MovieChat Forums > The Wiz (1978) Discussion > Subway peddler with evil dancing yellow ...

Subway peddler with evil dancing yellow puppets!!!!!!

posted 11 years ago by steveicm
17 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know where I can find a link/utube video of the scene with the subway peddler who had the evil dancing puppets?

That scene really freaked me out as a kid! Its so well done and creepy.
Even more sinister is the idea of the peddler chasing the characters through out the film and capturing the crows, etc.

It was super creepy the way those yellow puppets quickly grew in size while dancing.Then they started chasing Dorthy and her friends.

The whole entire subway scene is creepy. The garbage cans chasing the scare crow. The subway post ripping lose trying to capture Dorthy. Even the part where the metal gate slams shut trapping everyone. The lion really saves the day.

I would love to learn more about the creation and inspiration of this scene. Its so scary and surreal. So Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a Cinemajunkie !

[–] luvtzone 11 years ago

Hey, that subway scene pretty much traumatized most kids back in '78. The way it was shot. The lighting. The creepy music on that box. Just everything about it is the stuff of nightmares.

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

I came here to say exactly that! I was totally freaked out and I'm an adult. I saw it one and was like "Oh hey, we did this in highschool and I love the music" so I thought my daughter and I would watch it while she was home sick but it is way more scary than The Wizard of Oz.

I think what makes it scarier is that it take place in New York (in this case, the subway) and it's a real place! Not Oz! I'm from DC so we have the metro, and I lived in New York for a yea as used the subway and there can be some scary people! Oz was pretend.

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

Oh my gosh now I'm watching the part with Evilene where her fingers turn backwards and she is torturing her friends! So creepy! I almost can't watch it.

[–] kara-mccollum1 10 years ago

I always cry when they get tortured especially when the scarecrow gets dismembered! Dorothy (Diana) made it so dark with her facial expressions and screaming!

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

Oh my god! Now the guys in yellow Brazilian cut bikini bottoms.... It's just bizzare! Haha! I mean they're hot, but that must haw been a 70s thing. The men are more naked than the women.

[–] Chocolegz 11 years ago

I'm still scared

"I do what I got to do with what I got." Utah in One Night at McCool's

[–] steveicm 11 years ago

I'm in my mid forties and I am still freaked out by that scene. I have a buddy whose a body builder (gigantic dude) who got me thinking about that scene. He was talking about how bad it freaked him out when he was a kid. I appreciate everybody who weighed in on this post. Its nice to know I am not the alone! I wish the director of the film would talk about that scene. Where they got the idea and what inspired it! Thank Goodness the lion saved the day !!!!!!

I'm a Cinemajunkie !

[–] KristenStewartForever 10 years ago

I'll tell you what was their inspiration. :) The giant puppets were the Kalidahs from the book. The garbage cans with teeth attacking Scarecrow were the wolves from the book. And the moving things caving in on Dorothy were the fighting trees. They were inspirations from the book.

I love you, Kristen Stewart. :) You are so beautiful and talented. I would love to perform with you.

[–] steveicm 9 years ago

That's very fascinating. Quick question, which book are you speaking of? The Wizard of Oz book by L Frank Baum ? Or is there a book/ novel of the Wiz? If a novel of the Wiz exist, I would love to read it!

I'm a Cinemajunkie !

[–] fiatlux-1 9 years ago

OP: Here ya go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuKJOUMQNi8

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

[–] steveicm 9 years ago

Thanks! That was intense! One last favor/request/. I wish I could find a utube clip of the rest of the scene. Where the lion saves the gang and they barely escape! Please keep me in mind if you run across it on utube.
I'm a Cinemajunkie !

[–] slrussell1908 9 years ago

This scene scared my little sister as well & when the music started playing the combination really scared the heck out oh her I remember she jumped in my moms arm at the theatre I love reminding her about that lol.

[–] steveicm 9 years ago

I wish the creators of the Wiz were willing to talk about the creation of the Wiz. Sadly they have not done commentary on the dvd. I would love to hear how they created this scene. What inspired it? Because it's so dam scary! I find it more frightening then a lot of films loaded with gore and expensive special affects.

I'm a Cinemajunkie !

[–] activista 7 years ago

I first saw the film when I was 15, and yeah,that scene was intensely creepy and weird---whether it was actually meant to be that way would be interesting to find out. And yeah, I hated that there were virtually no extras about the film on DVD, except for a brief interview filmed in the '70s with one of the producers, a young Rob Cohen, talking about how he wanted to make THE WIZ into a film and how he wanted Diana Ross in the leading role. Yeah, it was a flop, but so what---even films that were bigger flops and that became cult films (like THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW) have extras and interviews with the people involved with making them or the stars themselves in it. It's like nobody even tried with THE WIZ or didn't consider it worth putting extras out for---such a shame.

[–] luvtzone 7 years ago

It's like nobody even tried with THE WIZ or didn't consider it worth putting extras out for---such a shame.

Exactly. It is a horrible shame indeed.

"You unlock this door with the key of imagination..."

[–] Strannger (2007) 7 years ago

I've read the wizard of oz and I saw they used quite a bit of the material from it. So who was the peddler? I wish they had done the Chinatown scene or shown is more of the wicked witch.

[–] breathfromanother (749) 7 years ago

I think The Peddler was loosely based on the Kalidahs scene from the book.