The

Wizard of Oz

The original Drafts of the screenplay

The Wizard of Oz was written and re-written many times.

1. The original sketch is dated 2/26/1938 by Joe Cannon.

2. The first draft by Noel Langley, dated 4/5/1938, was not quite acceptable...and was

3. Re-written 5/9/1938 by Langley.

4. Still not satisfied, the producers secretly hired new writers; F. Ryerson and E. A. Woolf to review the script and make whatever changes they felt necessary. Their script is dated 7/5/1938.

5. When Langley discovered that his script had been changed, he was furious. He demanded that he be allowed to read the changed and to veto those he felt were unjustified. This was done and resulted in the script of 8/2/1938.

It is interesting to note that Judy Garland had already been chosen for the part of Dorothy, when the first draft was started, as she is referred to by name in the first draft.

All of the above drafts are preserved by the Karpeles Manuscript Library, along with the Special effects archive and contracts for the Munchkins.