted at me, to loosen up my joints, was not oil but chocolate syrup. They squirted chocolate in my face, because the oil wouldn't photograph right, but chocolate will."
The heavy makeup caused one other casualty. While they were stars of a major Hollywood production, the actors who played Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion were ultimately forbidden to eat meals inside MGM's commissary with the rest of the cast. The "ban" came after other diners complained that the adhesives left on their faces after they removed what they could of their costumes looked like hanging globs of mucus. In a 1939 interview, Bolger admitted they were "too much of a sight" so the trio ate in a little room off the studio lot.