Four of the munchkins from "Wizard of Oz" have arrived in Wamego for this weekend's OZ-toberFest."
Ruth Duccini was 20 years old when she left Minnesota and stepped into Oz. Decades later, she says it's still a magical place.“I think that's what makes the Munchkin Land scene so great – is that we did enjoy what we were doing. It was a lot of fun,” Duccini said.
Duccini worked with big names like Judy Garland.
“I think she was just as excited about all the little people as they were about her,” Duccini said.
But meeting the “little people” was just as exciting for her.
“That was fun for me to meet all those other small people to be able to talk to them,” Duccini said.
Seventy years after the movie's original release, Duccini shares why she thinks it's still a favorite.
“The whole family can sit down and watch it and enjoy it. For me, I've traveled around and the ones that are really excited are the 40-year-old kids that grew up with it,” Duccini said.
Duccini went on to do several other movies, but she says her finest moment came off screen.
“What I’m really proud of [is] during WWII, I was a riveter. I worked on the inner wing at the C54 transport plane,” Duccini said.
This munchkin could work in small, tight places where others couldn't fit.
In the decades since the film's release, the movie's 124 munchkins have followed different paths. For the six living munchkins, this week, the yellow brick road leads to Wamego.
“We like to come to Wamego. It's like going home for us,” Duccini said.
And "there's no place like home.”
Reporter/Photographer: Jennifer Trammell
Video Courtesy: Warner Bros.
