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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

DiCaprio and Spielberg join forces to bring ruby slippers home

Leonardo DiCaprio has succeeded where even the Witch of the West could not.
Leonardo DiCaprio has succeeded where even the Witch of the West could not.
(
twm1340/Flickr
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DiCaprio and Spielberg join forces to bring ruby slippers home
DiCaprio and Spielberg join forces to bring ruby slippers home

"And think to yourself there’s no place like home...there’s no place like home..."

Who can forget that great moment in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy — a 16-year-old Judy Garland — taps her ruby slippers together and magically returns to Kansas?

Well, now, after a long time away, those slippers are also coming home — almost. They’ll go on public display at the Academy’s Museum of Motion Pictures, when it makes its grand opening on Wilshire Boulevard.

But getting those slippers wasn’t easy, or cheap.

A costumer on the MGM lot sold them at auction decades ago. Their current estimated value? $2 million. Which is where Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg came in.

They led a group of angel donors, who came up with the money that helped the Academy get the iconic slippers for their collection.

While a total of four pairs were made for the movie, these are the real deal — the pair you see in that famous close-up when Dorothy clicks her way into movie history.

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