It has been claimed that many of the little people on set, who were scouted from all over the USA and Germany, had never previously met other little people, resulting in a set best described as 'dwarf Caligula'. All housed in the same hotel, the Munchkin cast were reportedly drunk and disorderly throughout the making of the film, while some were forced to panhandle and prostitute themselves to make ends meet. Earning just $50 a week for their work, the actors playing Munchkins earned $100 less than the dog that played Toto.

"They were very tiny, they were drunks," Garland said in 1967. "They put them all in a hotel in Culver City, and they got smashed every night, and they had to pick them up in butterfly nets."

"One of them, who was a gentleman of about 40, asked me out to dinner," she continued. "I couldn't say I didn't want to go out because you're a midget, so I just said 'No, my mother wouldn't like it', but he said to bring her too."