Dorothy brings back the Witch's broomstick, but the Wizard isn't pleased to see her and her friends again. He makes a thunderous roar until Toto pulls aside a curtain in the corner of the audience chamber to reveal an old man speaking in a microphone while pulling various levers and fiddling with dials that control the special effects of the Wizard's projected image - the so-called Wizard.

Revealed, he states that he is the "Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz." Dorothy tells him he's "a very bad man!" He replies that he is "a very good man, I'm just a very bad Wizard." The Scarecrow yells "You Humbug" and the Wizard admits that he's a humbug.

He's abashed and apologetic, but quickly finds ways to help Dorothy's friends: a Diploma for the Scarecrow, a medal of Courage for the Lion, and a testimonial heart-shaped watch for the Tin Man. Then he reveals that he's from Kansas himself and came to Oz in a hot air balloon, in which he proposes to take Dorothy home.