The unsettling Wizard of Oz 'munchkin' theory from set of 1939 film as backstory explained

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

An unsettling theory about the musical screen adaptation of the Wizard of Oz has for years puzzled viewers.

The 'dark' conspiracy about a munchkin, one of the small characters Dorothy first meets after her house lands on a witch in Munchkinland, came following one main scene.

The 1939 MGM movie was a huge hit, hailed for its pioneering use of technicolour. But the disturbing theory following one of the scenes has long nagged viewers.

However, the explanation behind it makes perfect sense and has previously been cleared up.

Videos of Dorothy, the Scarecrow and Tinman skipping down the yellow brick road was thought to be far from jovial, with eagle-eyed viewers spotting something unusual in the distant trees.

The 'munchkin suicide theory' is a conspiracy that one of the munchkins working on the movie had actually taken their own life in that part of the set, which was accidentally picked up on camera.

The black figure amid the distant trees became a focal point, with TikTok videos and online discussion forums also created to get to the bottom of the 'dark rumour'.

The story had a number of variations, including that the filmmakers allegedly failed to notice the body in the shot, and that later versions of the film had the footage edited to remove the evidence.

Online forums, video clips and YouTube uploads had also helped keep the Wizard of Oz legend alive. However none of the claims are supported by credible evidence.

MGM had actually brought live birds from the Los Angeles Zoo onto the indoor forest set to make the scenery appear more natural, it was confirmed.

As such, one of the birds created the movement that viewers later misinterpreted as the figure.

What didn't help was that other clips were reportedly deliberately edited. One clip uploaded to YouTube in 2011 appeared to show footage from an old VHS copy of The Wizard of Oz, however the figure looked much more like a human body than the bird.

The clip was later branded a hoax and had been manipulated, according to the Oz Fandom.

Glenn Erickson, a film critic and historian who wrote the DVD Savant column, deep-dived into famous myths surrounding the production it in the 1990s. He wrote: "A resident OZ expert here in the office has given what we think is the scene a close look and the most he could find was a large, colorful bird toward the rear of the forest set, a bird that viewers might be misinterpreting as the mystery man."

Theories swirled in part because the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie is seen by some as cursed, following a number of serious incidents on-set.

Two actors playing winged monkeys are reported to have crashed to the ground when the wires that hoisted them up in the air broke.

The Wicked Witch of the West’s stunt double Betty Danko injured her left leg when the broomstick exploded, with the real witch actress, Margaret Hamilton, suffering severe second-degree burns when she fell through a trap door in a cloud of smoke.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.