Dachshund Trivia
A
little known piece of dachshund trivia is that the part of Dorothy's
pet dog in the Wizard of Oz,
was originally scripted for a miniature
dachshund named Otto who was owned by actress Margaret Hamilton, seen to the
right,
who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie. Lingering post-war
hostility toward the Germans, caused the studio to insist upon the
substitution of a Norwich terrier to be called Toto. They saw this as more
acceptable since the dog was of British descent.
In this rare still, from unreleased footage, we see Dorothy singing
"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
with Otto behind
her. This scene had to be re-shot after the studio fired Otto, and the
original footage has never been shown.
Also of interest is this promotional shot featuring a dachshund from the TV show Bewitched. I never remember actually seeing a dachshund on the show, does anyone out there remember?
