The Wizard of Oz, one of the most famous movies of all time, was almost a totally different project. The original concept for the movie was a musical version of “Alice in Wonderland”, but MGM couldn’t get the rights. Did you know that the “poppy field” scene where Dorothy falls asleep and the Wicked Witch tries to poison her with the bad apple was actually shot with lemon Jell-O powder to simulate the look of poppies?
Series Curiosities
Did you know that prior to landing her role on “Friends”, Jennifer Aniston was already committed to another TV series called “Muddling Through”? The show only lasted 10 episodes before being canceled, and Aniston admitted that getting fired from that show was one of the best things that ever happened to her since it allowed her to accept the role as Rachel Green on “Friends”.
Music Curiosities
Before becoming famous, Lady Gaga was a songwriter for other pop music stars, including Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez. She even wrote a song for Michael Bolton at one point in her career. Did you know that Lady Gaga’s stage name was inspired by Queen’s hit single, “Radio Ga Ga”? Her real name is Stefani Germanotta.
Works of Art Curiosities
Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece painting, the “Mona Lisa”, is famous for many reasons. But did you know that it wasn’t until the 20th century that people started referring to her as “Mona Lisa”? Before that, she was simply known as “La Gioconda” or “La Joconde”. Why was the painting so famous? It was widely believed that the woman in the painting was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant.
