The Wizard of Oz- The Jitterbug (DELETED SONG)

This is the famous deleted song from the Wizard of Oz called “The Jitterbug” written by E.Y hamburg And Harold Arlen. The original film footage of this song no longer exist. The only existing materials are the pre recordings sessions and a 16mm off camera footage of a rehearsal filming only a portion of the dance. It’s been said that this song was cut out because executives felt that this jazz type of music that was very popular at the time, would ultimately Date the movie.

Editing process:

If you buy the wizard of Oz On vhs or dvd that includes bonus features, you’ll find the jitterbug deleted song with the home movie footage, but it’s not entirely synced up correctly. Instead of just uploading the dvd bonus feature I decided to enhance it with the remaining materials available on the DVD.

The song is from alternate pre recording takes of the jitterbug rather than audio that’s commonly heard. This alternate recording has Buddy Ebsen singing the Tin Man Lines. the dance segment of the Jitterbug is stereo, I created this with the Two Orchestra takes Available on the dvd, (one take on the left ear, and the second on the right) the dance steps you hear are from a recorded dance rehearsal for the song that would’ve been added later on in post production. I synced the limited dance footage with the audio of the dance steps, with the orchestra to make the illusion of this lost footage more enchanting.