Surrender Dorothy

"Surrender Dorothy" is a famous special effect used in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch of the West flies on her broomstick to write the two-word phrase across the sky. The phrase later attained local fame as graffiti in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

For other uses, see Surrender Dorothy (disambiguation).

The "Surrender Dorothy" scene from The Wizard of Oz, with the Wicked Witch of the West completing the "Y" of "Dorothy"

Appearance in the movie

The first appearance of the phrase is in the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz (it is not in the novel or any previous adaptations). In the scene, Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) has reached the Emerald City with her companions The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Woodman (Jack Haley) and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), whereupon they are treated to the hospitality and technological comforts of the fantastic city. As they leave the "Wash & Brush Up Co.", the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) appears in the sky riding her broomstick, skywriting the words "SURRENDER DOROTHY". The terrified townspeople of the Emerald City – and the four intrepid adventurers – respond by rushing to the chamber where the Wizard of Oz himself (Frank Morgan) resides, only to be turned away by a majordomo (also played by Frank Morgan) based loosely on the Soldier with the Green Whiskers.

The special effect was achieved by using a hypodermic needle, spreading black ink across the bottom of a glass tank filled with tinted water.[1]

Originally, there was a full message written out by the Witch, seen only in the first 120-minute test screening. The full message read "SURRENDER DOROTHY OR DIE --W W W".[2]

Washington area graffiti
Washington LDS Temple as seen from Interstate 495. The graffito was updated to say Surrender Donald

The message reading "Surrender Dorothy" in the D.C. metropolitan area first appeared on the bridge carrying Linden Lane over the outer loop of I-495 (the "Capital Beltway") near the Washington D.C. Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kensington, Maryland, which is illuminated at night. The message was first placed in 1974 by students of Connelly School of the Holy Child by pressing newsprint into a chain-link fence.[3] It's not clear when the message was first written in paint, but by the 1980s it was common to see on an adjacent railroad bridge.[4] and has been removed and re-painted many times since.[5][6]

On the railway bridge, the location of the phrase is visible on approach driving on I-495 from the east, but only after one passes under the first of three bridges. It is the second of three bridges over the Beltway approaching from the east, with Seminary Road before it, and Linden Lane after it. As one approaches the bridges, first only the temple is visible in the distance, then as one passes under the first bridge, the temple comes back into view just as the words "Surrender Dorothy" appear.

Miniature SURRENDER graffiti from 2007 stenciled on the green railroad bridge. Above the stencil are dark green squares where the previous graffito has been painted over.

In summer 2007, a new piece of graffiti appeared on the rail bridge. The word "SURRENDER" was reduced in size to fit into a single section of the rail bridge, and the word "DOROTHY" was omitted from the graffiti. The previous message is no longer visible, but may still be detected at the top of the bridge, as the paint used to cover it does not exactly match the original paint on the bridge. The smaller "SURRENDER" graphic is located near the bottom of the bridge, over the far-left lane of traffic on the Outer Loop. On August 24, 2018, "SURRENDER DONALD" lettering (referring to US president Donald Trump) was spotted on the same bridge over the Washington Beltway. Evidently, the sign was made of easily removable letters that minimize property damage and was installed between 4 and 5 AM. Reportedly, Claude Taylor and his MadDog PAC claimed responsibility.[7] On November 5, during the 2020 United States presidential election, "SURRENDER DONALD" appeared again – this time in paint.[8]

7 Locks Brewery in Rockville, Maryland initially named a beer Surrender Dorothy, with a version of the graffito/LDS church image on the label. Turner Entertainment, owner of The Wizard of Oz, opposed the use of the name and image by the brewery, which changed the beer name to "Surrender" and the can label to include "Dorothy" being painted over.[9]

A "Surrender Dorothy" mural at a ski resort in North Carolina

Other cultural references

The phrase was also later featured in Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours. In the film, Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) relates that her former husband would scream the phrase during sex.[10]

References
  1. "The Movie - Production and Crew". OzWiki.
  2. Tucker, Reed (September 27, 2009). "The Great and Powerful 'Oz'". New York Post.
  3. Kelly, John (July 22, 2011). "Search for 'Surrender Dorothy' scrawler pulls back curtain on schoolgirl prank". Washington Post. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  4. Kelly, John (July 24, 2011). "'Surrender Dorothy' painted on a Beltway overpass — what's the story?". Washington Post. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  5. Larsen, Kent (December 3, 2001). "In View of Temple, Graffiti Again Seeks Dorothy's Surrender". Mormon-News. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  6. Holliday, Johnny; Moore, Stephen (2002). Johnny Holliday: From Rock to Jock. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 152. ISBN 1-58261-461-X.
  7. "Mystery Solved! Here's Who Put That "Surrender Donald" Sign Up Over the Beltway". Washingtonian. August 24, 2018.
  8. Kelly, John (November 5, 2020). "Perspective | From 'Surrender Dorothy' to 'Surrender Donald': The Beltway bridge has a new message". The Washington Post.
  9. Kelly, John (September 14, 2021). "Perspective | And your little dog, too! Witchy lawyers force name change of Maryland beer". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  10. "Quotes from "After Hours"". IMDb.
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