Was the Wizard of OZ originally done in black and white or in color?

Answer 1

Good Question. When Dorothy was in Kansas, it was shot in black and white. But when she was in Oz, it was shot in color. The entire movie was printed on color film, though, so the "black and white" parts could be not actually black and white, but sepia (dark brown) and white (don't believe me? go watch it again), which gives those scenes a softer, warmer look and suggests old sepiatone photographs.

Answer 2

The film was shot in late 1938 and early 1939 and released in 1939. It has always been a mixture of sepiatone for the Kansas sequences and color for the Oz sequences.

Urban legends to the contrary notwithstanding, the change from sepia to color (and later back again) in the Wizard of Oz is intentional and has nothing to do with the color process suddenly becoming available during filming... in fact, the sepia sections were among the LAST ones filmed.

Answer 3

Yes. The beloved 1939 film version of 'The Wizard of Oz' was one of the early color films. But it wasn't filmed entirely in color. The color sequences always were only those of Dorothy Gale's dreamland visit to the beautiful, enchanted, magical world of Oz.

Answer 4

Color. The "black and white" (actually sepia and white ... watch it again; the dark tones are brown, not black) parts are still printed on color film.

Answer 5

It was as we see it today. It opens in black and white and then transforms into colo as Dorothy enters a new world.

Must have been really amazing for the audience at that time.

Answer 6

It was in black and white, as color in tv's was not available yet.