Wicked: For Good – The tale of the missing ruby slippers

Wicked fever has gripped the world once again as the long awaited part 2 of the movie franchise released in late November. One common question since the movie’s release is, where are Dorothy’s trade mark ruby red slippers? In this article we look at the origin of the red slippers, and explain their absence from the movie.

The ruby slippers: a protected icon

When you think of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, her ruby red slippers are one of her most memorable features. Immortalised in the 1939 MGM film, the sparkling red shoes became a cultural symbol. The actual ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland during filming are so iconic, they are the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia, having sold at auction for $32.5 million in December 2024. However, in the Wicked franchise, including the novel, the stage musical and the film adaptation, Dorothy’s slippers are silver.

The reason for this lies in IP. The ruby red slippers are actually a legally protected asset. Originally owned by MGM, the rights holder in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, via a series of corporate acquisitions the IP rights are now owned by Warner Bros.

Dorothy’s slippers were silver in the original book, The Wizard of Oz¸ by L. Frank Baum which was published in 1900. When the book was adapted into a movie in 1939, MGM chose to make the slippers ruby red to show off the new Technicolor technology. Under US copyright law, MGM’s decision to change the colour of the shoes to red was a creative change which makes the red slippers eligible for copyright protection. By reverting back to the original silver slipper, which has been in the public domain for many years, the Wicked franchise avoids the need to obtain a licence from Warner Bros.

Trade Marks and copyright

Changes in US copyright law since the release of the 1939 movie have seen the term of protection for assets from the movie be extended on more than one occasion. Currently, copyright is due to expire in 2034 and the slippers will then enter the public domain.

However, Turner Entertainment Co (a subsidiary of Warner Bros) has taken the strategic decision to additionally protect the words “RUBY SLIPPERS” as a trade mark in the USA, UK, EU and New Zealand. We have not been able to locate any registrations for a figurative or 3D mark showing an image of the red slippers. This is important because the existing registrations only protect the words “ruby slippers”, they do not protect the visual image of a ruby slipper. This raises an interesting question of whether use of a physical ruby slipper might be able to infringe Warner Bros trade mark registrations in the words.

Global nature of IP rights

The story of the ruby slippers is an example of the significant impact caused by the strategic use of IP rights. Note that the copyright in the ruby slippers arose by virtue of US law, and the trade mark registrations are only protected in a small number of countries. However, the global nature of the movie industry means that protection existing in just a few key markets is enough for Warner Bros to essentially prevent use of the red slippers globally, at least in so far as that use is being made by other global corporations. Universal obviously did not want to be grappling with the need to have different assets in different countries depending on the existence of local IP.

The story is also a reminder that copyright can have a broad scope of protection, protecting creative choices in the entertainment industry, for example relating to unique character traits and costume designs.