Talk:The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

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Latest comment: 3 years ago by Ahazred8 in topic “Fly, my pretties, fly!”

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) page.


sadly I have no idea what I'm doing

I added character attributions for the quotes...a few of them I wasn't sure who had said, so I left them blank. I tried a slightly different format for the songs. If someone else has a better idea how to format them, go ahead. - faithx5

Cleanup/Format edit

Previous contributor(s) gave all but 2 or 3 of the quotes; I just put them in order. A couple of things rate explanation:

  • The songs are an integral part of this film; I left them in the poetry-style layout I found them in, mostly because it makes for clear distinction from spoken quotes.
  • Quotes from the section of the film where the Wizard puts everyone's problems to rights is in the Dialogue section due to 1) length, 2) fact that scene is "interactive" in the film, regardless of who is or isn't speaking, and 3) fact that sections for Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion can appear together.
  • Someone contributed a lot of Munchkin material. I put all of it under one heading because Munchkins in the film don't have names and all their quotes occur within a few minutes of each other. It was not my intent to defame or disparage Munchkins, Munchkin-Americans, or any other race or ethnicity.

--RPickman 18:57, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)


I've trimmed some quotes, but I'm not sure it is enough. ~ UDScott 21:14, 20 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

“Fly, my pretties, fly!” edit

This question is cross-posted from Wikiquote:Reference desk.

Does the Wicked Witch of the West say something like “Fly, my pretties, fly!” to the winged monkeys? If so, what's the exact quote and where does it appear? Is it in The Wizard of Oz movie or the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or somewhere else? If you can determine it, could you add this quote?

"Take your army to the Haunted Forest and bring me that girl and her dog. Do what you want with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed. They'll give you no trouble, I promise you that. I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of 'em. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Take special care of those ruby slippers - I want those most of all. Now fly! Fly!"

Whether she says this or not, this seems to be wildly quoted. Darth and Droids comics strip 382 quotes “Fly, my pretties”, and the title of that strip is The Wonderful Jedi of Oz. Cheshire Crossing comics issue 1 page 17 has the Witch say “Fly, my monkies, fly!” The Simpsons/Season 5 has “Fly, my pretties! Fly!” complete with flying monkies and the wikiquote page linking to a disambig page for The Wizard of Oz on en.wikipedia. And there even seems to be a band called Fly My Pretties.

A quick look in Wikisource's copy of the novel didn't lead me to this quote.

b_jonas 18:44, 30 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

I don't believe that this exact quote is correct, though there is something close in the film. In the film, the following is spoken by the Wicked Witch of the West to her Flying Monkeys: "Take your army to the Haunted Forest and bring me that girl and her dog. Do what you want with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed. They'll give you no trouble, I promise you that. I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of 'em. Ha-ha-ha-ha. Take special care of those ruby slippers. I want those most of all. Now fly, fly!" ~ UDScott (talk) 18:59, 30 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
The misquote seems to be a conflation of different lines. At one point in the film, the witch says to Dorothy, "I'll get you, my pretty...", and it is not a term of endearment. ~ Ningauble (talk) 20:01, 30 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Thanks you for the info. – b_jonas 22:13, 31 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Years ago in the 1980s, there was a FedEx ad. A winged monkey is given a parcel and told, "Go! Fly, my pretty one!" That is likely to be the version most people were exposed to. Ahazred8 (talk) 21:44, 22 May 2020 (UTC)Reply
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