Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy Birthday, Ozma!



"Come on, Shaggy Man, if you want me to show you the road to Butterfield." She climbed the fence into the ten-acre lot and he followed her, walking slowly and stumbling over the little hillocks in the pasture as if he was thinking of something else and did not notice them.

"My, but you're clumsy!" said the little girl. "Are your feet tired?"

"No, miss; it's my whiskers; they tire very easily in this warm weather," said he. "I wish it would snow, don't you?"

"'Course not, Shaggy Man," replied Dorothy, giving him a severe look. "If it snowed in August it would spoil the corn and the oats and the wheat; and then Uncle Henry wouldn't have any crops; and that would make him poor; and--"

"Never mind," said the shaggy man. "It won't snow, I guess. Is this the lane?"

"Do just as you please about going away," he said; "but I'd like to show you the sights of my city and to entertain your party while you are here. We feel highly honored to have little Dorothy with us, I assure you, and we appreciate her kindness in making us a visit. For whatever country Dorothy visits is sure to become famous."

This speech greatly surprised the little girl, who asked:

"How did your Majesty know my name?"

"Why, everybody knows you, my dear," said the Fox-King. "Don't you realize that? You are quite an important personage since Princess Ozma of Oz made you her friend."

"Do you know Ozma?" she asked, wondering.

"I regret to say that I do not," he answered, sadly; "but I hope to meet her soon. You know the Princess Ozma is to celebrate her birthday on the twenty-first of this month."


With those two passages from The Road to Oz, Oz fans have placed Ozma's birthday on August 21. In celebration, I have prepared the above video.

Also, a little bit of news. J.D. Rose, a fairly new Oz writer, has started her own blog. She has some poems and a short story up right now, be sure to check out To Oz and Back.

Happy Birthday, Ozma! Congratulations on keeping Oz a happy land for 105 years!

7 comments:

Nicki Rose said...

Jared! My wonderful, wonderful Oz friend! This video worked so well my lovely!
Can I ask though, what Oz cartoons were they? Because I am pretty sure I've seen them before in my younger days; I just can't remember the names/who created them?

Thank you for mentioning lil' old me by the way in your blog :) I feel so honoured! :)

I also want to say...

"Happy Birthday, Ozma!- May you continue to rule and watch over OZ forever!" Yey! xxxx

Jay said...

Video clips are from:
"The Patchwork Girl of Oz" (1914)
"Return to Oz" (1925)
"Adventures in the Emerald City: Princess Ozma" (2000) (Russian animation)
"Dorothy in the Land of Oz" (1980)
"The Marvelous Land of Oz" (1981)

F. Douglas Wall said...

The map image you used contained some interesting misspellings. "Popy" Field and the Castle of the "Win" Woodman.

F. Douglas Wall said...

Excellent video, by the way.

Colin Ayres British Fan Of Oz said...

Loved the Video Jared.

The only other version of Ozma I could remember is the Cinar Ozma.
But she was very boyish looking and very far removed in Character to the Baum Ozma.

Return to Oz's Ozma is still my favourite.

Anonymous said...

Ozma was also in the Shirley Temple LAND OF OZ (1960) and WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ (1969) among others.

Jay said...

I am aware that Ozma appeared in many more films, most (if not all) of which I could have included. I just preferred to use a few.