was nothing to be gained from [the 1939 film] other than to make certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area." Casting Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Ross, was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development, he and his brothers The Jacksons had left Motown for Epic Records after the release of their tenth album Moving Violation, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since his fourth album Forever, Michael. Cohen, head of Motown Productions, thought Jackson would be perfect for the role of the Scarecrow, and approached Gordy with the idea, who agreed, though Lumet was harder to convince. Lumet wanted Jimmie Walker, star of CBS-TV's Good Times, telling Cohen “Michael Jackson’s a Vegas act. The Jackson 5’s a Vegas act.” Quincy Jones was also skeptical of Jackson, but after Cohen arranged a meeting, flying 19-year-old Jackson to New York, Lumet and Jones saw the qualities that Cohen saw. Jackson's father, Joseph, was wary of the project and saw it as a threat to the Jacksons group cohesion. Cohen moved Michael and his sister La Toya into a Manhattan apartment, allowing him to be on his own for the first time. During production, he became a frequent visitor to New York's famous Studio 54. Jackson was dedicated to the Scarecrow role, and watched videotapes of gazelles, cheetahs and panthers in order to learn graceful movements for his part. The long hours of uncomfortable prosthetic makeup by Stan Winston did not bother him. During production, Jackson asked Quincy Jones who he would recommend as a producer on a yet unrecorded solo album project. Jones, impressed by Jackson's professionalism, talent and work ethic, offered to be producer of what became Off The Wall (1979), then later on the hugely successful albums Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987). Ted Ross and Mabel King were brought in to reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, while Nipsey Russell was cast as the Tin Man. Lena Horne, mother-in-law to Lumet during the time of production, was cast as Glinda the Good Witch, and comedian Richard Pryor portrayed The Wiz. The film's choreographer