One of the most iconic costume pieces in history are the ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz. With the help of Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and other donors, the Academy now owns a pair of the slippers. They will be donated to the forthcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
There were four pairs of ruby slippers used during Oz production, and the pair the Academy has acquired has been kept in the best condition. Deadline elaborates on the history of the slippers:
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.
Another notable donor to purchase the shoes was Terry Semel, co-chair of LACMA and the former chairman and CEO of both Warner Bros. and Yahoo!.
There is no date yet when the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open, but the Museum will be in the May Company building, now known as LACMA West. The building first opened the same year The Wizard of Oz hit theaters, 1939.
Have you been fortunate to see the Witch’s shoes before? Are you excited they’ll be on public display?
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