Nobody who worked on this film was safe from injury, but in the case of the winged monkeys, someone really should have seen this coming. Originally, they weren't going to be played by people at all. It had been decided that the animals would be applied onto the film via animation after the film had been shot. Somewhere along the line, though, it was decided that this would jar badly with the live action of the rest of the film, and so real people in costumes should be used instead.
Given the limitation of special effects in 1939, giving the illusion that anybody was actually flying without it looking clearly fake was a difficult task. Small actors in uncomfortable costumes were attached to piano wires and dangled above the haunted forest for the scene they were in. The wires weren't up to the task and several of them snapped, leaving the performers to plunge helplessly several feet to the floor.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.